India confirms Asia's first monkeypox death India confirmed its first monkeypox death on Monday, a young man in the southern state of Kerala, in what is only the fourth known fatality from the disease in the current outbreak. Jose Devasia,Chris Thomas Reuters

...

Most US public schools plan to keep masks optional for start of classes Students are heading to another school year amid the Covid-19 pandemic, but this time, there seem to be fewer discussions and fretting about masks and other mitigation measures -- despite a rise of infections sweeping the country. Jacqueline Howard, CNN CNN

...

San Francisco, New York Declare Monkeypox An Emergency Those two areas are among the hardest-hit by the viral outbreak. U.S. health officials, however, stressed that monkeypox can still be stopped in its tracks, and the Department of Health and Human S… khnkit Kaiser Health News

U.S. health officials, however, stressed that monkeypox can still be stopped in its tracks, and the Department of Health and Human Services said 1.1 million new vaccines will soon be available...

San Francisco, New York Declare Monkeypox An Emergency Those two areas are among the hardest-hit by the viral outbreak. U.S. health officials, however, stressed that monkeypox can still be stopped in its tracks, and the Department of Health and Human S… khnkit Kaiser Health News

U.S. health officials, however, stressed that monkeypox can still be stopped in its tracks, and the Department of Health and Human Services said 1.1 million new vaccines will soon be available...

US to hold push for Covid boosters until fall in order to better protect against BA.5 Pfizer and Moderna expected to roll out reformulated boosters, likely to be authorized for anyone 12 and older, in September the Guardian

...

‘Pharmacy deserts’: Time to review the definition We continue to see significant disparities in access to pharmacies in this country. dgilliland The Hill

...

One key step toward solving the nation’s deadly nursing shortage The solution is managing the peaks and valleys of patient flow created by elective surgery schedules. dtodd The Hill

...

A rare look inside the Strategic National Stockpile — and how it went wrong at the start of the pandemic As the first wave of the Covid pandemic devastated the U.S., hospitals looked to the nation's stockpile for desperately needed supplies. They weren't there. NBC News

...

Spain registers monkeypox death; media say it's a first MADRID (AP) — Spain on Friday reported the death of a person from monkeypox, which Spanish media said was a first for the European Union nation. In its latest report on the virus, Spain’s Health Ministry said 120 people had been admitted to the hospital so far with monkeypox and one had died. AP NEWS

...

How Worrisome Are the Cases of Monkeypox in Kids? Pediatric health experts say there's no need for alarm, but 'prevention will be key' Amanda D'Ambrosio medpagetoday

...

"I want caregivers of children to be aware of these considerations," she stated, but emphasized that COVID remains a more pervasive risk to kids at this point...

U.S. can conduct 60,000-80,000 monkeypox tests per week, HHS secretary says The United States has the capacity to conduct 60,000-80,000 tests for monkeypox virus per week, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said on Thursday. Reuters Reuters

...

Everything You Need to Know About Paxlovid — Especially, Should You Take It? Paxlovid has eclipsed other available therapies for preventing life-threatening covid symptoms in high-risk patients. But even as doctors praise its effectiveness, many say they have unanswered que… khnerich Kaiser Health News

...

Reinfection, severe outcome more common with BA.5 variant; virus spike protein toxic to heart cells Compared with the earlier Omicron BA.2 subvariant, currently dominant Omicron BA.5 is linked with higher odds of causing a second SARS-COV-2 infection regardless of vaccination status, a study from Portugal suggests. Further, they found, in infected heart muscle cells only the SARS-CoV-2 spike interacted with so-called TLR4 proteins (Toll-like receptor-4) that recognize invaders and trigger inflammatory responses. YahooNews

...

...

But across the small towns and farmlands, new research has found, Covid killed Black and Hispanic people at considerably higher rates than it did their white neighbors. Even at the end of the pandemic’s second year, in February 2022, overstretched health systems, poverty, chronic illnesses and lower vaccination rates were forcing nonwhite people to bear the burden of the virus...