- 蘑菇影院 Health News Original Stories 2
- Clues From Bird Flu鈥檚 Ground Zero on Dairy Farms in the Texas Panhandle
- Los Angeles County Launches Ambitious Plan To Tackle Medical Debt. Hospitals Groan.
- Political Cartoon: 'Wishful Thinking?'
From 蘑菇影院 Health News - Latest Stories:
蘑菇影院 Health News Original Stories
Clues From Bird Flu鈥檚 Ground Zero on Dairy Farms in the Texas Panhandle
Dairy farmers and veterinarians in northern Texas furiously investigated a mysterious illness among cattle before the government got involved. Their observations are telling. (Amy Maxmen, )
Los Angeles County Launches Ambitious Plan To Tackle Medical Debt. Hospitals Groan.
Los Angeles County, the nation鈥檚 most populous county, is spearheading a comprehensive plan to tackle a $2.9 billion medical debt crisis. Hospitals are still getting on board with the project, which is helmed by the public health department. (Molly Castle Work, )
Political Cartoon: 'Wishful Thinking?'
蘑菇影院 Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'Wishful Thinking?'" by Chris Wildt .
Here's today's health policy haiku:
PROCEED WITH CAUTION
Would you like to keep
Avoid Idaho.
- Lauren R.
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of 蘑菇影院 Health News or 蘑菇影院.
Summaries Of The News:
Michigan Dairy Worker Is Second Human In US Infected With Bird Flu
Meanwhile, wastewater surveillance monitoring will pick up nationally in the coming weeks. And clues from Texas identify the state as the likely ground zero for the H5N1 spread.
A Michigan dairy worker has been infected with a highly virulent bird flu, the second human case in less than two months of the H5N1 virus circulating among dairy cows. Federal officials said Wednesday that the case does not change their assessment that the risk to the general public remains low. But in a sign of increased urgency, they announced additional financial incentives for dairy producers to expand testing of cattle and accelerated the timetable to ready nearly 5 million doses of vaccine in case the virus becomes more widespread among people. (Sun and Roubein, 5/22)
Less than a month ago, researchers reported for the first time the ability to scan wastewater for signs of the H5 influenza virus currently sickening dairy cows in at least nine states across the U.S. That technology is now at the threshold of real-world use. (Molteni, 5/22)
In early March, Dr. Blake Hanson and his colleagues at the Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute were preparing for a fire drill of sorts. What if a virus with the potential to spark the next pandemic turned up in the wastewater they monitor?聽And what if that virus was the bird flu, H5N1, which has killed millions of animals and about half the nearly 900 people it has infected worldwide over the past two decades? (Goodman, 5/22)
蘑菇影院 Health News:
Clues From Bird Flu鈥檚 Ground Zero On Dairy Farms In The Texas Panhandle
In early February, dairy farmers in the Texas Panhandle began to notice sick cattle. The buzz soon reached Darren Turley, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen: 鈥淭hey said there is something moving from herd to herd.鈥 Nearly 60 days passed before veterinarians identified the culprit: a highly pathogenic strain of the bird flu virus, H5N1. Had it been detected sooner, the outbreak might have been swiftly contained. (Maxmen, 5/23)
Response (ASPR) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said officials are moving forward with a plan to produce 4.8 million doses of H5N1 avian flu vaccine for pandemic preparedness. (Schnirring, 5/22)
Also 鈥
Health officials in Australia's Victoria state reported the first human H5N1 avian flu case in the country, which involves a child who contracted the virus in India and was sick in March. In a statement, the Victoria Department of Health said the child had a severe infection but has fully recovered. The H5N1 strain that infected the child isn't the same as the one fueling outbreaks in the United States, health officials said, noting that H5N1 had never been detected in animals or people in Australia before. (Schnirring, 5/22)
Record Number Of Teens Are Obtaining And Dying From Fentanyl
Fatal opioid overdoses among youth ages 12 to 17 has doubled since the start of the covid pandemic, according to The Washington Post's analysis of CDC data. Pediatricians have been startled by the spike and say that treatment options for patients that young are limited.
