We have amazing ways to treat Covid-19. Setbacks and shortages are undercutting them

On paper, the list of outpatient treatments for Covid-19 seems reassuring. Two oral antivirals have arrived, companies have churned out monoclonal antibody treatments, and all of them, to varying degrees, can help prevent patients from getting so sick they need to be hospitalized. But at a time when more people than ever are getting sick, the supply of some treatments, particularly the prized new oral treatment Paxlovid, is extremely constrained. The ascendance of the Omicron variant has nullified the power of some of the monoclonal antibodies. And a slow and limited sequencing infrastructure means that doctors don’t typically know which variant the person in front of them is infected with. STAT’s Andrew Joseph looks at the shifting landscape.

Omicron may be foiling rapid Covid tests. Scientists are trying to pinpoint why

We’ve all heard stories like these: People who’ve contracted Covid report their rapid tests came back negative. Then there's that small, 30-patient study we told you about yesterday, which showed the tests took several days after infection before they detected the virus. No one is arguing that antigen tests should not be used, nor that it is reasonable to expect they will detect every case. But now scientists are trying to determine why the tests are missing cases, many of them of the Omicron variant, and what could be done about it, including looking at nasal swabs vs. saliva samples. But don’t hold your breath. “I’m afraid I can’t offer much more than a frustrated shoulder shrug here and assurances that I share your questions,” Craig Spencer of Columbia told STAT’s Matthew Herper.

3 fatal rabies cases suggest U.S. public may underestimate the risk from bats

One day last fall, a man in his 80s living in Lake County, Ill., woke up to find a bat on his neck. He caught the bat and turned it in to the health department for testing, which revealed the bat had rabies. The man was offered rabies treatment — but refused. He later died, one of three people to die from rabies contracted from bats last fall. All three deaths could have been prevented had the people sought or accepted post-exposure rabies care, the CDC said in a report yesterday. The rare confluence of fatal cases — in a typical year, one to three individuals in the United States dies from rabies — suggests the public may not fully understand the rabies risk from bats, CDC scientists told STAT’s Helen Branswell. Read more.

Inside STAT: Countering vaccine refusal among white evangelicals

Emerging research suggests that appealing to white evangelicals’ faith could lead to a rise in their stagnant immunization rates. (Manu Brabo/AP)

Pushback against Covid-19 vaccines has remained stubbornly high among white evangelicals, with polls in recent months suggesting between 30% and 40% refused to get vaccinated, the highest proportion among any religious group surveyed. So one group of researchers had an idea. They asked 1,765 unvaccinated, self-identified white Christians to watch a short video in which then-NIH Director Francis Collins — a white evangelical himself — answered questions about the safety and effectiveness of Covid vaccines. “Intent to vaccinate” was higher in the group that saw the video than those who didn’t. The study is part of emerging research that suggests that appealing to white evangelicals’ faith could make a dent, however small, in their stagnant immunization rates. STAT contributor Joanne Silberner has more.

Provocative new findings connect Down syndrome to cells involved in aging

Down syndrome is the most common genetic disorder, one that scientists traced decades ago to a particular abnormality on chromosome 21. How that problem happens hasn’t been clear. Yesterday, a team reported in Cell Stem Cell that it may have found a surprising cause: senescent cells, the same types that pile up and pollute tissues as people get older, considered culprits in many diseases of aging. The new study was small and preliminary, and some experts want to see it replicated in samples from more individuals before buying into its interpretations. But they are nevertheless intriguing — in part because so many companies are now rushing to develop drugs that clear senescent cells from the body. STAT’s Megan Molteni explains.

Global cases of dementia could triple by 2050

Speaking of diseases of aging (see above), the global scourge of dementia is expected to triple over the next three decades, a new analysis projects, unless measures are taken now to reduce risk factors. The Lancet Public Health study projects 153 million people will be living with dementia by 2050. The smallest increases are predicted in the high-income Asia Pacific region (53%) and western Europe (74%), and the largest growth in north Africa and the Middle East (367%) and eastern sub-Saharan Africa (357%). Cases could drop if smoking, obesity, and high blood sugar declined and education increased. “Given the current absence of available effective disease-modifying treatments for dementia, immediate efforts to reduce these projected increases will need to target disease prevention through interventions for modifiable risk factors,” the authors write.

What to read around the web today

Advisers to Biden transition team call for entirely new domestic Covid strategy. New York Times
Institutional investors urge pharma boards to tie executive compensation to global Covid vaccine equity. STAT+
Do your genes know what’s making you sick? The Atlantic
Chilean health ministry is urged to issue a compulsory license for the Pfizer Covid pill. STAT+
DNA-tester 23andMe starts trial of first drug developed in-house. Bloomberg