Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Researchers Link Chronic Constipation With Cognitive Decline
USA Today: Poop Frequency May Impact Brain Function, Researchers Say
Researchers say they have linked chronic constipation with cognitive decline, suggesting that people who defecate less may have poorer cognitive function. Chaoran Ma, an associate professor in the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s School of Public Health and Health Sciences, worked on the study as a research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. (Martin, 7/20)
CIDRAP: Maternal Strep B Vaccine Slashes Risk Of Infection Among Infants
Results of an ongoing phase 2 clinical trial show that an experimental vaccine given to pregnant women substantially reduced the risk of group B streptococcus infection in their infants. (Van Beusekom, 7/20)
CIDRAP: Healthcare Disruptions Led To Preventable Hospital Admissions During Pandemic
Pandemic-related healthcare disruptions, including missed or delayed appointments and procedures, led to an increase in potentially preventable hospitalizations for patients, according to a study yesterday in the British Medical Journal. This is the first study to assess COVID-related health disruptions on a patient level, the authors said. (Soucheray, 7/20)
Bloomberg: Black, Hispanic Liver Disease Patients Less Likely To Get Transplants, Per Study
Black and Hispanic patients with a serious liver-scarring condition are less likely to receive transplants than their White peers in the US, according to researchers arguing for greater equity in providing the life-saving procedure. (Griffin, 7/20)
CIDRAP: Study Indicates Recombinant Flu Vaccine Provides Better Protection
University of Pittsburgh scientists report in Vaccine that, in adults, both recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV4) and standard-dose influenza vaccine (SD-IIV4) are effective against influenza hospitalization, with RIV4 providing better protection compared with SD-IIV4 overall, with notable added protection in women, working-age adults, and those with no high-risk conditions. (Soucheray, 7/20)
CIDRAP: Study Finds Prevention Bundle May Reduce Some Surgical-Site Infections
A quality improvement study conducted at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals found implementation of a surgical-site infection (SSI) prevention bundle with facility-level discretion on its components may be associated with reduction of certain SSIs, VA researchers reported today in JAMA Network Open. (Dall, 7/20)
CIDRAP: WHO Adds Omicron EG.5 To Variant Monitoring As Global COVID Markers Decline Further
The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday added EG.5 to the list of Omicron variants under monitoring (VUM), as most indicators for tracking COVID-19 activity declined, the group said in its latest weekly update. EG.5 is a descendant of XBB.1.9.2, with one extra spike mutation. Global prevalence has been rising since the end of May. The WHO now has seven VUMs. The number of variants of interest remains at two, including XBB.1.5, which is steadily declining, and XBB.1.16, which is holding steady at 20.7% of sequences. (Schnirring, 7/20)
Also —
Stat: Vir Antibody Drug Aimed At Influenza A Fails In Clinical Trial
Vir Biotechnology said Thursday that a long-acting antibody drug designed to protect healthy individuals from influenza A failed to do so in a nearly 3,000-person clinical trial. Volunteers who received the highest dose of the drug, known as VIR-2482, were only 16% less likely than the placebo group to develop symptomatic influenza A infections, as defined by trial criteria, over a seven-month period. The difference was not statistically significant. (Mast, 7/20)
