Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Newer Covid Strains Lurking In US; Coronavirus Cases Swell In Europe
Los Angeles Times: New Coronavirus Subvariant BA.2.75.2 Tops Concerns As Officials Gear Up For Potential Winter Wave
It’s too soon to say whether any of the newer variants will rise to prominence in the ways Omicron and Delta did. None have been documented in significant numbers in California or the nation. Still, experts say another super-spreading subvariant — combined with more people being indoors when the weather gets cold — could bring new challenges. (Lin II and Money, 10/1)
CIDRAP: COVID-19 Continues Upward Trend In Europe
Europe's COVID cases showed more signs of rising last week, marking the first regionwide spike since the most recent BA.5 wave, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said today in a weekly update. In the past, increasing cases in Europe have come ahead of similar rises in other regions, so trends in Europe are a closely watched global indicator. (Schnirring, 9/30)
CIDRAP: More Than 16,000 Americans Died Of Combination Cancer, COVID In 2020
In the first 10 months of the pandemic, COVID-19 was an underlying cause of 3,142 US cancer deaths, and cancer contributed to 13,419 COVID-19 deaths, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Oncology. (9/30)
In updates on the vaccine rollout —
Fox News: Two-Thirds Of U.S. Adults Do Not Plan On Getting COVID Boosters
Around two-thirds of adults in the United States are not planning to get the updated COVID-19 booster shots soon, according to a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a health policy nonprofit organization. (Rumpf, 9/30)
The New York Times: Anti-Vaccine Parents Go From Welcome To Ostracized In Marin County
For more than a decade, few places in the nation were associated with anti-vaccine movements as much as Marin County, the bluff-lined peninsula of coastal redwoods and stunning views just north of San Francisco. This corner of the Bay Area had become a prime example of a highly educated, affluent community with low childhood vaccination rates, driven by a contingent of liberal parents skeptical of traditional medicine. Marin was something of a paradox to mainstream Democrats, and often a punching bag. In 2015, during a measles outbreak in California, the comedian Jon Stewart blamed Marin parents for being guilty of a “mindful stupidity.” But Marin is the anti-vaccine capital no more. (Karlamangla, 10/2)
The Boston Globe: New Nasal Spray Vaccines Might Reduce COVID Infections, But The Money Is Still Missing
“None of these vaccines have been tested to prove that they can prevent transmission or infection,” said Karin Bok, deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “It’s not clear how we’re going to get that done, and at the very least, it is going to take a couple of years to get there.” (Cross, 10/1)
In other news about covid —
Bay Area News Group: COVID Misinformation: Gov. Newsom Signs Bill To Police California Doctors
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will subject doctors to discipline and possible suspension of their licenses to practice for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic to patients, one of the most controversial pieces of pandemic legislation lawmakers sent to his desk. (Woolfolk, 10/2)
CIDRAP: COVID Study Spotlights Unsafe Wait Times For Hospital Beds
A research letter today in JAMA Network Open shows that, in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, US hospitals dealing with patient surges held emergency-department (ED) patients in places like hallways while awaiting an inpatient bed for a median of 6.6 hours, far longer than the Joint Commission's 4-hour standard. The Joint Commission, a US-based healthcare accreditation organization that sets standards for hospitals and other medical settings, has deemed ED boarding—or holding admitted patients in the ED, often in hallways, as they wait for a bed to open up—a patient safety risk. (Van Beusekom, 9/30)
CIDRAP: Kids With Shortness Of Breath After Covid-19 May Have Airway Obstruction
Yesterday in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, researchers from National Jewish Health published a study showing children who experienced shortness of breath after COVID-19 infection had evidence of peripheral airway obstruction. (9/30)
San Francisco Chronicle: COVID Can Infect Fat Cells. May Explain Why Some Get Much Sicker
The virus that causes COVID-19 can infect and replicate in fat cells, and cause inflammation in fat tissue, Stanford University researchers found in a new study that could help explain why obese people are at higher risk for severe COVID. (Ho, 9/30)
The New York Times: What to Do if You’re Experiencing Hair Loss After Covid
If you recovered from Covid-19 in the past few months, such an increase in shedding may not be a coincidence. Some research estimates that 22 percent of those who were hospitalized with Covid-19 experienced temporary hair loss. It is harder to evaluate how common the condition is in people who had milder forms of the disease, but studies suggest hair loss is also among the more than 60 persistent symptoms often associated with long Covid — some of which are more well-known, such as the loss of smell, cognitive impairment and sexual dysfunction. Doctors say they too have noticed a surge in patients seeking help for the phenomenon. “I have never seen anything like it in my life,” said Dr. Michele Green, a New York City-based dermatologist affiliated with Northwell Health’s Lenox Hill Hospital who specializes in hair loss. “I’m seeing more male and female patients, from every age group, every working profession. It’s really been across the board.” (Sheikh, 9/30)
