Health & Safety

Health & Safety

To protect their Texas city, doctors vaccinated the sister city across the border

8:00am April 30, 2022

by Scott Simon

Dr. Victor Treviño and his son, Victor Treviño, Jr., discuss vaccinating people between Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Since June of 2021, they've administered over 250,000 doses.

J.R. Chester, an advocate with the Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, says she hopes the state's updated sex education curriculum will lead to more open conversation between parents and kids.

Texas got a sex ed update, but students and educators say there's still a lot missing

7:08am April 30, 2022

by Elena Rivera

The last time Texas updated its sex education curriculum, was in the '90s. Students will now learn about contraception and STIs — but not gender or consent. And the classes are all optional.

How parents around the world can teach kids, even little ones, to run errands

We asked, you answered: Have you taught your children to run errands on their own?

7:00am April 30, 2022

by Malaka Gharib

Nearly 100 NPR readers gave their views on encouraging kids to do tasks on their own at home and in the community. Some are opposed to the practice for safety reasons. Others shared personal stories.

A police officer watches over residents lining up for COVID tests Shanghai.

When this Shanghai building went into COVID lockdown, my WeChat message group blew up

5:01am April 30, 2022

by Rob Schmitz

For nine years, I lived in a giant apartment complex called the Summit with hundreds of other people in the city of Shanghai. Now my old neighbors are entering week six stuck inside.

Queue Listen Now

Encore: Why you feel so guilty when you're not working

5:12pm April 29, 2022

by Celeste Headlee

For millions of people, working from home has not meant working fewer hours. A recent episode of NPR's Life Kit focuses on how to get more rest.

The 1944 law behind the CDC's authority

4:42pm April 29, 2022

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Lawrence Gostin, professor of public health law at Georgetown, about the Public Health Service Act — which authorizes the CDC to set measures to combat disease spread.

Rachel Levine, U.S. assistant secretary for health, says, "The language of medicine and science is being used to drive people to suicide." Political attacks against trans young people are on the rise across the country.

Rachel Levine calls state anti-LGBTQ bills disturbing and dangerous to trans youth

4:42pm April 29, 2022

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

The U.S. assistant secretary for health, who will speak at Texas Christian University, says physicians need to be more vocal in fighting politically motivated attacks on vulnerable trans youth.

A Colorado inmate involved in the culling of poultry at a farm as part of a pre-release program has the first human case of avian flu in the United States. Here, cage-free chickens walk in a fenced pasture at an organic farm near Waukon, Iowa, in October

The first human case of avian flu in the U.S. is reported in Colorado

4:02pm April 29, 2022

by Rina Torchinsky

The patient, an inmate in a pre-release program, was involved in culling poultry presumptively infected with H5N1 bird flu at a farm. The virus, while deadly for birds, poses a low risk to humans.

A writer lost his singing voice, then discovered the gymnastics of speech

1:46pm April 29, 2022

by Dave Davies

John Colapinto developed a vocal polyp when he began "wailing" with a rock group without proper warmup. He talks about the frailty and feats of the human voice. Originally broadcast Jan. 26, 2021.

Queue Listen Now

Health & Safety

COVID-19 hospitalizations remain stable in NC, despite uptick in cases

10:49am April 29, 2022

by April Laissle

COVID-19 cases are up again in North Carolina.