Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Frightening Delusions Grip Many ICU Patients, Increase Long-Term, Possibly Permanent Cognitive Issues
The New York Times: ‘They Want To Kill Me’: Many Covid Patients Have Terrifying Delirium
Kim Victory was paralyzed on a bed and being burned alive.Just in time, someone rescued her, but suddenly, she was turned into an ice sculpture on a fancy cruise ship buffet. Next, she was a subject of an experiment in a lab in Japan. Then she was being attacked by cats. Nightmarish visions like these plagued Ms. Victory during her hospitalization this spring for severe respiratory failure caused by the coronavirus. They made her so agitated that one night, she pulled out her ventilator breathing tube; another time, she fell off a chair and landed on the floor of the intensive care unit. (Belluck, 6/28)
CIDRAP: Some COVID-19 Patients Have Brain Complications, Study Suggests
Some COVID-19 patients, including those younger than 60 years old, appear to develop neurologic and neuropsychiatric complications such as stroke, brain inflammation, psychosis, and dementia-like symptoms, according to a study published yesterday in The Lancet Psychiatry. The early-stage study of 153 hospitalized patients with confirmed, probable, or possible COVID-19 in the United Kingdom (UK) from Apr 2 to 26 identified 125 patients with complete data, of whom 77 (62%) had a stroke. (Van Beusekom, 6/26)
Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Drives Up Demand For Mental Healthcare
Weeks of social distancing and economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19 coupled with the recent civil unrest over racial injustice is threatening to turn concerns over meeting demand for behavioral healthcare into a full-blown crisis. Nearly half of U.S. adults reported their mental health was negatively affected due to worry and stress over the virus, according to a poll the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted in March. (Johnson, 6/27)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Coronavirus Isolation Can Have 'Profound' Impact On Mental Health, Chronic Disease, Doctors Say
After months of isolation, job loss and life changes, general physicians are starting to see the physical effects of the coronavirus pandemic in their patients. Doctors in south Louisiana have said there’s been an increase in weight gain, anxiety and depression, alcohol use, and in some cases changes in sex drive as the prolonged stresses of the virus impact even those who have not been diagnosed with coronavirus. (Kennedy and Woodruff, 6/28)
Kaiser Health News: Conflicting COVID Messages Create Cloud Of Confusion Around Public Health And Prevention
Regina Fargis didn’t know what to do. Fargis runs Summit Hills — a health and retirement community in Spartanburg, South Carolina, that offers skilled nursing, activities and communal meals for its residents, most of whom are over 60, the highest-risk category for coronavirus complications. In South Carolina, more than a hundred new cases were emerging daily. So she took precautions: no visitors, hand sanitizer everywhere and regular reminders for residents about the importance of social distancing. (Luthra, 6/29)
CIDRAP: Huge Global Effort To Fast-Track COVID-19 Tools Advances
A massive effort led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to fast-track the development of COVID-19 vaccine, treatments, and diagnostics—and make them available to countries that need them most—released its production targets today and the price tag needed to produce and deliver the items, which totals $31.3 billion. The pandemic total rose to 9,682,414 cases, and 491,113 people have died from their infections, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard. (Schnirring, 6/26)
NPR: Key Vocab For COVID-19: From Asymptomatic To Zoonotic
The world is being flooded with new terms in coverage of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Here's a glossary in case you're not up on the latest medical and testing jargon. (Huang, Gharib and Jacewicz, 6/27)
The Wall Street Journal: Public Transit Use Is Associated With Higher Coronavirus Death Rates, Researchers Find
African-Americans may be dying at higher rates than white people from Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in part because of black people’s heavier reliance on public transportation for commuting, two new studies by economists suggest. One of the studies, by University of Virginia economist John McLaren, found that the racial discrepancy remained even after controlling for income or insurance rates. Instead, Mr. McLaren found the gap was due in part to the fact that black workers are more likely to get to work via public transit, including subways and buses. (Harrison, 6/28)
The Wall Street Journal: Wary Of Subways? 6 Electric Options For A Solo Work Commute
Fears of being exposed to germs in cramped underground spaces have reportedly caused mass transit ridership to plummet by 80% in urban centers such as Milan and San Francisco—and by up to 96% in hot spots including New York, Washington, D.C., and Paris. When they head back to their corner offices, car-shunning members of the C-suite set might be more likely to commute in prudent solitude on electric bikes than to trudge up subway steps. (Kitchen, 6/27)
The Washington Post: With Few Rules In Place, Airlines, Airports Adopt Their Own Strategies For Combating The Coronavirus
Travelers landing at Honolulu International Airport have their temperatures checked upon arrival, must provide contact information and are required to wear masks. There are no such rules for those on domestics flights at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Several U.S. carriers now require travelers to fill out health questionnaires when they check-in, but only one — Frontier Airlines — mandates a temperature scan before boarding. (Aratani, 6/27)
The Washington Post: Bringing Your Own Food On An Airplane During The Coronavirus Pandemic May Be Your Best Option.
In-flight dining never has really been desirable. But in the age of coronavirus, it’s downright dangerous. In response, the major airline carriers have drastically altered their food and drink programs. Throughout economy cabins, they have largely ceased altogether. The beverage cart has been replaced by a bottle of water plopped atop your lap; a single-serve package of Purell is the new “tapas” box. (Japhe, 6/27)
The Washington Post: Home Pulse Oximeters Can Help Diagnose Covid-19 Symptoms, But It's Easy To Use It The Wrong Way
This spring, our daughter insisted that my husband and I, both in our 60s, get the latest weapon in the fight against the novel coronavirus: the pulse oximeter, a device that can measure the level of oxygen in the blood. Recent reports have shown that a lower-than-healthy level of oxygen saturation in the blood can be an early predictor of covid-related pneumonia, even in those with mild symptoms .Joanna, in her third trimester of pregnancy at the time, lives in New York and had bought the device — about the size of a Matchbox car — for her and her husband so they could be fortified with information before they checked into the hospital for the arrival in early June of their daughter. (Bruno, 6/28)
The Washington Post: Medication And High Temperatures Can Be Risky
Summer is here and, along with it, the threat of heat waves and heat-related illness. Heat waves kill more people than any other single weather event, making them dangerous by themselves. But if you are among the millions of Americans taking certain medications, you may be facing an additional risk. Some drugs, taken when it’s hot, can provoke serious, sometimes life-threatening reactions. These include drugs widely used for many common conditions, including blood pressure, asthma, depression and allergies, among others. When the temperature rises, they can impair the body’s ability to cope with heat. (Cimons, 6/27)
The Washington Post: Disinfecting The Mail From Yellow Fever To Coronavirus
Reporting from Jacksonville, Fla., during an 1888 outbreak of yellow fever, a correspondent for the Macon Telegraph wrote, “Well, another day has dawned and is half gone (I write at noon), and still we live.” Not all Jacksonville residents were quite so upbeat. Yellow flags marked homes that hosted infection. Thick plumes of smoke from coal fires hung in the air and the local artillery battery fired off rounds throughout the evening — both efforts to obliterate the microbes believed to be hanging in the night sky. Between late July and early December of that year, Jacksonville faced approximately 430 deaths and more than 4,600 cases of yellow fever. (Waters, 6/28)
