Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Though Cigarette Sales Surged With Pandemic, They're Reported Down Now
Fox News: Pandemic Uptick In Cigarette Sales Is Over, Report Suggests
Although U.S. cigarette sales slightly increased for the first time in 20 years during the pandemic, total cigarette industry purchases fell 6.5% in the most recent quarter, compared with the same period last year, according to a recent report. The report noted the Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc., who makes almost half of cigarettes purchased in the U.S., said the decline was steeper than in the first and second quarters of this year. Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Cigarette Report reported a 0.4% increase in cigarette sales from 202.9 billion in 2019 to 203.7 billion cigarettes sold in 2020, but industry experts describe this pandemic fueled increase a phenomenon unique to the United States, not the rest of world. (Sudhakar, 10/30)
In other public health news —
Fox News: Western Diet Tied To Cognitive Decline, Neurodegeneration In Mouse Study
Researchers announced earlier this month that they had found a link between a western diet and cognitive decline and neurodegeneration in a study using mice. Published in the Cell Press journal iScience, the Marshall University authors said that the diet creates these impacts on the brain through increased Na,K-ATPase signaling in adipocytes. Na,K-ATPase is a cellular sodium-potassium pump and adipocytes are fat cells and are the major energy storage sites in the body. To reach these conclusions, the group used a gene-altered mouse model, feeding the mice either a normal diet or a western diet for 12 weeks. (Musto, 10/30)
CIDRAP: New Case In Salmonella Outbreak, While Probe Into Another One Ends
Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added 1 case and 3 hospitalizations to a multistate Salmonella outbreak—now at 21 cases—tied to salami sticks sold at Trader Joe's and Wegmans, and earlier this week the agency declared its investigation into a Salmonella outbreak tied to Italian-style meats over after 40 cases in 17 states. The salami outbreak involved eight states, with California (8 cases), Illinois (3), Michigan (3), and Minnesota (3) hit hardest. Six of the 21 patients have required hospitalization, but no deaths have been recorded. The outbreak strain is Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:-. (10/29)
AP: Mosquito Testing Concludes, Residents Asked To Prevent Bites
Environmental officials in Rhode Island said they’ve finished testing mosquitoes for diseases this year, but they’re still urging residents to prevent bites until the first hard frost. The state Department of Environmental Management said Thursday that the final round of mosquito testing confirmed no new positive findings of either West Nile virus or eastern equine encephalitis. DEM collected 158 samples of mosquitoes from 45 traps set statewide from Sept. 29 to Oct. 12. (11/1)
