About Covid-19
Binding and neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in young children exceed those in adults: “Among 56 participants seropositive at enrollment, children aged 0-4 years had >10-fold higher RBDAb titers than adults (416 vs. 31, P<0.0001), and the highest RBDAb titers in 11/12 households with seropositive children and adults. Children aged 0-4 years had only 2-fold higher neutralizing Ab than adults, resulting in higher binding to neutralizing (B/N) Ab ratios compared to adults (2.36 vs. 0.35 for ID50, P=0.0002).
CONCLUSIONS. These findings suggest that young children mount robust antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 following community infections. Additionally, these results support using neutralizing Ab to measure the immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccines in children aged 0-4 years.”
Evidence grows that vaccines lower the risk of getting long COVID: “‘…even without a clear sense of what's exactly driving long COVID, there's good reason to believe that vaccines would help guard against the condition, says Dr. Steven Deeks, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
There's overwhelming evidence that someone who's vaccinated has less virus in their body during an infection, he says, ‘so it would make great sense that the amount of virus-related complications over time would also be lower.’”
Comment: This finding should give pause to those who advocate for “natural immunity” instead of immunization.
COVID booster provides protection for over-65s after 15 weeks -UK data: “A booster dose of vaccine against COVID-19 continues to provide robust protection against hospitalisation for older people nearly four months after getting the third dose, new data from the UK's Health Security Agency on Thursday showed.
Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation for people aged over 65, 15 weeks after a booster, was 85%, down from 91% two weeks after getting the third dose, the latest vaccine surveillance report from the agency estimated.
The data is the first released by the UK on the longer-term durability of boosters. The UK is administering fourth doses to vulnerable age groups, joining a number of other countries including Israel as the world fights the more infectious Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Fourth doses will be given six months after the third dose and a wider campaign is being considered for the autumn.”
Covid vaccinations — including boosters — fall to lowest levels since 2020: “On Wednesday, the seven-day average of vaccinations fell to fewer than 182,000 per day, according to data compiled by The Washington Post. That is lower than at any time since the first days of the
The daily total has been in free fall for the past six weeks. On Feb. 10, the nation was averaging more than 692,000 shots a day. Booster shots have been more common than first or second doses since October, and the low rates have long caused concern among some experts.
Now, with authorities bracing for a possible increase in covid-19 cases caused by the BA.2 subvariant, 65.4 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated and just 44 percent have received a booster shot. That is substantially less than the totals in many Western European nations — which nevertheless have seen a sharp rise in cases in recent weeks and months.”
About health insurance
Optum acquires Refresh Mental Health: report: “Optum has quietly acquired Refresh Mental Health from private equity firm Kelso & Company, Axios reported Thursday.
The company confirmed the deal in a statement to the outlet. The acquisition has not been announced publicly as of yet…
The deal would give the UnitedHealth Group subsidiary a greater foothold in the behavioral health space, which has garnered greater interest under the pandemic. The value of the purchase is unclear, but Kelso bought Refresh at a valuation of around $700 million in December 2020…”
Appeals court overturns ruling against UnitedHealth in landmark mental health parity class action: “A district court judge ruled in 2019 that United Behavioral Health committed "pervasive and long-standing violations" of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by denying thousands of claims to protect its bottom line between 2011 and 2017. The company was ordered to reprocess all of the claims included in the lawsuit as well as reform its protocols for processing claims…
However, the 9th Circuit argued that the company does not have to cover every service as long as it follows generally accepted standards of care. The plaintiffs did not prove that the plans in question mandate coverage for all services under generally accepted standards of care, according to the order.
‘Even if UBH has a conflict of interest because it serves as plan administrator and insurer for fully insured plans that are the main source of its revenue, this would not change the outcome on these facts,’ the court said.”
Rates of Diabetes-Related Major Amputations Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Adults Following Medicaid Expansion Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: “In a cohort study of 115 071 hospitalizations for DFUs among racial and ethnic minority adults, early Medicaid expansion was associated with decreased major amputation and hospitalization rates in early-adoption states compared with nonadoption states.”
