Axios

A fast-spreading new COVID-19 variant called JN.1 could drive a new wave of disease across the U.S. this holiday season just as other respiratory viruses are cresting, experts say.

The big picture: While the situation isn't as dire as last year, when a "tripledemic" of respiratory diseases swamped hospitals, JN.1 cases have more than doubled since mid-November and now account for 1 in 5 new infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The humble toothbrush could prove to be a life-saver for patients in intensive care who are at serious risk of getting hospital-acquired pneumonia, according to a new analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Why it matters: Hospital-acquired pneumonia is among the most common and deadly health care-associated infections and is thought to be triggered by microorganisms released into saliva that make it into patients' airways.

Americans' satisfaction with almost every major part of the health care system has dropped since 2010, according to a new Gallup analysis.

Driving the news: Drugmakers took the biggest reputational hit, and ratings for physicians fell sharply, too.

Sixty percent of kids who have lost Medicaid coverage this year came from just nine states, all of which are Republican-led, according to new data from the Biden administration.

Driving the news: And the 10 states refusing the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults have disenrolled more kids than all of the expansion states combined, the administration also reported.

Wastewater analysis sites nationwide are showing high levels of COVID-19 as we head into the holiday travel season, per the latest CDC data.

• Almost every state reporting such data is showing at least "high" levels compared to baseline trends, with many reporting "very high" levels, as defined by the CDC.

The new highly effective class of anti-obesity drugs has often been talked about as an alternative to bariatric surgery — but medications like Wegovy are increasingly being paired with the procedure.

Why it matters: While surgeons say the drugs can especially help people with severe obesity maintain weight loss after surgery, the combination presents a pricey scenario for insurers already grappling with the cost of the drugs alone.

Years before Ozempic became all the weight loss rage, two private equity firms bought a commercialized anti-obesity drug out of bankruptcy and formed a new company around it called Currax Pharmaceuticals.

Driving the news: Tennessee-based Currax now is locked in an unusual fight with European regulators, and alleging a possible conflict of interest that's tied to Ozempic.

In his first campaign for president, Donald Trump tapped into bipartisan anger over high drug prices to bash pharmaceutical companies. In his latest run, Trump's echoing the extreme elements of his party to suggest the industry's products may be hurting Americans, particularly children.

Why it matters: The GOP frontrunner's airing of unfounded, innuendo-filled claims about the pharmaceutical industry could undermine public health. And it reflects how deeply mistrust of health institutions and anti-science rhetoric have become embedded within a sizable faction of the Republican party following the pandemic.