Healthcare & Laboratory News

The New York Times (6/2, Nolen, Stolberg) reported Secretary of State Rubio “indicated on Tuesday that the United States may resume its funding of a global vaccines alliance that” HHS Secretary Kennedy “pulled the United States out of last year, an unusual public rebuke of Mr. Kennedy’s involvement in matters of global health.” Rubio, testifying on Capitol Hill, “told senators that President Trump had asked the State Department to allow Mr. Kennedy to ‘play a leading role’ in the decision on whether to fund Gavi.” However, “Rubio suggested in pointed testimony that he was reclaiming control of the US relationship with Gavi, which has historically been managed by the State Department.” Meanwhile, Reuters (6/2, Zengerla, Chiacu, Lewis) reports, “An HHS spokesperson said that both HHS and State were engaging directly with Gavi.” The Hill (6/3, Weixel) provides additional coverage.

Infectious Disease Advisor (6/3, Khaja) reports a recent study found that “maternal SARS-CoV-2 vaccination during pregnancy, particularly when administered in the third trimester, reduces risk for COVID-19 infection and hospitalization during the first 6 months of life, whereas vaccination prior to pregnancy provides no substantial benefit.” Researchers in the retrospective cohort study found that “maternal vaccination during pregnancy was also associated with lower risk for infant COVID-19-related hospitalization through age 6 months (VE, 52.9%; 95% CI, 11.1-75.1). The strongest protection against hospitalization was observed with third-trimester vaccination, which demonstrated 64.6% VE (95% CI, 12.3-85.7).” The study was published in Pediatrics.

CNN (6/3, McPhillips, Hansler) reports US Secretary of State Rubio “said Wednesday that Americans who test positive for Ebola while under observation at a facility in Kenya could be sent for treatment in the United States in an apparent shift from the Trump administration’s position that no one with the virus would be allowed into the country.” Speaking during a Senate subcommittee hearing, Rubio said it was “a misunderstanding” that the US asked Kenya to provide treatment for any American citizens who tested positive for Ebola. Meanwhile, NIH Director Bhattacharya told CNN, “We’re not ruling out moving people out to the United States if we believe that case requires more intensive management.” In similar coverage, the New York Times (6/3, Mandavilli) says the plan for Americans “who test positive for Ebola or have symptoms” remains unclear. Authorities “may arrange evacuation to certain places designated as safe, the State Department said, without specifying possible locations.”

HealthDay (6/2, Thompson) reports, “A simple urine test might help identify children who are likely to have autism earlier than the best assessment tools now available,” according to researchers who found that “autistic children appear to have specific gut microbe profiles that can be used to distinguish them from neurotypical (or typically developing) children.” The researchers also found that “a urine test based on these profiles correctly identified 90% of autistic children and did not misidentify any children without autism.” The findings were published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Infectious Disease Advisor (6/2, Nye) reports a systematic review and meta-analysis of 6 RCTs found that the “novel antibiotic combination of imipenem, cilastatin, and relebactam (IMI/REL) has a similar safety and efficacy profile as standard care for treating complicated infections and/or those caused by imipenem-resistant pathogens.” Researchers observed “no significant difference in clinical response between IMI/REL and comparators at the end of intravenous (IV) therapy (risk ratio [RR], 1.04), early follow-up (RR, 1.02), or late follow-up (RR, 1.01). Similarly, microbiological response did not differ significantly between IMI/REL and standard care recipients at the end of IV therapy (RR, 1.00), early follow-up (RR, 1.01), or late follow-up (RR, 1.01).” Furthermore, “in the safety analysis, there were no significant trends in drug-related adverse events (AEs; RR, 1.01), severe AEs (RR, 0.93), or mortality (RR, 0.83).” The review was published in Infection.

Reuters (6/2, Le Poidevin, Rigby) reports the WHO “said there have been 321 confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of ‌Congo outbreak and 116 suspected cases, marking a large drop in the number of suspected cases as hundreds were ruled out after investigation.” On Friday, “the WHO said...there were 906 suspected cases of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including 223 suspected deaths that were being investigated.” Reuters adds, “When asked why the latest figures showed a significantly lower number of suspected cases,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier “said the numbers would fluctuate over time as people get tested” because a “suspected case includes anyone who is picked up by surveillance or who presents with symptoms at a health centre.” Meanwhile, The New York Times (6/2, Nolen) reports, “A chronic lack of investment in development of better tests has left clinicians blind and allows deadly viruses to spread unchecked.” As health workers battle the devastating Ebola “virus that has killed at least 49 people and infected 452 more so far, they have been hampered by a chronic lack of investment in high-quality tests for clinicians facing pathogens that surface in the most marginalized places.”

HealthDay (6/2) reports a study suggests that a “simple blood test” could “offer a cheaper, less invasive alternative to brain scans and spinal taps now used to diagnose and determine the extent” of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers “developed a model that uses just two forms of tau protein in the blood to track Alzheimer’s progression. They tried it on more than 1,000 patients, including people who were cognitively unimpaired, patients with mild cognitive impairment, patients with Alzheimer’s dementia and people with other neurodegenerative diseases. The result: Staging from the blood model closely matched the accuracy of PET brain scans.” Future studies are required “to confirm how well the blood test performs in larger and more diverse patient populations.” The study was published in JAMA Neurology.

Reuters (6/1, Sunny, Mahatole, Rigby) reports, “Global health organisation CEPI will give roughly $60 million to Moderna and two other groups to accelerate the development of shots ​against Ebola Bundibugyo.” The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations “has committed up to $50 million to support preclinical and early clinical development of Moderna’s investigational BDBV vaccine candidate.” Additionally, “CEPI said it would...invest up to $8.6 million for ‌a shot ⁠developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and an initial $3.2 million for a vaccine developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.”

MedPage Today (6/1, Rudd) reports, “The FDA approved the oral antiviral agent ensitrelvir (Xocova) to help prevent COVID-19 in people ages 12 years or older who were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, drugmaker Shionogi announced.” The agent “is a SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitor also approved in Japan as COVID-19 postexposure prophylaxis and as a treatment for mild to moderate COVID.” The “FDA’s decision was based on the phase III SCORPIO-PEP trial, which showed the risk of getting sick from a household contact with COVID-19 dropped by more than half among those who took ensitrelvir compared with placebo.”

The American Journal of Managed Care (6/1, McCormick) reports a study found that “children aged 2 to 5 years with fall birthdays had higher influenza vaccination rates and fewer diagnoses of the disease than those with summer birthdays.” The researchers “analyzed rates of influenza vaccination and influenza diagnosis among children aged 2 to 5 with fall vs summer birthdays across 5 typical influenza seasons from 2016 to 2023, excluding the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons due to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic.” They observed that “vaccination rates were 8.6 to 12.5 percentage points higher among children with fall vs summer birthdays, and diagnosis rates were 1.0 to 1.4 percentage points lower. Meanwhile, the researchers found no differences in rates of noninfluenza viral infections between the groups, suggesting the results were not driven by residual confounding factors such as differences in care-seeking behaviors.” The study was discussed in a JAMA Pediatrics research letter.