Public Health

A recently released report from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services that analyzed the digital health of the state’s public health system says the state’s public health system needs to be more centralized — and public health agencies across the state say they agree.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported Jan. 7 the state is at a “high” level for respiratory illness activity. Between COVID, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and norovirus, some health care professionals say we are experiencing a “quademic."

The federal health department nominee has a history of spreading false information, but he could find a partner in Illinois on food regulations.

Federal officials have accepted an application that would grant St. Louis County’s three clinics special status that would add $6 million a year to the health department’s budget.

By fostering relationships with neighborhoods and community organizations that are already connected to young people, Wil Pinkney believes the City of St. Louis can better address the root causes of violence.

St. Louis has the highest rates of syphilis infection in the state. Local health officials want to slow the spread in parts of the city where resources are scarce.

After more than three years and thousands of COVID-19 deaths in Missouri, the end of the public health emergency heralds a new phase in which the virus is present but less dangerous to the general public.

In Missouri, the average person born in 2021 could expect to live to be 74.6 years old, a whole three years younger than the average age ten years ago. The state’s drop is part of a nationwide decline, though the life expectancy in Missouri is lower than the United States average.

“Almost every social movement of the 20th century has a bathroom story to it,” says historian Bryant Simon.

The Rev. Kenneth McKoy is St. Louis’ “pastor of the streets.” A new documentary that tells his story premieres July 17 at the St. Louis International Film Festival.