Fentanyl, a pervasive killer in America鈥檚 illicit drug supply, is increasingly landing in the hands of teens across the region and nation, worrying providers who say treatment options for youths are limited. Across the country, fentanyl has largely fueled a more than doubling of overdose deaths among children ages 12 to 17 since the start of the pandemic, according to a Washington Post analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released this month. (Portnoy and Keating, 5/22)
People in Baltimore have been dying of overdoses at a rate never before seen in a major American city. In the past six years, nearly 6,000 lives have been lost. The death rate from 2018 to 2022 was nearly double that of any other large city, and higher than nearly all of Appalachia during the prescription pill crisis, the Midwest during the height of rural meth labs or New York during the crack epidemic. (Zhu, Thieme and Gallagher, 5/23)
Fentanyl-related overdose deaths hit a new high in 2023 as law enforcement seized record amounts of the synthetic opioid, official data shows. At least 1,089 people died from fentanyl poisoning last year, up 18.4% from 920 the year before, according to preliminary data released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. (Cabral, 5/22)聽聽
Also 鈥
Fentanyl test strips are sold online and easily obtained free from many public health departments. They鈥檙e touted as a harm reduction tool to help drug users determine whether fentanyl is present in a pill or powder. But Sheriff鈥檚 Deputy Patrick Craven, the lead detective of the newly formed opioid response team in rural Placer County, California, warns that the test strips are now being used by drug dealers who post photos on social media showing 鈥渘egative鈥 test results to advertise that their drugs are 鈥渃lean.鈥 (Nguyen and Blankstein, 5/22)
A WIRED investigation found thousands of Eventbrite posts selling escort services and drugs like Xanax and oxycodone鈥攕ome of which the company鈥檚 algorithm recommended alongside addiction recovery events. (Burgess and Mehrotra, 5/21)
A study in mice looked at how feelings of reward and withdrawal that opioids trigger play out in two separate circuits in the brain. (Lloreda, 5/22)
More Americans Prefer Daily Dose Of Weed Over Alcohol, Analysis Finds
In other news, cannabis-using teens are a greater risk of developing a psychotic disorder, study says. Meanwhile, a former drug czar sounds the alarm on the cannabis industry, likening it to Big Tobacco.
For the first time, the number of Americans who use marijuana just about every day has surpassed the number who drink that often, a shift some 40 years in the making as recreational pot use became more mainstream and legal in nearly half of U.S. states. In 2022, an estimated 17.7 million people reported using marijuana daily or near-daily compared to 14.7 million daily or near-daily drinkers, according an analysis of national survey data. In 1992, when daily pot use hit a low point, less than 1 million people said they used marijuana nearly every day. (Johnson, 5/22)
Teenagers who used cannabis within the last year had a dramatically higher rate of developing a psychotic disorder, according to a study published Wednesday.聽The study, led by researchers from the University of Toronto, found an 11 times higher risk of developing a psychotic disorder among teenagers who used cannabis compared with those who did not. When the analysis was limited to just emergency room visits and hospitalizations, there was a 27-fold increase in psychotic disorders in teenagers who had used the drug. (Syal, 5/22)聽
The former U.S. drug czar under President Barack Obama expressed skepticism of marijuana鈥檚 medical value and the Biden administration鈥檚 move to federally reschedule cannabis in a new interview, warning of ominous industry influence over politicians and the country鈥檚 medical review process. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not medicine,鈥 said former Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Gil Kerlikowske, speaking on the podcast of former U.S. Rep. Mary Bono (R).鈥淭his is all Big Cannabis,鈥 he added. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 people my age that are just old hippies that want to open up a pot shop somewhere. This is a huge business like Big Tobacco. Absolutely.鈥 (Adlin, 5/21)
Vaccines Largely Did Their Job In Warding Off Long Covid, Study Finds
In another study, scientists are looking at a new antiviral to help ailing covid patients, but the high level of immunity in the population is complicating efforts to test obeldesivir in humans.
