JoNel Aleccia

JoNel Aleccia was a senior correspondent for KFF Health News until October 2022.

@JoNel_Aleccia

Organ Transplant Patient Dies After Receiving Covid-Infected Lungs

KFF Health News Original

The first confirmed U.S. case of SARS-CoV-2 being transmitted through an organ transplant has prompted calls for updated transplant protocols and additional testing of samples from deep within donor lungs.

Por qué Estados Unidos subestima las reinfecciones por covid

KFF Health News Original

Aunque se definen como “raras”, habría muchas reinfecciones por covid. El problema es que Estados Unidos no tiene la capacidad para hacer el análisis genético necesario para detectarlas.

Why the U.S. Is Underestimating Covid Reinfection

KFF Health News Original

Hundreds of Americans suspect they contracted covid early in the pandemic and recovered, only to get infected again months later. But because the U.S. does so little genetic sequencing of covid samples, we don’t know much about reinfection rates.

Patients Fend for Themselves to Access Highly Touted Covid Antibody Treatments

KFF Health News Original

Months after President Donald Trump credited monoclonal antibody therapy for his quick recovery from covid-19, only a trickle of the product has found its way into regular people. While hundreds of thousands of vials sit unused, sick patients who might benefit from early treatment have been left on their own to vie for access.

Is Your Covid Vaccine Venue Prepared to Handle Rare, Life-Threatening Reactions?

KFF Health News Original

More than two dozen people who have received the new covid vaccines in U.S. hospitals and health centers suffered anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal allergic reaction. While such severe reactions are rare, experts warn that the drugstores and drive-thru clinics considered integral to the vaccine rollout must be prepared.

At Risk of Extinction, Black-Footed Ferrets Get Experimental COVID Vaccine

KFF Health News Original

Months before federal officials authorized experimental vaccines to ward off the coronavirus in humans, scientists tried a veterinary vaccine in endangered ferrets. Drugmakers are researching similar efforts for other animals proving vulnerable to the virus, such as farmed minks, in part to guard against virus mutations that could pose new risks to people.

Hospitals Scramble to Prioritize Which Workers Are First for COVID Shots

KFF Health News Original

Even as the federal Food and Drug Administration engaged in intense deliberations ahead of Friday’s authorization of the nation’s first COVID vaccine, and days before the initial doses were to be released, hospitals have been grappling with how to distribute the first scarce shots. Their plans vary broadly.

New Legal Push Aims to Speed Magic Mushrooms to Dying Patients

KFF Health News Original

A proposal in Washington state would use right-to-try laws to allow terminally ill patients access to psilocybin — the famed magic mushrooms of America’s psychedelic ’60s — to ease depression and anxiety.

Lions and Tigers and Anteaters? US Scientists Scan the Menagerie for COVID

KFF Health News Original

Thousands of animals in the U.S. have been tested for the coronavirus, as researchers work to understand its transmission and which other species might be at risk. So far, dozens have tested positive, mostly cats and dogs exposed to sick owners.

Scientists Warn Americans Are Expecting Too Much From a Vaccine

KFF Health News Original

Some argue that vaccines capable of preventing any COVID-19 symptoms should qualify for widespread use, but others want much larger trials to prove the vaccines can reduce hospitalizations or deaths.