Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A Single Gene May Double Risk Of Developing Severe Covid, Scientists Find
Bloomberg: Scientists Find Gene That Doubles Risk Of Dying From Covid-19
Scientists identified a specific gene that doubles the risk of respiratory failure from Covid-19 and may go some way to explaining why some ethnic groups are more susceptible to severe disease than others. Researchers from the University of Oxford found that a higher-risk version of the gene most likely prevents the cells lining airways and the lungs from responding to the virus properly. About 60% of people with South Asian ancestry carry this version of the gene, compared with 15% of people with European heritage, according to the study published Thursday. (Ring, 11/4)
In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —
USA Today: Infections Edge Higher In 24 States As Weather Turns Colder
Cases rose week-over-week in 24 states in the seven-day period that ended Wednesday, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data indicates. The rolling average of seven-day cases nationwide has more or less leveled off around 500,000 over the last 10 days after weeks of broad, steady decline. Infection numbers are rising primarily in colder states that hadn't been as hard-hit in the worst of the delta variant wave. The list includes Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin. (Stucka, 11/4)
The Boston Globe: Mass. Reports 1,879 New Coronavirus Cases Among Public School Students And 339 Among Staff Over Two-Week Period
State education leaders on Thursday reported 1,879 new cases among public school students and 339 among staff members for the two-week period that ended Wednesday. Due to the power outages across the state last week, the COVID-19 cases reports from Oct. 21 and Oct. 27 were delayed. The 2,218 total cases were 64 fewer than those reported from Oct. 14-20, continuing a steady decline seen in recent weeks. (Gans and Vega, 11/4)
AP: Connecticut Changes COVID Policy On Quarantining Students
Gov. Ned Lamont announced a new policy Thursday allowing many unvaccinated students to stay in school — even if they had close contact with someone who has COVID-19. Under the Screen and Stay policy, students and staff who may have been exposed to the virus under certain circumstances, but show no symptoms of having caught it and were wearing a mask at the time of the potential exposure, will be allowed to remain in the classroom without a test for the virus. The state already allows vaccinated students who were in close contact with someone with COVID-19 to stay in school. (Eaton-Robb and Haigh, 11/4)
Also —
CIDRAP: Study: Bamlanivimab Protects Against COVID-19 Hospitalization In Seniors
A new case-control study shows the monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab offered good protection against hospitalization in 1,257 adult US outpatients who were either 65 or older or obese. The study was published yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Disease. The patients in the study sought treatment in the Mass General Brigham (MGB) health system, where a lottery system had been put in place for the monoclonal antibody therapy beginning in December 2020. This study was based on patients who entered the lottery from Dec 9, 2020 and Feb 25, 2021, and were 65 years and older and had a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher. (11/4)
NPR: Ivermectin Has Now Become A Political Issue For Some Republicans
When state senators in South Carolina held two hearings in September about COVID treatments, they got an earful on the benefits of ivermectin — which many of the lawmakers lauded along the way, sharing experiences of their own loved ones. The demands for access to the drug were loud and insistent, despite the fact that federal regulators had just issued a strong warning against using the drug to treat COVID-19. One member of the public, Pressley Stutts III, reminded the panel that his father, a prominent GOP leader in the state, had died from COVID just a month before. He believed ivermectin could have helped. But doctors at the hospital wouldn't even discuss it, he said. (Farmer, 11/4)
