36% Of Covid Survivors Had Symptoms After 2 Years: Study

CIDRAP: More Than A Third Of COVID Survivors In Italy Had Persistent Symptoms At 2 Years
Of 230 COVID-19 survivors in Italy infected during the first pandemic wave, 36.1% still had symptoms at 2 years, finds a study published today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. A University of Insubria–led team interviewed 230 hospitalized and nonhospitalized adults followed at Udine Hospital 6, 12, and 24 months after illness onset in March to May 2020. Average patient age was 54.7 years, 53.5% were women, and 95.6% had received an mRNA vaccine booster. (Van Beusekom, 7/13)

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccine Boosters Protect Cancer Patients From Poor Outcomes, Study Suggests
Cancer patients and survivors in Singapore derived significant protection from severe COVID-19 after three or four vaccine doses for at least 5 months, according to a nationwide study published today in JAMA Oncology. (Van Beusekom, 7/13)

CIDRAP: Ambulance Personnel Felt High Stress During Pandemic 
In a study this week in PLOS One, researchers describe the mental health impact of the pandemic on ambulance personnel, showing through the findings of six studies that as many as 92.2% felt a psychological burden while working during COVID-19. (Soucheray, 7/13)

On developments relating to aging —

CNN: Study Finds More Clues As To Why ‘SuperAgers’ Have Better Brains 
In the largest observational study to date on “SuperAgers” — people in their 80s who have brains as sharp as those 30 years younger — researchers in Spain found key differences in lifestyle that may contribute to these older adults’ razor-sharp minds. SuperAgers in the study had more gray matter in parts of the brain related to movement, and they scored higher on agility, balance and mobility tests than typical older adults — even though the physical activity levels of the two groups were the same. (LaMotte, 7/13)

Bloomberg: ‘Superagers’ With Good Memories Linked To Mobility, Physical Quickness
Possessing a remarkable memory later in life is linked to better mobility and physical quickness, according to a study that sheds light on the factors that shape how people age. Superagers, people who are at least 80 years old and have the memories normally seen in those in their 50s or 60s, are more agile and mobile than their peers, according to a study published Thursday in the Lancet Healthy Longevity medical journal, and score better on tests for anxiety and depression. (Griffin, 7/13)

In news on other research not related to covid —

Axios: How Male And Female Sex Chromosomes Influence Disease
Scientists are beginning to understand how sex chromosomes and hormones affect people's risk for certain diseases — and whether the biology behind those differences can be harnessed to improve treatments. Doctors and scientists have long recognized certain diseases affect men and women differently but that is rarely reflected in the dosage and design of drugs. (Snyder, 7/13)

Stat: Doctors Find Melanoma Drugs Effective Against Rare Brain Cancer
By going down to the molecular level, doctors have uncovered a way to treat tumors caused by a rare brain cancer using medicines that already exist. Two cancer drugs — currently approved for the treatment of melanoma — were able to treat a rare type of brain cancer called PCP, or papillary craniopharyngioma, researchers reported in a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Iskandar, 7/13)

CIDRAP: Resistance Accelerated In Multiple-Strain Bacterial Infections, Study Finds
A study led by researchers at the University of Oxford provides new insight into how antimicrobial resistance evolves in patients with bacterial infections. The study, published this week in Nature Communications, found that in patients colonized with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, resistance evolved more rapidly in response to antibiotic treatment among those with multiple strains of the pathogen, compared with those with a single strain. (Dall, 7/13)