Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Serious Illness From Covid Linked To Infertility Risks
NBC News: The Covid Vaccine Doesn’t Cause Infertility, But The Disease Might
Worries that the Covid-19 vaccine could cause infertility are among the reasons people give for avoiding vaccination. While there’s no evidence any of the Covid vaccines cause problems with fertility, becoming severely ill from the disease has the potential to do so, reproduction experts say, making vaccination all the more important. “There is evidence to suggest that infection with SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to impact both male fertility, female fertility, and certainly the health of a pregnancy of someone infected,” said Dr. Jennifer Kawwass, a reproductive endocrinologist and associate professor at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. “And there is simultaneously no evidence that the vaccine has any negative impact on male or female fertility.” (Hickok, 10/12)
ABC News: Infants Of COVID-Positive Mothers Have High Rates Of Health Complications, Study Finds
Infants born to mothers with COVID-19 are significantly more likely to experience health problems, such as difficulty breathing, compared to infants born to mothers without COVID-19, according to a new study published Monday. The study, published in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal And Neonatal Medicine, adds a new layer onto the growing body of research showing the potential complications COVID-19 can cause for both pregnant people and babies. (Kindelan, 10/12)
In other covid research —
WUSF 89.7: Florida Is Part Of Federal Project To Track COVID Trends By Analyzing Sewage
Florida will soon have a new tool in monitoring coronavirus cases. The state is part of a new national program that will help communities track and predict COVID-19 cases through sewage. Florida received funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the project. The results will provide communities and large facilities with information about coronavirus caseloads, said Amy Kirby, program lead for the CDC's wastewater surveillance program. (LeFever, 10/12)
NPR: What The Latest COVID Research Says About Breakthrough Cases And Transmission
Conventional wisdom says that if you're vaccinated and you get a breakthrough infection with the coronavirus, you can transmit that infection to someone else and make that person sick. But new evidence suggests that even though that may happen on occasion, breakthrough infections might not represent the threat to others that scientists originally thought. Ross Kedl, an immunologist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, will point out to anyone who cares to listen that basic immunology suggests the virus of a vaccinated person who gets infected will be different from the virus of an infected unvaccinated person. (Palca, 10/12)
The Washington Post: Covid And Cancer: A Dangerous Combination, Especially For People Of Color
Oncologist Kashyap Patel brandishes test results he’s eager to share with his patient, Tamaki Caldwell, showing that her advanced ovarian cancer, once the size of tennis balls, is in remission. Smiling, she says, “I’m going to frame this.” It’s a rare bright moment for Caldwell, 53, who knows she is in the fight of her life, one made significantly more arduous by the coronavirus pandemic. She started having abdominal pain last year — “it was like grab and release, grab and release” — but she didn’t see a doctor for months because of concerns about the pandemic and because she was taking care of her grandmother, who had covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. (McGinley, 10/11)
San Francisco Chronicle: 'COVID Is Never Going To Go Away,' California Scientist Says, Even As Case Numbers Improve
“We are becoming numb to these numbers,” state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said during a roundtable with other medical experts Tuesday. But she said that if California was still using the color-coded reopening blueprint it retired in June, most counties would fall into the worst tier: “We are in what would have been deep purple in the past.” Dr. Kristian Andersen, an immunology expert with Scripps Research who also spoke on the panel, said people are too eager to lift precautions and declare victory against the virus. “It’s really important that we change our mind-set,” he said. “COVID is never going to go away.” (Vaziri, 10/12)
