The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has expanded its recommendations for HIV prevention, giving three medications its strongest endorsement, according to a policy statement published Aug. 22 in JAMA.

 Immunity protection from vaccination or prior infection may be "leaky" or less effective in crowded settings where people are exposed to high levels of the virus that causes COVID-19, new research has found. 

As part of Project NextGen, HHS has awarded more than $1.4 billion in grants to support the development of the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines and technologies. 

Most U.S. adults are uncertain about health misinformation claims, falling in a potentially "malleable middle," according to an Aug. 22 survey from KFF.

An uptick in COVID-19 admissions in the U.S. is reinvigorating focus on hospitals' masking policies. Now, 10 experts are calling for healthcare facilities to integrate masking as part of routine policies. 

COVID-19 indicators continue to tick up in the U.S., and the CDC has started tracking a new strain. 

Health officials have started monitoring BA.2.86 — a highly mutated version of the COVID-19 virus. Not much is known yet about the newly detected lineage, though its large number of mutations has prompted the World Health Organization and CDC to begin tracking the strain. 

After COVID-19-related disruptions last year, experts anticipate respiratory syncytial virus to follow a more typical seasonal pattern this year, with activity ramping up in the fall and peaking in December or January, CNN reported Aug. 17. 

Here are six rare diseases that experts have identified in the U.S. so far in 2023:

Three people in Connecticut and New York have died after contracting infections from a rare flesh-eating bacteria, The New York Times reported Aug. 16.

More than 10,000 people in the U.S. were hospitalized with COVID-19 for the week ending Aug. 5, up 14.3 percent from the previous week and marking the fourth straight week of increase. 

While 95 percent of people are immune to leprosy — also called Hansen's disease — multiple cases have popped up across Central Florida and the Southern U.S. in recent years, concerning physicians. One recent study concluded that the disease may even be endemic to the southeastern U.S. 

A record number of Americans are experiencing homelessness in 2023 amid rising housing costs and other societal challenges. The increase could put additional strain on the U.S. healthcare system and lead to worse patient outcomes if health systems do not take actions to improve the health of those experiencing homelessness. 

 In July, the CDC published findings indicating up to 450,000 people in the U.S. may have alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-borne meat allergy most clinicians are unfamiliar with. 

COVID-19-related hospital admissions rose for a fifth straight week at 12.5 percent and deaths were up for the first time this summer by 10 percent, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. 

HHS declared a public health emergency Aug. 11 for the state of Hawaii due to wildfires, with the extension of resources and flexibilities retroactive to the day the fires began.

The CDC found the percentage of adults experiencing long COVID-19 has fallen in the last year.

The year 2022 saw the highest number of suicides in U.S. history with 49,449 people taking their own lives, the CDC found.

The prevalence of Clostridium difficile infections in children has increased over the years, with more than 20,000 cases reported annually, according to research published Aug. 10 in Pediatrics.

Health officials in Minnesota are reportedly tracking a tuberculosis outbreak with seven confirmed cases and a possible eighth across three counties, ABC affiliate KSTP reported Aug. 9.