Could old coronavirus variants ever come back? The virus is evolving through a "continual game of cat and mouse between the virus and our immune systems," an epidemiologist explained. YahooNews

What happened to the variants that once wreaked havoc? “For all intents and purposes, we can consider them gone,” said David Dowdy, an epidemiology professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The pandemic has irreversibly changed America’s health care system. Here’s why we will all be feeling the consequences of delayed care for years to come Elective surgery delays can be detrimental in both preventive and curative care, allowing disease progression or leading to premature death. YahooFinance

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Mpox still circulating more than you'd think, from hot spot in Mexico to cluster of cases in Canada | CBC News The World Health Organization made the call this week to maintain mpox as a public health emergency — and later noted the number of new cases reported globally increased by 70 per cent from the week before. A cluster of cases in Toronto, too, offers a reminder that transmission is still simmering. CBC

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XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant now dominant in all US regions CIDRAP

In its new variant estimates today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant is now dominant the northwestern region, making it the most

Also, the more transmissible variant expanded its footprint in areas where it already dominates, and in the United States as a whole, it accounts for an estimated 80.2% of samples, up steadily from 74.7% the previous week.

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Ukrainian grain shipments drop as ship backups grow LONDON (AP) — The amount of grain leaving Ukraine has dropped even as a U.N.-brokered deal works to keep food flowing to developing nations, with inspections of ships falling to half what they were four months ago and a backlog of vessels growing as Russia's invasion nears the one-year mark. AP NEWS

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Health care vaccine mandate remains as some push for an end LOWRY CITY, Mo. (AP) — At Truman Lake Manor in rural Missouri, every day begins the same way for every employee entering the nursing home's doors — with a swab up the nose, a swirl of testing solution and a brief wait to see whether a thin red line appears indicating a positive COVID-19 case. AP NEWS

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COVID increases your risk for cardiac complications—immediately and into the future, experts say. Here’s how you can protect your heart Long COVID isn’t the only opportunity for the virus to wreak havoc later on. YahooFinance

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With COVID here to stay, what can the average person do to protect their heart?

Keeping heart-healthy pre-COVID looks largely the same during COVID, Dr. Michelle Albert, president of the American Heart Association, tells Fortune.

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The race to an RSV vaccine could soon be over, decades after the first attempt The FDA is poised to approve multiple RSV vaccines this year. The leading candidates are for older adults, but shots to protect infants are in the pipeline. NBC News

Roughly six decades after the first attempt to develop a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, the Food and Drug Administration is poised to approve several shots by next winter.

Omicron hospital illness 54% deadlier than flu hospital cases, study finds Adults hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infections in Switzerland died at 1.5 times the rate of those diagnosed as having influenza A or B. CIDRAP

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Analysis of a subgroup of patients hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 or flu found that the risk of death was 2.5 times higher, and the likelihood of ICU admission was 1.7 times higher, among Omicron than flu patients.

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Long-COVID patients report job, money issues in addition to lingering symptoms CIDRAP

Long-COVID patients have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment than their recovered peers and are likely to have persistent or new-onset symptoms, disabilities, and financial problems in the 6 months after hospitalization, according to two US studies published in JAMA Network Open. ...