A new federal vaccine panel appointed by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recommended tighter restrictions on COVID-19 shots. The committee voted unanimously Friday to advise that adults 65 and older receive COVID vaccines only after discussing the risks and benefits with a health care provider.  For people 6 months through 64 years…  read on >  read on >

Top vaccine advisers hand-selected by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted Thursday to limit the use of a combination shot that protects against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox. By an 8 to 3 vote, with one person abstaining, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that the combined MMRV vaccine not be given…  read on >  read on >

Four Western states are taking a different approach from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccines for COVID-19, flu and RSV. California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington — now working together as the West Coast Health Alliance — issued joint guidance Wednesday encouraging broader vaccine use than what’s recommended today by the…  read on >  read on >

Health workers in southern Kasai province have started giving Ebola vaccines as officials race to contain the latest outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. So far, at least 68 suspected cases and 16 deaths have been reported since the outbreak was declared earlier this month in the locality of Bulape, according to the Africa…  read on >  read on >

Everyone gets headaches, but not all headaches are the same.  For some, they’re a quick inconvenience. For others, they can be intense, long-lasting and even disabling, disrupting daily life for days or weeks. Experts say finding the right treatment depends on identifying the type of headache and understanding what triggers it. “We define chronic headache…  read on >  read on >

Destroying the Amazon rainforest doesn’t just threaten the environment, it may also make people sick. A study published Sept. 11 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment found that rates of certain diseases were lower in regions where forests were protected and managed by Indigenous peoples.  Researchers say the findings add evidence to what Indigenous…  read on >  read on >

Women who overcome cervical cancer might have another potentially life-threatening health crisis on their horizon, researchers say. Cervical cancer survivors have nearly double the risk of developing anal cancers compared to the general population, researchers reported Sept. 11 in JAMA Network Open. And their risk increases as they grow older, and as time passes since…  read on >  read on >