Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Live Virus Found In Air Of Hospital Room Almost 16 Feet From Patients, Study Finds
CIDRAP: Contagious SARS-CoV-2 Isolated From Air In Hospital Patients' Room
Live SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was isolated from air samples collected 2 to 4.8 meters (6.6 to 15.7 feet) away from two coronavirus patients—one recently released and one newly admitted—in a single hospital room, according to a study published yesterday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Aiming to add to the discussion about whether aerosols can contain infectious coronavirus, University of Florida at Gainesville researchers used new air samplers with a gentle collection process that is less likely than commonly used samplers to inactivate viruses. They were able to detect SARS-CoV-2 only when using the samplers without a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter on the inlet tube. (9/16)
CIDRAP: Experts Seek To Unravel COVID Mysteries In Kids
Two studies published yesterday in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society describe the presentation of the COVID-19–related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and how heavy coronavirus exposure didn't lead to infection in four siblings aged 9 to 12 years. In addition, an expert review in the same journal recommends best practices for the use of antiviral drugs in infected children. (Van Beusekom, 9/15)
In other science and research news —
Stat: Fears About Covid-19 Are Complicating Care For Patients With Sickle Cell
Last November, just as the novel coronavirus was beginning its deadly trajectory through China, the sickle cell community in the U.S. was celebrating. Two potentially transformative drugs for sickle cell had just been approved by the FDA and clinical trials involving cutting-edge gene therapies were well underway. (McFarling, 9/17)
Stat: In Research On Pigs, Scientists Test A New Way To Heal Heart Damage
Scientists have developed a new strategy that uses exosomes — tiny, RNA-loaded packets that cells spit out — to regenerate cardiac cells after damage from a heart attack. The heart muscles are made of specialized cells that work continuously to pump blood to our entire body. When one of the heart’s blood vessels gets blocked, it can cause a heart attack, which often leads to tissue damage and scars. Scientists have previously explored whether cell transplants could speed recovery after heart attacks, but the cells often failed to graft, and experts worried about the health risks of such a procedure. (Gopalakrishna, 9/16)
NPR: Scientists Discover How Drugs Like Ketamine Induce An Altered State Of Mind
Out-of-body experiences are all about rhythm, a team reported Wednesday in the journal Nature.In mice and one person, scientists were able to reproduce the altered state often associated with ketamine by inducing certain brain cells to fire together in a slow-rhythmic fashion. "There was a rhythm that appeared and it was an oscillation that appeared only when the patient was dissociating," says Dr. Karl Deisseroth, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Stanford University. (Hamilton, 9/16)
