�鶹Ů��

Gay and bisexual men at high risk for mpox infection should get vaccinated for the virus even after the current outbreak ends, government health advisers said Wednesday. The committee’s recommendation now goes to the director to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and — if she signs off on it — is sent out as guidance to U.S. doctors. (Stobbe, 10/25)

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved a proposal introduced by Ohio’s JD Vance that would block the Department of Transportation from using any federal money to enforce mask mandates in response to COVID-19 through the current fiscal year. The Cincinnati Republican’s amendment to a transportation spending bill was approved by a 59 to 38 margin. (Eaton, 10/25)

After several attempts by Republicans to rein in COVID-19 vaccine mandates by Texas employers, lawmakers are edging closer to a statewide ban on the practice after legislation won House approval Wednesday. Violators would be subject to a whopping $50,000 fine under an amendment adopted Wednesday by the Texas House. The bill’s sponsor called it the strongest such ban in the country. (Harper, 10/25)

Alison Buttenheim was floored by a sign she saw in her doctor’s office when she went to get the first jab of the two-dose shingles vaccine to protect her against painful flare-ups of varicella zoster. “Medicare patients cannot receive Tdap or zoster vaccines here. They need to obtain [them] at their pharmacy. If they receive it here, they need to pay out of pocket,” the notice read. (Branswell, 10/25)

People with severe mental illness (SMI) are at a 50% increased risk of death from all causes following COVID-19 infections, according to a study today in The British Journal of Psychiatry. (Soucheray, 10/25)

Ensitrelvir, a drug made by the Osaka-based pharmaceutical company Shionogi, was conditionally approved in Japan last November. Like Paxlovid, ensitrelvir works by blocking an enzyme that the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses to clone itself inside the human body. But for the millions of Americans who will likely get COVID in the coming months, the new drug is almost certain to be out of reach. (Gutman-Wei, 10/25)

As cold, flu and COVID season sets in, we chatted with Chapman University’s Patricia Lopes, an assistant professor of biology, who studies how sick individuals impact those around them. It’s not as clear-cut as it may seem. Turns out that simply observing a sick individual triggers not only that familiar behavioral response — get away! — but a complex biological response as well. “The really interesting aspect is, it also changes your physiology,” she said. (Sforza, 10/25)