Even vaccinated children can catch and spread whooping cough. Here’s
why experts say booster shots and awareness are key.
Most people likely know pertussis by its more common name — whooping cough, which comes from the “whoop” sound made as the person tries to catch their breath in between violent coughing spells.
The Corbin family in Chapel Hill is well acquainted with the other nickname for pertussis — the “100-day cough.” Earlier this year, 11-year-old Alex Corbin spent at least two months struggling with a cough that made him vomit, kept him up at night and left him breathless.
Months later, he still suffers from coughing fits, although they are nowhere near the intensity they were initially, said his mother, Jennifer Corbin.
A spate of whooping cough cases cropped up at Alex’s elementary school at the end of last school year, Corbin said. She was surprised when Alex became sick because he was vaccinated.
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- FLUMIST, AstraZeneca’s FDA-approved flu nasal vaccine, can now be ordered and used at home with zero needles or clinic hassle.
- Adults can self-spray, and kids aged 2–17 can be helped by a caregiver; 100% of users in studies administered it correctly.
- FLUMIST is available now for home delivery in 34 states (covering ~80% of eligible people) for the 2025-26 flu season.
Imagine skipping the waiting room, sidestepping the needle, and still getting your flu protection.
With AstraZeneca’s FLUMIST, you can get exactly that.
Following FDA approval in September 2024, FLUMIST, the only nasal-spray flu vaccine approved in the U.S., can now be ordered and used in the comfort of your own home for the upcoming flu season.
“The launch of FluMist Home is a transformational moment in the evolution of influenza protection, bringing a simple and accessible option directly into the hands of consumers,” Joris Silon, US Country President and Senior Vice President, AstraZeneca said in a news release.
“FluMist Home reflects the growing importance of direct-to-consumer offerings and underscores our commitment to continuous innovation, making it easier for people to get vaccinated and stay protected.”
How it works
Here’s how simple it is:
- Go to FluMist.com.
- Fill out a quick health screening.
- A licensed provider reviews your eligibility and insurance.
- If approved, the vaccine is shipped — on your chosen delivery date — with clear instructions, storage tips, and disposal steps.
Who can use it?
Last flu season — the most severe since the 2009 swine flu — led to hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths.
With vaccination rates slipping, especially among younger groups, an easy, needle-free option might be just what families need. Experts say this could nudge up protection levels and strengthen overall immunity.
What about your state?
For 2025-26, FluMist Home is rolling out to 34 states, covering about 80% of eligible people. It isn’t available everywhere yet — AstraZeneca hopes to expand to all 48 contiguous states in future flu seasons.
However, it’s important to note that traditional clinic- and pharmacy-administered FLUMIST is available nationwide.
Like any other medical-related product, consumers should always check with their health care providers before ordering and administering FLUMIST.
“For the first time, consumers can receive and administer an influenza vaccine entirely at home — marking a historic shift in how preventive care is delivered, Ami Patel, Executive Vice President, Hub Operations, ASPN Pharmacies, LLC, said in the news release.
“Through FluMist Home we’re seeing a new model of care that puts consumers in control, offering a seamless, end-to-end experience, from determining eligibility to convenient home-delivery and administration. This milestone not only redefines convenience in vaccine delivery, but also sets the stage for a more accessible, patient-centered future in health care."
FluMist Home State Availability
Pharmacy laws vary state-by-state. For the 2025-2026 flu season,
FluMist
Home will be available in the following states: AL, AZ, CA,
CO, CT, FL, GA,
IA, ID, IL, MA, MD, ME, MI, MT, *NC*, ND, NE, NH,
NJ, NV, OH, OR, PA, SC,
SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, and WY. For
the 2025-2026 flu season.
FluMist Home will not be available in:
AK, AR, DC, DE, HI, IN, KS, KY, LA,
MN, MO, MS, NM, NY, OK, RI, and
WV. Our aim is to have this service
available in all 48 contiguous
states in future seasons.
Lifestyle changes in key areas may help delay cognitive decline, according to a new trial
A program of exercise, nutrition, cognitive and social challenges, and health coaching resulted in improved cognition scores for people at risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The two-year trial involved lifestyle changes only, without added medications. Some participants followed the program self-guided, but those receiving the program in a structured format improved more, though all participants’ cognitive scores improved.
A low-cost, non-pharmaceutical lifestyle program that targeted risk factors for dementia improved the cognitive health of older at-risk adults in a major new trial. The U.S. POINTER trial was a multidimensional program involving exercise, diet, regular cognitive challenges, social engagement, and health monitoring. The trial involved 2,111 older people considered at risk of dementia. It compared a structured intervention program to a lower-intensity, self-guided, but similar, program.
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New law expands HSA eligibility to Bronze, Catastrophic ACA plans and telehealth, with Lively leading modern health savings innovation. Learn what’s changing.
A sweeping legislative breakthrough was signed into law this week, redefining the landscape of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and how Americans engage with their healthcare finances. The “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB), now enacted, marks a historic expansion of HSA eligibility, bringing millions of individuals enrolled in Bronze or Catastrophic plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into the fold. Also included in the reform are modern healthcare modalities like Direct Primary Care (DPC) and telehealth, which are now recognized as qualified expenses under HSA rules starting January 1, 2026.
