Rural hospitals plan to reject Congress’ program The Rural Emergency Hospital designation would offer a new way for rural hospitals to be paid, but many rural hospitals and communities are put off by the requirements. POLITICO

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Amid a growing wave of closures in the last decade (and fears of more on the way), rural hospitals were hopeful the program would provide them with a solution that would help them survive.

U.S. government to test Pfizer's Paxlovid for long COVID The U.S. National Institutes of Health's $1 billion RECOVER Initiative has picked Pfizer Inc's antiviral drug Paxlovid as the first treatment it will study in patients with long COVID, organizers of the study said on Thursday. Julie Steenhuysen Reuters

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Diseases Explode after Extreme Flooding and Other Climate Disasters Devastating floods in Pakistan are driving the spread of disease—and climate change is making such events more common Erin Biba Scientific American

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African health official: Ebola in Uganda is under control KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda's Ebola outbreak is under control, a top public health official in Africa said Thursday, noting that local health authorities are doing well to trace most contacts. “The situation is not getting out of control,” said Dr. AP NEWS

“The situation is not getting out of control,” said Dr. Ahmed Ogwell, acting director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We have good visibility of all the contacts.”

What can the US do to increase updated COVID booster rates? Experts say public health officials will need to meet Americans where they are to increase rates of COVID-19 updated booster shots. ABC News ABC News

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Experts told ABC News that COVID-19 is not currently top of mind for many Americans and that public health officials and community leaders need to meet people where they are.

Moderna close to U.S. deal to make vaccines for Ebola, biological threats - Bloomberg News Moderna Inc is nearing a deal with the U.S. government to develop vaccines against a range of biological threats including Ebola, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters Reuters

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For those with HIV or weak immune systems, monkeypox can be fatal -U.S. study People with severely weakened immune systems, such as those infected with HIV, can experience severe symptoms and even die from a monkeypox infection, according to a U.S. study released on Wednesday. Julie Steenhuysen Reuters

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EU Commission proposes tougher pollution rules

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm sought on Wednesday to toughen up pollution restrictions to ensure that harmful pollutants are eliminated by 2050 to potentially save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

The European Commission’s proposals center on air, waste and water pollution, and need the backing of the EU parliament and member states before they can be made mandatory. That is likely to take many months.

Air pollution is the biggest threat to the bloc’s 450 million citizens. The proposals include the doubling of limits to permissible fine air particles by 2030. Such particles are make up a significant part of air pollution overall, which the EU says is killing nearly 300,000 people a year.

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People who caught mild Covid had increased risk of blood clots, British study finds

People who caught mild cases of Covid-19 during the first year of the pandemic had a higher risk of developing blood clots than those who were not infected, according to a large study published by British scientists this week.

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The scientists said their findings highlight the importance of monitoring even people who had mild Covid for cardiovascular disease over the long term.

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Behaviors that helped keep us safe from Covid-19 are probably behind surge in RSV cases, scientists say | CNN The behaviors that helped keep us safe from Covid-19 over the past 2½ years -- lockdowns, physical distancing, wearing masks, washing hands -- are probably behind the "unprecedented" early surge in RSV infections this year, scientists say. Jen Christensen CNN

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