Covid Inflammatory Syndrome Linked To Higher Risks For Poor, Minority Kids
Separately, a study shows that long-haul covid may be more common than thought, even in those who had mild symptoms. In other news, US cervical cancers fall but other sex-related cancers rise, and actress Salma Hayek speaks about her near-fatal covid infection.
CIDRAP:
COVID-Related Inflammatory Syndrome Hits Poorer, Minority Kids Harder
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which has been linked with pediatric COVID-19, may pose higher risks to children in lower socioeconomic statuses or who are minorities, according to a Pediatrics study today. The study compared MIS-C patients with those who had COVID-19, those who were evaluated for MIS-C but found without, children with febrile illness, children with Kawasaki disease, and healthy children in the state. Everyone included in the cohort was under 21 years and in Massachusetts. (4/28)
CIDRAP:
COVID-Related Inflammatory Syndrome Looks Different In Adults
The postinfectious COVID-19–related multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) first characterized in children has a different presentation in adults that may lead to underrecognition, according to a small, single-center study today in JAMA Network Open. Conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the retrospective study involved 15 patients 21 years and older who met the working definition for MIS in adults (MIS-A) from Mar 1 to Sep 30, 2020, and were hospitalized 14 to 84 days after testing positive for COVID-19 or 15 days before or after SARS-CoV-2 antibody test results identified them as at risk for the syndrome. (Van Beusekom, 5/19)
CIDRAP:
Study Finds Long-Haul COVID-19 Common, In Even Those With Mild Disease
Long-haul COVID-19 was associated with severe or very severe symptoms, low income, and some age-groups, but was common even in those with mild symptoms, with a quarter of patients in that group having symptoms after 60 days, according to a Clinical Infectious Diseases study today that looked at adult Michigan patients. The researchers surveyed 593 Michigan adults who had a symptomatic COVID-19 diagnosis through mid-April 2020. Most were female (56.1%), older than 45 years (68.2%), and either White (46.3%) or Black (34.8%). More than half reported 30-day COVID-19 symptoms (52.5%), and 35.0% said they had symptoms 60 days post-diagnosis. The most common symptoms among 60-day COVID-19 patients were fatigue (52.9%) and shortness of breath (43.9%). (5/19)
In other public health news —
AP:
US Cervical Cancers Fall But Other Sex-Related Cancers Rise
Screening and the HPV vaccine have led to drops in cervical cancers over the last two decades in the U.S., a new study finds, but the gains are offset by a rise in other tumors caused by the virus. Oral sex is helping fuel more cases of mouth and throat cancers in men. For older women, anal cancer and a rare type of rectal cancer caused by HPV may be more common than cervical cancers by 2025. “A common misperception is the HPV vaccine has solved the problem of HPV-associated cancers. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Dr. Maura Gillison of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, who was not involved in the study. (Johnson, 5/19)
NBC News:
Salma Hayek On Her Near-Fatal Covid Battle: Refusing To Go To Hospital, 7 Weeks In Isolation
Salma Hayek has spent the better part of the past year recovering from a near-fatal case of Covid-19, a fact she chose to keep quiet until now. She battled the virus in the early days of the pandemic and spent about seven weeks isolated in a room of the London mansion she shares with her husband, Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault, and their 13-year-old daughter, Valentina. At one point, she was put on oxygen. "My doctor begged me to go to the hospital because it was so bad," Hayek, 54. "I said, 'No, thank you. I'd rather die at home.'" (5/20)
