Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
NIH Boosts Long Covid Study Funding By $515 Million
Stat: Long Covid Research Funding Gets A Major Boost From NIH
The Biden administration has dedicated an additional $515 million to a major initiative to study long Covid, a nearly 50% increase to the project’s budget. The research initiative at the National Institutes of Health, dubbed RECOVER, was created in 2020 with a $1.15 billion investment in research to understand and investigate treatments for long Covid. (Cohrs, 2/15)
Los Angeles Times: Risk For Chronic Fatigue Soars Among COVID-19 Patients, Study Says
People who have had COVID-19 have a significantly higher risk of suffering chronic fatigue than those who haven’t had the disease, a new study published Wednesday shows. “Our data indicate that COVID-19 is associated with a significant increase in new fatigue diagnoses,” according to the study, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. “Physicians should be aware that fatigue might occur or be newly recognized [more than a year] after acute COVID-19,” the report said. (Lin II, 2/14)
CIDRAP: Researchers Report COVID Home Tests As Accurate As The Same Tests Given By A Clinician
A single-center study conducted at a free community testing site in Maryland suggests that patient-administered BinaxNow COVID-19 rapid antigen tests (RATs) have similar accuracy as those performed by a clinician, although the results can be misinterpreted or falsely negative. (Van Beusekom, 2/14)
San Francisco Chronicle: California COVID Hospitalizations Hit Lowest Point In Months
Data from the California Health Department shows COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked at 2,797 patients on Jan. 2 and have since decreased to 1,761 as of Feb. 3, marking the lowest figure since early December. New hospital admissions have also dropped by approximately 50%, decreasing from 615 for the week ending Dec. 30 to 309 on Feb. 3. Over the past month, the state’s seven-day rolling coronavirus test positivity rate has decreased from 12.3% to 8.1%. (Vaziri, 2/14)
KFF Health News: Watch: The Feds May Reexamine Covid Protocols. Here's Why You Should Care
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, appeared Feb. 14 on “CBS Mornings” to discuss why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be weighing a change in its current isolation guidelines for people with covid-19, and how to protect others if they continue to test positive. (2/15)
On RSV —
The New York Times: Some Pregnant Women And Infants Received The Wrong R.S.V. Shots
This winter, for the first time ever, there were two vaccines available to ward off respiratory syncytial virus, which is particularly dangerous to older adults and infants. Only one of them — Abrysvo, made by Pfizer — was approved for pregnant women, and neither was for young children. The distinction apparently slipped by some clinicians and pharmacists. At least 128 pregnant women were mistakenly given the alternative vaccine — Arexvy, by GSK — and at least 25 children under age 2 received a vaccination, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned. (Mandavilli, 2/14)
Also —
The Washington Post: Anthony Epstein, Pathologist Behind Epstein-Barr Virus Find, Dies At 102
Anthony Epstein, a British pathologist whose chance attendance at a lecture on childhood tumors in Africa began years of scientific sleuthing that led to the discovery of the ultra-common Epstein-Barr virus and opened expansive research into its viral links to cancers and other chronic ailments, died Feb. 6 at his home in London. He was 102. Dr. Epstein’s work in the 1960s to isolate the virus — a type of herpes — set the foundation for sweeping studies into viral and biological triggers for cancers such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma and potential links to other diseases including multiple sclerosis, lupus and, most recently, so-called long covid. (Murphy, 2/14)