COVID-19 patients vaccinated against the novel coronavirus were less likely to have symptoms of post-COVID condition (PCC), or long COVID, according to a new study in Nature Communications. The study was based on outcomes seen among patients in eight large healthcare systems in the United States who had positive SARS-CoV-2 tests between March 2021 and February 2022.聽(Soucheray, 5/22)
A new study in mice, published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, tested a new antiviral, a small molecule inhibitor called obeldesivir, against SARS-CoV-2. Like remdesivir and molnupiravir, it 鈥渢argets what is an Achilles heel of coronaviruses: this particular protein that 鈥 is required for the virus to copy itself and keep infecting new cells,鈥 said lead author David Martinez, an assistant professor in the department of immunobiology at Yale. (Merelli, 5/22)
The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday adopted an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that would push the Department of Defense to rehire U.S. service members who were fired for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The measure, which would require the Pentagon to create a robust plan for rehiring those service members, was adopted by voice vote as the committee considered a round of amendments for a markup of the 2025 national defense authorization act (NDAA). (Dress, 5/22)
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) commenced formal debarment proceedings against Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance 鈥 a firm that used taxpayer funds to conduct gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The move took place on Tuesday evening, according to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, and came one week after HHS implemented an immediate, government-wide suspension on all funds allocated to EcoHealth Alliance. (Morris, 5/22)
Companies Illegally Making Millions Off Veterans Filing For PACT Benefits
Federal law prohibits charging veterans for help in applying for restitution for wartime injuries. Even so, a Washington Post review found that as many as 100 unaccredited companies are charging vets anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 for help filing claims.
Senators savored the moment on a summer day outside the Capitol 鈥 the passage of a sweeping, bipartisan agreement to add $280 billion in new benefits and health care for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. But glitches, slowdowns and other mishaps have dogged the program鈥檚 rollout by the Department of Veterans Affairs, enabling the growth of an unregulated shadow industry that promises to drastically boost tax-free disability checks, according to lawmakers, advocates and leaders in the claims industry 鈥 in exchange for veterans signing away thousands of dollars in future benefits. (Rein, 5/23)
UnitedHealth Group Inc.鈥檚 claims that it had made progress fixing some systems in the weeks after a crippling cyberattack frustrated state health officials who said they were still having problems. Utah officials were waiting for UnitedHealth to fix pharmacy systems that served thousands of low-income residents when the company said in a March 7 news release that all major pharmacy claims and payment systems had been restored, according to documents obtained through a public-records request. (Tozzi, 5/22)
Hospitals and health systems are making more money taking care of patients,聽with some reporting double-digit increases in patient revenue in the latest quarter. Net patient revenue, or revenue from providing healthcare services after contractual discounts, was up substantially for health systems in the first quarter, primarily driven by higher utilization and improved payer rates. Touting the improvement was a popular topic in recent earnings reports. (Hudson, 5/22)
Gov. Ned Lamont met with the two chief executive officers involved in the plan for Yale New Haven Health to purchase Prospect Medical Holdings on Wednesday in an effort to move the stalled negotiations out of the courtroom. (Altimari and Carlesso, 5/22)
Despite federal rules that have required hospitals to make their prices public since 2021, Cleveland area hospitals are failing to fully comply with the regulations, according to a report released Wednesday by the PIRG Education Fund. (Kroen, 5/22)
蘑菇影院 Health News:
Los Angeles County Launches Ambitious Plan To Tackle Medical Debt. Hospitals Groan
