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.

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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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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Current Epidemic Trends (Based on Rt) for States CFA’s Rt page estimates COVID-19 and influenza epidemic trends for U.S. states. CDC CFA: Modeling and Forecasting

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As of November 26, 2024, we estimate that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 10 states, declining or likely declining in 15 states, and not changing in 22 states....

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As of November 26, 2024, we estimate that influenza infections are growing or likely growing in 33 states, declining or likely declining in 1 state, and not changing in 8 states.

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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. ...