Cancer rates near San Jacinto River waste pits ‘significantly greater’ than...
The Texas Department of State Health Services, at the request of the nonprofit Texas Health and Environmental Alliance, studied cancer rates in a 65-census-tract area in the floodplain surrounding the...
View ArticleTexas measles outbreak grows amid declining vaccination rates in Houston...
Harris County Public Health’s Dr. Ericka Brown says vaccines are the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles. The rate of kindergarteners receiving the MMR vaccine has dipped since the...
View ArticleAn unvaccinated child has died in the Texas measles outbreak that’s infected...
It's the first death from measles in the U.S. since 2015.
View ArticleMemorial Hermann given rare ‘not in good standing’ designation following...
The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network's board of directors on Feb. 20 declared the Houston hospital as a "member not in good standing," the most severe action that the network can take...
View ArticleOfficials, experts stress importance of measles vaccination ahead of...
With a measles outbreak spreading in Texas, health officials are urging Houston residents to check their vaccination status ahead of RodeoHouston, which is expected to draw two million attendees....
View ArticleAs the Texas outbreak grows, how contagious is measles, really?
Vaccination eliminated measles from the U.S. 25 years ago. But it can still spread in pockets where vaccination rates are low, like the west Texas county with a current outbreak. Here's how fast.
View ArticleFive adults got a measles shot over the weekend at Houston Health Department...
Dr. David Persse, HHD’s chief medical official, said he expects that more are getting their vaccine with their primary care physicians as West Texas outbreak grows.
View ArticleEPA releasing soil testing results for Houston’s Fifth Ward as part of...
This Wednesday through Saturday, the EPA will be holding “open office hours” for residents to discuss the soil testing results from their private properties, which are being sent to them by mail.
View ArticleHouston-area officials push for measles vaccinations amid West Texas outbreak
As the outbreak in West Texas reached 159 confirmed cases Tuesday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor John Whitmire both encouraged residents to get the measles vaccine.
View ArticleSome Houston-area private schools among Texas campuses with lowest measles...
Nearly 160 measles cases have been reported in West Texas this year, with 22 of those people requiring hospitalization and an unvaccinated child dying in late February. There have been two unrelated...
View ArticleHere’s where Houstonians can get their measles shot
Several mobile clinics will be available on Saturday. Although there currently aren’t any active cases of the disease in Harris County, there have been 198 confirmed measles cases related to the...
View ArticleHouston-based Intuitive Machine’s lunar lander declared dead after landing...
Intuitive Machines announced the news Friday, less than 24 hours after the botched landing attempt. The lander, named Athena, missed its mark by more than 800 feet and ended up in a frigid crater.
View ArticleTom Hanks: Going to the moon was ‘equal to laying down railroad tracks’
Space Center Houston presents a new documentary co-written and narrated by the Oscar-winning actor that revisits our first steps on the moon.
View ArticleHouston Rodeo 2025: Medical and safety committee assists first responders at...
Monday is "First Responders Day" at the annual rodeo, where volunteers on the medical and safety committee also activate when someone is injured at NRG Park. The committee includes experienced...
View ArticleVitamin A is not a substitute for the measles vaccine, Houston health experts...
Vitamin A, also known as retinol, supports the body’s natural defense system against illnesses and infection from diseases like measles. But it does not prevent people from getting sick in the first...
View ArticleHouston Health Department tracking wastewater plants for measles as West...
The city is monitoring 36 wastewater treatment plants and 48 manholes across Houston for measles. It's also tracking school campuses, daycare centers, shelters, nursing homes and jails.
View ArticleWill lawmakers let Texas’ maternal mortality committee review abortion deaths?
The Legislature is considering bills that would lift long-standing restrictions on how Texas’ panel can investigate maternal deaths and near-misses.
View ArticleHouston’s Fifth Ward residents offered free cancer screenings as water, soil...
The cancer screening initiative comes weeks after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its first round of soil testing results from the area, which found elevated levels of highly toxic...
View ArticlePower outages, lost income, poor sleep among top impacts of Houston’s 2024...
A recent study by Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research found that more than 90% of Harris County residents lost power during one or more of the storms, and more than 70% were in the...
View ArticleFive years into COVID, more Texans are avoiding vaccines – for everything
Vaccine hesitancy was rising even before COVID-19 emerged – but the pandemic exacerbated the trend. More kindergartners are opting out of school vaccine requirements, and state lawmakers are trying to...