Los Angeles County has launched one of the most ambitious efforts in the nation to tackle medical debt, targeting hospitals for their role in feeding a $2.9 billion problem. For over a year, the nation鈥檚 most populous county has worked on a comprehensive plan to track patient debt and hospital collection practices; boost bill forgiveness for low-income patients; and buy up and forgive billions in medical debt 鈥 an effort helmed by its Department of Public Health. (Castle Work, 5/23)
Electronic health record company Epic launched聽an聽open-source tool聽on Wednesday that will allow healthcare providers to test and validate artificial intelligence models.聽The聽tool聽is聽free聽and available through聽the public coding website Github where health systems can add it to their electronic health record systems, said Corey Miller, vice president of research and development at Epic.聽The tool will allow health systems to evaluate the performance of any AI model that integrates with any EHR, whether it's from聽Epic or not, Miller said.聽(Turner, 5/22)
Democrats Want Contraception Rights Vote To Expose GOP Policies
The Senate will vote in June on legislation designed to protect contraception access, expecting Republicans to block the bill and show their cards on what's expected to be a key campaign issue. Meanwhile, in Texas, an anti-abortion doctor was appointed to the state maternity committee.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Wednesday the Senate will vote next month on legislation to protect women鈥檚 access to contraception, setting up a campaign issue for the fall. Democrats expect Republicans to block the bill, just as they have blocked legislation protecting access to in vitro fertilization, which Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) said included 鈥減oison pills.鈥 (Bolton, 5/22)
A leading anti-abortion doctor has been appointed to Texas鈥 maternal mortality review committee. Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB/GYN from San Antonio, will be serving in the role designated for a community member representing a rural area. (Klibanoff, 5/22)
Natasha Jackson was four months pregnant when she told her supervisor she was expecting. It was 2008, and Jackson was an account executive at a rental furniture store in Charleston, South Carolina 鈥 the only female employee there. 鈥淚 actually hid my pregnancy as long as I could because I was scared about what could happen,鈥 she said. (Claire Vollers, 5/22)
In other reproductive health news 鈥
Brittany Day will never forget when she saw the lifeless bodies of her twin daughters, Sophie and Ruby, on a hospital ultrasound in 2017. The day before, she鈥檇 felt some erratic movements. She鈥檇 taken that as a sign of healthy babies, but she now knows otherwise.聽(Vespa, 5/22)
Khendra Riley was 39. She had just broken up with her fiance. Her ovaries, doctors said, may not be releasing eggs regularly. She鈥檇 wanted a baby since she turned 30. It seemed impossible. In vitro fertilization seemed the only option left, but the St. Petersburg flight attendant鈥檚 health insurance didn鈥檛 cover it. The near $30,000 quotes she got from two Tampa Bay clinics were out of reach. (O'Donnell, 5/22)
When Tanika Gray Valbrun was 13 years old, she got her first period at a family function. It was apparent because she was wearing white shorts and because her flow was heavy. That heaviness persisted each time she got her period, along with intense pain.It wasn't until her mid-twenties that Tanika would find out these debilitating periods 鈥 and ongoing fertility struggles 鈥 were caused by fibroids, benign uterine tumors. But just because they aren't cancerous doesn't mean they can't cause problems. (McCoy, Kwong and Ramirez, 5/22)
Since 2016, a global consortium of researchers have been mapping the cells of the human body. Known as the Human Cell Atlas, the objective is to understand and improve health outcomes, particularly those related to the origins of disease. A recent contribution to the project advances that goal with respect to the ovary. In a paper published in Science Advances in April, a group of University of Michigan scientists describe how they mapped the human ovary at the resolution of a single cell. (Bliss, 5/22)
Bankruptcy Filing Is A Farce, J&J Litigants Contend In Latest Lawsuit
The plantiffs argue J&J's efforts put money out of reach in a settlement over talc-based products; the company says that isn't so. In other news, a long-acting insulin product from Novo Nordisk was linked to safety risks; gene splicing might be key to long-lasting obesity drugs; and more.
