Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senate Votes To End Covid National Emergency Order; Biden Will Sign Bill
The Senate voted Wednesday to terminate a COVID-19 pandemic ​national emergency order implemented by former President Donald Trump in 2020 that was due to be terminated in May anyway. The 68-23 vote on the measure came after the House voted 229-197 in February, with 11 Democrats joining 218 Republicans in support. (McIntire and Lesniewski, 3/29)
Young women who received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine made by AstraZeneca might have been more likely to die of a heart problem in the 12 weeks after their vaccination, according to an analysis of immunization and death records in Britain released on Monday. Those findings carry a big caveat: Britain withdrew AstraZeneca’s vaccine use for young people under 30 in April 2021, citing the risk of rare but dangerous blood clots. By that time, the young women who were immunized would have been mainly health care workers or those who were medically vulnerable, because people at high risk of Covid from their age, health or employment were vaccinated first. So the results of the study may not apply to the general population. (Mandavilli, 3/29)
Almost three-quarters of doctors say misinformation made it harder to treat patients for COVID-19 and made patient outcomes worse, according to a new poll. Nearly as many flagged a problematic misinformation about weight loss, supplements, mental health and other vaccines. (Weintraub, 3/29)
Spring is in full bloom, setting off an orchestra of coughing, sneezing and wheezing. The symptoms are all too familiar for chronic allergy sufferers. But amid a persistent coronavirus pandemic and the tail end of influenza season, how do you know whether that congestion is simply allergies or something more? And what should you do about it? The Washington Post spoke to allergists and immunologists for answers. Here’s what they said. (Bever and Chiu, 3/29)
In news about the flu —
People who are sick with flu are six times more likely to experience a heart attack the week after they test positive compared to the year before or the year after, researchers from the Netherlands will report at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) meeting in Copenhagen between Apr 15 and Apr 18. (Schnirring, 3/29)
In 2011, a farmer in Oklahoma had a bunch of sick pigs. The animals had what looked like the flu."Just like a person with respiratory disease, the pigs had labored breathing, maybe a runny nose, cough and potentially a fever," says virologist Benjamin Hause. (Doucleff, 3/29)
Chile detected the first case of bird flu in a human, the country's health ministry reported on Wednesday. he case was detected in a 53-year-old man who presented severe influenza symptoms, according to a statement issued by the ministry, but they noted the patient was in stable condition. (3/29)
