Florida’s RSV Season Has Started, and It’s Coming Soon to the Rest of US. Here's a Primer. - KFF Health News Florida’s RSV season begins earlier and runs longer than anywhere else in the U.S., according to the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute. New vaccines can help, but most older adults, who are vulnerable to RSV, haven’t gotten them yet. khnkit KFF Health News

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10 states that will likely face the most financial losses from climate change

With a variety of environmental events affecting the wide stretch of the United States, each state is subject to its own risks. Particularly, tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, landslides, lightning and drought, among other events, can cause damage to buildings, agriculture and individuals alike. When considering insurance, residents and business owners in each state should account for historic and projected losses due to environmental events in their financial plans.

With this in mind, SmartAsset set out to determine which states are most at financial risk due to various weather events. States were ranked by the total expected annual financial losses per person across all major environmental events according to the latest data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Key findings:

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COVID activity continues at brisk pace across much of US US COVID activity continues a steady rise across most of the nation, according to the latest indicators today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CIDRAP

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Intersection of long COVID and disability highlighted in CDC study (medicalxpress.com)

Just as coronavirus transmission fluctuated in waves, so too have our responses to it. The world is four years from the acute phase of the pandemic, but not without lasting impact—including those who have maintained debilitating symptoms from COVID, adding to a large population of people with disabilities.

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The largest study conducted by the CDC to capture the scope of disability in the U.S. and representing 245 million people, the authors found that nearly half of those over 65 reported being disabled, and that long COVID symptoms were present in 11% of those who reported disabilities, versus 7% of those without disabilities.

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Healthy pre-COVID lifestyle may protect against severe infection A University of Oxford-led study links a healthy pre-infection lifestyle to a 36% lower risk of long COVID, a 41% lower odds of death, and 22% lower chance of hospitalization. CIDRAP

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The researchers assessed the association of modifiable lifestyle factors (eg, smoking, alcohol use, body mass index, physical activity, time spent in sedentary activities, sleep duration, diet) with long COVID, death, and hospitalization among 68,896 adults in the UK Biobank cohort who tested positive for COVID-19 from March 2020 to March 2022.

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10 U.S. states least-prepared for climate change and extreme weather (cnbc.com)

“There’s really no place in the country that doesn’t have risk,” said Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications for First Street Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. “As you start to look at the multiple hazards, wildfire, wind, flood, extreme heat, then you start to understand that these hazards touch all parts of the country.”

Some states are more vulnerable than others. And even some of those that aren’t are not doing all they can to mitigate the risks....

Some states are well-equipped to deal with the rising risks. But these ten states have work to do.

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What to know about the updated COVID vaccines coming this fall Updated COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be rolled out in August or September. Here's everything you need to know about the shots. ABC News ABC News

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The updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines will target the JN.1 lineage of the virus, an offshoot of the omicron variant.

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Global measles cases spiked 140% in 2019 amid falling vaccinations in many nations, study estimates A new study from Columbia University shows that measles cases around the world surged 140% from 2010 to 2019, with declining vaccination rates in 59 of 194 nations fueled by socioeconomic factors in some low-resourced countries and vaccine reluctance in wealthier nations. CIDRAP

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The results were published yesterday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Study: Pandemic widened global economic disparities The COVID-19 pandemic hit low-income countries harder than wealthier nations, according to a new study in PLOS One, further slowing progress toward health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  CIDRAP

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On average, the pandemic caused low-income countries to experience an average progress loss of 16.5% across all health indicators, whereas high-income countries have seen losses as low as 3%, the authors said.