Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
For First Time, Drug-Resistant Fungus Has Spread In Health Care Facilities
Stat: US Sees First Candida Auris Cases Resistant To All Drugs In Untreated People
For the first time ever, researchers have reported cases of people carrying or infected with strains of the dangerous fungus Candida auris that were resistant to all classes of antifungal drugs before any treatment, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The agency also reported evidence of some transmission of the strains within health facilities. Candida auris, or C. auris, which was first seen in 2009, has been highly resistant to the few available treatment options for several years, leaving people who treat and study fungal diseases concerned about the toll this superbug could take, particularly on severely ill patients. That there are now so-called pan-resistant cases in people who had never been treated with antifungal drugs is particularly unnerving, experts said. (Branswell, 7/22)
Axios: Dangerous Fungus Found Spreading In U.S. Care Facilities For 1st Time
CDC officials are concerned about a strain of the Candida auris fungus that's resistant to all drugs and appears to have spread in small clusters in health care settings, rather than in individuals who had taken antifungals. "The concern is that it could spread to any of the patients who are at high risk, not just the ones who've been treated before — and that the population who could acquire these potentially untreatable infections could be much larger," Meghan Lyman, medical officer in the CDC's Mycotic Diseases Branch, tells Axios. (O'Reilly, 7/23)
In other public health news —
North Carolina Health News: Study Finds Link Between Air Pollution And Alzheimer’s Disease In Charlotte Area
Airborne particulate pollution in the Charlotte area causes a significantly increased risk of hospitalization and death from Alzheimer’s disease, a new study by Duke University shows. The study, published July 9 in the online journal PLOS One, also found an elevated risk of non-Alzheimer’s dementia and Parkinson’s disease in the Southern Piedmont, but at a lower level than for Alzheimer’s disease. The study found that Alzheimer’s disease in the Charlotte area caused 323 deaths per 100,000 residents. That is significantly higher than the study’s control subjects, who lived in ZIP codes that reported lower airborne particle pollution. In the control group, 257 deaths from Alzheimer’s per 100,000 residents were recorded. (Barnes, 7/23)
CBS News: Regulators Warn Of A Deadly Danger To Kids In Airbnb Vacation Rentals
Federal safety regulators are calling on Airbnb and other vacation rental platforms to take steps to protect young children from a potentially deadly gap involving residential elevators after the death of another child between the product's inner and outer doors. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is urging the platforms to require the "hosts" using their services to disable residential elevators or provide proof of an inspection certifying hazardous gaps don't exist. (Gibson, 7/22)
Stat: Prostate Cancer Surgeries Fell Sharply For Black Men When Covid First Hit
Last year’s lockdown during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic erased cancer surgery from many hospitals’ calendars as they diverted resources to meet the mounting surge in Covid-19 patients. A new study reports a wide racial disparity in which men with prostate cancer during the pandemic’s first wave underwent a prostatectomy, a gap that was tightly tied to where they received cancer care. (Cooney, 7/22)
Fox News: Monkeypox In US: CDC Monitoring 200 People In 27 States, Other Countries
While the delta variant and other issues have the coronavirus gaining renewed attention, U.S. health officials are also watching for signs of a possible outbreak of monkeypox, according to a report. Following an initial report of a patient being treated for monkeypox in Texas after arriving there from Nigeria earlier this month, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now monitoring more than 200 individuals who may have had contact with the traveler, WVLA-TV of Baton Rouge, Louisiana reported. (Calicchio, 7/23)
CIDRAP: Historic Low For Non-COVID Respiratory Viruses During Pandemic
Likely because of COVID-related disruptions (eg, reduced travel, physical distancing, masking), non–COVID-19 respiratory viruses such as the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) saw low prevalence from 2020 to 2021, according to a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) study today. The researchers looked at flu activity from Oct 3, 2020, to May 22, 2021, and other virus activity from Jan 4, 2020, to May 22, 2021. (7/22)
KHN: Readers And Tweeters Connect The Dots On Topics From Vaccine Development To Long Covid
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (7/23)
