(WTTW News)

Recently, a young child was poisoned in his Belmont-Cragin apartment and now faces a host of health problems. It’s spurred a debate on whether the city can do more to fix the problem before another child is affected. 

(WTTW News)

This month marks three years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. More than 2,300 Latino Chicagoans have died from COVID-19 since March 2020, according to data from the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, poses for a portrait inside an exam room at Planned Parenthood Friday, March 10, 2023, in Fairview Heights, Ill. (AP Photo / Jeff Roberson)
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Hundreds of women travel each week to the southern tip of Illinois to secure an abortion, something that is no longer available to millions living in a 1,800 mile stretch of 11 Southern states that have mostly banned pregnancy terminations.

(WTTW News)
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Every year on Match Day, medical students across the U.S. anxiously open envelopes to learn the name of the institution where they will start the next chapter of their careers. 

This undated photo made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a strain of Candida auris cultured in a petri dish at a CDC laboratory. (Shawn Lockhart / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP, File)

The fungus, Candida auris, is a form of yeast that is usually not harmful to healthy people but can be a deadly risk to fragile hospital and nursing home patients.

Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, appears on "Chicago Tonight" on March 20, 2023. (WTTW News)

Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, led Chicago’s effort to fight the deadly virus. On this third anniversary of the pandemic, Arwady reflects on lessons learned and whether she would have done anything differently. 

Jedi Rucizka, 2, of Chicago, was hospitalized for lead poisoning. (WTTW News)

Paint containing lead has been outlawed in Chicago since 1978, but a WTTW News investigation has found the vast majority of Chicago’s housing stock still contains potentially toxic levels of the substance.

FILE - Doses of the anti-viral drug Paxlovid are displayed in New York, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (AP Photo / Stephanie Nano, File)

The medication has been used by millions of Americans since the FDA granted it emergency use authorization in late 2021. The agency has the final say on giving Pfizer’s drug full approval and is expected to decide by May.

(WTTW News)
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The Surface Transportation Board approved the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. Illinois congressional members and transit agencies previously expressed opposition to the move.

(WTTW News)
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Drivers who park their cars in dedicated bicycle and bus lanes, as well as crosswalks, bus stops and no parking zones, will be ticketed if the infraction is captured by city cameras mounted on poles and on the front of buses and other city vehicles, officials said.

Hospitals are closely watching an ongoing shortage of albuterol, which is used to treat people with breathing problems. (Adobe Stock)

Liquid albuterol has been in short supply since last summer. Now, the news of a manufacturing plant shutdown worries some doctors who work with patients with breathing problems such as asthma.

Pilsen Food Pantry purchased a permanent home at 21st and Ashland. (WTTW News)

Since it first opened inside a health clinic in 2018 and moved to a deconsecrated church in 2019, the Pilsen Food Pantry has expanded its offerings and ambition.

(WTTW News)

Cook County is the worst neighbor in the country when it comes to smog, according to new data from the EPA. Health-damaging smog can travel hundreds of miles to neighboring counties and states.

Students select their meal during lunch break in the cafeteria at V. H. Lassen Academy of Science and Nutrition in Phoenix, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. (AP Photo / Alberto Mariani)
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Soaring food prices are adding strains on families who are seeing reductions in multiple kinds of financial assistance. One federal program that ends this month had given nearly 30 million Americans extra food stamps during the pandemic.

(WTTW News)

The U.S. Department of Energy and the FBI both assess that COVID-19 may have leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. Yet the Energy Department has “low confidence” in its assessment, while FBI director Christopher Wray said the agency has “moderate confidence” in its.

An overturned rail car is pictured at the crash site in East Palestine, Ohio. (Environmental Protection Agency)
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Federal data show 272 hazardous materials releases involving trains in Illinois in the last decade. Predicting when and where environmental problems will manifest is difficult, but the risk is real.