Good morning! Today's issue features stories on recent developments in viral disease, including HIV testing, chikungunya-related travel guidance and a newly discovered strain of mpox.

Also, learn about a Medicare Payment Advisory Commission proposal to increase physician reimbursement.

A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine indicates GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Zepbound likely have minimal impact on a person's risk for obesity-related cancers. The study, which analyzed 48 trials involving 94,245 participants, found that the drugs had little to no effect on risk for cancers such as breast, thyroid, pancreatic and kidney. The study's limitations include its short follow-up period and the fact that none of the trials was designed to measure cancer outcomes.

The implementation of a standardized screening protocol dramatically improved iron deficiency detection among pregnant women. By aligning ferritin testing with standard hemoglobin draws in both early and late pregnancy, the percentage of pregnant women screened for iron deficiency increased sixfold, from 10% to 63%. Despite widespread use of prenatal vitamins, about two-thirds of women tested were found to be iron deficient. The initiative highlights the importance of routine ferritin screening to identify women who may benefit from targeted iron supplementation beyond standard prenatal care.

A new strain of mpox has been found in England in a traveler returning from Asia. The still-unnamed strain contains elements of clades Ib and IIb, and health officials are assessing its significance. The UK Health Security Agency emphasizes the importance of vaccination, which is 75% to 80% effective against mpox.

A new HIV test delivers results in five minutes and can differentiate between active HIV infection and vaccine-induced antibodies. The test, which was detailed in the journal Science Advances, uses electrochemical sensing and machine learning to detect protein and nucleic acid markers. "The scalable design and relatively low cost of the device make it an appealing solution for widespread adoption in both resource-rich and resource-limited environments," said researcher Dipanjan Pan.

California health officials are cautioning against foraging for wild mushrooms after 21 cases of amatoxin poisoning, including one death and several cases of liver damage. The poisonings are likely linked to death cap mushrooms, which are toxic but often mistaken for edible varieties.

Accountable care organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program that have higher financial risk and have participated longer than others have achieved better outcomes, according to an issue brief from the Health Care Transformation Task Force. The task force found that participation in two-sided risk models is associated with greater savings and quality improvements than participation in one-sided risk models.

A new American Hospital Association report based on data from Vizient shows that survival rates in US hospitals have increased 30% since 2019, central line-associated bloodstream infections have decreased 24%, and urinary tract infections linked to catheters decreased 25%, as of mid-2025. Breast and colon cancer screenings increased 95% over the study period, according to the report.