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A new research letter in JAMA Network Open demonstrates that pre-COVID disparities in all-cause mortality have largely persisted after the acute phase of the pandemic, as patterns have largely returned to baseline. The study examined annualized age-standardized death rates (ASDRs) among major demographic groups in the United States from March 2018 through May 2023. Sex, race and ethnicity, metropolitan status, and region were all considered. (Soucheray, 2/21)

University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill investigators report today that COVID-19 hospitalization risk was reduced by 84% among Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) recipients in a large, diverse healthcare system during January to August 2022, when the Omicron strain was dominant. The study appears in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Paxlovid is authorized for use in US patients 12 years and older at risk for developing severe outcomes from COVID-19 infections. (Soucheray, 2/21)

People with autoimmune disorders don’t usually get to talk about a cure. There’s symptom management, hopeful periods of remission often followed by relapses, but rarely a lasting fix for the way their immune system attacks healthy cells. If the immune system is an army, then those with conditions like lupus, multiple sclerosis, or rheumatoid arthritis are often fighting a never-ending war of friendly fire. (Gaffney, 2/21)

Alzheimer’s quietly ravages the brain long before symptoms appear and now scientists have new clues about the dominolike sequence of those changes — a potential window to one day intervene. A large study in China tracked middle-aged and older adults for 20 years, using regular brain scans, spinal taps and other tests. Compared to those who remained cognitively healthy, people who eventually developed the mind-robbing disease had higher levels of an Alzheimer’s-linked protein in their spinal fluid 18 years prior to diagnosis, researchers reported Wednesday. (Neergaard, 2/21)

Antivenom, like Mexican Coke or grandma’s cookies, is still made the old-fashioned way. In antivenom’s case, the recipe is straightforward: Pump a horse full of sub-lethal doses of venom from various local snakes, wait for them to develop an immune response, tap their blood, purify out antibodies, bottle, and freeze. (Mast, 2/21)