This year’s flu season has hit hard and early. Some people are even noticing bare shelves at pharmacies and grocery stores when they make a run for over-the-counter medicines as cases have spiked. 

Omar Corro, senior director of operations at Rincon Family Services, said a major issue is family members not understanding what an individual in recovery might be going through, especially during the holidays.

“It’s too soon to say whether iGAS case numbers are just returning to pre-pandemic levels or if they are rising beyond what we would normally expect based on what we know about GAS seasonal patterns,” CDC spokesperson Kate Grusich wrote In an email.

Hospital systems around the country are rolling out fees for some messages that patients send to physicians, who they say are spending an increasing amount of time poring over online queries, some so complex that they require the level of medical expertise normally dispensed during an office visit.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s also a time when heart attacks and strokes spike. Research shows heart attacks spike by 30% to 40% in the last two weeks of the year.

After a three-month hiatus, the administration is making four rapid virus tests available per household through covidtests.gov starting Thursday.

Under the leadership of CEO Tim Egan, Chicago’s Roseland Community Hospital has awarded business to his friends and acquaintances, employees have donated to his political funds and he has appeared in a campaign ad for the state’s comptroller.

In Cook County, Black youth account for more than 70% of the child welfare system. Meanwhile, Black residents make up only 23% of the county’s total population. As of February 2022, there are more than 4,000 Black children in foster care in Cook County.

Illinois reported 3,314 new COVID cases Tuesday, leading to about a 7% increase from last week. Meanwhile, data shows RSV cases are on a steady decline and the virus could finally be peaking.

Pharmacies across the country are seeing surging demand for child-friendly versions of Amoxicillin, Tamiflu and other drugs. That demand has led at times to empty shelves and parents having to try multiple pharmacies to find their child’s prescription.

Coronavirus-related hospital admissions are climbing again in the United States, with older adults a growing share of U.S. deaths and less than half of nursing home residents up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations.

The Greater Chicago Food Depository estimates that while food insecurity is overall 19% higher compared to pre-pandemic levels, it’s 37% higher for Black households.

The City Council’s Transportation Committee advanced the measure six months after 3-year-old Lily Shambrook died while riding in a carrier on her mother’s bicycle.

The Food and Drug Administration’s decision aims to better protect the littlest kids from severe COVID-19 at a time when children’s hospitals already are packed with tots suffering from a variety of respiratory illnesses.

Rates of deaths from drug overdoses among older adults have more than tripled in the past two decades, according to one report published Wednesday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. In 2020, more than 5,000 adults 65 and older in the United States died of a drug overdose.

Over Thanksgiving week, hundreds of Robbins residents were left with dry homes following two water main breaks. It is just part of a long history of water infratructure problems in the town.