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The first patient to receive a kidney transplanted from a genetically modified pig has fared so well that he was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, just two weeks after the groundbreaking surgery. The transplant and its encouraging outcome represent a remarkable moment in medicine, scientists say, possibly heralding an era of cross-species organ transplantation. (Caryn Rabin, 4/3)

Scientists may be one step closer to a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease, with the help of our brain's own cellular cleanup crew. Alzheimer's affects roughly 5.8 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ... In a new study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis used mice and human brain tissue to investigate how these microglia are controlled at a cellular level, and how this control changes during Alzheimer's. (Dewan, 4/3)

After four decades of unsuccessful clinical trials, a group of French researchers reports the first glimmer of success — a modest slowing of the disease in a one-year study. And the drug they used? A so-called GLP-1 receptor agonist, similar to the wildly popular drugs Ozempic, for diabetes, and Wegovy, for obesity. (Kolata, 4/3)

A new study by researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has found significant and persistent racial disparities in tuberculosis (TB) incidence among US-born residents. The findings were published yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. ... Among the 31,938 TB cases in US-born patients analyzed, researchers found substantially higher incidence among racial/ethnic minority populations. (Dall, 4/3)

A California Department of Public Health review of 109 cases of healthcare professionals (HCP) with lab-confirmed mpox published last week in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology found that 90% had nonoccupational risk factor exposures, and only 1 case was tied to workplace exposure, likely from a sharps injury. ... Of the 109 infected HCP, 102 (94%) were men and 98 (90%) identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. (Wappes, 4/3)

The leading causes of death haven’t changed since 1990 — with one glaring, pandemic-sized exception. According to the latest analysis of the Global Burden of Disease study, which reviewed deaths from 288 causes in over 200 states and territories, Covid-19 was the only condition that broke into the ranks — if only for two years — of the global population’s traditional top five killers: ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2020 and 2021, Covid-19 was the second-leading cause, pushing stroke to third position. (Merelli, 4/3)

Wastewater testing has become a hallmark of viral surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new study looking at samples collected near homeless encampments reveals novel viral mutations and transmission patterns and 26% of water samples containing SARS-CoV-2 genetic material. The study was published today in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. (Soucheray, 4/3)

Treatment with the antiviral drug remdesivir does not increase the risk of adverse cardiac events in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to newly published results of the DisCoVeRy Trial, a randomized control trial of outcome seen in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infections. ... By day 29 of the trial, 11.2% in the remdesivir group and 11.3% in the control group experienced an adverse cardiac event, representing no statistical difference. (Soucheray, 4/3)