HONOLULU (AP) — Cheri Burness' dog was the first to signal something was wrong with their tap water. He stopped drinking it two weeks ago. Then Burness started feeling stomach cramps. Her 12-year-old daughter was nauseous. "It was just getting worse every day," said Burness, whose husband is in the Navy. Their family is among [...]
LOUIS (AP) — For years, testing of the tap water in an upscale Detroit suburb showed the city was in the clear. Then residents got a notice seemingly out of the blue: Their water could be contaminated with elevated levels of lead. The city of Royal Oak had not made drastic changes to its water. [...]
After a slow start, the United States has improved its surveillance system for tracking new coronavirus variants such as omicron, boosting its capacity by tens of thousands of samples per week since early this year. Viruses mutate constantly. To find and track new versions of the coronavirus, scientists analyze the genetic makeup of a portion [...]
WASHINGTON — Millions more home tests for COVID-19 are hitting store shelves, but will there be enough for Americans hoping to screen themselves before holiday gatherings? Gone are last year's long lines to get tested, thanks to nearly a year of vaccinations, increased testing supplies and quicker options. But with many Americans unvaccinated and reports [...]
NEW YORK — An influential advisory panel will discuss expanding eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to all adults, a move that could make the shots available nationwide as early as this weekend. Some cities and states already allow all adults to get boosters of Pfizer's vaccine, but it is not yet official policy. In [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — An estimated 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in one year, a never-before-seen milestone that health officials say is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and a more dangerous drug supply. Overdose deaths have been rising for more than two decades, accelerated in the past two years and, according to new data [...]
The rollout of COVID-19 shots for elementary-age children has exposed another blind spot in the nation's efforts to address pandemic inequalities: Health systems have released little data on the racial breakdown of youth vaccinations, and community leaders fear that black and Latino kids are falling behind. Only a handful of states have made public data [...]
Universities that adopted COVID-19 vaccine mandates this fall have seen widespread compliance even though many schools made it easy to get out of the shots by granting exemptions to nearly any student who requested one. Facing pockets of resistance and scattered lawsuits, colleges have tread carefully because forcing students to get the vaccine when they [...]
CHICAGO (AP) — In Kansas City, Kan., educators are opening an after-school mental health clinic staffed with school counselors and social workers. Schools in Paterson, N.J., have set up social emotional learning teams to identify students dealing with crises. Chicago is staffing up "care teams" with the mission of helping struggling students on its 500-plus [...]
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Food banks already dealing with increased demand from families sidelined by the pandemic now face a new challenge — surging food prices and supply chain issues walloping the nation. The higher costs and limited availability mean some families may get smaller servings or substitutions for staples such as peanut butter, which [...]