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Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

Why are people still getting polio in some countries and in not others? – Mia, age 9, Centennial, Colorado

On a busy street in Karachi, Pakistan, a healthcare worker kneels...Read more

Jalen Hurts is 28, a Super Bowl MVP and an elite athlete in peak physical condition. He was also recently diagnosed with blood clots in his leg and both lungs.

After a cleat to the left calf during a game against the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 4, 2026, and after a team flight to London, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was given an ...Read more

Until recently, a Manhattanite might venture no more than a few dozen blocks to find the world’s most sophisticated cancer treatment. Cutting-edge American medicines have helped reduce the U.S. cancer death rate by about a third since 1990, and New York City hospitals deliver some of the best care in the country.

But in January 2025, the city...Read more

Drippy lips, slippery chins and bubbly little streams that flow day and night; what’s up with all this drool?

Good news. That constant flow is part of healthy development in babies and young toddlers. Humans have special glands inside their mouths that make saliva (spit). When babies are around 2 to 3 months old, these glands kick into high ...Read more

Most hospitals offer financial assistance to patients who struggle to afford their bills, often referred to as charity care. But many people are stymied by cumbersome aid applications. Others don’t even know help exists.

Hospitals have the ability to proactively screen patients to see if they’re eligible for aid and, if so, automatically ...Read more

Aimee Carlock needed surgery in August 2025 to treat severe pain and bleeding from her uterus. But first, she needed to come up with $5,500.

Texas Health Resources, one of the state’s largest nonprofit hospital systems, told her it wouldn’t schedule the procedure unless she paid up front, Carlock said. The self-employed house cleaner didn�...Read more

Each October, as the days shorten and the air grows crisp, millions of Americans prepare for the beloved – and often sugar-fueled – tradition of Halloween. From jack-o’-lanterns glowing on porches to costumes ranging from the whimsical to the gory, Halloween is a time of playful scares, childhood memories and, of course, candy.

...Read more

Leaked data from Moderna Inc. and Merck & Co.’s highly anticipated melanoma vaccine trial has led to a rare disconnect between doctors, who celebrated the result, and Wall Street, which sold off the stocks.

Normally results of such pivotal drug studies are binary, with doctors, patients and investors all learning whether a novel medicine will...Read more

Consumers who buy Affordable Care Act health insurance are going to see changes both big and small as open enrollment for 2027 coverage kicks off. These include premium increases, possible additional identity checks, potential delays in working with a broker, and new limits on which immigrants can get subsidies.

Shoppers need to plan ...Read more

“You have cancer.” It’s a phrase that comes as a shock, then is quickly followed by a whirlwind of decisions that somehow feel fast and slow at the same time.

You have treatments to decide on. You are trying to figure out how you might work, care for your family and undergo a variety of intensive medical appointments all at the ...Read more

Macular degeneration has robbed Dame Judi Dench of so much eyesight that she cannot perform, read or even accurately recognize people on the street, she revealed Thursday.

“I can’t be on stage. I can’t do a play anymore. I can’t do a film anymore. I can’t read anymore,” the 91-year-old Oscar-winning British actress told “Today” ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli traded barbs at dueling healthcare fraud news conferences in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday morning, sniping at each other over billions lost to benefits schemes and the increasingly politicized efforts to stop them.

“California has a fraud ...Read more

Widespread screenings are underway at Lakewood Health System’s hospital and clinics in north-central Minnesota to try to prevent a measles cluster from spreading.

Concerns about the outbreak have increased among residents of Todd County, where one additional measles case was publicly disclosed Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Health. ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — The reproductive healthcare ballot measure before Idaho voters in this general election has been a topic of intense discussion, primarily over how it would change access to abortion. But if Idaho voters approve Proposition 1, also called the Reproductive Freedom and Privacy Act, it would enshrine protections for other aspects of...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Department of Justice announced a sweeping take-down of doctors and others they say lured vulnerable patients into needless surgical procedures, sham treatment programs and bogus hospice care, bilking taxpayers for nearly $2 billion, according to charges released Thursday.

Among the most chilling allegations, two Angelenos ...Read more