Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Proves More Deadly To Psychiatric Patients, Racial Minorities
CIDRAP: Racial Minorities, Psychiatric Patients More Likely To Die Of COVID-19
Two US studies in JAMA Network Open today detail disparities in COVID-19 deaths in 2020, one showing higher mortality rates among racial minorities, and the other finding fewer infections but more deaths among patients with schizophrenia and other mood disorders. (Van Beusekom, 11/23)
Fox News: Israeli Company's COVID-19 Drug Shows Promise In Late-Stage Coronavirus Treatment
An Israeli public company says it developed the "only cure for late-stage COVID" and said that the results of its phase II clinical trial, disclosed first to Fox News, revealed that patients suffering from severe cases of COVID-19 had a 94% survival rate after being treated with the drug. Israeli biotechnology company Bonus BioGroup’s cell therapy MesenCure was administered to 50 hospitalized COVID-19 patients suffering from life-threatening pneumonia and respiratory distress, the company said, noting that 47 of those patients had survived. "These are the most clinically meaningful results presented today for treating severe COVID-19 patients," Dr. Tomer Bronshtein, the head of research at Bonus BioGroup Ltd., told Fox News in an exclusive interview. (Kaplan, 11/23)
CIDRAP: Study: No Risk Of Serious Adverse Events In Elderly COVID Vaccine Recipients
A new nationwide study in France involving people 75 years or older found no increase in acute myocardial infarction, stroke, or pulmonary embolism 14 days following each Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine dose. The data was published as a research letter yesterday in JAMA. To estimate the risk of acute myocardial infarction, hemorrhagic stroke, ischemic stroke, or pulmonary embolism in this age-group, researchers looked at unvaccinated and vaccinated adults 75 or older admitted to the hospital with these conditions between Dec 15, 2020, and Apr 30, 2021, throughout France. (11/23)
CIDRAP: Blood Clots A Risk In COVID-19 Patients After Hospital Stay, Data Show
A study of 2,832 hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients in Michigan shows that those with a history of blood clots and high concentrations of the biomarkers D-dimer and C-reactive protein were more likely than others to have potentially serious blood clots after release from the hospital. COVID-19 can induce blood clots in the veins and arteries, the authors noted. A clot can break off and travel to the lungs (pulmonary thromboembolism), where it can stop blood from flowing to the lungs and lead to death. (11/23)
Axios: COVID Vaccines Of The Future Might Be Pills Or Nasal Sprays
As vaccine makers pursue the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines, some are working to develop products that wouldn't require a shot. Delivering a vaccine through a pill or a nasal spray could make them much easier to administer, especially in places where distribution is challenging — or even for people who just don't like needles. (Reed, 11/24)
In research news not related to covid —
The Wall Street Journal: Pittsburgh Hospital Taps AI To Prevent Spread Of Infections
A Pittsburgh hospital is using artificial intelligence to help map the spread of infections through the facility, an effort aimed at better preventing hospital-based outbreaks. Even before Covid-19, infections were a huge problem for hospitals. About one in 31 U.S. patients contracts at least one infection linked to hospital care, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said last week that it was deploying the machine-learning system at its flagship hospital, UPMC Presbyterian, after two years of testing at the facility. (McCormick, 11/23)
ABC News: Detecting Cancer With A Simple Blood Draw Could Soon Be A Reality
Every year, thousands of Americans undergo routine screening to catch cancer in its early stages, while it’s still treatable. But these routine tests can be painful and invasive, and doctors only regularly screen for five of some of the most common types of cancer. So for decades, scientists have been working on ways to screen for cancers using a simple blood draw rather than a painful biopsy or invasive test. These so-called "blood biopsy" tests are closer than ever to dramatically improving the way doctors screen for cancer. (Warner, 11/24)
Fox News: Nearly 1 In 5 US Adults With Hypertension Are Taking Meds That Increase Blood Pressure
Many patients with high blood pressure may be unknowingly taking medications that are contributing to increased blood pressure, according to a study in JAMA this week. A team of researchers out of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, found that 18% — or nearly one in five — U.S. adults diagnosed with hypertension, reported taking medications that may actually increase blood pressure. Hypertension was defined in the study as an average systolic BP of 130 mm Hg or higher, average diastolic BP of 80 mm Hg or higher, or being told by a physician, the individual had high blood pressure. The authors also defined uncontrolled hypertension as an average systolic BP of 130 mm Hg or higher or an average diastolic BP of 80 mm Hg or higher. (McGorry, 11/23)
CIDRAP: Antibiotic Spectrum Index Could Boost Antibiotic Stewardship In NICUs
Use of an antibiotic spectrum index (ASI) helped identify patterns of empiric antibiotic prescribing at three neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and could help guide stewardship efforts, US researchers reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. Using antibiotic data from the pharmacy systems of three academic level 4 NICUs, the researchers collected the ASI per antibiotic days and the days of therapy (DOT) per patient days for all very-low-birthweight (VLBW) infants, who are at high-risk of exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics because they require prolonged hospitalization and are at high risk of infection. The ASI was developed to compare antibiotic selection patterns by the spectrum of antimicrobial action and capture important differences in prescribing patterns. (11/23)
UNC Media Hub: Virtual Therapy May Help, But Isn’t For Everyone
Since the start of the pandemic, more and more students have used virtual therapy as a way to seek mental health and wellness care. Transitioning services from in-person to Zoom served as a way to continue offering services to UNC students at a time when many were exhausted and burned out from the stress of a remote semester. (Perez-Moreno, 11/24)
