Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Even Among Health Care Workers, Getting Care For Long Covid Isn't Easy
CIDRAP: Even Healthcare Workers Face Difficulty Accessing Long-COVID Care, Review Suggests
Healthcare workers with long-COVID symptoms reported that their physicians shrugged off their concerns and that they struggled to get the care they needed, a new systematic review suggests. (Van Beusekom, 3/6)
USA Today: Long COVID May Increase Alcohol Sensitivity, Stanford Research Finds
Long COVID may be to blame for the worsening headaches, nausea, fatigue and sweats that accompany hangovers, a recent study shows. The peer-reviewed study done by researchers at Stanford University concluded that SARS-CoV-2 infection could be related to increased alcohol sensitivity. The group at Stanford’s Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome Clinic studied four patients to determine if their long-term COVID had any effect on them after alcohol consumption. (Limehouse, 3/6)
CIDRAP: COVID-19 Pandemic Changed All-Cause Mortality Among US Latinos
A new analysis of all-cause mortality of Hispanic and Latino adults published in Annals of Internal Medicine shows Mexicans and Central Americans were most affected by the pandemic. Participants were recruited from the Bronx, New York City; Chicago; Miami; and San Diego and were of Central American, Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and South American backgrounds. (Soucheray, 3/6)
Los Angeles Times: Friday Is Your Last Day To Order Free Mail-Order COVID Tests
Free COVID-19 tests are still available by mail, but the U.S. Postal Service says orders will be suspended after Friday. Since Nov. 20, residents have been eligible to receive up to two orders of four at-home COVID-19 tests via the USPS, meaning each home could receive up to eight tests. The offer is ending just as COVID-19 restrictions and recommendations from health officials have been significantly relaxed, but testing continues to be a central part of the recommendations made by state and federal officials. (Hernandez, 3/6)
Stat: The Public Health Thinking Behind The CDC’s New Covid Guidance
What makes for good public health guidance? That’s the conversation I was having with a colleague in her 40s railing against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s erstwhile guidance about alcohol consumption for women of “childbearing” years. The guidance, if followed closely, would mean that all women ages 15 to 49 should fully abstain from alcohol consumption unless they’re using birth control. That’s more than 77 million women in the U.S. alone. The CDC guidance was finally archived last year, along with a similar proposal from the World Health Organization. For good reason: It’s absurd. (Ashish K. Jha, 3/6)
