Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study: 46% Of Hospitalized COVID Patients Have Acute Kidney Injury
A new study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology shows that 46% of hospitalized adults with severe COVID-19 suffer from acute kidney injury (AKI), and AKI was associated with a 50% mortality rate. The study was based on 3,993 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 admitted to the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City from Feb 27 to May 30. Of those patients, 1,835 (46%) had AKI, and 347 (19%) of the patients with AKI required dialysis. According to the authors, in-hospital mortality was 50% among patients with AKI, versus 8% among those without AKI (adjusted odds ratio, 9.2; 95% confidence interval, 7.5 to 11.3). (9/8)
In other scientific COVID-19 discoveries 鈥
Covid-19 patients who are 80 or older are hundreds of times more likely to die than those under 40. That鈥檚 partly because they are more likely to have underlying conditions 鈥 like diabetes and lung disease 鈥 that seem to make the body more vulnerable to Covid-19. But some scientists suggest another likely, if underappreciated, driver of this increased risk: the aging immune system. (Greenwood, 9/8)
Different SARS-CoV-2 strains haven鈥檛 yet had a major impact on the course of the pandemic, but they might in future. (Callaway, 9/8)
Research conducted in China indicates the novel coronavirus may linger on chilled salmon for聽more than a week. Scientists at the South China Agricultural University and Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Guangzhou found evidence聽the virus can survive for eight days at 39 degrees Fahrenheit, the approximate temperature at which fish are transported. The research, released Sunday, has not yet been published or peer-reviewed. (Budryk, 9/8)
Lisa Fitzgerald and her husband Chip came down with COVID-19 at around the same time. Both experienced those telltale symptoms like shortness of breath and fatigue, and both tested positive for the virus in July. But even as Chip began to recover from the illness, Lisa experienced persistent symptoms. (Carrington and Bhatt, 9/9)
In 2001, not long after the 9/11 attacks, a mysterious spate of anthrax attacks by mail killed five people and sickened 17. What the FBI calls 鈥渢he worst biological attacks in U.S. history鈥 led to concerns that bioterrorists might weaponize other globally deadly diseases, like smallpox. The sudden emergence of a highly infectious novel coronavirus in late 2019 has reminded us of a sobering fact: Nature is the ultimate bioterrorist. (Morens and Breman, 9/9)