The landmark bill received broad bipartisan support and has been praised by digital health innovators like Lively, Inc., a San Francisco-based health and lifestyle benefits platform known for its next-generation HSA infrastructure. The American fintech-healthcare hybrid has positioned itself as a key player in simplifying health benefits access and administration for individuals, employers, and brokers alike.
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Cheerwine, a cherry-flavored soda brewed in Salisbury for slightly more than a century, has become widely known as the “nectar of North Carolina.”
On May 17, the Rowan County city held its annual festival to celebrate the beverage that L.D. Peeler, a general store owner, created in 1917. Peeler was interested in producing his own soft drink, according to a brief company history, and met a St. Louis salesman who sold him a wild cherry flavoring that he thought would mix well with others.
The concoction he made had a burgundy tinge, similar to a red wine, and a bubbly, cheery effervescence — hence the name that has secured a venerable spot in the North Carolina food and beverage scene.
The food coloring that gives Cheerwine its red tint has more recently created consternation among critics of synthetic food dyes. Now, eight Republicans in the state House of Representatives have filed proposed legislation that would prohibit certain food additives, including specific yellow, blue and green dyes, — along with the red dye that colors Salisbury’s celebrated homebrew.
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Rural residents often face significant barriers to accessing health care. Power outages, challenging travel and extreme weather events — such as hurricanes, heat waves and floods — only worsen the challenges posed by limited access to clinics and medical specialists.
This scenario recently played out in western North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene left many rural health care facilities inoperable. In response, the state deployed some mobile medical units to deliver care directly to affected communities.
But ahead of future disasters, more help may be on the way.
Mission Mobile Medical Group, based in Greensboro, announced in February that it was awarded up to $26 million in federal dollars “to develop the next-generation mobile clinic under the Platform Accelerating Rural Access to Distributed and Integrated Medical Care (PARADIGM) program,” according to a news release.
The mobile health care company will use the funding to design and build mobile “medical suites” — self-contained clinical units tailored for rural health systems. The goal: deliver hospital-level care and advanced diagnostics to communities across the country, according to the release.
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Medicaid cuts proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives' Budget Committee could lead to between 651 and 12,626 medically preventable deaths annually and increase the number of uninsured Americans by between 600,000 and 3.9 million, researchers calculated.
A new study estimated how legislation being considered by Congress would affect health outcomes among Americans.
Researchers identified six potential Medicaid cuts proposed by the House of Representatives' Budget Committee: reduction of the Medicaid matching floor, reduced funding of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion, Medicaid per capita caps, Medicaid work requirements, reduced Medicaid provider taxes, and repeal of a Biden-era Medicaid eligibility rule. Results were published June 17 by Annals of Internal Medicine.
These Medicaid cuts would lead to an annual increase of between 651 and 12,626 medically preventable deaths, would increase the number of uninsured by between 600,000 and 3.9 million, and increase the annual number of people forgoing needed medical care by 129,060 to 838,890, the authors calculated. They also noted that 1.9 million people could lose their personal doctor, 1.3 million might forgo medications, and 380,270 women might not access a mammogram.
The researchers noted other potential unintended effects of cutting Medicaid that they did not calculate, such as possible increases in evictions, more uncompensated care at hospitals and safety-net clinics, financial stress for clinicians and facilities from reimbursement reductions, and states raising taxes, redirecting funds from other programs, or limiting Medicaid benefits.
“Since its Civil Rights era enactment, Medicaid has played an increasing role in financing care,” the authors wrote. “Originally restricted to specific categories of low-income Americans—such as families with dependent children, disabled persons, and blind persons—a series of expansions culminating in the ACA boosted enrollment to more than 90 million. Today, despite its many shortcomings, Medicaid enjoys wide support from the electorate and serves as the foundation of the nation's health care safety net. The cuts under consideration, intended to offset the cost of tax cuts that would predominantly benefit wealthier Americans, would strip care from millions and likely lead to thousands of medically preventable deaths.”
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With DEI programs under scrutiny and new legal restrictions on admissions, Atrium Health and Wake Forest haven’t released data on the percentage of medical school students from underrepresented groups.
The new Wake Forest University School of Medicine campus in
Charlotte held its first classes on July 14. The school has not
released racial or ethnic data about its first group of students.
Credit: Kevin Young/The 5 and 2 Project.
When Atrium Health and the Wake Forest University School of Medicine announced plans in 2021 to build Charlotte’s first four-year medical school, they said they wanted it to have “one of the most diverse learner bodies in the country.”
But now that the campus has opened its doors, it’s hard to determine whether they hit that goal. Despite repeated requests, including from a local elected official, the school has not released data on the ethnic and racial makeup of its first class.
The school’s reticence may reflect a broader shift taking place across the country in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision banning race-conscious admissions. That ruling, along with new federal initiatives targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs, has made many institutions cautious about discussing diversity, said Roger A. Mitchell, president-elect of the National Medical Association, which represents Black physicians.
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