Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of May 25, 2026–May 29, 2026.
U.S. expands Ebola ban to include green card holders
Reuters (5/22, Aboulenein) reports, “The United States on Friday temporarily banned the entry of lawful permanent residents who have been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, citing concerns over Ebola.” Previously, “U.S. citizens, nationals and green card holders had been exempt from a 30-day Ebola ban.” However, the CDC announced “that extending the ban to green card holders was necessary to stop the virus from entering the country.”
Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle (5/23, Soebroto) reports that Houston’s “George Bush Intercontinental Airport was added to the list of authorized entry points for travelers from African countries affected by the Ebola outbreak.” Beginning “Tuesday, all flights entering the country from” the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, “and South Sudan will be directed to Houston, Atlanta and northern Virginia.” Meanwhile, “flights from other countries that are carrying people who have visited those three countries within the last 21 days will also be directed to Bush Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport or Washington-Dulles International Airport.” The CDC “will be present at all three designated airports.”
Physicians today face one of the greatest public health challenges of our time
Medscape (5/26, Whyte) in an OpEd for Medscape, AMA CEO and Executive Vice President John Whyte, MD, MPH, writes, “Across the country, physicians are confronting a growing erosion of trust in science, public health, and medical institutions.” As trust wanes, the U.S. has seen “declining childhood vaccination rates [that] have contributed to the return of diseases many physicians once believed were largely behind us. Patients delay preventive screenings. Some avoid seeking care altogether. Others turn to unproven treatments promoted online with confidence but little accountability.” This creates an environment of “profound risks not just for individual patients, but for public health itself.” Dr. Whyte continues, “This is not simply a communications challenge. It is one of the defining public health challenges of our time.” Now, “at a moment when trust is fragile, restoring it may be among the most important forms of care physicians can provide.”
PSA screening likely results in a reduction in prostate cancer-specific mortality
HealthDay (5/26, Gotkine) reports, “Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening likely results in a reduction in prostate cancer-specific mortality, according to a review.” Investigators “found that screening based on PSA alone likely results in a reduction in prostate cancer-specific mortality (rate ratio, 0.87; 95% confidence interval, 0.80 to 0.95). This corresponds to two fewer deaths per 1,000 assuming a baseline risk of 16 prostate cancer-related deaths per 1,000.” The findings were published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
You may also be interested in: What doctors want patients to know about prostate cancer.
Approximately one in six U.S. adults who tested positive for COVID-19 went on to develop long COVID, study suggests
The Boston Globe (5/27, Saltzman) reports a study suggests that “about one in six American adults who tested positive for COVID-19 went on to develop long COVID, more than twice the rate calculated by federal health officials.” The researchers “used artificial intelligence to comb through electronic medical records of patients at 58 hospitals in four regions of the country.” Specifically, they searched “for chronic conditions that were likely related to long COVID but might not have led to that diagnosis.” Although healthcare systems “have a federally approved code for diagnosing long COVID,” researchers “said that doctors use it in less than 7% of cases.” Overall, the investigators “found that cases of the chronic condition increased through mid-2025 in all four regions that they studied—and are likely still increasing.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
FDA panel recommends updating this fall’s COVID vaccines to target XFG variant
NBC News (5/28, Lovelace Jr.) reports that the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee “on Thursday recommended updating this fall’s COVID shots to target the XFG variant.” NBC News adds, “XFG is a hybrid of two Omicron variants and carries mutations that could help it partially dodge antibodies, Natalie Thornburg, who leads the CDC’s respiratory division, told the panel.” CDC data indicated that “as of May 8, XFG and its descendants account for more than half of new infections in the U.S.”
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