Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Researchers: Your Cup Of Joe Might Protect You Against Severe Covid
Fox News: Coffee And COVID: Could Drinking 1 Or 2 Cups A Day Reduce Severity Of Viral Illness?
Your daily cup of coffee could potentially double as COVID protection, a new study from China Medical University is suggesting. ... Evaluating a group of 64 adult participants, the researchers determined that consuming one to two cups of coffee per day helped to prevent infection by multiple COVID variants. The results were published in the journal Cell and Bioscience on Nov. 16 (Rudy, 11/21)
Axios: How Income Disparities Drive Heart Risks For Middle-Aged Adults
Over roughly the past two decades, middle-aged adults with lower incomes were more likely to develop high blood pressure, while those with higher incomes were more likely to develop diabetes and obesity, according to a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. (Reed, 11/21)
San Francisco Chronicle: New UC Davis Study May Answer Why People Get ‘Red Wine Headaches’
In a study published Monday in the Scientific Reports journal, the researchers focused on quercetin, a member of the broader group of compounds known as flavonols. While quercetin is an antioxidant..., when combined with alcohol it transforms into quercetin glucuronide, said Andrew Waterhouse, wine chemist and professor emeritus a UC Davis. “When it gets in your bloodstream, your body converts it to a different form,” he said. “In that form, it blocks the metabolism of alcohol.” This allows the toxin acetaldehyde to accumulate rapidly, causing a headache. (Vaziri, 11/21)
CIDRAP: Studies Show Parental Involvement, Doctor Education Raise HPV Vaccine Uptake
Two new studies show that involving parents and kids, whether through physician-led education or reminder mailings from clinics, can increase the likelihood of childhood human papillomavirus virus (HPV) vaccination. The findings come at a precarious time for HPV vaccination in the United States. Despite an estimated 36,500 new cancer diagnoses annually linked to HPV, in 2022, for the first time since 2013, HPV vaccine series initiation did not increase among adolescents, according to an editorial yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. (Soucheray, 11/21)
On antibiotics —
CIDRAP: Outpatient Stewardship Intervention At Mayo Clinic Linked To Fewer Unnecessary Antibiotics
A multifaceted outpatient antibiotic stewardship intervention implemented at Mayo Clinic hospitals was associated with reduced unnecessary antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory infections (URIs), researchers reported today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. The intervention, implemented across Mayo Clinic facilities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, and Arizona in July 2020, aimed to reduce antibiotic use for Tier 3 URI syndromes, which are defined as URIs for which antibiotics are never indicated. (Dall, 11/21)
CIDRAP: Community Antibiotic Use Returned To Pre-Pandemic Levels In Europe In 2022
An analysis of community antibiotic consumption in Europe shows a return to pre–COVID-19 pandemic levels, researchers reported last week in Eurosurveillance. Using data from the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption Network (ESAC-Net), a team led by researchers from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, analyzed community-sector consumption of antibacterials for systemic use in 29 European Union/European Economic Activity (EU/EEA) countries from 2019 through 2022. (Dall, 11/21)
