Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
US Excess Death Rate Returns To Normal, Signaling Waning Covid
The New York Times: A Positive Covid Milestone
The United States has reached a milestone in the long struggle against Covid: The total number of Americans dying each day — from any cause — is no longer historically abnormal. Excess deaths, as this number is known, has been an important measure of Covid’s true toll because it does not depend on the murky attribution of deaths to a specific cause. Even if Covid is being underdiagnosed, the excess-deaths statistic can capture its effects. The statistic also captures Covid’s indirect effects, like the surge of vehicle crashes, gun deaths and deaths from missed medical treatments during the pandemic. (Leonhardt, 7/17)
In news on toxic lead —
The Wall Street Journal: Environmental Groups Ask EPA To Shield Public From Abandoned Lead Cables
Agency is urged to take action following WSJ investigation into toxic lead cables left behind by telecom companies. (Ramachandran and Pulliam, 7/17)
Bloomberg: Verizon Starts Testing Of Potential Lead Contamination Sites
With its shares tumbling to their lowest in 13 years, Verizon Communications Inc. is launching an investigation to help clarify the extent of potential lead contamination that may be related to its aging phone cables. Verizon is testing various sites where lead was reported to be leaching into the ground from wiring dating back to the early 20th century. (Mortiz, 7/17)
On other public health matters —
The Washington Post: Drowning Remains A Leading Cause Of Death For Young Children
Each year in the United States, an average of 4,000 people — or about 11 each day — die by drowning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That death toll includes two children younger than 14 every day, the American Red Cross says, making drowning the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 and the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths (after motor vehicle crashes) for kids 1 to 14. (Searing, 7/17)
USA Today: CDC Report: Toxic Algae Are Causing Illnesses In People, Pets
A new federal report says more people and animals, including beloved pets, are getting sick from exposure to toxic algae that forms in natural waterbodies across the country. While there have been no human deaths, animals have died from the toxic effects, the report shows. (Nguyen and Waymer, 7/17)
Bloomberg: Eyedrop Recall 2023 And Infections Were Result Of Lack Of FDA Regulation
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a rod-shaped bacterium a fraction of a millimeter long. In a petri dish, it smells of corn tortillas. It’s opportunistic, invading any tissue that’s already compromised, and can be lethal: Among the especially vulnerable, the mortality rate can be as high as 50%. But perhaps the bacterium’s most notable characteristic is how hard it is to kill. The hardiest of pseudomonas are antibiotic-resistant superbugs that rage on no matter what drugs doctors throw at them. (Robison and Pulla, 7/18)
Stateline: Harm Of Anti-LGBTQ Laws Includes Economic Pain For Communities, Families
Roberto Che Espinoza had been thinking about leaving Tennessee after the 2024 election, but in June they noticed that the state attorney general was seeking medical records on gender-affirming medical care, which Espinoza, a nonbinary transgender man, said included their own records. “Being on any kind of list … I knew after the release of those records that this is not good,” Espinoza said. (Quinlan, 7/17)
CNN: A One-Minute Video Reduced Kids’ Unsafe Behavior Around Guns, Study Finds
Sixty seconds might be all it takes to keep some kids safer around guns, a new study suggests. The new report, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics on Monday, explored how short safety videos can cause children to behave around firearms. Among more than 220 kids who participated in the study, those who watched a gun safety video were less likely to touch guns they found and pull the trigger – and more likely to tell an adult. (Viswanathan, 7/17)
Meanwhile, worries over H5N1 bird flu —
AP: Dozens Of Cats In Poland Had Bird Flu But The Risk To People Is Low, The UN Health Agency Says
he World Health Organization said more than two dozen cats have been infected with bird flu across Poland, but no people appeared to have been sickened. In a statement on Monday, the U.N. health agency said it was the first time so many cats had been reported to have bird flu over such a wide geographical area in a single country, amid an unprecedented global outbreak of the latest version of the H5N1 version of the disease. (7/17)
Bloomberg: Cats Dying Across Poland Test Positive For Bird Flu, WHO Says
An unusual number of cats are dying across Poland, and authorities found more than half of those tested harbored the worrisome strain of bird flu known as H5N1, the World Health Organization said. Of 47 samples tested — including one wild feline in captivity — 29 were positive for the H5N1 flu, marking the first report of “high numbers of infected cats over a wide geographical area within a country,” the WHO said in a statement. (Fourcade, 7/17)
CIDRAP: WHO Weighs In On Risks From H5N1 Avian Flu In Polish Pet Cats
In a statement yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the surveillance of human contact of cats infected with H5N1 avian flu in Poland has wrapped up, and none have reported symptoms, and it put the risk as low to moderate for cat owners and those, such as veterinarians, who have occupational exposure. (Schnirring, 7/17)
On vaccines and immunizations —
CNN: Childhood Immunization Rates That Fell During Covid Are Improving But Still Not At Pre-Pandemic Levels, New Data Shows
Millions of children around the world missed routine childhood vaccinations against diseases such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus during the Covid-19 pandemic, but new data suggests that this decline may be reversing. Globally, 4 million more children worldwide received routine childhood immunizations last year than in the previous year, according to estimates released Monday by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). (Howard, 7/17)
KFF Health News: The Goddess Of Smallpox
In the mid-’60s, the national campaign to eradicate smallpox in India was underway, but the virus was still widespread throughout the country. At the time, Dinesh Bhadani was a small boy living in Gaya, a city in the state of Bihar. (7/18)
