Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Roundup: The Latest Science, Discoveries, And Breakthroughs
A randomized controlled trial involving more than 3,600 patients hospitalized with bloodstream infections found that 7 days of antibiotic treatment was noninferior to 14 days, an international team of researchers reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Dall, 11/20)
Exposure to tetracycline antibiotics during the first trimester of pregnancy is not tied to increased risks of major congenital malformations (MCMs), researchers reported yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (Dall, 11/15)
Sodium oxybate (Xyrem), a drug approved to treat people with narcolepsy, provided temporary relief for laryngeal dystonia patients whose symptoms were alcohol-responsive, a phase IIb, double-blind, crossover trial showed. Laryngeal dystonia causes involuntary spasms in laryngeal muscles, leading to a strained, hoarse voice and a chronically impaired ability to communicate. Some 50,000 people in the U.S. and Canada have laryngeal dystonia, sometimes referred to as spasmodic dysphonia. Public figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have been open about their diagnoses. (George, 11/20)
Canada鈥檚 University Health Network said its Toronto Western Hospital would be the first non-US site of a trial for a device created by Neuralink Corp., Elon Musk鈥檚 brain-implant company. 鈥淲e are incredibly proud to be at the forefront of this research advancement in neurosurgery,鈥 UHN Chief Executive Officer Kevin Smith said in an announcement. He also said UHN would be the 鈥渇irst and exclusive鈥 site for the trial in Canada, but did not say when it would begin. (McBride, 11/21)
Research on covid and flu 鈥
A study in Nature Microbiology suggests trace-level cytokines, a marker of cardiac inflammation, may play a key role in long-COVID cardiac symptoms, including chest pains and shortness of breath. (Soucheray, 11/12)
Of 47 animals tested at a zoo in Brazil, 9 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA on reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), with phylogenetic analysis suggesting they may have been infected by people, according to a聽report published yesterday in Virology Journal. (Van Beusekom, 11/20)
The study, published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, shows significant illness and hospitalization rates for influenza each season and a trend to less prescribing of antiviral drugs. (Soucheray, 10/30)
