HAPPY National Doctors’ Day!
About Covid-19
Biden administration launches '1-stop shop' COVID-19 website “President Joe Biden's administration is launching a website March 30 that is meant to be a "one-stop shop" to help people access vaccines, tests, treatments and high-quality masks, the White House said in a fact sheet.
The website, COVID.gov, also provides updated information about COVID-19 spread….
COVID.gov will feature a new test-to-treat locator tool to help people who are sick with COVID-19 access locations nationwide that offer tests and antiviral pills…”
Risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections in children: a prospective national surveillance study between January, 2020, and July, 2021, in England “The risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is strongly related to exposure due to community infection rates, especially during the delta variant wave. Children had a lower risk of reinfection than did adults, but reinfections were not associated with more severe disease or fatal outcomes.”
COVID Personal Precautions on the Decline “Just 25% of Americans are extremely or very worried about themselves or a family member being infected with COVID-19, while 43% are not at all or not too worried. This is similar to a month ago and down from 36% who were worried in January during a spike of cases due to the omicron variant…
Older adults are more likely than younger adults to take… precautions, other than avoiding other people as much as possible. About half of adults age 60 and older are still avoiding nonessential travel, staying away from large groups, and wearing a face mask outside their home.”
21 states sue Biden administration to end transportation mask mandate “Twenty-one states filed suit Tuesday seeking an immediate end to a federal mandate that requires people to wear masks when traveling on airplanes, buses, subways and other modes of public transportation.
The effort in mostly Republican-led states is the latest effort seeking to abolish the mandate, put into place in February 2021, shortly after President Biden took office. The mandate was extended this month through April 18.”
New nasal spray treats Delta variant infection in mice, indicating broad spectrum results “Researchers have shown a new compound delivered in a nasal spray is highly effective in preventing and treating COVID-19 caused by the Delta variant in mice. The researchers believe this is the first treatment of its kind proven to be effective against all COVID-19 variants of concern reported to date, including alpha, beta, gamma and delta.”
About health insurance
Average charges for 8 common procedures across ER, retail and urgent care settings FYI.
Note how the same CPT code (same service)generates higher charges in different locations.
About pharma
Walgreens turns to robots to fill prescriptions, as pharmacists take on more responsibilities “KEY POINTS
Walgreens Boots Alliance is opening robot-powered micro-fulfillment centers across the U.S. to fill customers’ prescriptions as the role of stores and pharmacists change.
The drugstore chain plans to open 22 facilities across the country.
By 2025, as much as half of Walgreens’ total prescription volume could be filled at the automated hubs, said Rex Swords, who oversees the network of facilities as Walgreens’ group president of centralized services, operations and planning.”
Common drugs ‘do not work properly’ in up to 70pc of cases “Common drugs do not work properly for up to 70 per cent of patients, [British] royal colleges have warned, as they call for routine rollout of gene tests before treatment.
The British Pharmacological Society and the Royal College of Physicians called for more personalised treatment, with genetic tests to ensure that medication is not prescribed if it would do more harm than good…
Sir Munir said that by the time people reached the age of 70, there is a 70 per cent chance that they would be taking at least one drug which has such variable responses.
He said: ‘In the 21st century, we need to move away from the paradigm of 'one drug and one dose fits all' to a more personalised approach, where patients are given the right drug at the right dose to improve the effectiveness and safety of medicines.’”
About the public’s health
2022’s Most Overweight and Obese Cities in the U.S. Except for Youngstown, Ohio all the “top” 15 cities are in the South.
Fats found in Nordic diet play ‘significant’ role in health You’ve heard of the Mediterranean Diet. This one is the Nordic variant.
”While the Nordic diet of berries, veggies, fish, whole grains and rapeseed oil is known to help prevent obesity and reduce the risk of serious illness, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have identified other health benefits, even without weight loss…
[University of Copenhagen researcher] Lars Ove Dragsted said: ‘The group that had been on the Nordic diet for six months became significantly healthier, with lower cholesterol levels, lower overall levels of both saturated and unsaturated fat in the blood, and better regulation of glucose, compared to the control group. We kept the group on the Nordic diet weight stable, meaning that we asked them to eat more if they lost weight. Even without weight loss, we could see an improvement in their health.’”
McDonald’s Hit With Class Complaint Over PFAS in Food Packaging A followup to yesterday’s story from Consumer Reports.
”McDonald’s Corp. concealed from consumers the presence of the dangerous ‘forever chemicals’ known as PFAS in its products, according to a new class complaint filed in federal court in Illinois.”
Warmer summer nocturnal surface air temperatures and cardiovascular disease death risk: a population-based study Perhaps another consequence of global warming?
”From 2001 to 2015, within these specific cohorts, 39 912 CVD deaths (68.9% men) were recorded in England and Wales and 488 deaths in King County. In England and Wales, after controlling for covariates, a 1°C rise in anomalous summer nocturnal SAT associated significantly with a 3.1% (95% CI 0.3% to 5.9%) increased risk of CVD mortality among men aged 60–64, but not older men or either women age groups. In King County, after controlling for covariates, a 1°C rise associated significantly with a 4.8% (95% CI 1.7% to 8.1%) increased risk of CVD mortality among those <65 years but not older men.”
Fine Particulate Matter Exposure From Secondhand Cannabis Bong Smoking “The PM2.5 [fine particulate matter] concentrations generated in a home during social cannabis bong smoking to which a nonsmoking resident might be exposed were greatly increased compared with background levels, and PM2.5 decayed only gradually after smoking ceased. After 15 minutes of smoking, mean PM2.5 (570 μg/m3) was more than twice the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hazardous air quality threshold (>250 μg/m3).”
FDA approves long-acting injectable HIV regimen for adolescents “Cabenuva, which includes shots of cabotegravir (ViiV Healthcare) and rilpivirine (Janssen Pharmaceuticals), was first approved for adults last year as a monthly regimen and remains the only long-acting HIV treatment. The FDA recently approved a bimonthly dosing schedule for the injectable regimen, meaning it can be administered as few as six times per year.
The expanded indications means both options will now be available to virologically suppressed adolescents aged 12 years or older who weigh at least 35 kg, are on a stable ART regimen and have no history of treatment failure or resistance to either drug.”
About healthcare IT
Project ECHO Demonstrates Potential For Primary Care Telehealth Programs in Diabetes Care “An analysis of data from Project ECHO [Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes] results of the study suggest participation in the primary care-based tele-mentoring program was associated with a 44% decrease in inpatient admissions and a more than 60% decrease in inpatient spending, which investigators purport demonstrate the potential for similar programs to improve care and improve patient outcomes on a larger level.”
An online weight loss intervention for people with obesity and poorly controlled asthma “An online weight loss intervention has potential to meet FDA guidance for product evaluation (at least 5% weight loss in 35% of people) for obesity, and is associated with a clinically significant improvement in asthma control, quality of life, and overall health-related quality of life.”
In a related article: Effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing in Managing Overweight and Obesity “Motivational interviewing (MI) is potentially useful in management of overweight and obesity, but staff training and increased delivery time are barriers, and its effectiveness independent of other behavioral components is unclear…
There is no evidence that MI increases effectiveness of BWMPs in controlling weight. Given the intensive training required for its delivery, MI may not be a worthwhile addition to BWMPs.”