Quebec-based pharmacy chain Familiprix said on May 6 it will remove energy drinks from all 455 of its affiliated stores in Quebec and New Brunswick until regulators set stricter access rules for the high-caffeine beverages. The move follows calls from L’Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec, which recommended pharmacies pull the products after a coroner linked the 2024 death of 15-year-old Zachary Miron to an arrhythmia likely caused by a mix of ADHD medication and a caffeinated energy drink. A government petition sponsored by Québec Solidaire has gathered more than 35,000 signatures, and Quebec’s legislature unanimously adopted a motion recognising risks to youth and urging swift measures. Familiprix said stores will display warnings at pharmacy counters and encourage customers picking up prescriptions to inform pharmacists if they consume energy drinks. The Canadian Paediatric Association advises against giving energy drinks to children; the Canadian Beverages Association opposes a blanket ban, saying Health Canada already limits caffeine content and requires cautionary labels.

Health authorities from across Europe, the United States, Australia and other countries have coordinated the evacuation, repatriation and quarantine of passengers from the Dutch‑flagged MV Hondius after an outbreak of Andes hantavirus was detected aboard the vessel. The ship, which carried 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries and had travelled from southern Argentina, has been linked to at least eight illnesses (six confirmed by PCR), including three deaths. The vessel anchored off Tenerife in the Canary Islands where national and WHO teams oversaw disembarkation into sealed transport for direct flights home. Governments have set up managed isolation: UK evacuees face initial hospital isolation, U.S. citizens were flown to Nebraska for quarantine and monitoring, Australia is arranging a charter and states are finalising quarantine sites, and Germany is monitoring contacts at specialist units. The European CDC classified all passengers as high‑risk contacts as a precaution and WHO has recommended a 42‑day follow‑up period. The U.S. CDC issued a clinical advisory stressing repeat testing after 72 hours, airborne precautions in healthcare settings and clinician awareness of the virus’s long incubation window and potential for rare person‑to‑person transmission.

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.