Axios

The Federal Trade Commission is launching a probe into reports that baby formula sellers have engaged in deceptive practices, price gouging or other illegal tactics amid widespread shortages.

Why it matters: Parents have been scrambling to find baby formula after the collision of supply chain issues, a massive recall and the temporary shut down of a large Abbott Nutrition factory in Michigan.

Germany's health minister said Tuesday the country has ordered 40,000 smallpox vaccine doses as a precaution after Germany and other countries reported multiple monkeypox infections, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: Cases of monkeypox, a disease rarely seen outside of western and central African countries, have been recently reported in multiple European countries. The World Health Organization's (WHO) European chief said last week that those outbreaks could spread in the summer as people gather for parties and festivals.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was re-elected to a second five-year term Tuesday after no other candidate challenged him for the post amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Why it matters: The pandemic has so far killed an estimated 6.2 million people worldwide and over 1 million in the U.S., though vaccines and other treatments have significantly slowed death rates in most parts of the world.

The U.S. birth rate went up for the first time since 2014, in a marked reversal of the decline seen earlier in the pandemic, according to newly released CDC data.

Driving the news: U.S. births had been declining by an average of 2% every year since 2014, and plunged 4% in the early phase of the pandemic, from 2019 to 2020, per the report.

Sweden is recommending a fifth COVID-19 vaccine for people with an increased risk of severe illness, including anyone who's pregnant or over 65, health authorities said Tuesday.

The big picture: Sweden, which has taken a more relaxed approach to the pandemic, with the government holding out on requiring masks and keeping schools, restaurants and bars open, is believed to be the first country to recommend a fifth COVID shot.

America's shortfall of health care workers is adding to the obstacles the Biden administration faces in returning the country to normal.

Why it matters: The nation entered the pandemic with major health care worker shortages and its workforce was strained to its limits in the emergency response to the COVID pandemic. It drove record levels of burnout and many to leave their roles.

Public health officials in Washington announced Monday they’re investigating the state’s first presumptively positive case of monkeypox.

Details: The case involves an adult man who recently traveled to an undisclosed country where other monkeypox cases have been reported, state and local health officials said.

Doctors at Children's Medical Center Dallas will be allowed to intake and treat transgender youth who seek gender-affirming care for at least another year after a county judge granted a temporary injunction on Monday, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Why it matters: The move comes after the hospital decided to stop providing certain medical treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, to new trans patients. Texas has implemented several anti-trans policies in the past year, including one that allows the state to investigate parents for child abuse if they seek gender-affirming care for their trans kids.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Monday officials are in the process of releasing some Jynneos vaccines to help prevent monkeypox, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: Monkeybox is not likely to cause a global pandemic like COVID did, but confirmed cases in at least 12 countries have spurred concern about the spread of infections.

More questions about the typical symptoms of monkeypox are emerging as health officials investigate a global uptick of the virus, which is rarely found outside of Africa.

Why it matters: Many cases in the growing monkeypox outbreak have been found in people with no travel links to places where it typically circulates. Health officials have so far detected cases in much of Europe, the U.S., Canada and Australia.

The CDC is examining 180 reported cases of hepatitis of unknown origin in kids across 36 states and territories, including six cases that resulted in deaths, officials told reporters in a briefing.

Why it matters: CDC is still trying to tease out whether these are part of a true increase in hepatitis among kids — or if the cases were identified as the result of improved pandemic-era surveillance.

Three small doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine proved more than 80% effective at eliciting a strong immune response in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old, the companies said in a release this morning.

Why it matters: Pfizer is seeking an emergency use authorization to vaccinate children in this age group — one of the last groups of Americans still largely ineligible to receive a coronavirus shot. The companies said they will submit the trial data to the FDA this week.

The push for more transparency in health care is fueling a reevaluation of the words doctors and nurses use in medical records.

Why it matters: Medical lingo helps shape the care and treatment patients get. But the language health professional commonly use can belittle or cast doubts on patients and their complaints and is due for an update, an analysis published in the BMJ argues.