Health News

(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump's surgeon general nominee is appearing before the Senate on Wednesday for her confirmation hearing.Dr. Casey Means was originally scheduled to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee in October, but it was postponed for four months after she went into labor.If confirmed, Means would become the nation's top doctor, leading more than 6,000 members of the U.S. Public Health Service, including physicians, nurses, scientists and […]

(NEW YORK) -- U.S. childhood and teen obesity rates have reached record-highs while adult obesity rates may be slowing, according to two new reports published early Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Researchers used measured heights and weights from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) -- run by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics -- to track trends over more than six decades.In the first […]

(NEW YORK ) -- Fewer people are dying from heart disease, but the condition is still the leading cause of death in the U.S., a new report from the American Heart Association (AHA) finds.Although death rates from heart disease have dropped for the first time in the past five years, it still kills more Americans than any other condition, according to the report, published early Wednesday in the journal Circulation.Annual […]

(NEW YORK) -- The American Red Cross declared a severe emergency blood shortage on Monday and called on people to donate.The humanitarian organization, which says it's the largest supplier of blood products for hospitals and for patient need in the U.S., said the demand from hospitals has outpaced the available supply of blood.Dr. Courtney Lawrence, divisional chief medical officer at American Red Cross, told ABC News that almost one-third of […]

(SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C.) -- At least 88 new measles cases in South Carolina have been confirmed amid the state's outbreak, bringing the total number of infections to 646, state health officials said Tuesday.The majority of cases have been found in the Upstate region and around Spartanburg County, which sits on the border with North Carolina.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All […]

(WASHINGTON) -- On the last day to enroll in Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plans in most states, President Donald Trump presented his own ideas for a health care plan that left some health policy experts that spoke to ABC News with unanswered questions.Trump has long been asked for a health care plan amid sustained criticism of the ACA, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama. "The […]

(ATLANTA) -- Flu activity continues to remain elevated across the United States, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The CDC estimates there have been at least 18 million illnesses, 230,000 hospitalizations and 9,300 deaths from flu so far this season.Currently, 14 states are seeing "very high" levels of flu-like illnesses while 19 states are seeing "high" levels, CDC data shows.At least 15 flu-associated deaths […]

(NEW YORK) -- The U.S. is close to reaching at least 1,000 measles cases for the third time in eight years.At least 72 new measles cases have been confirmed in the last week, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.So far this year, there have been total of 982 cases in 26 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, […]

(NEW YORK) -- As measles continues to spread across the U.S., with outbreaks popping up around the country, public health experts have been stressing the importance of getting vaccinated to stop the spread of disease.This has involved local doctors and health department workers going into outbreak areas to offer the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.The MMR vaccine is typically a two-dose series given first at 12-15 months old and again at 4-6 years […]