Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pennsylvania Reports 6th Measles-Related Death
NBC News: A Sixth Measles-Related Death Is Reported In Pennsylvania
A sixth measles-related death was reported Monday in Pennsylvania, involving a 39-year-old woman in Franklin County, amid the state’s largest outbreak in three decades. In a statement, the county coroner’s office office said the woman had underlying medical conditions, though it did not provide specifics. A spokesperson for the Franklin County coroner’s office said the “primary cause of death was a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of the measles.” (Edwards, 10/12)
Politico: New York And Pennsylvania's Split Screen Approach To Measles
Pennsylvania and New York’s Democratic governors have taken vastly different approaches to fighting measles outbreaks in their states. In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling in the Trump administration to help, while Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro attempted to go it alone for months without federal assistance. Both are up for reelection this year. (Gardner and Kaufman, 10/11)
ABC News: US Surpasses 4,000 Measles Cases With Infections Confirmed In 45 States: CDC
Measles cases in the United States have surpassed 4,000 this year, according to data updated Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A total of 4,080 cases have been confirmed, with most reported by 45 states and Washington, D.C. Eighteen of this year's total have been among international visitors to the U.S., according to the CDC. (Kekatos, 10/9)
NPR: Do Adults Need Another Measles Shot?
Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself against measles. For most adults, one shot of the MMR is considered enough protection. But there are certain situations that call for a second dose. (Godoy, 10/12)
On long covid —
MedPage Today: Long COVID Linked With Altered Airway Microbiome
Oral and sputum microbiomes appeared substantially different with long COVID, a large registry study showed. The biggest reduction in richness and evenness of the variety of bacterial genus representation correlated with the worst symptoms around 6 months after the acute phase of the infection. (Phend, 10/12)
CIDRAP: Long-COVID Symptoms May Be Linked To Bacterial Mix In The Mouth, Lungs
People who have severe long COVID have a very different oral and pulmonary microbiome than those with mild symptoms, and the differences are linked to specific symptoms, which scientists say may lead to a clearer picture of the condition and better ways to treat it. The findings come from an observational study by the longitudinal, multicenter UK Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 (PHOSP-COVID) Collaborative Group and published yesterday in the European Respiratory Journal. (Van Beusekom, 10/12)
On plague and Ebola —
NPR: Did Russia Play By The Rules In Reporting Lab Worker's Death?
A global treaty signed by 197 countries — including Russia — requires reporting any death that could be a sign of an outbreak to come. (Emanuel, 10/9)
CIDRAP: Kenyan Officials: No New Ebola Cases In Past Week
Kenya has not recorded any new cases of Ebola, the Ministry of Health said yesterday. Officials said they have conducted 293 tests since a patient died on October 5 after testing positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the virus. The man, a Kenyan national who had worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for 11 years, died within days of landing in Nairobi after traveling to Kenya via the DRC and Uganda. (Soucheray, 10/12)
The New York Times: He Helped Discover Ebola 50 Years Ago. He’s Still Worried
In the fall of 1976, a plastic blue flask holding two glass vials arrived at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. One vial had broken en route, spilling its bloody contents into the half-melted ice in the container. The other still held blood from a Flemish nun who had died of a mysterious disease in Yambuku, Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. A small handwritten note accompanying the vials, the writing half bled into the icy water, read: “Fièvre jaune?” (“Yellow fever?”) (Mandavilli, 10/12)