A group of cancer victims sued Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday, accusing the healthcare company of committing fraud through repeated and continued efforts to use a shell company's bankruptcy to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its talc products contained asbestos and caused cancer. (Knauth, 5/22)
A long-acting insulin from Novo Nordisk was shown to have a greater risk of excessively lowering patients' blood sugar without offering better management of sugar levels or other benefits, Food and Drug Administration staff found. (Bettelheim, 5/23)
Enticed by the immense market opened by GLP-1 weight loss drugs Wegovy and Zepbound, a handful of biotech companies are trying to develop next-generation, longer-lasting therapies based on a very different approach: RNA interference. (DeAngelis and Chen, 5/23)
The blockbuster success of new anti-obesity drugs helped boost the corporate reputations of pharmaceutical brands, according to new rankings from the annual Axios/Harris Poll 100. For now, drugmakers are largely getting a pass from the public on the high prices of these transformational treatments, even as inflation-weary consumers have soured on other industries over price hikes. (Reed, 5/23)
The Food and Drug Administration is poised to tell drug and medical device makers how to better include people of color in the clinical trials that test whether products work and are safe, an agency official said Wednesday. Those guidelines are five months late. (Wilkerson, 5/22)
Just four months ago, Noland Arbaugh had a circle of bone removed from his skull and hair-thin sensor tentacles slipped into his brain. A computer about the size of a small stack of quarters was placed on top and the hole was sealed. Paralyzed below the neck, Mr. Arbaugh is the first patient to take part in the clinical trial of humans testing Elon Musk鈥檚 Neuralink device, and his early progress was greeted with excitement. (Jewett, 5/22)
Miami Now US Epicenter Of Surge In Dengue Fever Infections
Cases of dengue fever have more than doubled versus the same period last year. Separately, a mosquito sample in Houston has tested positive for West Nile virus, and experts say more kinds of ticks are hitting Illinois in a longer season.
Miami鈥檚 role as the gateway to Latin America has also made it the US epicenter of dengue fever. Cases of the mosquito-borne illness in Florida have more than doubled this year compared with the same period in 2023, as unsuspecting travelers have carried the virus back from the Caribbean and Southern Hemisphere. Now, authorities are working to keep the disease from infecting the local mosquito population before this summer鈥檚 heavy rains turbocharge the risks. (Wyss, 5/22)
A mosquito sample collected by Harris County Public Health has tested positive for the West Nile virus, according to a social media post by the department.聽The sample was collected within Houston ZIP code 77019, which includes the River Oaks and downtown area.聽As a proactive measure, the department will be treating, in the evening, the areas where聽the positive sample was found and the surrounding area.聽(Garcia, 5/22)
As tick season approaches, experts warn that Illinois residents should be even more wary as the type of ticks in the state increases and the season lengthens. Researchers discovered the Asian longhorned tick 鈥 an invasive species native to Japan, Korea and parts of China and Russia 鈥 in Illinois in April. First reported in the United States in 2017, the tick has since spread to 20 states. (Kalra, 5/22)
New air pollution and early death statistics in Allegheny County have been unveiled through a new study. The study finds that county residents have a higher mortality rate from fine particulate pollution than other parts of the country, particularly in the poorer towns of the Mon Valley and parts of the city.Clean air advocates are calling for change. (Sheehan, 5/22)
Cassandra Sutcliffe聽has been using her inhaler more often to treat her chronic bronchitis. She lives on an oceanfront property in聽Imperial Beach, one of the southernmost communities impacted by sewage and toxic chemicals that spill over the聽U.S.-Mexico聽border. 鈥淭he smell makes your eyes water and your throat close up,鈥 said Sutcliffe, one of many residents who have reported having similar symptoms and who say they find relief when they leave town. (Murga, 5/22)
Also 鈥
In a world full of threats to children 鈥 from war to disease to starvation 鈥 there's a neglected crisis that's just now getting a jolt of attention. It's lead poisoning, which affects both adults and children and can be especially devastating for the cognitive development of youngsters. (Kritz, 5/23)
The phenomenon that locals refer to as 鈥渂lack snow鈥 鈥 intermittent sugar cane burning that starts each October and ends as late as May 鈥 might not only be a problem for South Florida's air quality, but also could have an impact on residents鈥 brain health. (Bergmann, 5/22)
As Massachusetts sweats through the first day this year at or near 90 degrees, a newly released study finds that the risk of dying from stroke increases when temperatures are extreme. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Stroke, found that on both ends of the spectrum 鈥 heat and cold 鈥 roughly 11 out of every 1,000 stroke deaths are caused by extreme temperatures. (Shankman, 5/22)
'Expanding Public Health Concern': 1 in 9 US Kids Has ADHD Diagnosis
According to a new report from the CDC, more than 7 million American kids ages 3 to 17 received a diagnosis of ADHD in 2022, an increase of 1 million from 2016. Other health and wellness news is on ADHD medications in adulthood, ultraprocessed foods, fish oil supplements, and more.