About pharma
After Supreme Court win, Merck prevails against 500 Fosamax cases: report: “For more than a decade, Merck has been defending itself against claims its osteoporosis drug Fosamax caused patients to suffer “atypical femoral fractures," even taking its fight to the Supreme Court, where it eked out a win. Now, after that SCOTUS fight, the company has prevailed against 500 Fosamax lawsuits.
In a Wednesday ruling, a federal judge in New Jersey tossed hundreds of Fosamax cases, siding with Merck's argument that federal law preempted the state-law injury claims…”
About the public’s health
Good news for coffee lovers: Daily coffee may benefit the heart: “Drinking coffee—particularly two to three cups a day—is not only associated with a lower risk of heart disease and dangerous heart rhythms but also with living longer, according to studies being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 71st Annual Scientific Session. These trends held true for both people with and without cardiovascular disease. Researchers said the analyses—the largest to look at coffee’s potential role in heart disease and death—provide reassurance that coffee isn’t tied to new or worsening heart disease and may actually be heart protective.”
Association of Habitual Alcohol Intake With Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: “In this cohort study, coincident, favorable lifestyle factors attenuated the observational benefits of modest alcohol intake. Genetic epidemiology suggested that alcohol consumption of all amounts was associated with increased cardiovascular risk, but marked risk differences exist across levels of intake, including those accepted by current national guidelines.”
FDA permits another e-cigarette, pledges decisions soon on big brands: The Food and Drug Administration, kicking off what is expected to be a period of intensified activity on the contentious issue of e-cigarettes, on Thursday authorized several tobacco-flavored vaping products made by the company Logic, and signaled it would soon announce whether other big-name brands will be allowed to keep selling their wares in the United States.
The FDA said Logic can continue marketing certain e-cigarette devices and prefilled cartridges because the benefits — in helping adult smokers move away from traditional cigarettes — outweigh the risk of young people starting to use e-cigarettes. The agency noted that tobacco is not a popular vaping flavor among young people. The FDA has not yet decided on Logic’s request to sell menthol-flavored cartridges.”
Deaths outpace births in most counties as U.S. growth slowed in 2020: “Almost three-fourths of all U.S. counties reported more deaths than births last year, a development largely caused by the pandemic, which contributed to a dramatic slowing in the overall population growth of the nation, according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau.
Low fertility rates, which have persisted since the end of the Great Recession, and the continuing demographic shift toward an older population also combined to create the smallest population increase in 100 years...”
About healthcare IT
Gender Differences in Time Spent on Documentation and the Electronic Health Record in a Large Ambulatory Network: “In this cross-sectional study across ambulatory specialties, we demonstrated that female physicians spend more time on the EHR overall, after-hours, and on EHR-based documentation than male physicians. Clinical documentation is the primary activity driving gender differences in EHR time. These differences persisted after accounting for hours worked, physician specialty, and other characteristics, despite female physicians caring for slightly fewer patients on average.
Our findings provide a potential mechanism for the gender gap in burnout,3 which has implications for workforce mental health5 and physician retention.6 They suggest that women physicians may benefit from policy changes, workflows, and technologies that reduce documentation burden, including scribes, team documentation, and artificial intelligence–powered solutions.”
About healthcare personnel
Wisconsin, Utah governors sign bills penalizing violence, threats against healthcare workers: “Two state governors signed bills this week that increase penalties of battery or assault against healthcare workers and make violent threats against healthcare workers a felony.”
About health technology
NIH’s All of Us Research Program Releases First Genomic Dataset of Nearly 100,000 Whole Genome Sequences: “Nearly 100,000 highly diverse whole genome sequences are now available through the National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program. About 50% of the data is from individuals who identify with racial or ethnic groups that have historically been underrepresented in research. This data will enable researchers to address yet unanswerable questions about health and disease, leading to new breakthroughs and advancing discoveries to reduce persistent health disparities.”