Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is something many parents know as a cause of bronchiolitis, but others may not have heard of it until recently. RSV causes infections of the lungs and respiratory tract. It's common in children, but it can also infect adults.

"A very common disease, the most common reason why a child under 5 ends up in the ...Read more

Each year, there are thousands of people waiting for a kidney or liver transplant in the U.S. Some of those transplant candidates are living with diabetes, high blood pressure or obesity, which can sometimes complicate transplant surgery.

Dr. Shennen Mao, a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon, offers advice on preparing patients for the lifesaving ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland has experienced a “significant increase” in cannabis-related emergency department visits, according to the Maryland Department of Health.

The health department launched a data dashboard last week to track public health impacts of cannabis and visualize trends pre- and post-marijuana legalization in the state.

The ...Read more

Standing desks became popular thanks to phrases like “sitting is the new smoking,” which highlighted the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle.

A new study, however, has found standing desks might do more harm than good, not improving heart health but actually leading to circulation problems.

The study focused on 83,000 people who wore devices ...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Why do I feel better rested when I wake myself up than I do if my alarm or another person wakes me up? – Calleigh H., age 11, Oklahoma

We’ve all experienced this: You’...Read more

Nearly all children get infected with respiratory syncytial virus, more commonly known as RSV, at least once by the time they are 2 years old. The virus can be dangerous for infants and some young children. In fact, RSV is the most common cause of hospitalization in infants under 1 year old. The infection can spread to the lungs and cause ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California public health officials are dipping into state and federal stockpiles to equip up to 10,000 farmworkers with masks, gloves, goggles, and other safety gear as the state confirms at least 21 human cases of bird flu as of early November. It’s the latest reminder of the state’s struggle to remain prepared amid ...Read more

As Western Pennsylvania's population continues to age, and the region's workforce continues to contract, the region will need increasing numbers of caretakers, more than the region can supply.

In recent years, immigrants have emerged as a reliable way to bolster this workforce, but an ongoing National Labor Relations Board case reveals exactly...Read more

If you bring a baby into the Hurley Children’s Center clinic in downtown Flint, Michigan, Mona Hanna will find you. The pediatrician, who gained national prominence for helping uncover the city’s water crisis in 2015, strode across the waiting room in her white lab coat, eyes laser-focused on the chubby baby in the lap of an unsuspecting ...Read more

As communities across the Bay Area continue to grapple with jarring scenes of human suffering on the street, counties in the region are rolling out new state-mandated mental health courts aimed at getting people with serious psychiatric disorders into treatment and housing.

Statewide, most counties must launch CARE courts — conceived of by ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The first case in the U.S. of a more severe mpox variant has been confirmed in a person who had recently traveled to East Africa and was treated in San Mateo County, the California Department of Public Health announced Saturday.

The person diagnosed with the Clade I variant is isolating at home and recovering, while people who ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — San Diego County’s public health department warned local doctors Friday that the region is in the midst of a significant increase in walking pneumonia cases, especially among children ages 2 to 4, echoing a national trend recently observed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And this surge has not arrived ...Read more

Feeling stuffy and ready to reach for NyQuil, Benadryl, or Sudafed PE?

Not so fast.

The Food and Drug Administration has proposed ending the use of oral phenylephrine, a common ingredient found in many cold and allergy medicines — and some pharmacies already are yanking the popular products off shelves.

Florida researchers have been ...Read more

As H5N1 bird flu spreads among California dairy herds and southward-migrating birds, health officials announced Friday six more human cases of infection: five in California and one in Oregon — the state’s first.

A seventh presumptive California case is awaiting confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All of ...Read more

Many scientists at the federal health agencies await the second Donald Trump administration with dread as well as uncertainty over how the president-elect will reconcile starkly different philosophies among the leaders of his team.

Trump announced Thursday he’ll nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of the Health and Human Services ...Read more

Chief executives at Minnesota’s four largest nonprofit health insurers are warning premiums could spike and thousands of residents could lose coverage in 2026 if the state’s congressional delegation doesn’t help save enhanced federal tax credits that subsidize coverage bought through the public MNsure exchange.

The extra federal subsidies...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — At 7:15 a.m. Nov. 6, just hours after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election, the mood in a Washington Square West yoga studio felt heavy.

“Folks were sobbing throughout class,” said Callie Kim, founder of Tuck Barre & Yoga. Students expressed a variety of emotions: “Sadness, frustration, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The pulse oximeter, a device that measures the degree to which red blood cells are saturated with oxygen, is one of healthcare's most fundamental tools.

So when Dr. Noha Aboelata learned that research stretching back decades showed that the devices routinely failed patients with darker skin tones, she took action.

Aboelata, the...Read more