MIKE STOBBE | The Seattle Times

June 1, 2023 at 10:59 am

Black men were likely underdiagnosed with lung problems because of bias in software, study suggests

A new study suggests racial bias built into a common medical test for lung function is likely leading to fewer Black patients getting care for...

FILE – A doctor uses a hand-held Doppler probe on a pregnant woman to measure the heartbeat of the fetus on Dec. 17, 2021, in Jackson, Miss. U.S. births were flat in 2022, as the nation continues to see fewer babies born than before the pandemic. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) NY869 NY869

May 31, 2023 at 9:02 pm

US births in 2022 didn’t return to pre-pandemic levels

U.S. births were flat last year, as the nation continues to see fewer babies born than it did before the pandemic.

FILE – This image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) shows a colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles (red) found within an infected cell (blue), cultured in the laboratory that was captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. The World Health Organization has renamed monkeypox as mpox, citing concerns the original name of the decades-old animal disease could be construed as discriminatory and racist. (NIAID via AP, File) AMB102 AMB102

May 25, 2023 at 10:13 am

Mpox is down, but US cities could be at risk for summertime outbreaks

A new study suggests dozens of U.S. cities are at risk for mpox outbreaks this summer. Health officials are urging those at risk to be...

May 19, 2023 at 1:21 pm

4th death, more vision loss cases linked to tainted eyedrops

U.S. health officials are reporting another death and several more cases of vision loss linked to eyedrops tainted with a drug-resistant bacteria.

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May 17, 2023 at 8:16 am

Drug overdoses in the US slightly increased last year. But experts see hopeful signs

Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. rose in 2022 but at a much smaller rate than the previous two years. Experts aren't sure if this...

FILE – Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 16, 2022. Walensky on Wednesday, Aug. 17, delivered a sweeping rebuke of her agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying it had failed to respond quickly enough and needed to be overhauled. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times) XNYT31 XNYT31

May 5, 2023 at 9:33 am

CDC’s Rochelle Walensky resigns, citing pandemic transition

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is resigning.

FILE – A man walks through the snow covered Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Mount Lebanon, Pa., on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. U.S. deaths fell in 2022, as COVID-19 fatalities dropped by half from 2021 and the coronavirus dropped from being the nation’s third leading cause of death to the fourth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the 2022 numbers on Thursday, May 4, 2023, cautioning that they are preliminary and may change a little after further analysis. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) NY608 NY608

May 4, 2023 at 11:16 am

COVID dropped to 4th leading cause of death in US last year

COVID-19 dropped to the No. 4 U.S. cause of death in 2022, trailing heart disease, cancer and injuries such as drug overdoses, vehicle fatalities and...

FILE – People are silhouetted against the sky as the sun sets Wednesday, May 11, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. According to a report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, April 27, 2023, the first years of the pandemic saw a huge decline in high school students having sex. Teen sex was already becoming less and less common before COVID-19. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) NY589 NY589

April 27, 2023 at 10:09 am

Pandemic sent high school sex to new low, survey finds

The decline in teen sex coincided with reports of social isolation and poor mental health, prompting one expert to say, " ... maybe teens are...

April 26, 2023 at 9:02 pm

US adult cigarette smoking rate hits new all-time low

U.S. adults are smoking less.

FILE – Tombstones mark graves at the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Portsmouth, Va., Tuesday, March 23, 2021. The longstanding racial gap in U.S. stroke death rates widened dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research suggests. Stroke death rates increased for both Black and White adults in 2020 and 2021, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, April 20, 2023. But the difference between the two groups grew about 22%, compared to the five years before the pandemic. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) NY454 NY454

April 20, 2023 at 10:14 am

Racial gap in US stroke deaths widened during pandemic

The longstanding racial gap in U.S. stroke death rates widened dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus probably wasn't the only factor, experts said