COVID vaccines protect frontline workers from long COVID, data suggest The study was based on outcomes seen among essential workers with COVID-19 infection from June 2021 to September 2022. CIDRAP

A third dose of COVID-19 vaccine offered essential workers some protection from developing long COVID during Omicron variant predominance, according to a new study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

How the CDC could change under the next Trump administration If the new administration embraces proposals to cut the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's budget and its mission, the public health agency could look very different than it does today. NPR

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Measles cases rise by 20 percent worldwide: WHO Measles cases have skyrocketed in recent years after a COVID-19 pandemic-era drop in vaccination against the virus.   Cases of the disease increased by 20 percent across the globe between 2022 and … aoconnelld The Hill

Measles cases have skyrocketed in recent years after a COVID-19 pandemic-era drop in vaccination against the virus.  

Trump to select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead HHS The choice will roil many public health experts after his years of touting debunked claims that vaccines cause autism. Politico

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Moroccan Mpox Test To Be Used In Africa; No Marburg Cases In Rwanda For Two Weeks - Health Policy Watch African countries will soon use a PCR test for mpox developed by Moroccan company Moldiag that is cheaper than the Gene Xpert tests currently being used, Health Policy Watch

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COP29 climate talks urged to find $1 trillion a year for poorer countries

Biden just finalized a major climate rule. This one could be tricky for Trump to dismantle

The Environmental Protection Agency just finalized one of the Biden administration’s only outstanding climate rules, aimed at cracking down on leaks of methane — a potent planet-warming gas with an outsized impact on the climate.

The rule, proposed nearly a year ago, was mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act, which could make it more difficult for the second Trump administration to dismantle.

Canadian teenager in critical condition with presumptive bird flu as U.S. official warns the virus 'seems to be gearing up for wider impact' Health officials were struggling to answer a broader and potentially worrisome question: how the infection occurred. Carolyn Barber Fortune

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“This case is very concerning for a number of reasons,” says Rick Bright, an American immunologist and vaccine researcher and a U.S. government health official from 2016 to 2020. “It’s in an otherwise healthy teenager. Like a similar case in Missouri, there’s no clear source for infection and no direct farm connection.”

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Medical boards almost never discipline doctors who peddle false COVID claims, legal researcher says

Less than 1% of all state medical-board disciplinary actions against physicians in the five most populous US states were for spreading misinformation about topics such as vaccines and therapies during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with 29% for negligence, according to an analysis from the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Law.

Yet two public health experts argue that, because of First Amendment rights and other factors, that's how it should be. ...

Many more seniors are getting COVID shots this year, CDC reports Nearly 4 in 10 seniors have gotten vaccinated for COVID so far this year. CBS News

Nearly 4 in 10 seniors have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine so far this year, new survey data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests, marking a steep increase in vaccination rates compared with the same time last year. 

What happens when a vaccine skeptic leads health policy? Ask Florida Among the names being floated to head the Department of Health and Human Services are RFK Jr. and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. Both are vaccine skeptics, which worries pediatricians. NPR

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Cases hit pre-COVID lows as virus season begins Respiratory virus season in the U.S. has so far proven to be quieter than the previous several seasons. Tina Reed Axios

The U.S. may be heading into Thanksgiving with respiratory disease levels at lows not seen since before the pandemic, and with few immediate signs of another tripledemic.

Instead of seasonal flu, COVID-19 or RSV, the big public health concern at the moment is walking pneumonia — a bacterial infection of the lungs that's hitting kids and adults at levels not seen in years. ..

COVID Map Update Reveals Shift in 'Very High' Water Virus Levels "Very high" levels of the virus were detected by the CDC in New Mexico, with "high" levels in Oregon, Arkansas, and Maine. Jess Thomson Newsweek

"Very high" levels of SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—have been detected in wastewater samples in the U.S.