Latest Health News From The Illinois Newsroom Team
IDPH: Dozens of Central Illinois zip codes now at ‘high risk’; children need to be tested for lead
Starting this year, several communities in Central Illinois will begin mandatory lead testing for children. On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced that several zip codes in Champaign, Coles, Douglas, Macon, Piatt, Sangamon, and Vermilion Counties
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New federal requirements aim to fix chronically understaffed nursing homes
At the Prairie View skilled nursing home in Sanborn, Iowa, the cafeteria was noisy on a recent Thursday. But not far from the sounds of
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Losing sleep over binge watching shows and online shopping? New survey finds 75% of U.S. adults do
More than three-fourths of Americans lose sleep because of digital distractions, according to a new survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Experts say
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After pushing for law targeting ‘crisis pregnancy centers,’ attorney general backs off legal fight
Bill sponsor calls Kwame Raoul’s decision ‘heartbreaking’ and a ‘gut punch’ to women.
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Sickle cell experts say a cure without care jeopardizes the freedom promised by new gene therapies
Two new, cutting-edge cures for sickle cell disease, a debilitating genetic blood disorder, have been approved on Friday. The sickle cell community is cautiously hopeful
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Racial covenants limited housing options for Black residents in Champaign; a local group aims to repair that harm
Racial covenants restricted almost 800 pieces of land in Champaign County from being owned by anyone who wasn’t white. The Champaign-Urbana Reparations Coalition is starting to advocate for reparations for this for African Americans in the area.
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After Dobbs, doctors say more people are turning to permanent contraception
Sitting in the living room of her Cleveland home, 30-year-old Grace O’Malley reflects on when she ruled out having kids of her own. O’Malley has
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For at least 6 months, state failed to act on Carlinville funeral director that mishandled remains
State regulators allowed a Carlinville funeral director to operate for months despite a complaint filed by a local coroner who found a decomposing body in
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Illinois scraps plan for building migrant winter camp due to toxic soil risk
With the coldest winter weather just ahead, hundreds of asylum-seekers are still awaiting placement at airports, police stations and other locations.
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The White House is urging schools to address a rise in fentanyl exposure among teens
Narcan, also known by its generic name Naloxone, is a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdoses. But in two-thirds of adolescent overdose deaths, the medication
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The University of Illinois SHIELD saliva test company is winding down. What lessons has the testing team learned?
This winter marks the last stage for one of the most impactful inventions at the University of Illinois in recent years – a saliva-based test for COVID-19.
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Trans Americans are fleeing to Illinois. Here’s why:
While Illinois has moved to protect access to gender-affirming care and enshrined civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community overall, four of the five states that border Illinois have all seen a massive rise in bills that target the queer community, especially transgender youth. According to the ACLU’s anti-LGBTQ legislation tracker, Missouri’s state legislature has considered 48 bills in 2023 alone that would negatively impact the queer community in areas ranging from healthcare to education to free speech and expression.