Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: What's Causing Brazil's High Rate Of Covid In Children?; India Experiencing Severe Second Wave
The New York Times: Why Are So Many Children In Brazil Dying From Covid-19?
In the modern history of catastrophic infectious diseases in Brazil, children often suffer the most in terms of deaths and disability. When dengue epidemics emerged in Brazil in 2007 and 2008, children accounted for more than half of the fatalities. When pregnant women became infected with the Zika virus during an epidemic that began in 2015, more than 1,600 newborn Brazilian infants were born with devastating microcephaly birth defects, far more than in any other nation. Respiratory viruses continue to disproportionately affect Brazil’s children, while hookworms and other intestinal parasites stunt childhood growth and development, especially in poor rural areas. (Peter J. Hotez and Albert I. Ko, 6/4)
CNN: India Covid-19: Reporting On The Brutal Second Wave From Delhi
Wearing a crumpled pastel T-shirt, jeans and a white face mask, a grieving young man performed the final rites at Nigambodh Ghat, one of Delhi's biggest crematoriums. He looked lost, numb and exhausted. Accompanied by a family member, Madhur Chawla followed the priests' directions almost robotically. He'd lost his 49-year-old mother to Covid-19. Madhur couldn't bring himself to immerse the ashes of his mother -- while his relative obliged, the 27-year-old sat on a bench close by. (Vedika Sud, 6/4)
Stat: With Covid-19, As With HIV, Science And Partnerships Lead The Way
Like so many of her generation, Josephine Nabukenya wasn’t aware of her HIV status during her early childhood in Uganda. But when she was 8 years old, she came across a letter written by her mother that revealed the devastating news: Josephine and her mother and father were all living with HIV. Josephine was HIV-positive at birth. (Adeeba Kamarulzaman, 6/7)
