‘Rogue Nurse’ Faces Murder Charges; Pediatric Bed Shortage Grows; WHO’s Fatal Fungi

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A former nurse at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina has been charged with murdering multiple patients by administering lethal doses of insulin. (WRAL)

Monovalent COVID vaccines produced similar, and in some cases better, neutralizing activity than the new bivalent shots against multiple SARS-CoV-2 strains including BA.4/5, a preprint study in bioRxiv suggests.

Flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases continue to rise, with children making up a third of flu hospitalizations, the CDC said. (NBC News)

Are pandemic behaviors to blame for the early surge in RSV? (CNN)

Meanwhile, the growing shortage of pediatric hospital beds is delaying care for some kids, according to a CNN analysis of HHS data.

A New York State Supreme Court ruling will compel New York City public employers to rehire anyone fired due to the city’s vaccine mandate and give those workers back pay. (CBS Albany)

Candlelight vigils and a minute of silence will be held today to honor two healthcare workers killed in the Methodist Dallas Medical Center shooting last week. (FOX News KDFW)

Minnesota hospital job vacancies tripled in 1 year, from 6% to 21%. (Star Tribune)

U.S. hospitals are on track for their worst financial year in decades. (Health Affairs)

Colorado, Florida, and Idaho have opted out of a key part of the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior surveys that track concerning behaviors in high school students. (KHN)

Fossil fuel dependence continues to compound the health effects of multiple global crises, the 2022 Lancet Countdown report showed.

Justice Samuel Alito, Jr. said the leak of the draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade made Supreme Court justices targets of assassination. (New York Times)

A staff report from the House Oversight and Reform Committee indicated some insurers and pharmacy benefit managers improperly limited access to birth control. (The Hill)

Influenza A virus and RSV can fuse together to create hybrid virus particles that might better evade the human immune system, a lab study showed. (Nature Microbiology)

The World Health Organization created its first-ever list of fungal pathogens that pose threats to public health.

How long will free access to COVID research continue? (Nature)

An NIH-funded trial will see if the psychedelic psilocybin can help people quit smoking. (NBC News)

Mighty Bliss electric heating pads are being recalled due to the risk of burns, mild shocks, and other safety concerns, the FDA warned.

Two lots of Aurobindo Pharma’s antihypertensive quinapril and hydrochlorothiazide tablets also are being recalled due to nitrosamine drug substance-related impurity, the agency said.

Clorox has recalled some Pine-Sol cleaners due to bacteria risk, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.