Are mask mandates making a comeback? Hospitalizations have spiked in major cities, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. sthomas The Hill

In Southern California, most hospitals never ended their mask mandates after the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, more mandates are returning. ...

Hospitalizations are up sharply in major cities, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

Health officials are advising the immunocompromised to mask in public to prevent illness, and in Wisconsin, a major health care group is reinstating a mask mandate beginning next week.

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Why The U.S. Could Be Making The Same Mistakes With Bird Flu As It Did With COVID-19 The first severe human case of bird flu was recently reported in the U.S. Here are some ways the U.S. may be repeating the same mistakes as from the COVID-19 pandemic. Omer Awan Forbes

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Data show 7% rate of long COVID in college students About 7% of 428 Omicron COVID-19 survivors who were health-sciences students at a Saudi Arabian college reported persistent symptoms, notably loss of smell or taste, for more than 28 days. CIDRAP

About 7% of 428 Omicron COVID-19 survivors who were health-sciences students at a Saudi Arabian college reported persistent symptoms, notably loss of smell or taste, for more than 28 days.

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Paxlovid tied to lower risk of hospital stay, heart problems, death in adults with kidney disease and COVID The antiviral drug nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) was linked to a lower risk of hospitalization within 30 days and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and death at 1 year in adults with COVID-19 and chronic kidney disease (CKD) or kidney failure, finds a study this week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. CIDRAP

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5 things we know and still don't know about COVID, 5 years after it appeared Five years after the virus that causes COVID emerged in China it still holds some mysteries. The disease has killed an estimated 20 million people globally, according to the World Health Organization, and thousands are still dying every year. AP News

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Heat Is Claiming Mexico’s Young People - Inside Climate News Elderly people are at high risk from extreme heat. But in one of the fastest-warming countries in the Americas, the worst rates of heat deaths are hitting young adults and children. Derek Harrison Inside Climate News

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While scientists have long monitored vulnerable groups like the elderly during extreme weather events, new evidence reveals a startling trend: Younger workers have become one of the most at-risk groups for heat-related deaths over the past two decades.

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What virus is going around? The flu, COVID, norovirus – and don't forget RSV The risk of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is on the rise, along with that of other illnesses including the flu, stomach flu and COVID-19. Mike Snider USA TODAY

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Bird flu warning over new virus risk: "significant public health concern" Public health officials have warned that new mutations of bird flu with human flu could have dangerous consequences. Newsweek

Combined infection with bird flu and human flu could lead to mutations of new viruses that could have dangerous public health consequences, agencies have warned.

This is following the news that mutations of bird flu have occurred within a Louisiana patient and a teenager from Canada who both suffered with severe symptoms, potentially raising the risk of serious human infection among others.

WHO: Common respiratory viruses seen in samples from remote DR Congo outbreak Further tests found seasonal flu, rhinovirus, COVID, and other common respiratory viruses, alongside malaria and complications from malnutrition. CIDRAP

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The WHO now refers to the outbreak as acute respiratory infections complicated by malaria. Officials said acute malnutrition led to an increase in severe illnesses and deaths.

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