YouTube is taking a dive into the healthcare industry by partnering with Mass General Brigham to produce step-by-step, explainer videos on first aid topics. 

Twenty-one states reported "very high" levels of respiratory virus activity — a measure of outpatient and emergency department visits — for the week ending Dec. 30, up from 13 that reported the same a week earlier.  

COVID-19 tests used to be able to detect a positive case within the first 48 hours, but many results are now delayed until four days after symptoms appear, according to the LA Times.

Two COVID-19 omicron subvariants that emerged in 2023, BA.2.86 and JN.1, may be more severe than previously thought, according to research published Jan. 8 in the journal Cell.

Philadelphia officials have named five hospitals, two healthcare facilities and one day care as potential exposure sites to a measles outbreak.

Hospitalizations for respiratory viruses are on the rise nationwide following a holiday season marked by extensive travel and indoor gatherings.

Upticks in respiratory virus activity, especially hospitalizations, are taxing to the nation's healthcare system in terms of both costs and resources. 

Officials from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health are reporting a cluster of measles cases in unvaccinated individuals, according to a Jan. 5 news release. 

Nearly 35,000 COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals across the country in the week ending Dec. 30 — a 20% jump from the week prior. In the same week, more than 20,000 flu patients were hospitalized, according to the latest updates from the CDC. 

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, MD, PhD, has called for a halt to the administration of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines over concerns about what he calls nucleic acid contaminants, the office shared in a Jan. 3 news release. The move contradicts national guidelines from the CDC and FDA. 

Despite rising respiratory infections nationwide, Kim Bennion, the enterprise director of research and respiratory care at Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare, is optimistic about what 2024 may hold for respiratory care, thanks in-part to advances in technology like artificial intelligence. The advancements promise to streamline pulmonary care and could eventually be used to also monitor more acute respiratory conditions like COVID-19 or the flu. 

Multiple victims from a mass shooting at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa, the morning of Jan. 4 have been taken to Iowa Methodist Medical Center and MercyOne in Des Moines, a spokesperson for the hospitals confirmed to Becker's.

When the pandemic began in 2020, providing care to hospitalized COVID-19 patients cost hospitals around $10,394 per patient. Since then, the price to provide the same inpatient care climbed by 26% to $13,072 in just two years, according to the research published Jan. 3 in JAMA. 

New York state health officials are reporting a rise in cases of pertussis, also known as whooping cough. 

COVID-19 and flu admissions continue to climb across the country, with the majority of states now reporting high levels of respiratory virus activity. 

As hospitalizations and case counts increase for COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus nationwide following the holiday season, some places have brought back mask policies to curb the spike.

Artificial intelligence may be able to detect and predict severity of new COVID-19 variants, according to a study published Jan. 2 in PNAS Nexus.

Lack of oversight and increasing reports of infection are causing physicians to sound alarm bells about risks related to medical spas.

With holiday gatherings wrapping up, experts anticipate further increases in hospitalizations for respiratory illnesses over the next few weeks.

CDC data shows new COVID-19 hospitalizations increased for the sixth week straight, with nearly 26,000 admissions reported for the week ending Dec. 16.