Social behavior

State lawmakers are pushing for vaccine exemptions even as childhood vaccination rates fall Vaccination bills are popping up in more than 15 states as lawmakers aim to potentially resurrect or create new religious exemptions from immunization mandates, establish state-level vaccine injury databases or dictate what providers must tell patients about the shots. AP News

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Vulnerable Americans live in the shadow of COVID-19 as most move on People with immune system health problems continue to take precautions against COVID-19 five years into the pandemic. AP News

This month marks the fifth anniversary of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. The virus would go on to kill 1.2 million Americans and disrupt countless lives.

US respiratory disease markers remain high for flu, COVID, RSV Respiratory virus activity across the nation remains high, with COVID-19 levels rising across much of the country, flu indicators still elevated, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity very high in many regions, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest illness updates. CIDRAP

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Forty-three states are reporting very high or high flu activity, and of respiratory samples that tested positive for flu at public health labs, nearly 98% were influenza A. Of subtyped samples, 55.5% were H3N2, and 44.5% were 2009 H1N1.

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