Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Goodbye, 'Aerosol Transmission,' Hello, 'Through-The-Air' Viruses: Experts
CIDRAP: Global Health Groups Propose New Terminology For Pathogens That Spread Through The Air
Well into the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were reluctant to use terms like "airborne," "airborne transmission," and "aerosol transmission" to describe the spread of the virus through the air, while other experts used various definitions to describe the phenomenon, sowing confusion about how the disease was circulating. An international group has been grappling with the issue, and today the experts laid out their deliberations in a report and proposed new agreed-on terminology for pathogens that transmit "through the air," which include not only SARS-CoV-2, but also influenza, measles, MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus), SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), and tuberculosis. (Schnirring, 4/18)
New York Post: Patient Had COVID For Record 613 Days, Accumulated Over 50 Mutations From Virus Before Death
A Dutch man with the longest case of COVID infection ever recorded suffered from the sickness for a record 613 days, with the ailment mutating into a unique new variant that baffled medical researchers. The 72-year-old unnamed patient was diagnosed with the omicron variant in February 2022, according to Time, citing research from the University of Amsterdam. It is the longest time anyone has been infected with the virus, researchers said. (Pollina, 4/19)
Wired: Unruly Gut Fungi Can Make Your Covid Worse
In research published in Nature Immunology, researchers discovered that in patients with severe Covid, certain strains of gut fungi—knocked off-kilter by the virus—set off a prolonged immune response that could last long after the initial infection. (Chen, 4/19)
San Francisco Chronicle: California To Stop Posting COVID Hospitalization Data, Following CDC
California will no longer provide weekly updates to the public on COVID-19 and flu hospital admissions because the federal regulation that requires hospitals to report the data will end after April 30. As a result, new hospital admissions for both viruses — key indicators of severe COVID and influenza illness in a community — will no longer appear on the state’s respiratory virus dashboard. (Ho, 4/18)
New Hampshire Public Radio: NH Public Health Officials Warn Against Changing Child Care Vaccination Rules
Proof of routine childhood vaccinations would no longer be required before kids are enrolled in child care, under a bill being considered by New Hampshire lawmakers. The bill, which passed the New Hampshire House last month, is one of several attempts lawmakers have made to roll back public health measures in recent years. (Cuno-Booth, 4/18)
On measles, bird flu, and more —
CBS News: Cook County Warns Of Measles Exposure At Sam's Club In Southwest Chicago Suburb
The Cook County Department of Public Health on Thursday warned that people who visited the Sam's Club in Evergreen Park on one specific day earlier this month may have been exposed to measles. The department said anyone who visited the Sam's Club at 9400 S. Western Ave. in Evergreen Park on Tuesday, April 9, between 10 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. may have been exposed to someone who had measles and was contagious. (Harrington and Feurer, 4/18)
Stat: Avian Flu In Cattle Is Spreading; Scientists Want More Data On H5N1
With H5N1 bird flu spreading to more dairy cow herds, scientists and pandemic experts in this country and abroad are calling on the U.S. government to release more information to help them assess the risk the outbreaks pose to cattle operations and people. (Branswell, 4/18)
Los Angeles Times: As Avian Flu Spreads, A Disturbing Question: Is Our Food System Built On Poop?
If it’s true that you are what you eat, then most beef-eating Americans consist of a smattering of poultry feathers, urine, feces, wood chips and chicken saliva, among other food items. As epidemiologists scramble to figure out how dairy cows throughout the Midwest became infected with a strain of highly pathogenic avian flu ... they’re looking at a standard “recycling” practice employed by thousands of farmers across the country: The feeding of animal waste and parts to livestock raised for human consumption. (Rust, 4/18)
CIDRAP: Study Highlights Heavy Global Burden Of Infectious Diseases
A study published this week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases highlights the substantial impact of infectious diseases on global health. The analysis of data from 204 countries by researchers with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that 85 pathogens accounted for 704 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)—the number of years lost from ill health, disability, or early deaths—globally in 2019. That figure accounts for 28% of 2.54 billion DALYs attributed to all causes in the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. (Dall, 4/18)
