Healthcare & Laboratory News

Multiple Sclerosis News Today (8/18, Bryson) reports a study found that a genetic biomarker can predict whether patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) will respond to glatiramer acetate therapy. The study results show that “those who carry a form of the HLA gene called HLA-A*03:01 benefit significantly more from glatiramer acetate treatment than from interferon-beta therapies.” Researchers observed that “among HLA-A∗03:01 carriers, which made up 29%-49% of all patients, glatiramer acetate reduced the risk of relapse by 33% compared with IFN-beta in one group and by 34% in another. In another group, glatiramer acetate lowered the risk of first relapse by 63% over IFN-beta in HLA-A∗03:01 carriers.” In addition, “HLA-A∗03:01 carriers also had fewer MRI lesions during glatiramer acetate treatment and had lower levels of neurofilament light, a marker for nerve damage. None of these benefits were seen in HLA-DRB1*15:01 carriers.” The study was published in eBioMedicine.

HealthDay (8/18, Gotkine) reports a study found that “saliva insulin can differentiate between normal and hyperinsulinemic responses among normoglycemic adults with different body mass index (BMI) classes.” A total of 94 “healthy normoglycemic adults were recruited and categorized into normal weight (NW), overweight (OW), and obese (OB). Participants consumed a standardized liquid meal after fasting for four or more hours.” Researchers observed that “at all time points, saliva insulin levels were significantly higher in the OB versus the OW and NW groups. Higher insulin levels were also seen in the OW versus the NW group. Among the groups, there were no significant differences in fasting and post-meal glucose levels.” The study was published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.

Healio (8/18, Carter) reports a study found that “high levels of donor-derived cell-free DNA can identify biopsy-proven rejection risk in transplant recipients.” For the study, researchers “analyzed 1,070 biopsies from 1,743 kidney transplant recipients in the multicenter AlloSure Registry, which is a prospective, observational multicenter clinical study designed to evaluate clinical utility of dd-cfDNA.” The biopsies were “divided by the indication for the biopsy (surveillance or for-cause) and then stratified based on the associated dd-cfDNA levels into 3 groups: elevated, non-elevated or not tested. Findings showed a rejection yield of 39% with elevated dd-cfDNA compared with 7% for non-elevated cases in surveillance settings, and 47% versus 12% in for-cause situations.” The study was published in the American Journal of Transplantation.

Infectious Disease Advisor (8/15, Basilio) reported a study found that “respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine uptake among veterans remains lower than the national average, despite the older age and comorbidities present in this population.” Researchers observed that “of the 3,497,851 vaccine-eligible veterans during the 2023 to 2024 season, 9.8% received an RSV vaccine; of the 2,757,249 veterans eligible during the 2024 to 2025 season, 3.0% received the vaccine during the first 4 months of the season. Vaccine uptake was lower among individuals who underwent all virtual visits when compared with those who had at least 1 in-person visit across both seasons.” The study was published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Infectious Disease Advisor (8/15, Basilio) reported a study found that “Black and Hispanic children are disproportionately more likely to experience severe COVID-19 hospitalization compared with White and Asian or Pacific Islander children.” The research team included a total of 13,555 pediatric COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in the final analysis, with children of Black (28.3%) or Hispanic (30.5%) race accounting “for 58.8% of included cases while representing 40.3% of the catchment population. Overall hospitalization rates were 2.15-fold and 2.06-fold higher among Black and Hispanic children, respectively, when compared with Asian or Pacific Islander children.” In addition, “cumulative hospitalization rates (per 100,000 population) among patients aged 4 years and younger were 1.64-times and 1.74-times greater among Black and Hispanic children, respectively, when compared with Asian or Pacific Islander children.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Reuters (8/15, Mejías Valencia) said the Pan American Health Organization on Friday “reported...an increase in measles cases in the Americas, particularly North America, amid rising deaths from the infection in Mexico, the United States and Canada.” PAHO figures show that as of August 8, “10,139 cases of measles and 18 related deaths had been confirmed from among 10 countries in the Americas, representing a 34-fold increase compared to the same period in 2024.” Of those 18 deaths, “14 were in Mexico, three in the United States and one in Canada.” The UN agency attributed the outbreaks to low vaccination coverage, “as 71% of cases occurred in unvaccinated people and 18% in individuals with unknown vaccination status.”

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HealthDay (8/14, Thompson) reports a study published in JAMA found that “a new way to battle bloodborne staph infections could help save lives while combating the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.” Study results indicated that “two intravenous doses of the antibiotic dalbavancin delivered seven days apart worked just as well as daily IV doses of conventional antibiotics in quelling Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections.” Healio (8/14, I.Feller) adds the study found that the “probability of a better outcome with dalbavancin vs. standard therapy was 47.7%, making it noninferior. Clinical efficacy, however, was experienced by 73 of 100 participants in the dalbavancin group and in 72 of 100 participants in the standard therapy group, which the researchers said met criteria for noninferiority.”

The AP (8/14, Khaled) says, “Cholera is spreading rapidly in Darfur, killing 40 people and infecting more than 2,300 over the past week alone because of water shortages and a collapsed health care system have left communities vulnerable amid the ongoing war in Sudan, Doctors Without Borders said in a report Thursday.” As of Monday, “a total of 99,700 suspected cases and more than 2,470 related deaths have been reported in Sudan since the cholera outbreak began in July 2024.” The group “said that the outbreak was the worst the North African country has seen in years.”

The Washington Post (8/14, A1, Roubein, Sun) reports HHS announced Thursday “it is reviving a long-defunct task force aimed at improving the safety of childhood vaccines.” According to the Post, the move “appears to be the first concrete step to achieve HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s longtime goal of upending the current childhood immunization schedule, which recommends which shots children receive and when.” Reuters (8/14, Santhosh) adds that the “original task force was created by Congress under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 to improve the safety, quality and oversight of vaccines administered to American children. It was disbanded in 1998 and has been inactive ever since.” HHS stated that the task force will be led by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya “and represented by senior leaders of the” FDA and CDC. The task force will work closely with the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines to produce recommendations focused on development of “childhood vaccines that result in fewer and less serious adverse reactions than those vaccines currently on the market.”