Worrying Infectious HIV Strain Found In The Netherlands

AP: Study Identifies Virulent HIV Variant Unrecognized For Years 
Scientists have found a previously unrecognized variant of HIV that’s more virulent than usual and has quietly circulated in the Netherlands for the past few decades. Thursday’s report isn’t cause for alarm: HIV medicines worked just as well in people with the mutated virus as everyone else and its spread has been declining since about 2010. It was discovered as part of efforts to better understand how HIV continues to evolve. (Neergaard, 2/3)

Houston Chronicle: COVID-19 Vaccine Paved The Way For UT Health HIV Vaccine Study
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is seeking volunteers to participate in clinical trials for this area’s first study of a messenger RNA-based HIV vaccine. Researchers hope to develop a series of vaccines to prevent HIV infection and deaths caused by HIV and AIDS, UT Health San Antonio said in a news release. Moderna will provide the vaccine to sites around the country, including San Antonio. The trial sites for the study also include the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Emory University in Atlanta. (Pettaway, 2/3)

In news about food safety —

CNN: Dole Listeria Outbreak: Two Deaths Linked To Dole Packaged Salads, CDC Says 
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a Listeria outbreak linked to Dole packaged salads that has resulted in two deaths. The outbreak has also sickened 17 people and resulted in 13 hospitalizations across 13 states. The recalls began at the end of December and are for products with "Best if used by" dates from November 30, 2021, through January 9, 2022.The CDC also notes these products have codes in the upper right-hand of the package that will begin with the letter B, N, W or Y. (Sealy, 2/3)

CIDRAP: CDC Winds Down Imported Onion Salmonella Investigation After 1,040 Cases
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday said a Salmonella Oranienburg outbreak linked to onions imported from Mexico is over, with 148 more cases added to the total since its last update on Nov 16. (2/3)

In other public health news —

Reuters: German Researchers To Breed Pigs For Human Heart Transplants This Year 
German scientists plan to clone and then breed this year genetically modified pigs to serve as heart donors for humans, based on a simpler version of a U.S.-engineered animal used last month in the world's first pig-to-human transplant. Eckhard Wolf, a scientist at Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich, said his team aimed to have the new species, modified from the Auckland Island breed, ready for transplant trials by 2025. (2/3)

AP: How To Prevent Early Birth? Study Explores Sugarless Gum 
Healthy mouth, healthy baby? For years, scientists have been exploring the link between poor oral health and giving birth too early. Now, new research presented Thursday raises the possibility that something very simple and inexpensive might make a difference: chewing sugarless gum. The improvements seen in the study in the African country of Malawi were modest: The rates of premature birth were slightly lower in the pregnant women who chewed the gum, compared to those who didn’t. (Ungar, 2/3)

NPR: Furniture Tip-Overs Decline But Still Injure Thousands In The U.S. Each Year
An estimated 18,000 Americans — nearly half of whom were children — went to emergency rooms across the U.S. in 2020 for injuries sustained when furniture, a TV or another appliance tipped over and hurt them. A report released Thursday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission also found that there have been 581 tip-over fatalities in the U.S. since 2000. Four in five of the deaths were kids. Although the data shows an overall decline in "product instability" injuries and deaths recently, each year thousands of people are still treated for injuries and some die from what authorities say are preventable accidents. (Hernandez, 2/3)

Dallas Morning News: Southwest Airlines Bringing Back Alcohol Sales; Flight Attendants Call It ‘Unsafe And Irresponsible’
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines will bring back onboard alcohol sales to most flights and an expanded beverage offering starting Feb. 16, the carrier announced Thursday. But flight attendants, who have to serve alcohol and enforce federal mask mandates amid the COVID-19 pandemic, are calling the move “unsafe and irresponsible.” After slimming down to just water service when the pandemic began, Southwest Airlines will start serving beverages such as sodas, orange juice, tonic water, hot tea and cocoa later this month and will sell beer, wine and liquor on flights of more than 176 miles. (Arnold, 2/3)

Fox News: Parents Of ‘Jeopardy!’s Last Great Champion’ File Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Former Contestants for 500: This "Jeopardy!" contestant was the "final gift" to longtime host Alex Trebek and was labeled by social media as "Alex’s Last Great Champion." The parents of five-time "Jeopardy!" champion Brayden Smith filed a lawsuit against a Nevada hospital for negligence and medical malpractice after he died suddenly at the age of 24 from clots in his lungs last year, according to multiple reports. One of Smith’s medical problems was ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory condition of the large intestine, which sometimes can lead to severe complications where a partial or complete removal of the colon is necessary, known as a colectomy, according to Medscape. (Sudhakar, 2/3)

And a bit of happy news —

10News.com: San Diego Baby Born 2/2/22 At 2:22 P.M. At Kaiser Permanente
At Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center, a baby was born on 2/2/22 at 2:22 p.m.! Hospital staff shared heartwarming photos of first time parents Natalie and Angel who live in Carlsbad. Their son Ramon weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces and is 19 inches long. ... Can’t get enough of the number two? Baby Ramon is also the 22nd great grandchild of Natalie’s grandmother Josephine. (Summerville, 2/2)