Staff Writer

Medical writer

People are silhouetted against the sky at sunset as they run at Shawnee Mission Park, Sept. 26, 2024, in Shawnee, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

US life expectancy hit an all-time high in 2024, CDC says

U.S. life expectancy has hit the highest mark in American history. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday reported that life expectancy rose to 79 years in 2024.

President Barack Obama awards the Medal of Freedom to Dr. William Foege, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who helped lead the effort to eradicate smallpox, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

Dr. William Foege, leader in smallpox eradication, dies

Dr. William Foege, a leader in the global eradication of smallpox, has died. He was 89. Foege was director of the U.S.

President Donald Trump applauses during a signing ceremony on his Board of Peace initiative at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

US completes withdrawal from World Health Organization

The U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Federal officials announced the completion Thursday.

Health department staff members enter the Andrews County Health Department measles clinic carrying doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Andrews, Texas. (AP Photo/Annie Rice, File)

Measles cases jump again in South Carolina, rising to more than 550

Reported measles cases in South Carolina surged by almost 30% in the last few days. State health officials on Friday reported 124 new cases, bringing the state’s total to 558 in a wave of infections centered around an outbreak in Spartanburg County.

A pharmacist gives a patient a flu shot in Miami on Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin, File)

US flu activity fell for a second week. But experts worry the season is far from over

Health experts say the U.S. flu season appears to be waning with two straight weeks of decline in measures of flu activity.

People rally on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in support of some 185 researchers and other employees of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Morgantown, W.Va., who received reduction-in-force notices as part of a larger push by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to dismiss 10,000 federal employees. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Hundreds of laid-off researchers at US workplace safety center are being reinstated

Federal officials are reinstating hundreds of U.S. health workers who were laid off last year from a small health agency that aims to protect workers.

Jonathan Dumke, a senior forensic chemist with the Drug Enforcement Administration, holds vials of fentanyl pills at a DEA research laboratory on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Northern Virginia. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, file)

US overdose deaths fell through most of 2025, federal data reveals

U.S. overdose deaths fell through the most of last year, suggesting a lasting improvement in an epidemic that had been worsening for decades.

Pharmacy manager Aylen Amestoy administers a patient with a seasonal flu vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy in Miami, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Some flu measures decline, but it’s not clear this severe season has peaked

U.S. flu infections are showing signs of a slight decline, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.

In this Feb. 7, 2018 file photo, a nurse prepares a flu shot at the Salvation Army in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Flu season surged in the US over the holiday and already rivals last winter’s harsh epidemic

U.S. flu infections are still surging, and health officials say it’s a severe season that’s likely to get worse.

This 1981 electron microscope image made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows hepatitis B virus particles, indicated in orange. (Dr. Erskine Palmer/CDC via AP, File)

US awards no-bid contract to Denmark scientists studying hepatitis B vaccine in African babies

The Trump administration has awarded a $1.6 million, no-bid contract a Danish university to study hepatitis B vaccinations on newborns in Africa.

Students walk the halls at a high school in Philadelphia on Aug. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

Teen drug use remains low, but survey finds small rise in heroin and cocaine use

A national survey shows teen use of alcohol, nicotine and marijuana remains at record lows. The findings released Wednesday reveal two-thirds of 12th graders reported no use of these substances in the past 30 days.

This electron microscope image provided by the National Institutes of Health shows human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) virions, colorized blue, and anti-RSV F protein/gold antibodies, colorized yellow, shedding from the surface of human lung cells. (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH via AP, File)

Winter virus season so far is not too bad, but doctors worry about suffering to come

It may feel like you are surrounded by sniffles and coughs, but flu season activity is still low in many parts of the U.S.

A man walks along a trail during sunset near Manhattan, Kan., on Nov. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

US suicide rate fell in 2024 after hovering at high level

The U.S. suicide rate has fallen after years of hovering at some of the highest levels ever reported, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Robert Malone chairs a meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in Atlanta on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 to consider changes in hepatitis B vaccine recommendations for infants. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

What are parents to do as doctors clash with Trump administration over vaccines?

The nation’s leading doctors groups are in a standoff with federal health officials over vaccines. The conflict intensified when an advisory panel, handpicked by Health Secretary Robert F.

