COVID variant XBB.1.5 now accounts for 40 percent of cases in the US: CDC The omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 has rapidly spread to become the dominant COVID-19 mutation in the U.S., now accounting for 40.5 percent of all cases. The XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant as of this week … jchoi The Hill

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Lack of info on China's COVID-19 surge stirs global concern BEIJING (AP) — Moves by several countries to mandate COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving from China reflect global concern that new variants could emerge in its ongoing explosive outbreak — and that the government may not inform the rest of the world quickly enough. AP NEWS

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Flu and RSV on the decline but Covid hospitalizations rise Covid hospitalizations are rising in the United States, even as hospitalizations for other tripledemic viruses RSV and the flu continue to fall. YahooNews

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A promising new Covid pill shows key advantages over Paxlovid in trial A Chinese antiviral pill was found to be as effective as Paxlovid in a Phase 3 trial, and it appeared to cause fewer side effects. NBC News

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"You have a medication that looks to be just as good as Paxlovid, but less cumbersome," said Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.

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Biden administration seeks to rescind Trump-era ‘conscience’ protections for health workers The Biden administration is proposing to largely undo a Trump-era rule that boosted the rights of medical workers to refuse to perform abortions or other services that conflicted with their religio… nweixel The Hill

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Diabetes rates may surge in US young people, study finds | CNN The number of people under age 20 with type 2 diabetes in the US may increase nearly 675% by 2060 if trends continue, researchers say, with an increase of up to 65% in young people with type 1 diabetes. Katherine Dillinger CNN

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COVID Smell Loss: 'Retraining' Mostly Flops in Trial Some patients did recover olfactory function with two-prong therapy, however Kate Kneisel medpagetoday

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Bimodal olfactory training with visual cues and the use of patient-preferred scents did not produce a clinically meaningful improvement in sense of smell among individuals with COVID-19–related olfactory loss, a 275-patient randomized trial showed.

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Opinion | COVID's Lasting Consequences for Kids Allergist Zachary Rubin, MD, details the post-COVID symptoms presenting at his clinic Emily Hutto medpagetoday

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In this video, MedPage Today editor-in-chief Jeremy Faust, MD, sits down with allergist and immunologist Zachary Rubin, MD, of Oak Brook Allergists in Illinois, to discuss the lasting effects of COVID-19 on pediatric health.

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Are U.S. Healthcare Workers Better Off Unionized? Study finds higher earnings and benefits, but unionization still stalled Jennifer Henderson medpagetoday

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Out of 14,298 healthcare workers surveyed, 13.2% reported union membership or coverage, with no significant trend from 2009 through 2021, according to Xiaojuan Li, PhD, of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, both in Boston, and colleagues.

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COVID pressures China's hospitals as countries mandate tests for travelers Chinese hospitals and funeral homes were under intense pressure on Wednesday as a surging COVID-19 wave drained resources, while the scale of the outbreak and doubts over official data prompted some countries to enact new travel rules on Chinese visitors. Martin Quin Pollard Reuters

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