Login
COVID transmission and kids: much ado about very little
Incidence and Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in US Child Care Centers After COVID-19 Vaccines; JAMA Network Open, Oct 24, 2023.
A study in JAMA Network Open confirmed what was evident since at least early 2022: COVID-19 transmission from children in daycare to caregivers or family members is low.
The team of researchers, led by pediatrician Dr. Timothy Shope from the University of Pittsburgh, analyzed COVID-19 incidence and transmission data from 1,154 kids and 402 childcare providers at 11 childcare centers.
Data were self-reported for most children and facilities. However, 83 attendees, their 134 household members (116 adults and 18 children), and 21 caregivers participated weekly in routine testing.
Surveillance students had double the COVID-19 incidence rate of students who self-reported, and students were more likely than providers to have asymptomatic infection (34% versus 8%).
Over the study period, 20.5% of family members tested positive (with equal infection rates for adults and children), but only five home cases were caused by infections acquired from daycare.
To avoid fatty liver disease, move vigorously!
Young Adult Physical Activity Trajectories and Midlife Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; JAMA Network Open, Oct. 20, 2023.
Young adults who engage in regular physical activity have a 41% lower risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) during middle age, according to a study in JAMA Network Open.
Investigators used self-reported physical activity data from 2,833 subjects (average age 25) taken at eight points over 25 to categorize activity as “vigorous” or “moderate.”
After adjusting for age, smoking and lifestyles, they found a reduced risk of NAFLD in middle age for individuals who engaged in higher levels of vigorous physical activity during their youth.
Although the researchers didn’t find a corresponding benefit for medium-intensity activity, they made a point of noting its value in maintaining health.
NAFLD is often the first stage of liver disease and its incidence is rising steeply in the U.S.
Diet is a known risk factor. Inactivity has also been suspected but long-term studies, which are expensive and by their nature time-consuming, have been lacking.
How to overcome ‘vaccine hesitancy’? Threats work.
COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness and Reasons for Vaccine Refusal; JAMA Network Open, Oct. 19, 2023.
Hong Kong residents who faced loss of employment or access to public areas were more likely to take an untested medicine than unthreatened individuals, according to a paper in JAMA Network Open.
This revelation, by investigators from China, Singapore and Hong Kong, arose from interviews with 28,007 people beginning in 2020, before the COVID-19 gene therapy products (vaccines) launched.
At the time, 65.3% of residents indicated willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine. Reports of positive vaccine outcomes, which were amplified in the media but likely based on mishandled or fabricated data, bumped willingness up to 73.4% but enthusiasm quickly waned.
Enthusiasm dropped to 55% after officials announced the availability of vaccines from Germany, the U.K. and — perhaps most alarming to Hong Kong residents — mainland China.
It dropped to 43.6% after reports of adverse events emerged. Researchers attributed 72.5% of vaccine refusal to low vaccine confidence, misconceptions, “political views” and mistrust in health authorities.
So how, given all this “vaccine hesitancy,” did Hong Kong reach a 91% full “vaccination” rate?
Through coercion: Workplace vaccine mandates, which increased vaccination appointments by 62.2%, and the Hong Kong vaccine pass were “associated with 124.8% increases in daily COVID-19 vaccination appointments.”
Common drug for lowering cholesterol raises diabetes risk
Rosuvastatin versus atorvastatin treatment in adults with coronary artery disease: secondary analysis of the randomised LODESTAR trial; British Medical Journal, Oct. 18, 2023.
Cholesterol-lowering drugs are risky but some are riskier than others, according to a paper in the British Medical Journal.
While studying the relative effectiveness of rosuvastatin (brand name Crestor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor), South Korean researchers found that Crestor lowered cholesterol more effectively but at the cost of higher risk for Type 2 diabetes.
They recruited 4,400 adults with coronary artery disease through 12 South Korean hospitals. Half the subjects received the standard Crestor dose daily, the other half got Lipitor. Compliance was high, with 4,341 subjects completing the trial.
After three years, deaths, serious illness and improvements in blood flow were about the same in the two groups. Crestor was slightly better at reducing “bad cholesterol” but significantly increased the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
The increase was concerning because these were heart patients — and diabetes is an established risk for heart disease.
Junk food addiction may meet the criteria of substance use disorder
Social, clinical, and policy implications of ultra-processed food addiction; The BMJ, Oct. 9, 2023.
Up to 14% of adults and 12% of children have a food addiction — and the biggest culprits are ultra-processed foods.
That finding, based on a review of 281 studies, appeared in The BMJ with University of Michigan psychologist Ashley Gearhardt, Ph.D., as lead author.
Gearhardt found that humans consume ultra-processed foods high in refined carbohydrates and fats compulsively, and behavior involving those foods “may meet the criteria for diagnosis of substance use disorder in some people.”
She concluded that approaching ultra-processed foods as addictive substances could lead to benefits in clinical care and public policy.
However, reclassifying these foods as addictive will entail the responsibility “to curtail industry practices such as the creation of UPFs that maximise ‘craveability’ by hitting consumers’ ‘bliss point,’ and the aggressive marketing of such products to children.”