About 1 in 9 children in the U.S., between the ages of 3 and 17, have been diagnosed with ADHD. That's according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that calls attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder an "expanding public health concern." Researchers found that in 2022, 7.1 million kids and adolescents in the U.S. had received an ADHD diagnosis 鈥 a million more children than in 2016. (Godoy, 5/23)
A new study finds adults who start taking ADHD medications may be at higher risk of heart disease and stroke. It's estimated that up to 5% of U.S. adults have the condition, but a new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggests that those taking medication for the first time may have an elevated heart risk. (Marshall, 5/22)
In other health and wellness news 鈥
Eating more ultraprocessed foods is linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline and stroke, even if a person is trying to adhere to a Mediterranean diet, the聽DASH diet or the聽MIND diet, a new study found. All three diets are plant-based, focused on consuming more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and seeds while limiting sugar, red meat and ultraprocessed foods. (LaMotte, 5/22)
If you're a healthy adult, you may want to avoid fish oil supplements. Many people take fish oil supplements because they contain omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to reduce inflammation and provide some heart-health benefits. But researchers found that taking these supplements regularly might actually increase the risk of stroke and heart disease in healthy adults. (Marshall, 5/22)
Only half the people in the U.S. feel they could be helpful in an emergency situation, a new poll found. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center surveyed a national sample of 1,005 Americans, finding that only 51% of them knew how to perform hands-only CPR if needed. In cases of serious bleeding, only 49% said they could assist, and 56% said they would be equipped to help someone who was choking. (Rudy, 5/22)
Wyoming Dept. Of Corrections Switches To New Medical Services Provider
Wyoming Public Radio explains that the change comes after years of working with the same "embattled" medical company. Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, the governor is reportedly at odds with hospitals over proposed changes to state Medicaid payments.
After working with the same prison medical company for 18 years, the Wyoming Department of Corrections is on the cusp of entering into a new partnership designed to serve the needs of inmates across the Cowboy State. (Dudley, 5/22)
Gov. Chris Sununu is at odds with the state鈥檚 hospitals over proposed changes to a key source of funding for Medicaid. The governor says his proposal would bring more federal dollars into the state to support Medicaid. It would also set aside more funding for certain community-based health services 鈥 including mental health, which Sununu has accused the hospitals of not doing enough on. (Cuno-Booth, 5/22)
Families of children killed in the mass shooting at an elementary school here two years ago and survivors filed a lawsuit Wednesday against 91 state police officers and the local school district, calling their response the 鈥渟ingle greatest failure of law enforcement to confront an active shooter in American history.鈥 Even in an era of frequent mass shootings, the Uvalde attack and failures of responding law enforcement to stop the killing shocked the nation. A gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers while nearly 400 officers from some two dozen state and federal agencies waited to intervene for more than an hour, even as children repeatedly called 911 from inside the classroom. (Findell, 5/22)
The future is uncertain for a Harris County initiative that sends social workers 鈥 rather than law enforcement officers 鈥 to respond to non-violent 911 calls, after members of Commissioners Court clashed Wednesday over whether to continue making payments to the contractor running the program.聽Following a lengthy and divisive debate, the court narrowly voted to withhold a $270,000 payment for work completed in February and March of this year. (Rice, 5/22)
