The Columbian

Health Wire

People line up at a food truck parked near Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Monday, May 23, 2022. A COVID surge is under way that is starting to cause disruptions as schools wrap up for the year and Americans prepare for summer vacations. Case counts are as high as they've been since mid-February and those figures are likely a major undercount because of unreported home tests and asymptomatic infections. But the beaches beckoned and visitors have flocked to Hawaii, especially in recent months.

Americans plan for summer vacations despite virus surge

May 24, 2022, 6:44pm Health

A high school prom in Hawaii where masked dancers weren’t allowed to touch. A return to virtual city council meetings in one Colorado town after the mayor and others tested positive following an in-person session. A reinstated mask mandate at skilled nursing facilities in Los Angeles County after 22 new… Read story

FILE - Shelves typically stocked with baby formula sit mostly empty at a store in San Antonio, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. A massive baby formula recall, combined with COVID-related supply chain problems, is getting most of the blame for the shortage that's causing distress for many parents across the U.S. But the nation's formula supply has long been vulnerable to this type of crisis, experts say, due to decades-old rules and policies that have allowed a handful of companies to corner nearly the entire U.S. market.

U.S. safety, savings rules set stage for baby formula shortage

May 24, 2022, 1:35pm Health

A massive recall is getting most of the blame for the U.S. baby formula shortage, but experts say the products have long been vulnerable to this type of crisis due to decades-old policies that have allowed a handful of companies to corner the market. Read story

FILE - Ilana Diener holds her son, Hudson, 3, during an appointment for a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial in Commack, N.Y. on Nov. 30, 2021. Parents hoping to get their youngest children vaccinated against COVID-19 have some encouraging news. Pfizer said Monday, May 23, 2022, that three doses of its vaccines offers strong protection to those under 5. That news comes a month after Moderna said it would ask regulators to OK its two shot regimen for the youngest kids. (AP Photo/Emma H.

What’s next for COVID-19 vaccines for youngest US children

May 24, 2022, 8:17am Health Free

Parents hoping to get their youngest children vaccinated against COVID-19 got some encouraging news Monday. Read story

FILE - Amy McCoy signs to a baby about food as a toddler finishes lunch behind at her Forever Young Daycare facility, Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, U.S. births bumped up in 2021, but the number of babies born was still lower than before the coronavirus pandemic.

US births rose last year but still less than before pandemic

May 24, 2022, 8:13am Health

U.S. births bumped up last year, but the number of babies born was still lower than before the coronavirus pandemic. Read story

This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, and depicts the dorsal surfaces of the hands of a monkeypox case patient, who was displaying the appearance of the characteristic rash during its recuperative stage. As more cases of monkeypox are detected in Europe and North America in 2022, some scientists who have monitored numerous outbreaks in Africa say they are baffled by the unusual disease's spread in developed countries.

What to know about the monkeypox outbreak and Washington’s first presumptive case

May 24, 2022, 7:31am Health

Public health officials reported the first presumptive case of monkeypox in Washington state on Monday. Read story

Helping baby, parents in formula shortage

May 24, 2022, 6:00am Health

Infant caregivers are finding empty store shelves where baby formula was once stocked. They may be turning to online searches and even alternative solutions, such as making homemade baby formula. Read story

Presumptive case of monkeypox reported in Seattle area

May 23, 2022, 5:33pm Health

A “presumptive” case of monkeypox is being investigated in the Seattle area, local health officials said Monday. Read story

FILE - Margot Riphagen of New Orleans, wears a birth control pill costume as she protests in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on March 25, 2014. In 2022, a leaked draft opinion indicating U.S. Supreme Court justices are poised to overturn the decision that legalized abortion nationwide in the U.S. is raising fears that restrictions on contraception could follow.

If Roe falls, some fear repercussions for reproductive care

May 23, 2022, 12:30pm Health

If the Supreme Court follows through on overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion likely will be banned or greatly restricted in about half the U.S. states. But experts and advocates fear repercussions could reach even further, affecting care for women who miscarry, couples seeking fertility treatments and access to some forms… Read story

FILE - Kids are silhouetted against a pond at a park in Lenexa, Kan., on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020. Health officials remain perplexed by mysterious cases of severe liver damage in hundreds of young children around the world. In May 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said they are now looking into 180 possible cases across the U.S. More than 20 other countries have reported hundreds more cases in total, though the largest numbers have been in the U.K. and U.S.

Theories emerge for mysterious liver illnesses in children

May 23, 2022, 8:12am Health

Health officials remain perplexed by mysterious cases of severe liver damage in hundreds of young children around the world. Read story