Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
No Proof That Food — Or Its Packaging — Transmits COVID, Experts Say
CNN: Food Is Highly Unlikely To Be A Source Of Covid-19 Contamination, Experts Say
A team of experts on food contamination says it is highly unlikely that food is a source of Covid-19 transmission. The International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) looked at the evidence that coronavirus might be carried on food or its packing and found very little. Their finding mirrors earlier reporting from the US Food and Drug Administration that there is no real risk of getting the virus that causes Covid-19 from food or food packaging. (Johnson and Thomas, 9/7)
The New York Times: Vaping Links To Covid Risk Are Becoming Clear
Twenty-year-old Janan Moein vaped his first pen a year ago. By late fall, he was blowing through several THC-laced cartridges a week — more, he said, than most people can handle. Then in early December, he found himself in the emergency room of Sharp Grossmont Hospital in San Diego with a collapsed lung and a diagnosis of vaping-related lung illness. His hospital stay plunged him into a medically induced coma, forced him onto a breathing machine and stripped nearly 50 pounds off his 6-foot-1-inch frame in just two weeks. (Wu, 9/4)
The Wall Street Journal: ‘Really Diabolical’: Inside The Coronavirus That Outsmarted Science
The new coronavirus is a killer with a crowbar, breaking and entering human cells with impunity. It hitchhikes across continents carried on coughs and careless hands, driven by its own urgent necessity to survive. It has a gregarious side that makes it hard to resist. It loves a party. The persistent social climber claims its victims around the world by riding on moments of the most innocent of human interactions—a shared laugh, a conversation, an embrace. And it is a liar. SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, often misleads the body’s immune systems. (Lee Hotz and Kahn, 9/7)
In pediatric news —
The Guardian: Fatigue And Headache Most Common Covid Symptoms In Children – Study
Fatigue, headache and fever are the most common symptoms of coronavirus in children, with few developing a cough or losing their sense of taste or smell, researchers have found, adding to calls for age-specific symptom checklists. The NHS lists three symptoms as signs of Covid-19 in adults and children: a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, and a loss or change in the sense of smell or taste. (Davis, 9/7)
CIDRAP: COVID-19 Tied To Poorer Parent And Child Mental Health
Parent and child well-being has taken a serious hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, three studies published this week in Pediatrics show. The first study consisted of collecting survey data on daily moods from 645 hourly service workers with children 2 to 7 years old in large US cities from Feb 20 to Apr 27. The researchers also analyzed data from 561 subsample survey respondents collected from Mar 23 to Apr 26. (Van Beusekom, 9/4)
