Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
H1N2 Case In Pennsylvania Is First US Influenza A Case This Year
CIDRAP: Pennsylvania Reports H1N2v Flu Case
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has reported a variant H1N2 (H1N2v) infection in a patient younger than 18 years, marking the nation's first variant influenza A case of 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly influenza update. (Schnirring, 3/29)
Bloomberg: Bird Flu Spreads To Michigan, Idaho Cows In Latest USDA Tests
Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been discovered in dairy herds in Michigan and Idaho, indicating the virus is spreading into new US states. The National Veterinary Services Laboratories has confirmed the presence of bird flu in a Michigan herd that recently received cows from Texas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday. In a joint statement with the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the USDA also said presumptive positive test results have been received in New Mexico, Idaho, and Texas. (Marsh, 3/30)
On RSV, measles, and covid —
The Atlantic: Protecting Babies Against RSV Is Still Too Hard
When a new RSV vaccine for pregnant people arrived last fall, Sarah Turner, a family-medicine physician at Lutheran Hospital, in Indiana, couldn’t help but expect some pushback. At most, about half of her eligible pregnant patients opt to get a flu vaccine, she told me, and “very few” agree to the COVID shot. But to Turner’s surprise, patients clamored for the RSV shot—some opting in even more eagerly than they did for Tdap, which protects newborns against pertussis and had previously been her easiest sell. (Wu, 3/29)
CIDRAP: Recent MMR Vaccination May Lead To False-Positive Measles Test Results
Children who are given polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that simultaneously look for multiple causes of a rash may test falsely positive for measles if they recently had a dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to a new study in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. MMR vaccine includes live attenuated measles virus, which is detectable by PCR tests but does not cause active infections in people with healthy immune systems. From September 2022 to January 2023, however, the Tennessee Department of Health received two reports of measles detected by PCR panels conducted for rashes. (Soucheray, 3/29)
KFF Health News: Journalists Dig Into Measles, Abortion Access, And Medicaid Expansion
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (3/30)
KFF Health News: Four Years After Shelter-In-Place, Covid-19 Misinformation Persists
From spring break parties to Mardi Gras, many people remember the last major “normal” thing they did before the novel coronavirus pandemic dawned, forcing governments worldwide to issue stay-at-home advisories and shutdowns. Even before the first case of covid-19 was detected in the U.S., fears and uncertainties helped spur misinformation’s rapid spread. (Gyamfi Asiedu, 4/1)
