On May 5, 2026 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorised the first non-tobacco, fruit-flavoured e-cigarette products for marketing, granting permission to Los Angeles-based Glas Inc. for four pod variants — marketed as Gold, Sapphire, Classic Menthol and Fresh Menthol — including mango and blueberry flavours. The FDA said the decision followed a scientific review that found Glas’s age‑verification technology (government ID check and Bluetooth pairing to a verified smartphone) and marketing limits are expected to mitigate youth access. The agency emphasised the authorisations apply only to those specific products, are intended for adults 21 and older, and could be suspended if youth use rises or benefits no longer outweigh risks. The move comes amid reported political pressure: the Wall Street Journal and other outlets said President Donald Trump rebuked FDA Commissioner Marty Makary over the weekend for moving too slowly on flavoured vapes. Public health groups and parent organisations have warned flavours drive underage vaping even as teen vaping rates have fallen to multi‑year lows. The FDA has now authorised dozens of e-cigarette products but continues to demand evidence of net benefit to adult smokers for flavours with youth appeal.

Chiranjeevi Kolla, a 37-year-old Indian software engineer based in California, died on May 5 after nearly a month in intensive care from valley fever (coccidioidomycosis), a fungal lung infection. Symptoms began in early April with flu-like illness and were initially treated as severe pneumonia before tests confirmed Coccidioides infection. Physicians said the fungus severely damaged Kolla’s lungs; he was intubated and placed on a ventilator but did not recover. His family has launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking about $300,000 to cover medical bills, funeral expenses and short-term support for his wife and five-year-old son; the fundraiser had raised roughly $180,000 (about 60% of the target) by media reports. Public health authorities note valley fever is endemic in parts of the US Southwest, including California, and that many cases are mild or misdiagnosed; the CDC estimates thousands of cases annually. There is currently no approved human vaccine. The case has drawn attention in Indian and US media because of the victim’s age, occupation and the rapid deterioration after an initial misdiagnosis.

A systematic review and meta-analysis presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026) and published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that walking about 8,500 steps a day can help people who have lost weight keep it off. Researchers led by Professor Marwan El Ghoch analysed 18 randomized controlled trials (14 included in the meta-analysis) covering about 3,758 adults (mean age 53, mean BMI 31). Participants in lifestyle modification programmes raised their daily steps from roughly 7,280 to 8,454 during weight loss, losing on average 4.39% of body weight (~4 kg). They sustained higher activity (about 8,241 steps) during maintenance and retained most lost weight (average 3.28%, ~3 kg). The team emphasised that increasing and maintaining step counts during both the weight-loss and maintenance phases reduced weight regain, while noting that step increases alone were not strongly linked to greater weight loss during active dieting. The research was presented in Istanbul, Turkey, and highlights a simple, low-cost adjunct to obesity treatment.

Moderna has started early-stage work on mRNA vaccines targeting hantaviruses amid renewed global concern after an outbreak linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship, multiple outlets reported May 8–9, 2026. The company said research began before the recent cruise cases and is being conducted with partners including the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and Korea University’s Vaccine Innovation Center. The WHO has reported confirmed cases and multiple deaths associated with the ship; the outbreak has been linked to the Andes strain, which can spread between people. Moderna’s announcement and related coverage drove its shares higher (about a 12% intraday rise reported). Other groups, including U.K. biotech EnsiliTech, have been developing mRNA- or nucleic-acid-based hantavirus candidates for years; most efforts remain in preclinical stages. Researchers warn clinical development will likely take years without large-scale funding or an emergency acceleration comparable to COVID-19 programmes, though newer mRNA platforms could speed design and scale-up. Work continues on vaccine stability (room-temperature formulations) and strain coverage (including Andes and Hantaan variants).

An 18-year-old British teenager, Rubie Boyton, remains unable to walk or speak two years after a cardiac arrest that followed undiagnosed seizures, her family says. Boyton, from Ashford, Kent, had two prior seizure episodes that were reportedly attributed to anxiety by health services and given only symptomatic advice. In May 2024 she collapsed in a park; a friend performed CPR until an air ambulance took her to King’s College Hospital in London where she was placed in a medically induced coma. Doctors later diagnosed a rare genetic heart rhythm disorder, catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT). Her brain was without oxygen for about 31 minutes, causing extensive neurological injury and dystonia. Since waking she has regained some reflexes and can communicate by blinking, but requires intensive therapies, carers and home adaptations. Her parents have left work to focus on her care and the family has launched a fundraising page that has raised more than $25,000 to cover treatments not funded by the NHS.

A new analysis published in The Journal of Nutrition using data from the Adventist Health Study-2 linked with Medicare records found that older US adults who ate eggs regularly had a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at Loma Linda University followed 39,498 participants aged 65 and over for about 15 years and reported that any egg intake was associated with a 17–27% reduced risk of clinically diagnosed Alzheimer’s compared with no intake; those reporting eggs five or more times per week saw the largest reduction (about 27%). The authors point to egg-derived nutrients — notably choline, lutein/zeaxanthin, vitamin B12, DHA and high-quality protein — as biologically plausible contributors to cognitive resilience. The study controlled for multiple confounders and ran substitution analyses, but is observational. Some funding came from an investigator-initiated grant from the American Egg Board (with no reported role in study execution). Authors note limitations including potential dietary reporting error, cohort homogeneity (many Seventh-Day Adventists) and inability to prove causation, calling for further research in diverse populations and mechanistic studies.