Routine screening can help find kids who are suffering from undiagnosed asthma in communities with high levels of the breathing disorder, a new study says. Asthma screening during well-child visits found that more than two-thirds (35%) of children with no previous diagnosis of asthma had at least one risk factor for the disease, researchers will…  read on >  read on >

Air pollution is known to raise the risk of heart disease, strokes and breathing problems, but new research suggests it may also harm something else: kids’ vision. In a study of nearly 30,000 schoolchildren in Tianjin, China, researchers found that kids exposed to higher levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were…  read on >  read on >

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 >