Stories by Lauren J. Young

Ozzy Osbourne, lead singer of Black Sabbath, has died at age 76. He said he had been previously diagnosed with a form of Parkinson’s disease linked to the gene PRKN

After photographs showed President Donald Trump with swollen ankles and bruised hands, the White House revealed he has chronic venous insufficiency—a blood vessel disease that affects circulation in the legs

A person in Arizona recently died of pneumonic plague—a rare and severe form of the disease. An expert explains how the bacteria that spurred the Black Death centuries ago continues to claim lives

Super Agers author Eric Topol unpacks the rise of biological age tests—from organ clocks to immune system clocks—and how they might revolutionize early diagnosis of disease

The first hints that a new strain of avian illness is emerging could be found on this beach on Delaware Bay, where migrating birds flock. Here’s what virus detectives who return there every year know right now.

Major changes hit a key CDC vaccine advisory panel, ocean acidification crosses a critical threshold, and new research reveals an unexpected threat to pangolins.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., abruptly removes all 17 sitting members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). An epidemiologist explains how this will affect people’s health and vaccine access

In recent years COVID shots joined flu shots as an annual offering at most neighborhood pharmacies. But the current administration has thrown that into uncertainty

As U.S. childhood vaccination rates sway on a “knife’s edge,” new 25-year projections reveal how slight changes in national immunization could improve—or drastically reverse—the prevalence of measles, polio, rubella and diphtheria

High vaccination rates eliminated measles in the U.S. An outbreak that began in West Texas is threatening to overturn that status.

Trump’s HHS and NIH are planning to invest $500 million in a killed-whole-virus approach to universal vaccines, including such vaccines for flu and COVID. Here’s why that’s challenging

This week the secretary of health and human services announced plans to remove eight more food dyes from the U.S.’s food system

The U.S. formally eliminated measles in 2000 thanks to widespread vaccination, but public health experts fear the current growing outbreak of the disease may allow it to reclaim its hold

The Office for Long COVID Research and Practice was instrumental in coordinating the U.S. government’s initiatives to treat, diagnose and prevent the mysterious postviral condition that affects millions of people today

COVID’s emotional and educational strain on children still lingers, but educators and mental health specialists say they are far from a “lost generation”

Avian influenza continues to fuel egg shortages. Plus, a delayed CDC study on household cats reveals concerning human exposure routes

Researchers in the U.S. are grappling with Trump administration executive orders around health and science agency funding and communications.

ZYN, the popular brand of flavored nicotine pouches, recently earned FDA authorization for reducing smoking, but some questions linger. Experts explain the efficacy and potential health risks of nicotine pouches

A common respiratory virus called human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, has been spreading in some countries in Asia, including China, India, Malaysia and Kazakhstan. Here’s what we know

The scientists behind a popular study on the health effects of flame retardants in black plastic cooking utensils and toys made a calculation error but still say their revised findings are alarming

A new study suggests certain lipids, particularly omega-6 fatty acids, which are commonly found in seed oils used to make ultraprocessed junk food, may promote inflammation that can lead to colon cancer tumors

From the “sleepy girl mocktail” to power naps, researchers explained which sleep trends this year really help with quality shut-eye

A new study finds tweaking part of the H5N1 virus infecting dairy cows in a single spot could allow it to better attach to human cell receptors, raising concerns it could transmit more easily between people

Canada’s first human case of bird flu has left a teenager in critical condition as human infections continue to emerge in the western U.S.