Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Even Covid Researchers Are Getting Death Threats, Poll Finds
NBC News: Almost 2 In 5 Covid-19 Researchers Have Faced Harassment, Survey Finds
Nearly 2 in 5 Covid-19 researchers reported they had been harassed since the pandemic began, according to a new survey published Thursday in Science. The survey included responses from 510 researchers who have published about Covid-19 and was conducted by the news team of the journal Science. (Bush, 3/24)
More on covid research —
The Baltimore Sun: A Broccoli A Day Keeps COVID (And Colds) Away? Johns Hopkins Researchers Are Looking Into It
Your mom was right: Eat your vegetables! Vegetables have long been a mainstay of a healthy diet, but there may be one more reason to eat your greens. They may stave off a bad COVID-19 infection. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center found that a chemical compound called sulforaphane found in abundance in broccoli, cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts might slow growth of coronaviruses such as those that cause COVID-19 and the common cold. At the start of the pandemic, the researchers began looking for potential treatments for the virus when they came across the compound. They haven’t tested it in humans yet, but in cells and mice they found sulforaphane was a promising weapon against severe disease because it interferes with virus replication. That’s how the virus spreads in the body. (Cohn, 3/25)
CIDRAP: Aspirin May Cut In-Hospital COVID Death But Not Need For Organ Support
A pair of new studies detail the role of aspirin in the treatment of COVID-19, one estimating lower rates of in-hospital death and pulmonary embolism in moderately ill patients, and the other showing that blood thinners didn't decrease the need for organ support in critically ill patients. (Van Beusekom, 3/24)
CIDRAP: Prone Position Might Not Work For Awake COVID-19 Patients
Proning—lying on the stomach—has been useful for treating intubated, sedated COVID-19 patients, but a new study designed to tease out possible benefits for awake patients found that the method is difficult to use. (Schnirring, 3/24)
Fox News: Heart Disease, Stroke Deaths Rose During COVID-19 Pandemic: Study
There was a "notable several-fold increase" in risk-associated deaths from heart disease and stroke during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to researchers. In a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Network Open, authors from Kaiser Permanente, the Permanente Medical Group, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine said that from 2019 to 2020 the estimated age-adjusted mortality rate increased by 15.9%, largely due to COVID-19 mortality. Rates of stroke and heart disease also increased by 4.3% and 6.4%, respectively. (Musto, 3/24)
In news about covid testing —
The Washington Post: Small Lab That Got $187 Million For Covid Testing Put Patients In ‘Jeopardy’
The drive-through coronavirus testing site, a metal shipping container in the parking lot of an Indianapolis shopping mall, gave Bridgette Alexander pause. The man administering tests at the site, run by a company called O’Hare Clinical Lab Services, was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, not medical scrubs or a gown. He moved among the cars without changing gloves, she said. He asked for her driver’s license but not her insurance card. (Boburg and Bellware, 3/24)
