Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
NIH Director Bhattacharya Takes On Double Duty Leading CDC — For Now
Jay Bhattacharya, the head of the National Institutes of Health, will become acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention following the dismissal last week of Jim O’Neill, according to a White House official and an administration official. President Donald Trump will name O’Neill to lead the National Science Foundation, one of the officials said. (Haslett, Lim and Gardner, 2/18)
On mRNA flu vaccines —
The Food and Drug Administration reversed course and told Moderna it would review its application for a new flu vaccine, the company announced Wednesday. (Lawrence, 2/18)
More research on flu and covid —
Children and adolescents with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) were twice as likely to be diagnosed as having influenza or COVID-19 in the five years following diagnosis than those without the condition, according to a large study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. (Bergeson, 2/18)
Two phase 1 clinical trials of a nasal spray containing influenza virus–specific monoclonal antibodies conclude that it’s safe—although it won’t replace flu vaccination because it stays in the nose for only a few hours, researchers say. The trial findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, form the basis for efficacy studies in people and suggest that the spray may fill a gap by quickly providing short-term protection in a flu pandemic, particularly for high-risk populations such as health care workers. (Van Beusekom, 2/18)
Scientists say they have identified a mutated autoantibody gene as the mechanism behind rare but serious abnormal blood clotting after adenovirus-based COVID-19 vaccination, a discovery that they say will allow vaccine developers to avert the disorder by adjusting the adenovirus protein in the vaccines while still preserving their efficacy. (Van Beusekom, 2/12)
A large population-based study from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control suggests that COVID-19 infection is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in unvaccinated and severely ill patients, with elevated risk persisting for up to 3 years after infection. In the study, published in Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, the team analyzed data from more than 2 million adults who underwent COVID testing from January 2020 to January 2024. (Bergeson, 2/16)
