Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
WHO Warns Us To Think Of 'Disease X' — The Cause Of The Next Pandemic
New York Post: What Is 'Disease X'? COVID Experts Warn It Could Cause Deadlier Pandemic
The World Health Organization keeps a short list of “priority diseases” that could cause the next deadly pandemic. Most of the diseases are already known to us — Ebola, SARS and Zika made the cut — but the final entry has the terrifying name “Disease X.” The term Disease X is used by the WHO as a placeholder to describe a disease that’s unknown to medical science as a cause of human infections. (Lallanilla, 5/24)
More from the back files on Disease X —
Cambridge University Press: Disease X: A Hidden But Inevitable Creeping Danger
Some experts have even commented that COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), met the standards to be considered the first Disease X,4 while some authors have called Zika a Disease X.5 However, one unfortunate possibility is that COVID-19 and other recent pandemics might have been milder versions of what will eventually be the most prominent Disease X. (Tahir et al, 7/26/21)
In updates on covid and pandemic policies —
CIDRAP: Air Pollution Exposure Linked To Severe COVID-19 Outcomes
Air pollution exposure is associated with a higher risk of experiencing severe outcomes from COVID-19 infections, including intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and death, according to new evidence in Nature Communications from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). (Soucheray, 5/24)
Fox News: New York Department Of Health To Repeal COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate For Health Care Workers
The New York State Department of Health said it will repeal the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for all workers at regulated health care facilities, which was imposed by the state. In a statement posted to the agency’s website, the Department of Health announced it had begun the process of repealing the coronavirus vaccine requirement for health care workers because of the changing landscape of the pandemic and the evolving vaccine recommendations. (Wehner, 5/24)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Audit Faults DHS Over Grants, Ventilators Distributed During COVID-19
During their work to combat the coronavirus pandemic in Wisconsin, state health officials awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to long-term health care and emergency medical services providers without receiving sufficient documentation to justify the payments and have not properly tracked some of the ventilators the state purchased for COVID-19 patients, state auditors have found. (Beck, 5/24)
The Boston Globe: Boston Public Health Commission Awards $1.4 Million To Community Health Centers
Community health centers that provided critical health care and information to vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 pandemic are getting a funding boost from the city of Boston. The Boston Public Health Commission announced Wednesday that it had awarded $1.4 million in grants to seven Boston-based organizations working to reduce health inequities across the city. The funding comes from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act. (Mohammed, 5/24)
