Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In An 11-Month First, No One Died Of Covid In This Montana County Last Week
Billings Gazette: First Week In Nearly A Year With No COVID Death Reported In Yellowstone County
For the first time since May 2021, Yellowstone County has had an entire week with no residents dying of COVID-19 illness. The pandemic death toll stands at 550 residents lost to the virus, the same number reported on March 28. Sixty-three of those deaths occurred in 2022. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 virus remains in our community, RiverStone Health officials said Monday. A small number of positive tests continues to be reported and, as of Monday, four Yellowstone County people were hospitalized with COVID-19 illness. None of them were in intensive care. (4/4)
In other news about the spread of covid —
The Boston Globe: Boston COVID-19 Test Positivity Rate Rises Over 5 Percent Amid Unease About BA.2 Subvariant
The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive in Boston has edged over 5 percent, amid unease about the possible impact of the Omicron subvariant BA.2. Cases are also ticking up. According to data files posted by the Boston Public Health Commission, the city’s community positivity rate was 5.03 percent as of Wednesday. The all-Boston positivity rate, which adds in routine tests of college students, was 2.4 percent. (Finucane and Huddle, 4/4)
Scientific American: What We Know About Omicron's BA.2 Variant So Far
On March 22 the World Health Organization announced that the Omicron subvariant BA.2 had become the dominant form of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, worldwide. BA.2 shares many genetic similarities with its close relative BA.1, which fueled a global resurgence in COVID infections in recent months. But BA.2 is between 30 percent and 50 percent more contagious than BA.1.Now, as this latest version of SARS-CoV-2 sweeps the planet, pandemic-weary people everywhere are asking the same question: Is society doomed to confront a succession of new viral variants, each one more contagious than the last? (Schmidt, 4/4)
CIDRAP: Study: Omicron Much More Infectious In US Preschoolers Than Delta
A new study in JAMA Pediatrics shows the Omicron variant has caused six to eight times the rate of Omicron infections in US preschoolers as the Delta variant, but cases were less severe with Omicron. The study looked at outcomes in US children ages 4 and younger—the last group eligible for vaccination in the country. Outcomes were emergency room visits, hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and mechanical ventilation use within 14 days of COVID-19 diagnosis. (4/4)
CIDRAP: Early Convalescent Plasma May Cut COVID-19 Hospital Cases In Half
Early treatment with plasma derived from COVID-19 survivors may reduce disease progression in infected adult outpatients and reduce hospital cases by more than half, according to a multicenter randomized, controlled trial last week in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers led the double-blind study evaluating the effectiveness and safety of SARS-CoV-2 antibody-rich convalescent plasma among 592 nonhospitalized patients who received the treatment within 9 days of symptom onset and 589 who received a placebo infusion from Jun 3, 2020, to Oct 1, 2021. (4/4)
And in covid research —
USA Today: Medium COVID Or Long COVID? Health Experts Say There's No Difference
After two years of living with COVID-19, health experts have learned the disease can come in many forms. People can experience mild COVID, asymptomatic COVID or long COVID. Lately, a new term, "medium COVID," has gotten some traction among people whose symptoms last longer than normal, but not long enough to identify as “long haulers.” Heath experts say it's normal for people to want a diagnosis for how they feel, but "medium COVID" is not a distinct condition. Rather, it's part of post-sequelae of COVID-19, commonly referred to as long COVID, which encompasses a spectrum of timelines and symptoms. (Rodriguez, 4/5)
The Washington Post: How Long Covid Is Accelerating A Revolution In Medical Research
When Liza Fisher’s body became racked by tremors shortly after she was hospitalized with covid-19 in 2020, she began an 18-month medical odyssey, consulting immunologists, cardiologists, neurologists and countless other -ologists in the hope they would know how to treat the crippling convulsions. “They had no experience,” said Fisher, 38, a former flight attendant and part-time yoga instructor who now uses a wheelchair. So Fisher sought out fellow sufferers online, joining an increasingly vocal group of citizen scientists in their bid for research targeted at treating long covid. (Stead Sellers, 4/3)
USA Today: Some People Don't Catch COVID-19. Researchers Are Working To Know Why
One of the lingering mysteries of the COVID-19 pandemic is why some people get infected without getting sick and others don't get infected at all, despite exposure. Beyond a few known risk factors, it's mostly dumb luck that determines how someone will fare if they are exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19, a handful of researchers said. But they're still trying for more scientific answers by studying people who are intentionally exposed to the virus and those who escape its effects. People like Faith Paine. Paine, 26, of London, volunteered for a "challenge trial" – meaning researchers dribbled the virus that causes COVID-19 up her nose, intending to get her sick. (Weintraub, 4/4)
Philadelphia Inquirer: These Doctors Are Treating COVID Smell Loss By Sticking Plasma-Soaked Sponges Up People’s Noses
Nancy Damato walked past a garbage can the other day and caught a whiff of decaying banana peel. “That was really great,” she said. She was not being sarcastic. Damato is among millions who lost their sense of smell due to COVID-19, and more than a year later, it is still not back to normal. But every so often, she notices a small improvement — a hint of banana peel here, a trace of chocolate there — and she thinks the reason may be an unusual treatment she’s been undergoing at a Jefferson Health clinic in Philadelphia. (Avril, 4/4)
