• District of Columbia: Sen. Mitch McConnell was hospitalized on Monday after experiencing "flu-like symptoms" over the weekend, according to a spokesperson. In a statement, McConnell's spokesperson said the senator "checked himself into a local hospital" out of "an abundance of caution." Currently, McConnell's prognosis is "positive and he is grateful for the excellent care he is receiving," the spokesperson said. "He is in regular contact with his staff and looks forward to returning to Senate business." According to Axios, McConnell, who is 83 and plans to retire from Congress next January, has experienced several health scares in the last few years. In 2023, he was hospitalized after a fall and publicly froze up during two televised press conferences. He also fell outside the Senate chamber last year and had to temporarily use a wheelchair. (Solender, Axios, 2/3)
• Oregon/Washington: At-home testing company Reperio Health is partnering with Amazon One Medical to expand access to primary care through its new service ReperioCare. Through ReperioCare, users can access an on-demand virtual visit with a clinician to interpret their test results. Users can also use an included One Medical membership for ongoing primary care. According to Reperio, the goal of the partnership is to streamline the process of early detection to ongoing primary care, especially in rural areas. "What we're ultimately trying to do … is getting data into people's hands wherever they live," said Travis Rush, Reperio's cofounder and CEO. Currently, Reperio has more than 50 clients, most of whom are employers, and says it has achieved between four and eight times cost savings for its clients, as measured by an ability to detect health concerns in members. Around half of people screened by Reperio discovered an underlying health condition they were previously unaware of. After using Reperio, screening participation rates have grown by over 200%, with users reporting a 95% satisfaction rate. (Gliadkovskaya, Fierce Healthcare, 1/28)
• South Carolina: A measles outbreak in South Carolina has grown to at least 789 cases, most being centered in Spartanburg County. So far, most of the cases have been in either unvaccinated individuals or those who don't know their vaccination status. According to Linda Bell, a South Carolina state epidemiologist, the speed at which cases are spreading has been surprising. "We did not anticipate that South Carolina case counts in a matter of only 16 weeks would surpass the total number of cases reached in Texas over the course of 7 months," Bell said. "It's disconcerting to consider what our final trajectory will look like for measles in South Carolina." Last year, an outbreak of measles in West Texas reached 762 cases and led to the deaths of two young girls. According to NBC News, many doctors have expressed concerns about low vaccination rates in schools and how they will impact the spread of measles during the outbreak. "I am very sad," said Deborah Greenhouse, a pediatrician and past president of the South Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "It emphasizes even more that we need to continue the work of trying to educate families in South Carolina and trying to get families to understand that the way we shut this down is by increasing our vaccination rates and by complying with isolation and quarantine." (Edwards, NBC News, 1/28)

The cold, the flu, and COVID-19 have many overlapping symptoms, including sore throat, coughing, and general fatigue. But each condition also has telltale signs that may help you distinguish between them during the winter months.