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.

Timely care is essential for many nursing home residents. New federal staffing standards from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are aimed at improving access to care, but some advocates say the measures don’t do enough.

A bill banning what unions refer to as employer-sponsored “captive audience” meetings about religion and politics has cleared the General Assembly. It was one of 466 measures to do so during the Illinois legislature’s spring session, including a bill allowing for digital driver’s licenses.

Beginning in October 2020, LaSalle Veterans Home experienced a COVID-19 outbreak that sickened nearly 200 people. A whopping 85% of residents and 35% of staff tested positive for the virus, which eventually killed three dozen residents.

Local health officials are working to notify people who may have been exposed to measles after a northwest Indiana resident sought medical care last week in Chicago while contagious with the infection.

The State Health Improvement Plan is part of a larger five-year plan that Illinois officials will use to outline and address the major public health issues facing the state.  

A data analysis by WTTW News and the Hyde Park Herald/South Side Weekly found the disparity between access to quality nursing home care for Black and White Chicagoans is stark, with highly rated homes concentrated on the city’s North Side and housing majority White residents.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 were up 22% statewide last week compared to the week before.

Forty-four counties in the state were at an elevated level for COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to CDC data for the week ending Nov. 25. Cook County remains at a low level for COVID-19 hospitalizations.

A new state health report pinpoints racism as a public health crisis while also noting Illinois needs to improve in the areas of maternal and infant health, mental health and substance use disorders.

While the public health emergency is officially over, COVID-19 is still making people sick, and health officials say they’ve entered a new front.

The state still has a long way to go toward ensuring that all Illinois residents can have a safe and healthy pregnancy, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a press release.

The measles case involves an unvaccinated individual and was confirmed by public health officials on Wednesday.

A combination of economic factors, health access and misinformation pushed childhood vaccination figures down to dangerous levels in recent years for many illnesses, including measles, experts said.

Of the 12 total cases of West Nile virus the state health department has seen so far this year, seven of those cases were reported in Cook County, including two in Chicago.

The director of the Illinois Department of Public Health expressed support for the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the state’s assault weapons ban.