Healthcare & Laboratory News

The New York Times (6/4, Mandavilli) reports the Trump Administration’s proposed budget, “submitted to Congress last week, proposes to eliminate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s global health unit, effectively shutting down its $230 million immunization program: $180 million for polio eradication and the rest for measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.” The budget “proposes to cut funding for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, a program to fight the disease around the world, by 47 percent.” The plan also “withdraws financial support for Gavi, the international vaccine alliance that purchases vaccines for children in developing countries,” and halves funding to the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to just under $3 billion. Although the budget request “explicitly follows President Trump’s America First policy, slashing funds for global health programs,” many public health experts “said that such thinking is flawed because infectious diseases routinely breach borders.”

Reuters (6/4, Brittain) reports that Moderna successfully convinced a US appeals court Wednesday to uphold a Delaware federal court ruling that “undercut patent infringement claims by biotech company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals over Moderna’s blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax.” Alnylam, which lost a similar dispute in a related Moderna case last year, “has filed separate, ongoing patent lawsuits over Pfizer’s COVID shots.” Alnylam sued both companies “for patent infringement in 2022 for allegedly using its lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology in their vaccines to deliver genetic material into the body.”

Infectious Disease Advisor (6/4, Nye) reports a study found that the “rate of antimicrobial resistant (AMR)-related hospital admissions over the past decade varied by causative pathogen and rose for hospital-onset cases during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for stronger AMR prevention strategies.” Researchers observed that “the rate of inpatient admissions due to AMR pathogens initially decreased from 209.6 in 2012 to 180.5 in 2016, increased to 189.2 in 2019, peaked at 197.0 in 2020, and then declined to 179.6 in 2022. A total of 6 pathogens represented 569,749 AMR-related hospitalizations in 2022, of which most (>75%) were due to community-onset disease.” In regard to hospital-onset AMR infections, “the incidence decreased from 48.6 in 2012 to 34.7 in 2016, increased to 42.7 in 2020, and then declined to 41.6 in 2022.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Infectious Disease Advisor (6/4, Basilio) reports a study found that “the number of pediatric hospitalizations for acute respiratory infection (ARI) caused by human parainfluenza virus (PIV) is substantial in the United States, especially among infants aged 0 to 5 months, highlighting the need for better PIV prevention strategies in younger pediatric patients.” A total of 16,971 pediatric patients with ARIs were evaluated for the study. Researchers observed that “of patients with PIV-associated ARIs, 32.8% were positive for PIV-1, 15.5% for PIV-2, 40.3% for PIV-3, and 11.4% for PIV-4. In patients hospitalized for ARI due to other respiratory viruses, infections were predominantly attributed to rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV; 43%) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, 35%).” Researchers concluded, “Our results suggest that prevention efforts should focus on children less than 2 years of age, but that older children are also at risk for hospitalization for ARI associated with PIV infection.” The study was published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

Reuters (6/3, Sunny) says the Texas Department of State Health Services reported Tuesday a total of 742 measles cases in the state, “an increase of four cases since its last update on Friday.”

Pulmonology Advisor (6/3, Stong) reports, “Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) seasons ended earlier than usual in 2022-23 and 2023-24...according to study findings.” The study also found that “typical human metapneumovirus...circulation patterns have returned since the COVID-19 pandemic.” The research was published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

American Journal of Managed Care (6/3, Steinzor) reports a study found that “blood-based circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) test detected colorectal cancer (CRC) with 79.2% sensitivity and 91.5% specificity, according to a recent prospective study,” which suggests it “may be a viable noninvasive screening option, although its ability to detect advanced precancerous lesions remains limited.” The investigational blood-based test also “achieved a negative predictive value of 90.8% and a positive predictive value of 15.5% for advanced colorectal neoplasia.” However, the test’s “sensitivity for advanced precancerous lesions was 12.5% falling short of the predefined threshold.” Researchers acknowledged “further research is needed on long-term effectiveness, patient acceptance, and optimal screening intervals.” The study was published in JAMA.

Infectious Disease Advisor (6/2, Basilio) reports a study found that “in-hospital mortality and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 infection declined among veterans in the United States from 2023 to 2024, a period representing 3 predominant SARS-CoV-2 variants.” Out of a total of 130,263 patients, “2690 (2.07%) patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19 during the study period,” with an in-hospital mortality rate of 0.03%. In the adjusted analysis, “the rate of COVID-19-related hospitalization per 10,000 persons during the XBB, JN.1, and KP predominant eras was 238.26, 195.88, and 192.73, respectively.” Compared with those who tested positive for COVID-19 “in the XBB era, the risk for hospitalization was lower for patients who tested positive in the JN.1 era or the KP era.” Additionally, “in regard to in-hospital mortality, the rate per 10,000 persons among patients with positive COVID-19 results in the XBB, JN.1, and KP eras was 3.53, 2.70, and 2.66, respectively.” The study was published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Infectious Disease Advisor (6/2, Nye) reports a study found that “the investigational once-daily regimen of doravirine (DOR) plus islatravir (ISL) was found to be noninferior to bictegravir (BIC) plus emtricitabine (FTC) and tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) through 48 weeks as first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART).” Researchers observed that “at 48 weeks, 88.9% of DOR/ISL recipients and 88.3% of BIC/FTC/TAF recipients achieved HIV suppression, indicating noninferiority between the ART regimens. There was no significant heterogeneity observed in subgroup analyses.” In regard to safety, “most patients experienced AEs, with similar rates observed between DOR/ISL and BIC/FTC/TAF recipients. However, patients in the DOR/ISL cohort exhibited higher rates of infection-related AEs, treatment-related AEs, and severe AEs.” The study was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

ABC News (6/2, Kekatos, Pakanati) reports a study published in JAMA found that most US counties have seen a decline in childhood measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates over the last five years. Researchers examined data “from 2,066 counties across 33 states between 2019 and 2024” and found “that 78% of the counties, or 1,614, reported a decrease in vaccination rates over that period.” They found “the average vaccination rate fell from 93.92% pre-pandemic to 91.26% post-pandemic,” a decline of about 3%. They noted that “just four states – California, Connecticut, Maine and New York – had an increase in county-level vaccination rates.” Meanwhile, CDC data show that “during the 2023 to 2024 school year, 92.7% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine,” down from “93.1% seen in the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019 to 2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.”