Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Persistent Symptoms Common For Covid Patients
CIDRAP: Review Finds Persistent Symptoms In 73% Of COVID-19 Patients
Almost three quarters of patients reported at least one persisting COVID-19 symptom during follow-up, with the most common being shortness of breath and fatigue, according to a literature review published in JAMA Network Open yesterday. The researchers looked at 45 studies published from Jan 1, 2020, to Mar 11, 2021, and defined long-haul COVID as either 60 days after diagnosis, symptom onset, or hospitalization, or at least 30 days after acute illness recovery or hospital discharge. The largest proportion of studies came from China (7), followed by the United Kingdom (6), Spain (6), Italy (5), France (4), and the United States (3). (5/27)
AP: Heart Inflammation After Virus Is Rare In Big Ten Athletes
The results from the Big Ten COVID-19 Cardiac Registry show just 37 of nearly 1,600 athletes — a little over 2% — had evidence of heart inflammation on imaging tests. Of these, nine athletes had any chest pain, palpitations or other symptoms, according to the study published Thursday in JAMA Cardiology. Follow-up testing showed inflammation had disappeared a month later in most of the athletes affected, but about 40% of the 37 had scarring. The researchers said it is uncertain whether these affects pose a substantial health risk, although myocarditis, the medical term for the type of heart inflammation involved, is a leading cause of sudden death in athletes. (Tanner, 5/27)
In other research news —
CIDRAP: Big Spikes In Overdose Cardiac Arrests, Opioid Deaths Amid COVID-19
Two new JAMA studies reveal startling jumps in overdose-related cardiac arrests and fatal opioid overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first study, led by University of California, Los Angeles, researchers and published yesterday in JAMA Psychiatry, involved 33.4 million patient emergency medical services (EMS) encounters from the beginning of the pandemic to May 2020 in the US National EMS Information System, a database of EMS visits from more than 11,000 agencies in 49 states. These visits made up more than 87% of all EMS encounters in 2020. (Van Beusekom, 5/27)
Stat: Inequities In Cancer Genomics Undercut Precision Medicine
Translating the promise of cancer genomics into health equity has not yet become a reality, two experts write in a commentary published recently in Cancer Cell. Instead, the racial gaps in cancer mortality have only slightly narrowed since the human genome was sequenced two decades ago, they note, and in preventable cancers such as breast and colorectal cancer, socioeconomic inequalities in cancer deaths are widening. (Cooney, 5/28)
