Health

For all age groups, the flu vaccine's effectiveness is moderate at 56 percent, but for those 65 and older the vaccine is only 9 percent effective.

The inpatient unit will cost $7.2 million, and construction will be completed in 2014.

The Affordable Care Act is unfolding as an experiment to decide whether the states or the federal government will do a better job getting uninsured people covered. 

The plan also would pare back Gov. Jay Nixon's proposed $34 million funding increase for public colleges and universities to $20 million.

An observational study of people suffering from kidney cancer — involving people 66-years-old or older, an age group in which half of all kidney cancers occur — found that people with small kidney tumors were much less likely to die over the next five years when they chose monitoring instead of operating on the tumor right away.

A study published online Monday found surgery costs differ greatly from hospital to hospital across the nation, and many hospitals were not prepared to estimate surgery cost without an office visit.

Thirteen Joplin tornado victims contracted an aerosolized fungus called apophysomyces trapeziformis.

Advocates say expanding Medicaid would be a boon to the economy and extend health care to those who need it.

Blacks are five times more likely than whites to have the dietary patterns linked with the highest stroke risk, a new study finds.

Assistant professor of computer science Sriram Chellappan has been a member of the university's faculty since 2008.

The City of Columbia website publishes health inspection reports for all establishments in Columbia, including restaurants, daycare facilities, nursing homes and schools.

More than 100 people attended the inaugural Alternative and Complementary Medicine Wellness Health Expo to learn more about alternative medicine from 20 different vendors.

Health professionals are coming to a consensus that education alone isn't enough to curb the obesity epidemic in America, leading some to look at policy-oriented solutions. In one such effort, Kansas City's Children's Mercy Hospital has stopped selling sugary drinks.

About 70 people — including veterans, their family and friends, and Columbia residents — gathered this weekend for a Qigong workshop at the Truman Veterans Hospital.

The Missouri Mental Health Foundation conducted this interview with Aaron Likens, a St. Louis author with Asperger's syndrome, who was concerned about the public perception of the disorder.

An estimated 15 million people in the U.S. take care of someone with Alzheimer's disease without pay. The nature of the disease can make care-giving particularly challenging.

Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, and it's not yet clear the nation will reach that total this winter.

The drug makers' aggressive pursuit of university research has drawn the ire of academic purists who question whether the partnerships put profits ahead of, or on equal footing with, science for science's sake.

The positive news is that the flu vaccine this year is a good match to the flu viruses circulating and can prevent the illness or shorten its duration.

November to February is the prime window for transmission of the virus.