Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Infection Doesn't Make You Vulnerable To Other Ailments: Study
The COVID-19 pandemic didn't make adults more susceptible to common infections and illnesses like asthma, COPD, pneumonia or the flu, a review of more than 256 million patient records concludes. (Bettelheim, 7/17)
A聽study of German youth with presymptomatic type 1 diabetes links COVID-19 infection to accelerated progression to clinical diabetes. For the study, published yesterday in JAMA, researchers in Munich and Dresden followed up with 509 children aged 1 to 16 years with presymptomatic type 1 diabetes participating in a screening program from February 2015 to October 2023. (Van Beusekom, 7/16)
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients treated with the antiviral drug聽nirmatrelvir鈥搑itonavir (Paxlovid) are at lower risk for death, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and need for ventilation than those given a combination of Paxlovid and the antiviral drug remdesivir (Veklury) or Veklury alone, a University of Hong Kong target trial emulation聽study suggests. For the study, published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the researchers analyzed the electronic health records of a weighted sample of adults hospitalized for COVID-19. (Van Beusekom, 7/16)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just released a trove of data on Americans with disabilities that found that more than a quarter of U.S. adults have a disability 鈥 over 70 million people, a bump from prior years. This slice of the population was also much more likely to report long Covid symptoms such as chronic fatigue and brain fog. This comorbidity looms large for many disabled communities as another surge in Covid cases sweeps the country. (Broderick, 7/16)
Also 鈥
A critical tool for monitoring the level of COVID circulation shows levels of the virus have surged to 鈥渧ery high鈥 or 鈥渉igh鈥 levels in more than half the states across the country, including three in New England, according to the CDC. Wastewater surveillance data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the prevalence of COVID has hit 鈥渧ery high鈥 levels in seven states, including California, Texas, and Florida. (7/16)
Coronavirus levels in California鈥檚 wastewater have reached a 鈥渧ery high鈥 level for the first time since last winter. According to the most recent data from the聽Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the trend matches what鈥檚 being reported in several other states. (Palm, 7/16)