Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Conditions Decide Which Elders Under 75 Need RSV Vaccine, CDC Says
The New York Times: Federal Officials Revise Recommendations For R.S.V. Vaccine
In an unusual move, federal health officials revised their recommendations for who should receive the vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus. Among Americans aged 60 to 74, only those with certain health conditions need to receive the shots, the CDC concluded. (Mandavilli, 6/26)
Reuters: Moderna Says Its RSV Shot Is 50% Effective Across A Second Season
Moderna Inc. respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) shot mRESVIA showed 50% efficacy in preventing RSV after 18 months, the drugmaker said on Wednesday. In their clinical trials, GSK's RSV vaccine Arexvy was 78% effective in preventing severe RSV over a second year and Pfizer's was 78% effective through a second RSV season. (6/26)
On bird flu —
CIDRAP: USDA Confirms More H5N1 Detections In Dairy Herds And Cats
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed H5N1 avian influenza in three more dairy herds, two in Colorado and one in Iowa, raising its number of affected herds to 129 in 12 states. APHIS today added reports of nine more H5N1 detections in mammals across four states, of which five were domestic cats. The infected cats were from Minnesota (Kandiyohi County) and Texas (Hartley County). Other detections involved raccoons from Michigan and New Mexico, a striped skunk for New Mexico, and a red fox from Minnesota. The group also added eight more detections in wild birds, including five bald eagles from Iowa, New Jersey, and Virginia and three agency-harvested birds from New Mexico. (Schnirring, 6/26)
Stat: Mike Leavitt Interview On Bird Flu Response
Mike Leavitt is in the small club of government officials who’ve led an avian flu response. The experience is still fresh in his mind nearly two decades later. When he first heard about the avian flu outbreak in 2005, he had been secretary of health and human services in George W. Bush’s administration for just a couple of months. (Zhang, 6/27)
On covid and mpox —
CIDRAP: New Study Aims To Define Long COVID Through Phenotypes Of Patients
A new study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases uses data from 1,988 SARS-CoV-2–positive US Military Health System beneficiaries to define the characteristics and clinical patterns observed in patients with long COVID, or post-COVID condition (PCC), grouping patients into three phenotypes based on clusters of symptoms. (Soucheray, 6/26)
USA Today: Mpox In Africa: WHO Urges More Awareness; Deadly Strain Reported
The World Health Organization urged greater attention to mpox cases Tuesday as independent scientists raised concerns that a more deadly version of the virus is circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "There is a critical need to address the recent surge in mpox cases in Africa," Rosamund Lewis, the WHO's technical lead for mpox, said to reporters in a briefing note, as reported by Reuters. (Powel and Forbes, 6/26)
