Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Roundup: Cancer; Covid; Croup
Researchers definitively linked the function of a specific domain of proteins important in plant-microbe biology to a cancer trigger in humans, knowledge that had eluded scientists for decades. (DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 7/5)
Though widely given to severely ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the pandemic, convalescent plasma did not improve the ability to survive or recover, according to a national clinical trial published today in Chest. (7/5)
A study of US hospital data found that fewer than 10% of COVID-19 patients had bacterial or fungal co-infections, but they had a higher risk of antibiotic-resistant, healthcare-associated infections than flu patients, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers reported late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases. (7/5)
A new study shows that the proportion of children diagnosed as having COVID-19 and croup was significantly higher during the Omicron surge than in earlier waves dominated by other variants. Croup is an upper airway infection generally affecting children. It causes swelling around the larynx, trachea, and bronchi, resulting in labored breathing and a "barking" cough. (7/5)
