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. ...

4 takeaways from Trump’s health agency nominations President-elect Trump’s team to lead the nation’s health agencies is rapidly coming together.   Trump first tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HH… kwadington The Hill

...Almost all have been highly critical of the agencies they would run if confirmed, and experts say the nominees represent a complete overhaul of the vision and priorities of key agencies for health care and public health.

Here are four takeaways:

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Lungs might hold clues to long COVID brain fog - UPI.com The "brain fog" of long COVID might be due to impaired lung function following a person's infection, a new study says. UPI

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Reduced gas exchange in the lungs -- oxygen coming in, carbon dioxide going out -- appears to be associated with brain fog in long COVID, researchers will report in Chicago at next week's annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

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Study: No unexpected COVID vaccine safety concerns in kids Postvaccination reactions were reported for 47% of children. CIDRAP

A new research letter published yesterday in JAMA Network Open shows no new safety concerns or reactogenicity signals among babies and toddlers who received their first COVID-19 vaccines by the age of 2.

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Trump picks Jay Bhattacharya, who backed COVID herd immunity, to lead National Institutes of Health President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya is a physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. AP News

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Is there enough land on Earth to fight climate change and feed the world? An MIT-led study shows that there is enough land to support efforts to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius while addressing competing needs for long-term food security and ecosystem health. MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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The team finds that with transformative changes in policy, land management practices, and consumption patterns, global land is sufficient to provide a sustainable supply of food and ecosystem services throughout this century while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with the 1.5 C goal.

Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans Millions of obese Americans would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning. AP News

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