Health Highlights: Feb. 16, 2022

CDC may soon move to ease recommendations on masks. The agency is expected to loosen its guidelines to states as soon as next week, several people familiar with the matter told NBC News. Read more

Oral health crucial for kids with heart issues. That's because if oral bacteria get into the bloodstream, some children with heart conditions may be susceptible to infective endocarditis, a rare but potentially deadly illness, experts say. Read more

Third person may have been cured of HIV. A woman of mixed race was rid of the virus that causes AIDS through an umbilical cord blood transplant. She was diagnosed with leukemia in 2017 and received the cord blood transplant that year to treat the cancer, researchers report. Read more

Brain injuries driving higher death rate for U.S. veterans. The excess deaths have been concentrated among veterans under 45, and most have been from suicide and accidents, new research shows. Read more

Even starting exercise in your 70s can help your heart. In a study of close to 3,000 Italians over 65, regular exercise was linked with a 52% lower risk of heart disease among men, and women also benefited. Read more

COVID antibodies' quality may improve with time. Even as the number of antibodies begin to decline, those that remain become steadily stronger and more precisely targeted against the virus, new research shows. Read more