A St. Louis-based organ transplant agency is exploring unmanned drones as a faster, cheaper method of moving blood samples and medical supplies across the Midwest. Leaders at Mid-America Transplant, the region鈥檚 coordinator for organ and tissue donations, said their first goal is to create a system to transport blood samples from potential organ donors to confirm eligibility, via drone. But they also want to eventually use the devices to move medications and supplies to and from rural areas. (Merrilees, 5/22)
Chloe Burke, a 25-year-old upcoming Miss Texas contestant, will be in Washington D.C. Thursday to lobby for the HEARTS Act and Access to AEDs Act. Access to AEDs (or Automated External Defibrillators) is a deeply personal issue to Burke, who suffered a cardiac arrest in 2019 at University of Houston while she was cheerleading at a football game. She remembers completing her stunt, and then collapsing on the ground. (Parekh, 5/23)
Research Roundup: Ancient Viral DNA; Long Covid; Bacterial Priority Pathogens List; Flu Vaccines
Each week, 蘑菇影院 Health News compiles a selection of health policy studies and briefs.
New research has found that thousands of DNA sequences originating from ancient viral infections are expressed in the brain, with some contributing to susceptibility for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. (King's College London, 5/22)
Researchers conducting a small study in Rome discover that, compared with healthy controls, children with long COVID (LC) have objective impaired functional capacity as expressed by a low VO2 peak (oxygen uptake at peak of exercise) during exertion testing.聽Kids with LC also showed signs of deconditioning, and cardiogenic inefficiency. The study is published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. (Soucheray, 5/17)
The World Health Organization (WHO) today updated its list of the bacterial pathogens it considers the biggest threat to human health. The updates are the first since the WHO released its initial Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL) in 2017. The list aims to provide guidance for prioritizing research and development (R&D) and investments in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and has been used by WHO officials to assess the antibiotic pipeline and to guide AMR surveillance efforts and infection prevention and control strategies around the world.聽 (Dall, 5/17)
A new study published in Vaccine reveals that repeated flu vaccination does not appear to significantly weaken the protective effect of annual vaccines in older recipients.聽(Soucheray, 5/20)
Editorial writers examine CRISPR, health care worker burnout, Havana Syndrome, and more.
Last fall, to great fanfare, US regulators approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease, and the European Union and UK soon followed. Many people hope that these treatments will provide a 鈥渇unctional cure鈥 for the genetic condition, which causes rigid, misshapen red blood cells that lead to anemia, episodes of extreme pain, blood vessel and organ damage, stroke risk and lower life expectancy. (Shobita Parthasarathy, 5/22)
Burnout is a growing crisis in health care: More than 50% of health care professionals report symptoms of it. Addressing the trauma they face at work can help. (Sadie Elisseou, 5/23)
They didn鈥檛 have brain injury. So concluded the recent National Institutes of Health clinical and brain imaging studies of about 80 individuals reporting 鈥渁nomalous health incidents鈥 (AHIs)鈥攁 variety of unexplained symptoms experienced by U.S. officials in the diplomatic and intelligence services that have created alarm and puzzlement since they were first reported in Havana in late 2016. (Jon Stone and Kenneth R. Foster, 5/22)
Nearly two-thirds of Americans over age 70 have some degree of hearing loss, and over half of those 75 and older experience impairment serious enough to be considered disabling. But most don鈥檛 wear hearing aids. (Mary C. White, 5/23)
The relationship between drug use and mental health issues moves in both directions. As the National Institute on Drug Abuse points out, "many individuals who develop substance use disorders (SUD) are also diagnosed with mental disorders, and vice versa." Those with mental health issues are more likely to use drugs, perhaps to cope or self-medicate. And those who use drugs are more likely to develop mental health issues, given the inherent risks of many illicit drugs. (Kevin Sabet, 5/22)