Flu hospitalizations are rising dramatically, and earlier than ever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We haven’t seen this level of activity this early before,” said Lynnette Brammer, team lead of the domestic influenza surveillance team at the CDC. Typical flu seasons usually don’t pick up steam until December. (NBC News)

A new Senate report concluded that SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — likely resulted from “a research-related incident.” The report includes evidence of alarming biosecurity issues at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. (Vanity Fair/ProPublica)

The death of a patient in a closely watched Alzheimer’s trial raises concerns about the risk for some groups. The experimental Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab, hailed after it slowed patients’ cognitive decline in a clinical trial, may have contributed to the death in June of a patient in the study. (STAT News)

Pfizer’s Paxlovid was given less often to Black, Hispanic patients than white patients. From April to July, as Paxlovid’s use peaked, Black U.S. patients received it about a third less often than White patients, according to a recent report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Bloomberg)

China rolled out the first inhalable COVID vaccine. The first people are starting to receive the vaccine, which is inhaled via the mouth from a vessel that looks like a take-out coffee cup with a short mouthpiece. (Reuters)