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HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a common sexually transmitted infection that can lead to cancers of some of the most private places: the cervix, vagina, penis and throat. Although there’s been a vaccine to prevent HPV for about a decade, vaccination rates among kids and teens have stayed relatively low, both in California and nationwide. Because HPV is sexually transmitted, some parents shy away from the vaccine, feeling it isn’t necessary for their preteens. Others contend the vaccine isn’t proven. (Buck, 2/2)

As states legalize marijuana or its medical use, expectant mothers are taking it up in increasing numbers — another example of the many ways in which acceptance of marijuana has outstripped scientific understanding of its effects on human health. Often pregnant women presume that cannabis has no consequences for developing infants. But preliminary research suggests otherwise: Marijuana’s main psychoactive ingredient — tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — can cross the placenta to reach the fetus, experts say, potentially harming brain development, cognition and birth weight. THC can also be present in breast milk. (Saint Louis, 2/2)

Republicans on Thursday reignited their effort to change the Food and Drug Administration’s menu labeling rules, but their effort could be stymied by opposition from one of the restaurant industry’s leading trade groups. Restaurants must comply with Food and Drug Administration rules requiring the companies to display the calorie and nutrition content of their food by May 5, 2017. The agency finalized the rules last year. With the deadline so close, the National Restaurant Association thinks that the re-introduction of a bill that would water down those standards will sow confusion in the industry, which has already spent lots of time and money to adjust to the rules. (Siddons, 2/2)

Over the years, scientists have come up with a lot of ideas about why we sleep. Some have argued that it’s a way to save energy.  Others have suggested that slumber provides an opportunity to clear away the brain’s cellular waste. Still others have proposed that sleep simply forces animals to lie still, letting them hide from predators. A pair of papers published on Thursday in the journal Science offer evidence for another notion: We sleep to forget some of the things we learn each day. (Zimmer, 2/3)

From newborns to college students, children can be diagnosed with heart abnormalities that happened before birth. These defects, known as congenital heart defects or CHDs, can be life-threatening, medically complex and require lifelong treatment. And later in life, they can put a patient's own children at risk for the same conditions. (Maher, 2/2)

The University of South Florida will use a $1.1 million dollar state grant for Zika research to look at how the virus infects fetuses. Researchers want to know how Zika penetrates the placenta, which usually acts as a barrier to keep a fetus safe from viruses. When the virus gets through the placental wall it causes severe birth defects in the fetus. (Ochoa, 2/2)