Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 — dubbed 'escape variants' for their immune evasiveness — are gaining prevalence and now account for more than 16 percent of all COVID-19 cases confirmed in the U.S., according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Oct. 21.

For the week ending Oct. 15, 1,674 patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza were admitted to a hospital, according to the CDC's latest FluView report. 

The CDC's new plan to accelerate its response to health threats and simplify public messaging is already facing roadblocks, Politico reported Oct. 21

Health experts are carefully watching COVID-19 trends in New York amid signs the nation will face a winter surge. The state has seen an increase in hospitalizations over the last month. 

People who survived the bubonic plague in parts of Europe had mutations in their genes that likely offered protection against the disease, but those same mutations passed down to survivors' descendants may increase the risk of autoimmune disease, research published Oct. 19 in Nature suggests. 

A boy in Nevada has died from primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, a rare infection caused by the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri, state health officials said Oct. 19.

The eight most recent confirmed Ebola cases in Uganda's outbreak are not tied to any known infected contacts, raising concern about wider spread, global health officials said during an Oct. 19 update. 

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended the authorized COVID-19 shots for the Vaccines for Children program Oct. 19, which would waive the vaccine's fee for uninsured children when federal funds run out. 

Alternate data sources — such as wastewater surveillance and population surveys — are emerging as the most effective ways to track local COVID-19 virus trends amid unreliable case data and a departure from daily reporting cadences, Betsy Ladyzhets wrote in an Oct. 17 piece for The Atlantic.

The White House on Oct. 18 unveiled a strategy to bolster the nation's ability to respond to future pandemics and other biological threats, including an objective to manufacture enough of a new vaccine to protect the population within 130 days of a new outbreak. 

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Florida is seeing a spike in infections caused by Vibrio vulnificus. The bacteria lives in warm, brackish sea water and may cause severe illness and death. 

Boston University is defending a study involving a lab-made hybrid COVID-19 strain amid national scrutiny and a federal probe. 

The CDC has activated its emergency response structure in response to Uganda's Ebola outbreak, which has infected at least 54 people and killed 39, agency officials said during an Oct. 12 call. 

CDC estimates indicate a new omicron variant, BQ.1, and its descendent BQ.1.1 account for 11.4 percent of cases nationwide. The pair have been dubbed "escape variants" for their ability to escape immunity and are currently most prevalent in New York and New Jersey, where they account for nearly 20 percent of new infections.

While COVID-19 cases have been falling for more than three months, modeling from Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic suggests this trend will reverse by the end of October. 

Between 2019 and 2020, the mortality rate among women increased by 21 percent.

COVID-19 cases have fallen nationwide for three consecutive months, but new omicron subvariants are quickly gaining a foothold in the U.S. and could reverse this trend over the coming months, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Oct. 14.

The U.S. is seeing flu activity rise earlier than usual, with Southern states reporting the highest levels of activity, according to the CDC's latest FluView report for the week ending Oct. 8. 

The days of the orderly succession of individual dominant variants (alpha, beta, delta, etc.) are likely over, with the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic to be marked by the splintering of a single strain, or what experts call "convergent evolution." Right now, that's exactly what's happening with omicron, Yahoo News reported Oct. 13.

Monkeypox cases in the U.S. peaked in early August and have since fallen more than 85 percent. The outbreak's quick downfall can mainly be attributed to four factors, experts told The New York Times.