The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets in Atlanta on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 to consider changes in hepatitis B vaccine recommendations for infants. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

US vaccine advisers say not all babies need a hepatitis B shot at birth

A federal vaccine advisory committee has voted to end a longstanding recommendation that all U.S. babies get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference on the Autism report by the CDC at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

Kennedy’s vaccine advisory committee delays vote on hepatitis B shots for newborns

A federal vaccine advisory committee voted to delay a vote on whether newborns should still get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during the Western Governors' Association meeting Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rebecca Noble, File)

What to know about the hepatitis B shot — and why Trump officials are targeting it

The U.S. government has long advised that all babies be immunized against hepatitis B right after birth.

Dr. Martin Kulldorff speaks during a meeting of the Advisory Committee in Immunization Practices at the CDC, June 25, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

Chairman of vaccine committee leaves for new HHS job

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has replaced the head of his controversial vaccine advisory committee.

This April 1, 2025 photo shows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ben Gray, file)

Flu activity is low, but experts worry about a new strain and vaccination rates

The U.S. flu season is starting slowly, and it’s not clear if it will be as bad as last winter’s. But some health experts are worried about a new type of flu virus and flagging vaccination efforts.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference on the Autism report by the CDC at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

CDC website changed to contradict scientific conclusion that vaccines don’t cause autism

The Trump administration has revised a website to contradict the scientific consensus that vaccines don’t cause autism.

Washington resident is infected with a different type of bird flu

Health officials in Washington state report a resident has contracted bird flu, marking the first U.S. human case since February.

FILEW - This undated photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Lone Star tick, which despite its Texas-sounding name, is found mainly in the Southeast. (James Gathany/CDC via AP)

Scientists document a death from a meat allergy tied to certain ticks

Researchers are reporting what they believe is the first documented death from a meat allergy triggered by tick bites.

This October 2024 image provided by Novartis shows GanLum, a new anti-malaria treatment, at a manufacturing facility in Slovenia. (Novartis via AP)

As drug resistance grows, 2 new malaria treatments show promise

Researchers are reporting two promising approaches to counteract malaria’s growing drug resistance. Switzerland-based Novartis has released results for a new experimental drug called GanLum.

This 1966 microscope photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli, the organism responsible for causing the disease tuberculosis. (Elizabeth S. Mingioli/CDC via AP, File)

Global tuberculosis diagnoses rise to a record, but deaths fall, WHO reports

The number of people diagnosed with tuberculosis worldwide rose again last year, eclipsing 2023’s record total.

A sign marks the entrance to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, Aug. 27, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

Government shutdown means many CDC experts are skipping a pivotal meeting on infectious disease

An annual conference about infectious diseases is seeing a dramatic attendance decline, in part because Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts can’t participate.

Vials of the Jynneos vaccine for monkeypox are taken from a cooler at a vaccinations site, Aug. 29, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)

California mpox cases raise concerns. But health officials say the risk remains low

Investigators suspect that two Californians diagnosed with mpox may be the first U.S. cases resulting from the local spread of a different version of the virus.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner, in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Democratic governors form a public health alliance in rebuke of Trump administration

Democratic governors from 14 states and Guam have launched a new public health alliance. They say the group will coordinate issues across state lines and share data and information about threats, guidelines and emergency preparedness.

Committee member Dr. Martin Kulldorf, speaks during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Chamblee, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

CDC stops recommending COVID-19 shots for all, leaves decision to patients

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has adopted recommendations by a new group of vaccine advisers, and has stopped recommending COVID-19 shots for anyone.

This 1971 microscope photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria, which causes the sexually-transmitted disease gonorrhea. (CDC via AP, File)

Sexually transmitted disease cases fall, but not syphilis in newborns

New government data shows another decline in sexually transmitted disease rates for U.S. adults, but also a continued rise in syphilis in newborns.

This 2019 illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) bacteria. (Stephanie Rossow/CDC via AP)

‘Nightmare bacteria’ cases are increasing in the US

Government scientists say infection rates from drug-resistant “nightmare bacteria” have been increasing dramatically.

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