Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Scientists Discover Markers In Patients' Blood That Help Determine Likely Severity Of Infection
Reuters: Proteins In COVID-19 Patients' Blood Could Predict Severity Of Illness, Study Finds
Scientists have found 27 key proteins in the blood of people infected with COVID-19 which they say could act as predictive biomarkers for how ill a patient could become with the disease. In research published in the journal Cell Systems on Tuesday, scientists at Britain’s Francis Crick Institute and Germany’s Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin found the proteins are present in different levels in COVID-19 patients, depending on the severity of their symptoms. (Kelland, 6/2)
The New York Times: Monster Or Machine? A Profile Of The Coronavirus At 6 Months
A virus, at heart, is information, a packet of data that benefits from being shared. The information at stake is genetic: instructions to make more virus. Unlike a truly living organism, a virus cannot replicate on its own; it cannot move, grow, persist or perpetuate. It needs a host. The viral code breaks into a living cell, hijacks the genetic machinery and instructs it to produce new code — new virus. President Trump has characterized the response to the pandemic as a “medical war,” and described the virus behind it as, by turns, “genius,” a “hidden enemy” and “a monster.” (Burdick, 6/2)
The Washington Post: What Happens After You Recover From Covid-19
Francis Wilson survived a severe case of the coronavirus after 10 days on a ventilator, but the 29-year-old’s recovery has been slow. Doctors are still beginning to understand the long-term effects of the virus. (6/2)
Kaiser Health News: ICUs Become A ‘Delirium Factory’ For COVID Patients
Doctors are fighting not only to save lives from COVID-19, but also to protect patients’ brains. Although COVID-19 is best known for damaging the lungs, it also increases the risk of life-threatening brain injuries — from mental confusion to hallucinations, seizures, coma, stroke and paralysis. The virus may invade the brain, as well as starve the organ of oxygen by damaging the lungs. To fight the infection, the immune system sometimes overreacts, battering the brain and other organs it normally protects. (Szabo, 6/3)
San Francisco Chronicle: The Curious Case Of The SF Doctor Who’s Been Coronavirus-Positive Nearly 90 Days And Counting
Dr. Coleen Kivlahan knew what the result of her coronavirus test would be the moment she stepped outside her San Francisco home and sensed she was smelling a forest fire, a symptom that can accompany loss of smell. Then that persistent cough kicked in. Those are two of the lasting symptoms. So it was no surprise that she tested positive on Wednesday. The surprise was that it had been at least 85 days that she has been infected with the coronavirus and 62 days since she first tested positive. That she is both alive and still has symptoms may be some kind of record for longevity for suffering the disease without hospitalization. (Whiting, 5/30)
