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Americans say they're worried about opioids and gun violence, but what they really want the government to tackle is rising drug costs and health bills, according to the new Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. Pocketbook health issues still resonate the most with voters, who are increasingly convinced businesses and politicians don't have their backs. (Bettelheim, 2/23)

Strep A is back on parents’ radar after an 11-year-old boy reportedly died of a bacterial infection after being injured at the gym. Jesse Brown, a healthy fifth-grader in Winter Park, Fla., was using a treadmill at a gym when he rolled his ankle. The boy was healing but soon developed a red and purple rash on his leg, Good Morning America reported Feb 19. (Prater, 2/22)

This year’s flu shot generated relatively robust levels of protection, new data show, with the vaccine’s effectiveness ranging between about 45% and 55%, depending on the age group and the metric studied, such as whether there was protection against any infection or infection that was severe enough to require hospitalization. (Branswell, 2/22)

The vaccines were more than 40% effective in preventing adults from getting sick enough from the flu that they had to go to a doctor’s office, clinic or hospital, health officials said during a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccines meeting Wednesday. Officials generally are pleased if a flu vaccine is 40% to 60% effective. (Stobbe, 2/22)

When I inquired about cannabis products at a vape shop on the west side of Kansas’ capital city, the employee asked me one question: “Do you have pain, or are you trying to get f—- up?” There were plenty of options for the latter — especially for someone with a sweet tooth. (Florko, 2/23)

When archaeologists uncovered the burial site of two brothers who lived during the 15th century BC in Israel, they were surprised to discover that one of them had brain surgery shortly before he died. The finding marks the earliest example of trephination, a type of cranial surgery, found in the ancient Near East. (Strickland, 2/22)

KHN: Looming Cuts To Emergency SNAP Benefits Threaten Food Security In Rural America

On a cold morning in early February, Tammy King prepared and loaded boxes and bags of vegetables, fruits, milk, frozen meat, and snacks into cars lined up outside the Friends in Service Helping food pantry, known in rural northeastern Nevada as FISH. (Orozco Rodriguez, 2/23)

KHN: States Seek Crackdown On Toxic Ingredients In Cosmetics To Close Gaps In Federal Oversight

Washington has joined more than a dozen other states in seeking to crack down on toxic substances in cosmetics after a state-funded study there found lead, arsenic, and formaldehyde in makeup, lotion, and hair-straightening products made by CoverGirl and other brands. (Scaturro, 2/23)