Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Scientific Round-Up: Vitamin D Link To Severe Outcomes, Mask Wearing, Immunosuppressed Patients
The New York Times: Exploring The Links Between Coronavirus And Vitamin D
In the past decade, studies have found that taking vitamin D can lower the odds of developing respiratory infections like the cold and the flu, especially among people who have documented deficiencies. Now scientists are trying to find out whether vitamin D might also help protect against Covid-19. Some scientists believe that people with vitamin D deficiencies have weak or abnormal immune responses that make them more susceptible to developing Covid-19 and experiencing severe symptoms. (O'Connor, 6/10)
Reuters: Widespread Mask-Wearing Could Prevent COVID-19 Second Waves: Study
Population-wide face mask use could push COVID-19 transmission down to controllable levels for national epidemics, and could prevent further waves of the pandemic disease when combined with lockdowns, according to a British study on Wednesday. (Kelland, 6/9)
CNN: Face Masks Make Sex Safer In The Time Of Covid-19, New York City Health Department Advises
The New York City Health Department is encouraging people to "be creative" in its updated guidelines to help people have safer sex during the Covid-19 pandemic. While the department still urges people to stay home as much as possible and minimize contact with others, the guidance says that during the pandemic people "will and should have sex." The guidelines were created to reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19. They've been updated periodically to reflect the changing understanding of the disease. (Christensen, 6/10)
Stat: Doctors Race To Understand What Covid-19 Means For People With HIV
Larry Pike has already survived one pandemic. The 76-year-old Seattle retiree has been living with HIV for 22 years. When Covid-19 hit Seattle, he grew worried. “Just like HIV,” he said, “there’s that ‘Who’s next?’ sort of thing.” Sure enough, on March 4, the day Amazon asked area workers to stay home, Starbucks announced it would hold a “virtual only” annual shareholders meeting, and Boeing asked its employees not to fly, Pike woke up with a sore throat and a cough. He was alarmed, but then felt better in a day and a half. “I thought, OK, I missed that,” he recalled. (McFarling, 6/10)
ABC News: Virologists Vigorously Debunk New Study On Origins Of The Novel Coronavirus
In the latest development in a dramatic saga about the origins of the novel coronavirus, virologists around the globe have fiercely debunked yet another claim that the virus was man-made. This time, the allegation stemmed from a team of researchers from Britain and Norway, who warned in a research paper that current efforts to make a coronavirus vaccine are likely to fail because scientists have fundamentally misunderstood the virus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19. (Anoruo and Adigun, 6/9)
Reuters: Retracted COVID-19 Studies Expose Holes In Vetting Of Data Firms
The scramble to research the novel coronavirus has exposed weaknesses in the vetting of healthcare data being supplied by a growing number of U.S. firms, a flaw that forced two of the most respected medical journals to pull studies last week. The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) retracted COVID-19 studies over questionable patient health data supplied by a small company called Surgisphere. (Humer and Taylor, 6/9)
Stat: Could A Common Enzyme Be Key To Protecting Lungs From Covid-19?
When a person is infected with the novel coronavirus, the deadliest symptoms often show up in the lungs. The reason is now well-understood: The virus enters through ACE2, an enzyme that is commonly found on the surface of lung cells and that, ordinarily, helps tamp down inflammation. When it’s interrupted, inflammatory forces run amok. But ACE2 is far more than just an entryway for infection, and scientists say the enzyme could point the way to a much-needed treatment for Covid-19. (Garde, 6/10)
CIDRAP: COVID-19–Linked Syndrome In Kids New, Distinct, Studies Suggest
Two new studies involving a total of 75 children published yesterday in JAMA showed that the pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome linked to COVID-19 is novel and different from Kawasaki disease (KD) and toxic shock syndrome (TSS). One study involved 58 children admitted to eight hospitals in the United Kingdom with COVID-19 who met the criteria for pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (PIMS-TS) from Mar 23 to May 16. (Van Beusekom, 6/9)
The Washington Post: Covid-19 Patients Who Survive The ICU Have A Long Road Home
For the fortunate covid-19 patients like Sosa who survive intensive care and long stretches on ventilators, the journey home can be an arduous and lonely one that runs through places like Burke. Their survival is testament to the lifesaving value of some of the world’s most sophisticated medical interventions, but their deficits reveal the toll of the disease and of hospitalization itself. Their futures can depend on what happens here. “A lot of the time, it’s a win to get discharged from the hospital,” Lucke said. “Everyone forgets there are so many things that go on before you actually make it home, if you can make it home.” (Bernstein, 6/9)
