About 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year — about 14% fewer than the previous year, according to preliminary government data.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is investigating a potential hantavirus case in an Illinois resident that is not linked to the deadly cruise ship outbreak, the health department announced Tuesday.

New evidence shows that kids need pauses between concentrated bouts of learning so the brain can hold and store the information. Researchers also say recess gives kids a chance to navigate relationships and build confidence, which is just as important for older kids as younger ones.

In an effort to combat suicide trends, two community-led organizations in Chicago — No Kids Die in the Chi and Soul Survivors of Chicago — are working to intervene early and provide young people with culturally grounded support.

Three passengers have died and at least four people are sick in what health officials say is an outbreak of hantavirus, which usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings.

At least 34 people in 13 states — including Illinois — have been sickened with salmonella poisoning traced to contact with backyard poultry, federal health officials said. Backyard poultry include birds like chicken, ducks, geese, guinea fowl and turkeys.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last weekend directing the FDA and other federal agencies to speed research and loosen restrictions on psychedelics, a class of hallucinogenic drugs which remain illegal under federal law.

Jess Michaels and Jena-Lisa Jones, survivors of abuse by late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, said that while Epstein survivors are still far from getting justice, they hope the increased attention on the Epstein Files — and the stories of survivors – will help others stand up to abuse happening in their own communities.

Home care workers with SEIU Healthcare Illinois and state legislators gathered Thursday in front of the Illinois Capitol Building in Springfield to rally in support of a bill that would raise wages for home care workers serving seniors through the state’s Community Care Program.

Chicago’s lack of affordable housing impacts thousands of residents across the city. This problem is exacerbated when accessibility accommodations, such as needing a wheelchair, are also necessary.

Rush nurses, in collaboration with National Nurses United and its affiliate National Nurses Organizing Committee, filed a petition Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election, according to union organizers.

Chicago South Side Birth Center plans to offer prenatal care, birth services, postpartum care, lactation support, holistic reproductive health care, childbirth education and community wellness programming.

Hall of Famer Steve McMichael, a key member of the dominating defense that helped the 1985 Chicago Bears win the Super Bowl, has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the Concussion & CTE Foundation said.

The South Side Healthy Community Organization and the Chicago Birthworks Collective are partnering to provide free doula services to South Side mothers who are uninsured or on Medicaid.

At Heartland, immigrant children who crossed the U.S. border have received residential and medical care, education and legal services before being connected with permanent homes.

Because raw milk has not been pasteurized to remove illness-causing organisms, Illinois imposes strict limitations on its sale to protect public health. Some want to change that.