Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
If You Have Covid, There's a 50-50 Chance Your Symptoms Will Linger
The Washington Post: Long Covid Symptoms Linger In 50 Percent Of People Who Survive The Disease
At least 50 percent of people who survive covid-19 experience a variety of physical and psychological health issues for six months or more after their initial recovery, according to research on the long-term effects of the disease, published in the journal JAMA Network Open. Often referred to as “long covid,” the adverse health effects vary from person to person. But the research, based on data from 250,351 adults and children, found that more than half experience a decline in general well-being, resulting in weight loss, fatigue, fever or pain. (Searing, 11/15)
CBS News: How Are Long-Haul COVID Symptoms Affecting Children?
At first glance, it's hard to believe Aaron Estrada is anything other than a healthy 4-year-old, but it has taken a year for the energetic little boy to get here. In November 2020, Aaron was in a hospital bed for more than a week, requiring oxygen to breathe, after contracting COVID. His hair started falling out, he had heart problems, and he couldn't walk or stand for a month. (11/15)
The Hill: NIH Long-Term Study On Children Who Had COVID-19 Enrolls First Participant
A long-term National Institutes of Health (NIH) study on the impacts of COVID-19 on children and young adults enrolled its first participant, the agency announced on Monday. The NIH’s research intends to follow 1,000 children and young adults ages 3 to 21 who previously tested positive for COVID-19 over three years to examine the virus’s impact on their physical and mental health, including their development and immune responses to the virus. The agency enrolled its first participant from its Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., as part of the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) initiative. Participants need parents’ or guardians’ consent to be enrolled. (Coleman, 11/15)
In other news —
AP: Racial Disparities In Kids’ Vaccinations Are Hard To Track
The rollout of COVID-19 shots for elementary-age children has exposed another blind spot in the nation's efforts to address pandemic inequalities: Health systems have released little data on the racial breakdown of youth vaccinations, and community leaders fear that Black and Latino kids are falling behind. Only a handful of states have made public data on COVID-19 vaccinations by race and age, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not compile racial breakdowns either. (11/15)
CIDRAP: Women, Racial Minority Health Workers Struggle To Find Respirators That Fit
Most respiratory protective equipment (RPE) used in healthcare is not designed for women or racial minorities amid a dearth of research into how facial dimensions across sex and race affect respirator performance, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published late last week in BMJ Global Health. Researchers at the University of Southampton in England led the study, which involved analysis of 32 studies and anthropometric data (measurements and proportions of the human body) from 15 studies. (11/15)
Bloomberg: Covid Patients Taking Antidepressant May Have Lower Death Risk
A common antidepressant appears to reduce the risk of death in patients admitted to the hospital with severe Covid-19, according to a study published in the JAMA Network Open journal. About 9.8% of the 470 Covid-19 patients in the study who were taking fluoxetine, also sold under the brand name Prozac, died. That’s compared to over 13% of patients with similar characteristics not receiving any antidepressants. A recent trial in Brazil showed fluvoxamine, another antidepressant, may reduce the risk that a patient with Covid-19 ends up in the hospital. The antidepressant was chosen to be studied as a potential treatment for Covid-19 due to its anti-inflammatory properties. It’s also cheaper than Merck & Co.’s new antiviral for Covid-19. (Anghel, 11/15)
Reuters: Vaccines Not Linked To Menstrual Changes
Many women have reported noticing changes in their menstrual cycle after being vaccinated against COVID-19 but a new study of 1,273 women in the UK found no correlation, according to a report posted on Monday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. The women in the study kept careful records of their cycles and their vaccination dates. "We were unable to detect strong signals to support the idea" that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to changes in timing or flow of women's periods, said Victoria Male from Imperial College London. It is possible that larger studies, or studies in other countries, might find links, she said. "It is important to note that most people who report such a change following vaccination find that their period returns to normal the following cycle." Other studies have found no evidence that the vaccines affect female fertility, Male added. (Lapid, 11/15)
