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A study today in Clinical Infectious Diseases conducted across 12 tertiary care pediatric hospitals in Canada and the United States shows that asymptomatic children with COVID-19, especially preschoolers, contribute significantly to household transmission. The researchers discovered that 10.6% of exposed household contacts developed symptomatic illness within 14 days of exposure to asymptomatic test-positive children, a rate higher than expected. (Soucheray, 3/26)

In the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, 16% of children aged 5 to 12 years didn't visit their healthcare provider, 11% went without a well-child visit, and 30% didn't complete a well-child visit in the past year, parent responses to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey show. (Van Beusekom, 3/26)

Moderna on Tuesday said a new version of its Covid vaccine triggered a stronger immune response against the virus than its current shot in a late-stage trial. (Constantino, 3/26)

A Mayo Clinic–led study shows that colorectal cancer surgeries dropped 17.3% in the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and that more patients were diagnosed as having later-stage disease. The study, published yesterday in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, used the National Cancer Database to compare rates of surgeries for colorectal cancer, tumor stages, socioeconomic factors, and other variables among 105,317 patients before and during the pandemic (2019 and 2020). (Mary Van Beusekom, 3/26)

An observational study of patients in Finland and the Netherlands suggests gut microbiota composition may be linked to risk of hospitalization for infection. In the study, which was released last week in advance of the upcoming European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, a team led by researchers at Amsterdam University Medical Center sequenced the DNA of fecal samples from 10,699 participants (4,248 from the Netherlands and 6,451 from Finland). (3/26)

Viking Therapeutics' (VKTX.O) experimental tablet reduced weight by as much as 3.3% when tested in volunteers enrolled in a small early-stage trial, meeting Wall Street expectations and sending the company's shares up 15% in premarket trading on Tuesday.Popular market leaders from Eli Lilly (LLY.N) and Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO are administered under-the-skin, with companies also testing oral versions that they hope will offer patients a more convenient option. (Mishra and S K, 3/27)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News: As AI Eye Exams Prove Their Worth, Lessons For Future Tech Emerge

Christian Espinoza, director of a Southern California drug-treatment provider, recently began employing a powerful new assistant: an artificial intelligence algorithm that can perform eye exams with pictures taken by a retinal camera. It makes quick diagnoses, without a doctor present. His clinics, Tarzana Treatment Centers, are among the early adopters of an AI-based system that promises to dramatically expand screening for diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults and a threat to many of the estimated 38 million Americans with diabetes. (Norman, 3/27)