Respiratory illness season begins to ramp up now. Here’s what’s already starting to hit | CNN Respiratory disease season is off to a relatively slow start in the United States, but low vaccination rates threaten that trend and the rapid rise of some illnesses is already putting children at increased risk. Deidre McPhillips CNN

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Nursing Homes Fell Behind on Vaccinating Patients for Covid - KFF Health News Last winter, only 4 in 10 nursing home residents got an updated covid vaccine. The low uptake leaves a fragile population vulnerable. Some industry watchdogs say it could be a sign of eroding trust between nursing home residents and providers. khnkytjaw KFF Health News

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The CDC report also revealed that during January’s covid peak, the rate of hospitalizations among nursing home residents was more than eight times that of all U.S. adults, age 70 and older.

Democrats push back on Republican COVID-19 report House Democrats on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Tuesday released their own report responding to the Republican-led panel’s final report, deeming the subcommittee to … jchoi The Hill

House Democrats on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Tuesday released their own report responding to the Republican-led panel’s final report, deeming the subcommittee to have “failed” in its endeavor to uncover the origins of COVID-19 and instead having “fueled extreme narratives.” ...

Unknown disease kills 143 in southwest Congo, local authorities say

House Covid-19 panel releases final report criticizing public health response to the pandemic | CNN A Republican-led House committee investigating broad aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects in the US released a final report Monday summarizing its two-year effort, saying it hoped the work would “serve as a road map for Congress, the Executive Branch, and the private sector to prepare for and respond to future pandemics.” Katherine Dillinger CNN

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UK buys 5 million bird flu vaccine doses in case of pandemic The government is adding a human H5 vaccine to its stockpile as part of its health threat preparedness plans. Lauren Chadwick euronews

The United Kingdom has bought more than five million doses of a bird flu vaccine for humans in case the virus adapts to better infect people and cause a possible pandemic.

Men more likely than women to develop COVID-19 pneumonia, research suggests Also, California health officials report another illness in a dairy farm worker, pushing the national total this year to 55. CIDRAP

A study of sex-based differences in the risk of COVID-19 pneumonia finds that men were more likely to develop the complication than women (12.0% vs 7.0%) during the declared pandemic period and the early months of the endemic phase of the disease in Mexico.

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Mysterious Driving Factor Behind Long COVID May Have Been Identified A persistent form of infection? The Conversation ScienceAlert

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Analysis of 25 studies shows reduced risk of long COVID after vaccination Two doses of COVID vaccine before infection was tied to a 24% reduced odds of having long COVID. CIDRAP

A new meta-analysis of studies involving more than 14 million people published in the Journal of Infection shows that COVID-19 vaccination is associated with a lower risk of developing long COVID, with two doses reducing the odds by 24% and one dose reducing the odds by 15%.

Despite The Offer Of Free Mpox Vaccines, Burundi's Government Is Hesitant - Health Policy Watch Despite having the second biggest mpox outbreak in Africa, Burundi has no immediate plans to vaccinate those at risk. Health Policy Watch

...Donated vaccine doses are available to Burundi for free but “vaccine hesitancy” might be playing a part in the government’s reluctance to vaccinate people, according to Dr Ngashi Ngongo, mpox lead for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. ...