Air pollution may boost risk of longer-term long-COVID symptoms, research suggests In California, one pregnant woman and her twins were sick, and both infants died. CIDRAP

Exposure to small- or fine-particle air pollution may predispose COVID-19 survivors to a longer duration of persistent symptoms by increasing the severity of the infection, among other contributing factors, finds a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).

A North Carolina town is suing utility Duke Energy over climate change A small North Carolina town is suing Duke Energy for costs from climate change, claiming the utility knew its fossil fuel power plants were heating the planet and deceived the public. NPR

The small town of Carrboro, North Carolina is suing one of the country's largest electric utilities, Duke Energy, over climate change.

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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Democrats push back on Republican COVID-19 report House Democrats on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Tuesday released their own report responding to the Republican-led panel’s final report, deeming the subcommittee to … jchoi The Hill

House Democrats on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Tuesday released their own report responding to the Republican-led panel’s final report, deeming the subcommittee to have “failed” in its endeavor to uncover the origins of COVID-19 and instead having “fueled extreme narratives.” ...

Unknown disease kills 143 in southwest Congo, local authorities say

House Covid-19 panel releases final report criticizing public health response to the pandemic | CNN A Republican-led House committee investigating broad aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects in the US released a final report Monday summarizing its two-year effort, saying it hoped the work would “serve as a road map for Congress, the Executive Branch, and the private sector to prepare for and respond to future pandemics.” Katherine Dillinger CNN

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UK buys 5 million bird flu vaccine doses in case of pandemic The government is adding a human H5 vaccine to its stockpile as part of its health threat preparedness plans. Lauren Chadwick euronews

The United Kingdom has bought more than five million doses of a bird flu vaccine for humans in case the virus adapts to better infect people and cause a possible pandemic.

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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