Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Roundup: Covid; Vitamin D Deficiency; Lyme; Colonoscopy
A study today from researchers at the University of Maryland determined that patients infected with COVID-19 variants Alpha, Delta, and Omicron—including those fully vaccinated and boosted—shed significantly more viral RNA copies into exhaled breath aerosols than patients infected with ancestral strains and other variants. The study appears in Clinical Infectious Diseases and adds to evidence of increased transmissibility of the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants. (10/26)
A study yesterday in JAMA Network Open suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 subvariant carries a significantly lower risk of death than that of Delta and the original Omicron strain, B.1.1.529. (10/26)
Among more than 43,000 US veterans hospitalized for COVID-19, Black veterans had lower odds of receiving steroids, immunomodulatory drugs, and antivirals than their White counterparts, but the treatment disparities weren't tied to higher rates of death or readmission, finds a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 10/26)
New research gives strong evidence that vitamin D deficiency is associated with premature death, prompting calls for people to follow healthy vitamin D level guidelines. (University of South Australia, 10/26)
In a study using specialized imaging techniques, researchers report distinctive changes in the 'white matter' and other brain tissue physiology of those with post-treatment Lyme disease, a condition affecting 10% to 20% of the nearly half a million Americans who contract Lyme disease annually. (John Hopkins Medicine, 10/26)
Although colonoscopy is widely used as a screening test to detect colorectal cancer, its effect on the risks of colorectal cancer and related death is unclear. (Bretthauer, M.D., Ph.D., et al, 10/27)
