Health News Roundup: France's 8th wave of COVID is gaining in intensity - health official; Omicron BA.4.6 makes up nearly 13% of COVID variants circulating in U.S. - CDC and more

The latest data showed BA.4.6, which has been slowly rising in the last few weeks, made up nearly 22% of the cases in the region that includes the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Biden, doctors say new abortion laws have chilling impact U.S. President Joe Biden and top White House officials announced new guidelines and grants to protect abortion and contraception rights on Tuesday, and said women's rights have already been curtailed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

France's 8th wave of COVID is gaining in intensity - health official

France has entered an eighth wave of the COVID-19 virus, as the winter season approaches, said a leading French health official. "Yes, we are in this eighth wave," said Brigitte Autran, who is a member of the government's vaccination strategic board.

Omicron BA.4.6 makes up nearly 13% of COVID variants circulating in U.S. - CDC

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday estimated that nearly 13% of the circulating coronavirus variants in the United States were of the BA.4.6 subvariant of Omicron, as of the week ended Oct. 1. The latest data showed BA.4.6, which has been slowly rising in the last few weeks, made up nearly 22% of the cases in the region that includes the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

Biden, doctors say new abortion laws have chilling impact

U.S. President Joe Biden and top White House officials announced new guidelines and grants to protect abortion and contraception rights on Tuesday, and said women's rights have already been curtailed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade 100 days ago. Speaking at a meeting of the reproductive rights task force, with Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden said the decision that rescinded women's constitutional right to an abortion has had frightening ripple effects in some states, include restricting a teen's access to medicine she needed for arthritis. "We're not going to sit by and let Republicans throughout the country enact extreme policies," he said.

Arizona doctors sue to block 1901 near-total abortion ban

Arizona doctors have sued the state to try to block it from enforcing a 1901 ban on nearly all abortions, saying a law passed earlier this year allowing abortion up to 15 weeks of pregnancy should take precedence. In their complaint in Maricopa County Superior Court, the Arizona Medical Association and a Phoenix doctor who co-owns an abortion clinic, said doctors have halted all abortion services as they are unsure whether they could be prosecuted and jailed for providing them.

Michigan judge drops charges against 7 ex-state and city officials in Flint water crisis

A Michigan judge on Tuesday threw out felony charges against seven former state and local officials in connection with the Flint water scandal, ruling that the indictments brought against the individuals were invalid due to a procedural error. Under state-appointed managers, the government of Flint, a majority-Black city, switched its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River to cut costs in 2014. Corrosive river water caused lead to leach from the pipes, exposing thousands of children to lead poisoning and leading to an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.

Doctors urge U.S. FDA to add miscarriage management to abortion pill label

Obstetricians, gynecologists, other medical professionals, and abortion rights advocates petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday to urge Danco Laboratories to seek approval of mifepristone, a pill used in terminating early pregnancies at home, for miscarriage management. Danco, one of two U.S. companies that make the medicine, said that right now it has no plans to do so.

Factbox-U.S. abortion restrictions mount after overturn overturningof Roe v. Wade

Thirteen states have begun enforcing abortion bans since the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Roe v. Wade, a swift and dramatic change after nearly 50 years of federal abortion protections. Some restrictive abortion laws are on hold in other states as courts consider legal challenges.

Exclusive-Biden to nominate U.S. surgeon general to join WHO executive board -official

President Joe Biden intends to nominate Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to be the U.S. representative on the World Health Organization's executive board, administration officials told Reuters on Tuesday. Murthy has served as the top U.S. doctor under Biden and under former President Barack Obama. He will continue in that role while taking on the WHO position if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

WHO to request cholera vaccines for Haiti, expects further spread

The World Health Organization is setting up tents to treat cholera in Haiti and will also request a supply of oral vaccines against the disease that has unexpectedly returned to a country paralyzed by a gang blockade, a WHO spokesperson said. The disease killed some 10,000 people through a 2010 outbreak that has been blamed on a United Nations peacekeeping force that was stationed in Haiti. The United Nations apologized in 2016 for the outbreak, without taking responsibility. The last case was reported three years ago.

UK COVID inquiry begins, vowing to expose any culpable conduct

A public inquiry into Britain's response to and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic got underway on Tuesday, with a promise it would get to the truth, and expose any wrongdoing or culpable conduct. Britain has recorded almost 20 million COVID infections and more than 166,000 deaths - the seventh highest fatality total globally - and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his ministers have faced criticism for their handling of the crisis.