Rural pharmacies fill a health care gap in the US. Owners say it's getting harder to stay open Rural pharmacies can be a touchstone for their communities. The staff knows everyone’s names and drugs, answers questions about residents’ mail-order prescriptions or can spot the signs of serious illness. AP News

...

Report: More than 200 symptoms tied to long COVID Today a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine presents a number of conclusions about long-COVID diagnosis, symptoms, and impact on daily function, including that the condition can cause more than 200 symptoms, and that a positive COVID-19 test is not necessary to make a long-COVID diagnosis. CIDRAP

...

First-ever human case of H5N2 bird flu reported in Mexico, WHO says | CNN Even as the United States grapples with an outbreak of H5N1 flu in dairy cattle, the World Health Organization has announced the first known human infection with a different strain, H5N2, in a person in Mexico who died of complications of their infection. Brenda Goodman CNN

...

Climate records keep getting shattered. Here is what you need to know Month after month, global temperatures are breaking records. Meanwhile, scientists and climate policymakers warn of the growing likelihood that the planet will soon exceed the warming limit set in the landmark Paris 2015 climate talks. AP News

...

World hits streak of record temperatures as UN warns of 'climate hell' Each of the past 12 months ranked as the warmest on record in year-on-year comparisons, the EU's climate change monitoring service said on Wednesday, as U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent action to avert "climate hell". Kate Abnett,Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber Reuters

...

New Report Underscores the Seriousness of Long COVID (yahoo.com)

End of Pandemic Internet Subsidies Threatens a Health Care Lifeline for Rural America - KFF Health News As the Affordable Connectivity Program runs out of money, millions of people face a jump in internet costs or lost connections if federal lawmakers don't pass a funding extension. khnkit KFF Health News

...

FDA vaccine advisers vote unanimously in favor of updated Covid-19 shot for fall | CNN Another new version of the Covid-19 vaccine will probably be coming this fall. Jen Christensen CNN

Another new version of the Covid-19 vaccine will probably be coming this fall.

Finland to offer bird flu vaccine to select groups of people, a possible global first Finland is set to potentially become the first country to offer bird flu vaccine to people at risk of exposure to the virus. Andrew Joseph STAT

...

The vaccine campaign will be limited, with doses set to be available to groups including poultry farmers, veterinarians, scientists who study the virus, and people who work on fur farms housing animals like mink and fox and where there have been outbreaks.

...

Survey: Americans ready to take climate action

Most Americans are willing to take steps to help address climate change, a new survey finds.

...

61% of Americans feel vulnerable to a lower quality of life due to climate change, while 57% worry about climate-related health risks, per the survey.

• 61% of Americans are open to drinking recycled wastewater in the face of water shortages, 74% would eat food grown using recycled water, and 82% would pay more to filter microplastics out of their drinking water.
• ...

N95 respirator gets top billing in stopping SARS-CoV-2 viral leakage into the air Researchers who compared the ability of cloth and surgical masks and KN95 and N95 respirators to impede SARS-CoV-2 leakage into the environment show that the "duckbill" N95 won handily, stopping 98% of the virus that causes COVID-19. CIDRAP

...