Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More Proof That Kids Are Spreading Covid But Are Less Likely To Get Sick
CIDRAP: Kids, Teens May Be Less Likely To Get COVID But More Likely To Spread It
An observational study published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases suggests that children and teens in Wuhan, China, homes were less vulnerable than older household contacts to COVID-19 infections but were more likely to spread the virus. A team led by researchers from the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention studied the 27,101 households of all 29,578 confirmed COVID-19 patients and their 57,581 household contacts in Wuhan from Dec 2, 2019, to Apr 18, 2020. Of the household contacts, 10,367 tested positive for COVID-19, 29,658 tested negative, and 17,556 weren't tested. Using a transmission model that assumed a mean incubation period of 5 days and an infectious period of no more than 22 days, the authors estimated that 15.6% of household members became infected. (1/19)
The New York Times: Twins With Covid Help Scientists Untangle The Disease’s Genetic Roots
Early last spring, [twin] sisters from Rochester, Michigan, checked themselves into the hospital with fevers and shortness of breath. While Kelly [Standard] was discharged after less than a week, her sister ended up in intensive care. Kimberly spent almost a month in critical condition, breathing through tubes and dipping in and out of shock. Weeks after Kelly had returned to their shared home, Kimberly was still relearning how to speak, walk and chew and swallow solid food she could barely taste. Nearly a year later, the sisters are bedeviled by the bizarrely divergent paths their illnesses took. (Wu, 1/18)
In other science and research news —
CIDRAP: Flu Vaccine Roadmap Aims To Promote Game-Changers, Equity
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), with support from the Wellcome Trust, a London-based research nonprofit—with an eye toward improving flu vaccines, promoting truly revolutionary versions, and ensuring more equitable distribution—today released a draft of the Influenza Vaccines Research & Development Roadmap (IVR) for public review and comment. The IVR project is being led by a steering group of scientists and policymakers and supported by a CIDRAP core team. It aims to develop a globally oriented influenza strategic planning tool to coordinate research and development (R&D), funding, and stakeholder engagement to produce more effective flu vaccines and reduce the impact of future influenza pandemics. (Paulsen, 1/19)
CNN: Premature Babies May Have Greater Risk Of Early Death As Adults, Study Suggests
One in 10 babies around the world is born prematurely, and the vastly improved survival rates of preemies is one of the most striking advances of modern health care -- with the overwhelming majority of those born preterm reaching adulthood. But what are the long-term health risks of being born too early as these infants approach middle and old age? It's a question that has been difficult to answer with many individuals in follow-up studies still too young to draw meaningful conclusions. (Hunt, 1/20)