View ArticleHouston health officials confirm city’s third case of measles this year
The third case, an unvaccinated infant, comes two months after the health department confirmed the city's first two cases of measles since 2018. Those previous cases were two adults who lived in the...
View ArticleHouston-area midwife arrested for allegedly performing illegal abortions,...
Maria Margarita Rojas, known as “Dr. Maria,” faces hundreds of thousands in fines if she is convicted.
View ArticleWith passage of SB 3, Texas Senate green-lights ban on THC products in the state
Senate Bill 3, a priority item for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, now heads to the Texas House for consideration. It passed the Texas Senate on Wednesday afternoon.
View ArticleTexas judge temporarily shuts down Houston-area clinics accused of providing...
Judge Gary Chaney on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order preventing Maternal and Child Healthcare and Research Center, Clinicas Latinoamericanas and Houston Birth House from providing any...
View ArticleVaccinations are injected with politics as measles spreads in West Texas
The politics of ending vaccine requirements in Texas is in conflict with the reality of a raging measles outbreak in West Texas. Texans for Vaccine Choice, a powerful political action committee, has...
View ArticleA Texas bill offers clarity on abortion exemptions. Here’s what doctors think.
Abortion is legal in Texas only when the life of the mother or a “major bodily function” is at risk. Doctors, who could face prison time for performing an abortion, have been seeking clarification on...
View ArticleTexas suspends Houston-area midwife’s license amid criminal case over...
Authorities say Maria Margarita Rojas presented herself as a gynecologist without a medical license.
View ArticleFort Bend County health officials report measles case associated with...
The case involves a woman between the ages of 50-60, according to the Fort Bend Health and Human Services department, which said the case is associated with recent international travel and not the...
View ArticleFort Bend County measles case prompts Houston Health Department to conduct...
A woman between the ages of 50 and 60 contracted measles while traveling internationally, Fort Bend health officials announced over the weekend. It's the first measles case in at least 20 years for the...
View ArticleMedicaid, SNAP cuts could cost 68,000 Texas jobs, report finds
A new study about potential cuts to Medicaid and SNAP found that Texas could see its gross domestic product shrink by $7 billion.
View ArticleHHS layoffs hit Meals on Wheels and other services for seniors and disabled
Staff that administer programs to help the elderly, disabled people and poor families with basic needs lost their jobs amid the Trump administration's layoffs.
View ArticleHarris County health officials investigating reported measles case in child...
The four other measles cases reported in the Houston area this year have been tied to international travel and not the ongoing outbreak in West Texas, where more than 400 cases and one death have been...
View ArticleHello Houston – The Commuter Cut (April 4, 2025)
For our busy Houston commuters – we have “The Commuter Cut” – a special 40-minute version of our show to listen to during your journey home.
View ArticleMeasles case confirmed in person who traveled through Houston’s Hobby Airport...
The person traveled to Houston from Mexico while infected with measles, a virus that can be transmitted before symptoms even develop, according to the health department.
View ArticleHouston-area lawmaker’s bill banning junk food purchases with SNAP benefits...
Critics worry that Senate Bill 379, authored by a Houston-area Republican, could hurt people living in areas with a lack of access to healthy food. If the bill becomes Texas law, the state would need...
View ArticleMemorial Hermann resumes liver transplant program following data manipulation...
The Houston-based hospital system abruptly halted the program last year due to a “pattern of irregularities with donor acceptance criteria,” it said at the time.
View ArticleHarris County Public Health to offer free measles vaccinations throughout April
Harris County Public Health is offering free measles vaccinations to children and adults through April 23.
View ArticleHouston ISD has half as many school nurses as last year. The district says...
Advocates say school nurses are much more than “just Band-Aids, ice and lice.” Houston ISD says fewer nurses is "NOT a measure of student safety."
View ArticleDan Patrick aims to ban THC products as a public health threat. Businesses...
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is looking to make all THC consumables illegal in Texas. That would take a hemp industry that has grown to roughly $8 billion by his own estimate and drive it underground.
View ArticleAs Houston Health Department loses $42 million, federal funding cuts loom...
The health department draws a majority of its funding from the federal government, according to City Controller Chris Hollins, while the Housing and Community Development Department relies on federal...
View Article