Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Risks Increase With Repeat Covid Infections: Study
Reuters: Repeat COVID Is Riskier Than First Infection, Study Finds
The risk of death, hospitalization and serious health issues from COVID-19 jumps significantly with reinfection compared with a first bout with the virus, regardless of vaccination status, a study published on Thursday suggests. "Reinfection with COVID-19 increases the risk of both acute outcomes and long COVID," said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "This was evident in unvaccinated, vaccinated and boosted people." (Lapid, 11/10)
CIDRAP: Repeat COVID Infections Appear To Predispose Patients To Disease, Death
Repeat SARS-CoV-2 infections confer significant additional risk of adverse multi-organ medical conditions and poor outcomes such as hospitalization, diabetes, kidney disease, mental illness, death, and diseases affecting the lungs, heart, brain, blood, and musculoskeletal systems, suggests a study published yesterday in Nature Medicine. (11/11)
Two variants have taken over —
NPR: Omicron Variants BQ.1 And BQ.1.1 Now Dominant In U.S.
Two new omicron subvariants have become dominant in the United States, raising fears they could fuel yet another surge of COVID-19 infections, according to estimates released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Stein, 11/11)
Reuters: COVID Variants BQ.1/BQ.1.1 Make Up 44% Of U.S. Cases - CDC
The two variants, which are closely related to Omicron's BA.5 sub-variant that drove COVID-19 cases in United States earlier in the year, made up less than 10% of total cases in the country last month, but currently have surpassed Omicron's BA.5, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (11/11)
More on the spread of covid —
Reuters: Global COVID Cases Will Increase In Coming Months, But At A Slower Pace -Report
Daily global COVID-19 infections are projected to rise slowly to about 18.7 million by February from the current 16.7 million average daily cases, driven by the northern hemisphere's winter months, the University of Washington said in an analysis. Far fewer infections are expected than last winter's estimated peak daily average of about 80 million cases in January of 2022 that was driven by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, according to the report. (11/11)
CNN: Cruise Ship With 800 Covid-Positive Passengers Docks In Sydney
A cruise ship with hundreds of Covid-positive passengers docked in Sydney, Australia, after being hit by a wave of infections. The Majestic Princess cruise ship was about halfway through a 12-day voyage when an outbreak of cases was noticed, Carnival Australia president Marguerite Fitzgerald told reporters in a media briefing on Saturday. (Law, Khalidi and Maruyama, 11/13)
CIDRAP: Infant COVID Hospitalizations—But Not Severe Cases—Rose Amid Omicron
COVID-19 hospitalization rates among US infants younger than 6 months rose during Omicron variant predominance compared to the Delta period, but indicators of severe infection didn't, according to a study published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Van Beusekom, 11/10)
CIDRAP: Kids At Similar Risk For Long COVID As Adults, Study Suggests
A large study today from Germany shows that kids and adolescents are at the same relative risk of experiencing COVID-19 symptoms 90 days or more after acute infection as adults are, according to findings in PLOS Medicine. (Soucheray, 11/10)
CIDRAP: Long Recovery, Brain Damage, Effect Of Stressors With Long COVID
Four new long-COVID studies reveal that 10% of French patients infected early in the pandemic still had symptoms 1 year later, SARS-CoV-2 can profoundly damage the brain for months, and very stressful events exacerbate persistent symptoms. (Van Beusekom, 11/11)
Also —
Reuters: U.S. COVID Public Health Emergency To Stay In Place
The United States will keep in place the public health emergency status of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing millions of Americans to still receive free tests, vaccines and treatments, two Biden administration officials said on Friday. (Aboulenein and Mason, 11/11)
