The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated guidance Friday recommending that people limit their sexual partners while waiting to get vaccinated against monkeypox.
Driving the news: Whilemonkeypox is not considered a sexually transmitted disease, it is often transmitted through "close, sustained physical contact, which can include sexual contact," the CDC said.
A jury ruled that a pharmacist who refused to fill her prescription for a morning-after pill based on his "beliefs" did not discriminate, but did award her $25,000 for the emotional harm caused, NBC News reports.
The big picture: The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade earlier this summer has reignited debates over contraception and birth control.
Monkeypox case numbers in the United Kingdom may have started to level off, British health officials said Friday.
Driving the news: Early signs show that the outbreak is plateauing in the region, with 2,859 confirmed cases reported since May, according to the UK Health Security Agency.
The Food and Drug Administration is considering splitting doses of the Jynneos vaccine into fifths to increase supply amid the expanding monkeypox outbreak, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said this week.
Driving the news: Under the "dose-sparing" approach, health care providers could use one vial of the vaccine to administer up to five doses without an impact on safety or efficacy, Califf said.
President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 for the seventh consecutive day on Friday.
The big picture: Initially testing positive on July 22, Biden tested negative after five days of the antiviral Paxlovid treatment but has had a "rebound" COVID case since last Saturday.
The big picture: Two-thirds of Americans said in a survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center that they don't think there's a vaccine for monkeypox or they aren't sure. But there is and here's what you need to know about it.
The New York State Department of Health urged people on Thursday to get vaccinated against polio, saying it has found further evidence of local transmission of the virus in the state.
Why it matters: The department said it has identified polio, a highly contagious virus that can lead to permanent disability and death, in seven wastewater samples taken from two counties, Rockland and Orange, in the last two months.
Facing a groundswell of criticism for its sluggish response to monkeypox, the Biden administration declared a public health emergency on Thursday, potentially unlocking resources to expedite vaccine availability in the U.S.
Why it matters: It's likely the first step toward asking Congress for more money, but also allows the federal health department to tap into other resources as it seeks to beef up countermeasures.
Democrats' party-line drug pricing legislation will likely cause manufacturers to raise the launch prices of new drugs, the Congressional Budget Office projected yesterday.
The intrigue: The primary driver of the increases would be a cap preventing prices for existing drugs from rising more than inflation. That provision has received bipartisan support in the past.
July marked the first month that more than 1 million courses of Pfizer's COVID antiviral Paxlovid were prescribed, according to Biden administration figures provided to Axios.
The big picture: There were1.26 million courses dispensed last month, a 37% increase over June. Additionally, more Paxlovid was dispensed in the month of July than that prescribed from January through May combined, per the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Biden administration has declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency — a move that gives officials more flexibility to tackle the virus' spread.
Fears about shortages of monkeypox vaccine are focusing attention on the more than 1 million doses of a smallpox treatment in the Strategic National Stockpile that experts say could be an effective backup but that's hard to access.
Why it matters: TPOXX (Tecovirimat) is FDA-approved to treat smallpox and was tested on animals with monkeypox, which is a related virus. But because it's unlicensed and classed as an investigational new drug, providers responding to the outbreak have to make requests to the Centers for Disease Control when they use it, leading to paperwork burdens and delays.
President Biden tested positive for COVID-19 again Thursday and is still experiencing "a very occasional cough" which is "improving," his physician said in a letter.
The big picture: Biden had tested negative following his first bout with the virus last week after finishing his five-day course of the treatment Paxlovid. But the president has tested positive for a "rebound" case of COVID since Saturday.
A resounding victory for abortion rights in Kansas is bolstering Democrats' confidence that the issue will help them win close midterm races in several key states.
The big picture: Tuesday night’s results — an 18-point loss for a proposal to strip abortion rights out of the state's constitution — yielded new evidence that abortion can push swing voters toward Democrats and mobilize the liberal base.
The Department of Transportation on Wednesday proposed new protections for travelers, including requiring airlines to provide vouchers that don't expire to passengers unable to fly for pandemic-related reasons.
Why it matters: If enacted, the change would be one of the most extensive overhauls of travelers' rights and airline refund rules.
A federal judge has ruled that West Virginia's Medicaid program cannot exclude coverage for gender-affirming surgeries.
Driving the news: District Judge Robert C. Chambers wrote in a 30-page ruling that the exclusion "discriminates on the basis of sex and transgender status," and certified the lawsuit, filed by Lambda Legal, as a class action covering all trans people who rely on West Virginia's Medicaid.
/2022/08/03/1659558951256.gif?w=3840)
