Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Another Study Finds Zika Virus Could Be Used To Treat Cancer
Live Science: Zika Virus Could Potentially Treat Cancer, Another Early Study Hints
The Zika virus has plagued humans since its identification in 1947, but now, scientists are harnessing its ability to damage cells to fight a different foe: cancer. In a new study published Jan. 9 in the journal Cancer Research Communications, researchers used the Zika virus to treat mice that had been implanted with cells from human neuroblastoma tumors, a type of nerve-tissue cancer. These mice's tumors showed almost complete tissue death immediately after they were injected with Zika, and the animals showed prolonged survival. "The difference was stunning," Joseph Mazar, a research scientist at Nemours Children Hospital in Orlando, Florida, and first author of the study, told Live Science. "You just don't see this; it's crazy. We got 80% to 90% efficacy. The tumors were eradicated — single injection, no recurrence, no symptoms." (Zieba, 1/15)
CIDRAP: Brazilian Study Indicates Zika Reinfection Possible
Three of 135 patients in a Brazilian cohort were reinfected with the Zika virus (ZIKV), according to a study published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases. ... ZIKV is transmitted in tropical and subtropical regions through the bite of Aedes mosquitoes. While 80% of Zika cases cause few or no symptoms, infected pregnant women can give birth to babies with severe birth defects, including microcephaly, an abnormally small head. After a large Zika outbreak occurred in Brazil in 2015, viral circulation declined, and cases are uncommon today. (Van Beusekom, 1/18)
Mpox can be tracked in wastewater —
AP: Wastewater Tests Can Find Mpox, Study Finds. Expect More Bugs To Be Tracked That Way
Wastewater testing does a good job at detecting mpox infections, U.S. health officials said in a report Thursday that bolsters a push to use sewage to track more diseases. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers found that over the course of a week, there was a 32% likelihood the tests would detect the presence of at least one person infected with mpox in a population ranging from thousands to millions. (Stobbe, 1/18)
In other health and wellness news —
Reuters: US Government Set To Release Camp Lejeune Cancer Study
A key study on cancer rates caused by contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune conducted by U.S. government researchers is expected to be released later this month, according to the U.S. Justice Department. In court documents, filed late Wednesday, the attorneys for people claiming they were harmed by the water told the judges overseeing cases involving the contamination that they are dropping their fight to get access to the study after the director of the U.S. (Jones, 1/18) Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) said the agency was working toward releasing it by the end of January.
AP: CDC Expands Warning About Charcuterie Meat Trays As Salmonella Cases Double
Federal health officials are expanding a warning about salmonella poisoning tied to charcuterie meat snack trays sold at Sam’s Club and Costco stores. At least 47 people in 22 states have been sickened and 10 people have been hospitalized after eating Busseto brand and Fratelli Beretta brand meats, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. (1/18)
AP: An Experiment Shows How Pigs Might One Day Help People With Liver Failure
Surgeons externally attached a pig liver to a brain-dead human body and watched it successfully filter blood, a step toward eventually trying the technique in patients with liver failure. The University of Pennsylvania announced the novel experiment Thursday, a different spin on animal-to-human organ transplants. In this case, the pig liver was used outside the donated body, not inside — a way to create a “bridge” to support failing livers by doing the organ’s blood-cleansing work externally, much like dialysis for failing kidneys. (1/18)
Los Angeles Times: More Concerning Than Nanoplastics In Water Bottles Are The Chemicals On Them
Of particular concern are a class of additives known as endocrine disruptors — chemicals that mimic and confuse hormone signaling in humans. ... A team of physicians, epidemiologists and endocrinologists have estimated the costs of plastic exposure on the U.S. healthcare system and come to a sobering conclusion. In 2018, several common endocrine disruptors cost the nation almost $250 billion — just $40 billion shy of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2024 budget for the entire state of California. (Rust, 1/18)
KFF Health News: Insurance Doesn’t Always Cover Hearing Aids For Kids
Joyce Shen was devastated when doctors said her firstborn, Emory, hadn’t passed her newborn hearing screening. Emory was diagnosed with profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears as an infant, meaning sounds are extremely muffled. But Shen and her husband, who live in Ontario, California, faced a horrible situation. Without intervention, they were told, their baby daughter’s hearing impairment would prevent her from acquiring age-appropriate language skills and likely leave her with developmental problems affecting her education. Pediatric hearing aids can look like modified earbuds and sometimes come in pink, blue, and other bright colors. The ones Emory needed can cost more than $6,000 a pair, and she would require a new pair about every three years as her ears grow. But the family’s work-based insurance does not cover those costs. (DeGuzman, 1/19)
