Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Kidneys Vulnerable To COVID Attacks; Researchers Search For Genetic Link To Severe Cases
Reuters: Kidney Injury Seen In More Than A Third Of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: U.S. Study
Over a third of patients treated for COVID-19 in a large New York medical system developed acute kidney injury, and nearly 15% required dialysis, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. The study was conducted by a team at Northwell Health, the largest health provider in New York state. “We found in the first 5,449 patients admitted, 36.6% developed acute kidney injury,” said study co-author Dr. Kenar Jhaveri, associated chief of nephrology at Hofstra/Northwell in Great Neck, New York, whose findings were published in the journal Kidney International. (Steenhuysen, 5/14)
CNN: Intestines, Kidneys And Other Organs Can Be Infected By Covid-19, Studies Find
The new coronavirus can infect organs throughout the body, including lungs, throat, heart, liver, brain, kidneys and the intestines, researchers reported Wednesday. Two separate reports suggest the virus goes far beyond the lungs and can attack various organs -- findings that can help explain the wide range of symptoms caused by Covid-19 infection. The findings might help explain some of the puzzling symptoms seen in coronavirus patients. (Fox, 5/13)
Stat: 23andMe Expands Study To Unravel Role Of Genetics In Covid-19
As researchers probe DNA in search of clues about why some Covid-19 patients get so much sicker than others, they’re coming to a clear realization: It’s essential that they enroll as many patients as possible with cases so severe they were hospitalized. On Wednesday, consumer genetics giant 23andMe bowed to that reality. It plans to solicit help from hospitals to expand a massive study it launched last month so that it can recruit more people — up to 10,000 new participants — who have been hospitalized with Covid-19. The idea is to mine their data to try to identify genetic differences that may help explain why some infected patients wind up on ventilators while others don’t even get a cough. (Robbins, 5/13)
The New York Times: Low-Tech Way To Help Some Covid Patients: Flip Them Over
Hospitals across the country are filled with a curious sight these days: patients lying on their bellies. Patients almost always lie on their backs, a position that helps nurses tend to them and allows them to look around if they’re awake. But for many patients, the coronavirus crisis is literally flipping the script. The surprisingly low-tech concept, called proning, can improve breathing in patients stricken by the respiratory distress that is the hallmark of the virus, doctors have found. It draws from basic principles of physiology and gravity. (Belluck, 5/13)
The Washington Post: Experiment Shows Human Speech Generates Droplets That Linger In The Air For More Than 8 Minutes
Ordinary speech can emit small respiratory droplets that linger in the air for at least eight minutes and potentially much longer, according to a study published Wednesday that could help explain why infections of the coronavirus so often cluster in nursing homes, households, conferences, cruise ships and other confined spaces with limited air circulation. The report, from researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the University of Pennsylvania, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal. It is based on an experiment that used laser light to study the number of small respiratory droplets emitted through human speech. The answer: a lot. (Achenbach, 5/13)
CNN: Black Light Experiment Video From Japan Shows How Quickly A Virus Like Covid-19 Can Spread At A Restaurant
A viral video from Japan aims to show how easily germs and viruses can spread in restaurants when just one person is infected... The video shows 10 people coming into the restaurant, with one singled out as the "infected" person. Each participant goes about the buffet as they normally would, not considering a potential contamination. At the end of the video, the participants are cast under black lights illuminating where the "infection" has spread. (Johnson, 5/14)
CNN: Coronavirus May 'Never Go Away,' Says WHO Official
The coronavirus spreading across the globe might never be eliminated, a leading World Health Organization official has said. During a media briefing in Geneva, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's health emergencies program, warned Wednesday that the disease may join the mix of viruses that kill people around the world every year. "This virus just may become another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away. HIV hasn't gone away," Ryan said. (Howard and Rahim, 5/14)
CIDRAP: Physical Distancing May Extend To 2022, COVID-19 Study Finds
The latest mathematical COVID-19 model released by Harvard University researchers predicts that recurrent winter outbreaks will probably occur after the first, most severe pandemic wave; prolonged or intermittent physical distancing may be necessary into 2022; and a resurgence is possible as late as 2024. The report, published yesterday in Science, details how the researchers used estimates of seasonality, immunity, and cross-immunity of the HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1 human coronaviruses from US time series data to predict the likely course of the pandemic in temperate regions through 2025. (Van Beusekom, 5/13)
