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The number of U.S. adults who identify as LGBTQ has rocketed to a record 7.1%, and young people are again steering the increase, a poll released Thursday shows. The 7.1% is double the percentage from 2012 when Gallup first measured identity and is up over last year's poll that showed 5.6% of adults identify as LGBTQ. In a 2017 poll, that number was 4.5%. The upswing is significant, Gallup Senior Editor Jeff Jones told USA TODAY. "I think it speaks to society changing in terms of acceptance of people with different sexual orientations and gender identities and people’s willingness to identify that way," he said. (Miller, 2/17)

Gallup found that the increase is due to ​​”high LGBT self-identification, particularly as bisexual, among Generation Z adults,” who are 18 to 25. It asked more than 12,000 U.S. adults how they identify during telephone interviews last year. It found that younger U.S. adults are much more likely to identify as LGBTQ than older generations. More than 1 in 5, or 21 percent, of Generation Z adults identify as LGBTQ, Gallup found. That’s almost double the proportion of millennials, who are 26 to 41, at 10.5 percent, and nearly five times the proportion of Generation X, who are 42 to 57, at 4.2 percent. (Yurcaba, 2/17)

The opioid epidemic has continued to worsen across North Carolina, and it has impacted all kinds of people — including people who are pregnant or will become pregnant. Much of the fallout from the opioid crisis has trickled down to county jails and other carceral institutions, as 85 percent of the prison population was incarcerated for a crime related to or has a substance use disorder, according to federal data. This means that pregnant people with opioid use disorder are also being sent to jails. (Thompson, 2/17)

Throughout the pandemic, health experts have warned of the disastrous impacts from a severe flu season coupled with a COVID-19 surge on an already overwhelmed health care system. And although people for some time feared “flurona,” or getting the flu virus and COVID-19 at the same time, health experts say it’s been a relatively rare occurrence. So far this year, Dallas County has had a mild flu season despite the rapid spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 over the past several weeks. County and state trends mirror what’s been seen across the country — nationally, only 2.6% of all influenza tests since Oct. 3, 2021, have come back positive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Marfin, 2/16)

There are associations between facial attractiveness and immune function, according to researchers. In a study published Wednesday in the academic journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a team from Texas Christian University looked at 159 participants who were students at the university or members of the surrounding community. The men and women were screened in advance to ensure that they were without a history of mental illness or chronic depression, non-obese, free from acute illnesses, not using hormonal contraceptives, willing to abstain from steroidal and anti-inflammatory medications, exercise and alcohol consumption for two days prior to participation and willing to fast the morning of participation. (Musto, 2/16)

Puerto Rican model Sofía Jirau has made history as the first person with Down syndrome to model for Victoria’s Secret. Jirau, 24, is featured in the lingerie brand’s new campaign for its Love Cloud undergarment collection. ... The campaign comes after Victoria’s Secret announced a major overhaul of its branding and executive team last year, following years of criticism from advocates who had asked it to increase size offerings and show more diverse bodies. (Harvey, 2/16)