Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Omicron Variant Less Likely To Lead To Long Covid
CIDRAP: Omicron Less Likely Than Wild-Type Virus To Result In Long COVID, Study Suggests
Swiss researchers find that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is much less likely to lead to long COVID than the original, wild-type virus. The research, to be presented at next month's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen, Denmark, and not peer-reviewed, found that healthcare workers (HCWs) first infected with Omicron BA.1 were no more likely to have long COVID than their never-infected peers. (Van Beusekom, 3/9)
The Hill: Diabetes Drug Proves Beneficial In Preventing Long COVID In Clinical Trials
COVID-19 patients who took the diabetes drug metformin for two weeks after a diagnosis were less likely to develop long COVID-19 symptoms, according to results from a clinical trial. The trial enrolled about a thousand participants who were symptomatic with a COVID-19 infection for less than a week. Participants were randomly selected to receive a placebo or one of three drugs: metformin, ivermectin or fluvoxamine. (Hou, 3/8)
Bloomberg: Long Covid Opens A Gender Gap With Surge In Women With Disabilities
Women are disproportionately affected by lingering effects from a Covid-19 infection, a health condition that is still little understood and manifests in persistent symptoms that can be debilitating. The emergence of long Covid coincides with an increase in women with disabilities, who have outnumbered their male peers in monthly government labor figures on a regular basis since last June. (Tanzi and Hawkins, 3/9)
NBC News: Long Covid Treatment Can Lead To Debt After Insurance Denies Claims
Several long Covid patients in the United States interviewed by NBC News say their insurance providers are declining to provide coverage related to their illness. (Lovelace Jr., 3/9)
More on the spread of covid —
The Hill: Multiple COVID Variants Found In New York Rats: Study
Three different coronavirus variants were discovered in New York City’s rat population, according to a new study. A release from EurekAlert on Thursday states that rats were found to be infected with the alpha, delta and omicron COVID-19 variants. (Gans, 3/9)
San Francisco Chronicle: In A First, Zoo Lion Infects Its Keepers
According to a new study, an Indiana zoo lion likely transmitted COVID-19 to its zookeepers, marking the first documented case of animal-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a zoo setting. In December 2021, the unidentified African lion, who was 20 years old and required hand feeding by zoo employees at Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend due to its physical limitations, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after developing a cough and showing signs of difficulty breathing. (Vaziri, 3/9)
The Boston Globe: Local Scientists Hope To Create The Ultimate COVID Vaccine
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other local universities say they’ve developed a COVID vaccine that may not only work against today’s versions of the virus, but future variants as well. A report on the new vaccine’s results in animals was released Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Immunology. Scientists at MIT, Boston University, Tufts University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the University of Texas collaborated on the project. (Bray, 3/9)
In other pandemic news —
The Hill: Fauci Says Redfield’s Testimony Of COVID Call Was ‘Unequivocally Incorrect’
Anthony Fauci, who led much of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic, said testimony from former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield that he was excluded from a conference call about the possible origins of the virus was “unequivocally incorrect.” Fauci told Fox News Channel’s Neil Cavuto in an interview on Thursday that he was not involved in deciding who would be involved in a call he took with a group of evolutionary virologists to discuss the “possibility” that the virus was “engineered.” (Gans, 3/9)
USA Today: 'Nano Silver' Recall: Product Misbranded As COVID Treatment, Per FDA
A dietary supplement that federal officials said was falsely marketed as a treatment for COVID-19 is being recalled, according to a company announcement published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week, years after the producer received similar backlash for a purported Ebola treatment. (Grantham-Philips, 3/9)
