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Study Suggests Kids With Severe COVID-19 Have Lasting Metabolic Changes
A new study based on blood samples from 147 children with or without COVID-19 shows severe COVID-19 infections may cause lasting metabolic changes in children that could impact heart health. The study was published yesterday in the Journal of Proteome Research.
The blood samples included serum taken from children who were hospitalized at Massachusetts General Hospital for severe COVID-19 infections, including MIS-C (multiple inflammatory syndrome in children), a rare but serious complication that can follow mild to moderate COVID-19 cases.
Researchers from Harvard University and Murdoch University in Australia collected pediatric serum samples from 66 healthy controls with confirmatory absence of COVID-19 antibodies, 55 participants with positive COVID-19 tests, and 26 participants who had MIS-C following COVID-19 infections. Of the 55 children with COVID-19, 32 (58%) were hospitalized during their infection; however, only 14 (25%) presented with severe COVID-19 requiring supplemental oxygen.
Of the kids with MIS-C, 13 (50%) required intensive care unit-level care, seven (24%) required vasopressors for cardiovascular dysfunction, and two (8%) required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Samples collected from the children with MIS-C showed marked blood metabolic disruptions, including increased triglycerides and altered lipoprotein composition. Those alterations were also seen to a lesser extent in children with acute COVID-19, but not in the healthy controls.
New Federal Covid-19 Vaccine Policies Are Already Keeping Some People From Getting Shots
After federal health officials made abrupt changes to U.S. COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women last month, there’s new confusion and uncertainty about who can get the shots — and some reports that patients were turned away when they tried to get vaccinated. Now, 30 health and medical organizations are pushing for continued access and insurance coverage for the vaccines.
“We are deeply concerned about the recently adopted HHS policy to no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy,” wrote the organizations – including major professional groups for obstetricians, primary care providers, pediatricians, pharmacists and nurses – in an open letter. “It is vital that we ensure that pregnant women continue to have access to this prevention tool so that they can protect themselves and their young infants, a vulnerable group who is not yet eligible for vaccination.”
The letter calls on “payers and insurers to continue making the COVID-19 vaccine available to pregnant people without undue utilization management or cost-sharing requirements,” even though the shots have been removed from the list of vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pregnant women who have COVID-19 are more likely to require care in the ICU or on a ventilator, or to die, the letter said, and they’re at higher risk of complications such as cesarean birth, preeclampsia or eclampsia, and blood clots. Infants born after a COVID-19 infection also face increased risks.
New Study Shows Social Media Use Predicted Future Depression in Tweens
As American adolescents experience both declining mental health and rising exposure to social media, parents and researchers alike have tried to better understand the link between the two: Does social media fuel mental health struggles? Or are struggling kids more likely to turn to social media?
A new study indicates a possible answer. When researchers at the University of California at San Francisco examined social media use and depressive symptoms among tweens over a three-year period, they found that an increase in social media use predicted a future rise in symptoms of depression — but not the other way around.
The study, published in May in the journal JAMA Network Open, followed nearly 12,000 preteens over three years starting at age nine to 10. The lead author of the study, Jason Nagata, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco, spoke to The Washington Post about his team’s findings and observations. Daily social media use among study participants surged tenfold over those years, from about seven minutes per day at age nine, to 74 minutes per day by age 13. During that same time frame, reported depression symptoms jumped 35%.
“Social media does seem to be a risk factor for future depression, or worsening depressive symptoms,” Nagata says. “But kids who were already depressed didn’t necessarily report using social media more in subsequent years.” The emergence of this pattern, he says, is “a new finding.” The data was drawn from the national Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.
$50 Million Gift to Launch the Lurie Autism Institute
$50 million gift to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine will create an ambitious joint initiative called the Lurie Autism Institute to drive discoveries with transformative impact for those living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The gift, from the Lurie family, is the largest single donation to U.S. academic medical centers focused on autism research across the lifespan.
Over 75 million people worldwide are living with ASD, including one in 31 children and one in 45 adults in the U.S. The Lurie family’s investment will strategically leverage CHOP and Penn Medicine’s strengths in autism research and translation to seek answers to the most challenging and important questions around ASD.
“We established the Lurie Autism Institute to spark a new era of scientific discovery in autism. CHOP and Penn Medicine bring unmatched expertise and a proven record of innovation, and together, they have the tools to unlock answers that have eluded the field for far too long,” says Jeffrey Lurie, Chairman and CEO of the Philadelphia Eagles and founder of the Eagles Autism Foundation. “By investing in cutting-edge science and the infrastructure to move it forward, we’re aiming not just to understand autism more deeply — but to transform what’s possible for individuals and families worldwide.”
Docs Should Turn Away From ACIP’s Vaccine Recommendations, Ex-Member Says
A recently ousted member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said Thursday that she is recommending that physicians go to sources other than ACIP for vaccine scheduling recommendations.
“It puts us in a very dangerous place if we can’t trust the national recommendations made by ACIP,” said Helen Chu, M.D., professor of allergy and infectious diseases at the University of Washington, in Seattle. “We do have to start turning to other sources. So what I’ve been telling people is that they can go to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for pregnant persons, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
These groups are still working to review the evidence and to put out science-based recommendations.” On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all 17 members, including Chu, saying in an HHS press release that the agency is “prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda.” The move was widely decried by public health advocates, one of whom called it “reckless, shortsighted, and severely harmful.”
“My fear is that we are going to turn into a country where each state is going to have to make its own decisions,” Chu said during an online press conference hosted by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). “Fortunately, Washington state is a place where we have experts and scientists who work together. There are other states where this may not exist, or where they may not choose to recommend vaccines. So that is going to create a lot of chaos.”
Zicam Nasal Swabs, Orajel Teething Swabs Recalled Nationwide Over Potential Fungal Contamination
Check your medicine cabinet — Zicam nasal swabs and Orajel baby teething swabs are being recalled due to potential microbial contamination, according to federal health officials. In an alert from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Church & Dwight Co., Inc., the brands’ manufacturer, voluntarily issued the recall after the potential contamination was discovered, which was identified as fungi in the cotton swab components of the products.
The recalled products include all lots of Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs (with UPC 732216301205), all lots of Zicam Nasal AllClear Swabs (UPC 732216301656) and all lots of Orajel Baby Teething Swabs (UPC 310310400002). All other Zicam and Orajel products are not affected by this recall, the FDA said. Consumers with any recalled products should stop using them immediately, the FDA advised.
Swabs with microbial contamination can present significant health and safety risks, including serious and life-threatening blood infections, the agency added. The highest risk is among children and people with compromised immune systems or other underlying medical conditions.
So far, no serious adverse events have been reported in connection to the recalled products
