There were about 101,000 overdose deaths in the year ending in April, CDC estimates. There are still far more lives being lost now than before the pandemic – in 2019, there were about 72,000 fatal overdoses – but the latest data shows that deaths dropped a marked 10% in one year and are the lowest they’ve been since the spring of 2021.

Elected officials, community members and partners gathered Monday morning for a groundbreaking ceremony for Sankofa Wellness Center, at the corner of West Madison Street and South Kildare Avenue.

Last year was the first year that the U.S. had vaccines available to protect against all three major respiratory viruses — COVID-19, flu and RSV — but vaccine uptake was low for the season. Here is what you need to know this year. 

Last month, the World Health Organization declared an mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to be a public health emergency of international concern, and the outbreak has spread to a growing number of countries in Africa.

The nonprofit Remember Him Remember Her has partnered with Nave Wellness Center to provide free monthly grief support groups to people navigating parental loss.

While many of those tests merely showed reportable levels of legionella, some found fixtures with potentially dangerous levels of the bacteria — including in a kitchen used by jurors and in the building’s cafeteria, which is open to the public. The fixture in the juror kitchen was found to be contaminated last year, while two cafeteria fixtures tested positive as recently as July.

It was a powerful and memorable moment at last month’s Democratic National Convention when Gus Walz, the son of vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, emotionally cheered as his father delivered his acceptance speech. But some online commenters mocked the 17-year-old’s actions, sparking backlash.

COVID-19 levels in the U.S. are very high and rising, according to wastewater surveillance data from the CDC. Levels have been rising since May and are already as high as they were in December of last year. Hospitalization rates related to COVID-19 also remain elevated.

An estimated 3 million children and teens are exposed to shootings every year in America. More than 1,300 of them have occurred in schools in the past decade.

The eggs were distributed in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan through retail stores and food service distributors. The recall includes all egg types and expiration dates in containers labeled with “Milo’s Poultry Farms” or “Tony’s Fresh Market.”

For many, navigating how to lead a healthy life can be challenging. Efforts to encourage local food sourcing are creating broader opportunities to address health equity.

Human cases of the West Nile virus, spread by a bite from an infected mosquito, is typically at its highest in August and September, according to Rebecca Lee Smith, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the recall a more urgent classification Friday after making its original announcement Aug. 15. The new classification said the affected product may temporarily cause adverse health consequences but is unlikely to cause serious or irreversible medical issues.

Newly updated vaccines against COVID-19 will be in pharmacies soon, just as the US is experiencing a surge of infections. But is it a good idea to get in line for a new shot pronto, or should you wait a few weeks to get optimal protection against a possible winter wave?

With the Food and Drug Administration’s clearance, Pfizer and Moderna are set to begin shipping millions of doses. A third U.S. manufacturer, Novavax, expects its modified vaccine version to be available a little later.

The agency is expected to greenlight updated mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech that target a strain of the virus called KP.2, said the sources, who declined to be named because the timing information isn’t public.