About Covid-19
FDA ends for now use of two monoclonal antibodies, spurring a halt in federal shipments of the covid-19 treatments: “The Food and Drug Administration on Monday took two monoclonal antibody therapies off the list of covid-19 treatments for now, saying the medications should not be used anywhere in the United States because they are ineffective against the dominant omicron variant.
As a result, the Department of Health and Human Services, which distributes covid treatments to states, notified state health officials that it has halted distribution of the antibody medications made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly…”
Third Dose of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Shot Neutralizes Omicron, Lab Studies Show: “Peer-reviewed findings from one study by the companies published in the journal Science demonstrated that the blood serum antibodies of individuals given three vaccine doses showed full protection against Omicron while those given two doses only had limited antibody protection.
In addition, pre-print findings from the University of Texas indicated that one month after receiving a booster the participants had a 22-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies against Omicron vs. those who only received two doses.”
Global conditions perfect for more Covid variants to emerge, WHO’s Tedros says: “Conditions are ripe for Covid-19 to mutate into more new variants, and it is dangerous to assume the pandemic is approaching its endgame, the WHO’s top official warned Monday.
Last week, an average 100 cases were reported every three seconds, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added, and someone lost their life to the virus every 12 seconds.”
US pharmacies get first shipments of free N95s: “The shipments, coming from the Strategic National Stockpile, are part of the federal government's plan to advance access to high-quality masks to combat the omicron-driven COVID-19 surge…
The White House was planning to send 400 million masks to pharmacies and community health centers, with the national program set to be in full gear by early February.
Masks were set up for distribution as of Jan. 24 at select Hy-Vee and Meijer grocery stores in the Midwest, with shipments set to arrive at grocers in the southeastern region of the country by Jan. 28… There is a limit of three masks per person…”
Pfizer, BioNTech launch trial for potential omicron-busting vaccine: “The new vaccine will be included in a three-cohort study that will also examine different regimens of the companies’ existing COVID-19 shot, Comirnaty, according to a Tuesday press release.”
Cash shortages mean Covax cannot accept new doses, says executive: “The Covax vaccine initiative set up to ensure Covid-19 vaccines reach the world’s poorest people is unable to accept new dose donations because it has nearly exhausted the funds needed to buy crucial accessories including syringes, one of its leaders has warned. Vaccine shortages have plagued many poorer countries and contributed to the uneven rollout of jabs around the world. Public health experts have repeatedly said such disparities could lead to new coronavirus variants emerging in areas where fewer people have been vaccinated. The World Health Organization-backed programme last week said it needed a fresh cash injection of $5.2bn to support its global vaccine rollout this year.”
About pharma
FDA Issues Latest Update on Drug Shortages: “The FDA has released an updated drug shortages list showing 116 drugs currently in shortage and 48 drugs in limited supply but for which the cause of the shortage has been resolved.
The list includes numerous generic products, such as injectable acetazolamide, used to treat glaucoma, epilepsy and altitude sickness; several amphetamine compounds, prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, narcolepsy and obesity; and injectable bupivacaine hydrochloride, a surgical anesthesia.”
About the public’s health
Estimated Number of Deaths Prevented Through Increased Physical Activity Among US Adults: “Increasing MVPA [moderate-to-vigorous physical activity] by 10, 20, or 30 minutes per day was associated with a 6.9%, 13.0%, and 16.9% decrease in the number of deaths per year, respectively. Adding 10 minutes per day of physical activity resulted in an estimated 111 174 preventable deaths per year (95% CI, 79 594-142 754), with greater benefits associated with the addition of more physical activity (209 459 preventable deaths [95% CI, 146 299-272 619] for 20 minutes and 272 297 preventable deaths [95% CI, 177 557-367 037] for 30 minutes)…”
The impact of a poverty reduction intervention on infant brain activity: “This study demonstrates the causal impact of a poverty reduction intervention on early childhood brain activity. Data from the Baby’s First Years study, a randomized control trial, show that a predictable, monthly unconditional cash transfer given to low-income families may have a causal impact on infant brain activity. In the context of greater economic resources, children’s experiences changed, and their brain activity adapted to those experiences. The resultant brain activity patterns have been shown to be associated with the development of subsequent cognitive skills.”
Screening for Atrial Fibrillation [AF]- US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement: “The USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for AF. (I statement)” Also see the excellent editorial: Screening for Atrial Fibrillation—More Data Still Needed
About healthcare IT
Understanding Physicians’ Work via Text Analytics on EHR Inbox Messages: “This study demonstrated that advanced text analytics provide a reliable data-driven methodology to understand the individual physician’s EHR inbox management work with a significantly greater level of detail than previous approaches. This methodology can inform decision makers on appropriate workflow redesign to eliminate unnecessary workload on PCPs and to improve cost and quality of care, as well as staff work satisfaction.”
Consumer Willingness to Share Personal Digital Information for Health-Related Uses: “In this survey study of 3543 US adults, consumer willingness to share digital data was associated with a range of factors, most importantly the source and type of data. Certain data (eg, financial, social media, public cameras) were viewed as more sensitive than electronic health record data, but underlying views on digital health privacy were strongly associated with consumer views on sharing any digital information…”
State Of Digital Health: Among the highlights of this report: "The US digital health market continues to dominate, reaching a record $37.9B in 2021. US funding hit $10.8B in Q4’21 alone — more than the second-largest global market, Asia, recorded in all of 2021 ($10.7B).
US deal count dropped to 303 in Q4 – the lowest on record for 2021. This comes as smaller financings were overtaken by mega-rounds, which accounted for 63% of total US funding in Q4'21.”
Welcome to Nightingale Open Science: Well worth a look. The site has open source data, for now only on a few topics, that links images and other information to actual patient outcomes…all assisted by AI.
Truveta and LexisNexis Risk Solutions Partner to Advance Health Equity and Health Research Quality: “Truveta… and the Health Care business of LexisNexis Risk Solutions… announced a strategic partnership that will improve the quality of all health research and enable new insights on health equity in our country. For the first time, daily clinical data from over 16% of all clinical care in the U.S. will be linked together across health providers, and then integrated with 40% of all Medicare and Medicaid medical insurance claims, 70% of all commercial medical insurance claims, social determinants of health data on every adult American, and comprehensive mortality data in one data platform for medical research.”
About healthcare personnel
HHS distributing $2B to healthcare providers: Breakdown by state: “HHS Jan. 25 it is providing more than $2 billion in Provider Relief Fund phase 4 payments, through the Health Resources and Services Administration, to more than 7,600 providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coupled with the $9 billion that came in December, a total of $11 billion in phase 4 payments have been given to more than 74,000 providers in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and five territories.”