NPR talked to hundreds of people over the course of the pandemic. As the emergency declaration ends on May 11, we asked some of them for their reflections on the past three tumultuous years.

A new cookbook from America's Test Kitchen offers tips for people with chronic back pain to minimize bending and standing in the kitchen. (Story aired on Weekend Edition Saturday on May 6, 2023.)

A new cookbook offers kitchen techniques that reduce physical exertion. It aims to make home cooking accessible again for those with chronic back pain.

A new cookbook offers kitchen techniques that reduce physical exertion. It aims to make home cooking accessible again for those with chronic back pain.

Federal vaccine mandates for government employees, international travelers and healthcare workers will end on May 11. Here's why the changes are being made and what they mean.

Researchers in Virginia Beach, Va., show how they test wastewater for signs of COVID-19, and how they're preparing to look for other health threats.

Public health officials say wastewater surveillance could help them track trends for many kinds of diseases - from COVID to polio - but only if they can keep the testing system going.

New parents who get help from a trained financial coach in a pediatric clinic are less likely to miss well-child visits, which are recommended by the six-month mark.

For decades researchers have struggled to find a contraceptive methods for males. A new fast-acting compound shows promise — assuming it turns out to work as well in men as in mice.

Researchers paired new parents with financial coaches in a pediatric clinic. They found the families were more likely to come for well-child visits and vaccinations — and they got ahead financially.

A paper says new parents who get help from a trained financial coach in a pediatric clinic came to more of their babies' preventive care visits and missed fewer vaccinations in the first six months.

As the marketing of soda and fast food ramps up around the world, the companies involved forge partnerships to help the poor. The new book 'Junk Food Politics' casts a critical eye at their efforts.

People who lose track of time aren't rude, researchers say — they may just be listening to their inner timekeeper instead of an external clock. Living according to "event time" has its benefits.

Fairfax County, Va., high school students are training to become public health "ambassadors." The program gives them a head start on a career while improving trust in the health system.

In Fairfax County, Va., the health department is training high school students to become health ambassadors in underserved communities and get a leg up on future careers in public health.

New U.S. doctors aren't choosing to specialize in infectious disease, despite the clear need. In 2022, 44% of the training programs went unfilled. The pay is relatively low, and the hours are long.

The pandemic put infectious diseases doctors in the spotlight. The 'Fauci Effect' raised the number of fellowship applicants in 2020, but this year almost half of the training programs went unfilled.

More than 3.5 million infusions of antibodies have been used to treat COVID. The treatment is being phased out because the antibodies have lost their efficacy against new variants of coronavirus.

The disease formerly known as monkeypox has a new name: "mpox." It's not much of a depature, but it's less stigmatizing, according to advocates who have been calling for a change of name.

The treatments were highly popular earlier in the pandemic. One by one, they got knocked out by more convenient, less expensive treatment options, and new COVID variants.