Britain's polio-free status may be in jeopardy for the first time in nearly 20 years as several samples of the polio virus were found during recent London sewage testing, the U.K. Health Security Agency said Wednesday.
Why it matters: The discovery means it's likely there has been some spread of a "vaccine-derived" polio virus between close contacts in London, the agency said. The last case of wild polio in the U.K. was confirmed in 1984 and the country has remained polio-free since 2003.
Top Trump administration officials ignored warnings and embraced a "herd immunity via mass infection" approach to containing COVID-19 to justify not taking meaningful action to curb the virus in the fall and winter of 2020-2021, a House oversight panel report concluded Tuesday.
Why it matters: The U.S. missed the boat on the kind of swift, early response that would have been most effective, according to many health experts, leading more Americans to die from November 2020 through February 2021 than during any other corresponding period throughout the pandemic.
Parents can now schedule appointments for COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 at doctors' offices and major retailers including CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Rite Aid, Costco, Kroger and more.
Why it matters: Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky's signing off on allowing Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 shots for children as young as 6 months old, the shots are becoming available nationwide to the youngest Americans, Axios' Tina Reed reports.
The Biden administration wants to make the tobacco industry cut back the amount of nicotine in cigarettes sold in the U.S. to non-addictive levels.
Why it matters: The bid to essentially take the buzz out of smoking cigarettes would be unprecedented in the long-running public health fight to curb tobacco use, which the FDA says leads to more than 480,000 deaths a year.
When we wrote on the virtues of coffee, we heard from dozens of tea-drinking readers who wondered if their beverage of choice came with health perks too.
Why it matters: It turns out tea — all types of it — is great for you, with benefits that touch everything from your brain to your gut to your immune system.
Your brain: L-theanine, which is found in green tea and oolong tea, has been linked to lower a risk of developing cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Chamomile tea is an effective natural enemy of anxiety.
Your immune system: White tea is chock-full of antioxidants that have been linked to lower cancer risk. Black tea has all-around immune benefits too.
Your teeth: White tea also has fluoride for your dental health — but black tea can stain your teeth.
Your gut: Hibiscus tea can curb cravings. Peppermint tea fights irritable bowel syndrome and constipation. And rooibos tea can boost your good cholesterol and lower your bad cholesterol, the University of Pennsylvania's medical school notes.
And the perks don't come from drinking alone. You can press steamed and cooled black tea on your cuts and bruises to reduce swelling and relieve pain, per UPenn.
But, but, but: Just like with coffee, watch how you drink tea. Adding cream and sugar and syrups to make tea lattes can wipe away the natural benefits — and add tons of calories.
And don't fall for the slew of "detox" or "weight loss" teas that are peddled on Instagram and Facebook.
The bottom line: Whether you start your day with coffee or tea, drink up and reap the benefits.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) on Tuesday signed into law a bill that will prohibit pregnant people from getting abortion pills via mail.
Driving the news: The bill makes "delivering, dispensing, distributing, or providing" an "abortion-inducing drug" to a pregnant person a crime, and requires patients to take the medication in person, despite federal guidance that says that it is safe to access the pills via telemedicine.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed a bill into law Tuesday that would ban nearly all abortions in the state and criminalize providers if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
The big picture: Louisiana is one of the 13 states with "trigger" laws, which are near-total abortion bans that would take effect shortly after a Roe overturn. The bill that was just enacted makes the state's post-Roe ban much more severe.
Scientists are tracking diseases from space and getting a new view of human health.
Why it matters: The proliferation of easy-to-use, relatively cheap and more comprehensive satellite data is allowing researchers to get a holistic view of what's happening on Earth during disease outbreaks and possibly learn how to predict the next one.
Medicare could have saved up to $3.6 billion in a single year if it were purchasing generic drugs as billionaire businessman Mark Cuban's online pharmacy does, says a research report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Why it matters: Medicare is overpaying for some generics, the authors said.
Why it matters: While the finding may seem obvious, it's just one example of the implications extreme heat has on health and wellness — and why experts say cities will need to adapt.
A tool used to analyze cancerous tumors based on algorithms built to map distant galaxies is getting a major influx of funding.
Why it matters: The imaging platform — called AstroPath — is able to pinpoint how certain tumor cells interact with the body's tissues, allowing doctors to potentially learn more about who might respond well to various treatments.
Extreme heat is increasingly taking a toll on children, pregnant people and other vulnerable populations, forcing authorities to roll out new strategies against an environmental threat that dwarfs floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters.
Why it matters: Summers are becoming deadlier as climate change blankets millions in heat waves whose public health consequences were until recently not fully understood.
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