Dare we hope for a pandemic reprieve after Omicron crashes?

It’s month 25 of the Covid-19 pandemic, and we all probably should have learned by now not to try to anticipate what the SARS-CoV-2 virus is going to do next. But by the time the Omicron tsunami crashes, far more people will have some immunity to Covid-19 than when the wave began. Some experts think we may get a respite after the punishing months of the Delta and Omicron waves, with their millions of cases. Whether that reprieve, if it comes, will be the point where SARS-2 pivots to becoming endemic — well, most of the experts STAT’s Helen Branswell spoke to aren’t ready to make a prediction that is quite so bold yet. But there is some agreement. “I think we will have a relative lull,” Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota told her. Read more.

Small study finds no evidence of transmitting Covid through breastfeeding

Breast milk from mothers infected with Covid-19 isn’t likely to harm breastfeeding infants, a small new study concludes. Researchers analyzed breast milk donated by 110 lactating women to a California repository from March through September 2020. Among those women, 65 tested positive for Covid, nine had symptoms but tested negative, and 36 had symptoms but were not tested. Viral RNA was found in seven breast milk samples from women who tested positive or had symptoms. A second sample taken up to three months later showed no viral RNA, nor were there any signs of viral replication when cultured later. None of the infants breastfed by these mothers developed Covid. Even though the study was small, the authors write in Pediatric Research that women infected with Covid do not risk transmitting the disease to their breastfeeding babies.

Mental health apps come up short in evidence reviews — for now

A meta-review published yesterday in PLOS Digital Health that focused specifically on randomized control trials for mental health apps found universal shortcomings in study design, leading the researchers to write that they “failed to find convincing evidence in support of any mobile phone-based intervention on any outcome.” It’s a provocative claim that hints at the work ahead for researchers and entrepreneurs hoping to prove to policymakers and the public that their interventions work. But study co-author Simon Goldberg of University of Wisconsin-Madison, home of the meditation app called the Healthy Minds Program, told STAT’s Mario Aguilar that better studies will surely emerge for some of the more promising interventions. “I would bet the farm that if you wait five years and people keep running these trials, there will be convincing evidence,” he said. Read more.

Inside STAT: What may happen if pharmacies are the only place to get Paxlovid

Boxes of Paxlovid at Pfizer's manufacturing facility in Freiburg, Germany. (PFIZER)

As another year of pandemic fatigue looms, the U.S. once again has to decide how to allocate and distribute scarce health care resources, from ICU beds to Covid-19 drugs. Important mistakes are still being made, Holly Fernandez Lynch and Keith Hamilton of the University of Pennsylvania write in a STAT First Opinion about Paxlovid. The two-drug antiviral, developed by Pfizer for treating people who test positive for Covid-19 and are at high risk for severe disease, can be taken at home, a huge benefit. But there isn’t nearly enough Paxlovid to meet demand. Several states are sending the drug to pharmacies rather than hospitals, but “distributing Paxlovid only via retail pharmacies while the supply remains low will result in those with the loudest voices, the strongest advocates, and the most time and resources getting access,” they say. Read more.

Why big data's big moment to deliver on combatting Covid-19 never came

When the pandemic hit, technology companies pledged to do their part by cracking open their secretive datasets and letting public health researchers mine it for clues about how to bring Covid-19 under control. “Early on, when everyone was freaking out, there was a perception that there would be almost like a magic moment where the data would materialize and it would answer our questions,” said Andrew Schroeder, a co-leader of the Covid-19 Mobility Data Network. “And then this moment never came,” he said. As he and his co-authors lay out in a commentary published yesterday in PLOS Digital Health, public health goals ran headlong into the business interests of the companies that provided their data for analysis. STAT’s Katie Palmer has more.

Survival for extremely preterm babies improving

More extremely preterm infants — born after 22 to 28 weeks' gestation — are surviving, a new JAMA study says. Among infants born from 2013 to 2018 at 19 U.S. academic medical centers, 78% survived until discharge, up significantly from 76% reported from 2008 through 2012. The improvement comes while more infants born at 22 weeks were treated than before. For infants born at less than 27 weeks, half needed rehospitalization and 1 in 5 had severe neurodevelopmental impairment at 2 years old. The study “fills an important gap in knowledge,” a companion editorial says, helping doctors and parents make decisions about care when facing preterm delivery.

What to read around the web today

The pandemic’s true death toll: millions more than official counts. Nature
Drugmaker Gilead alleges counterfeiting ring sold its HIV drugs. Wall Street Journal
Surprise! The pandemic has made people more science literate. Wired
Going bald? Lab-grown hair cells could be on the way. MIT Technology Review
Patent thickets are thwarting U.S. availability of lower-cost biosimilar medicines, study finds. STAT+

Thanks for reading! More tomorrow,

P.S.: If you’re a fan of news about microbiota or about pandas (and who isn’t?), dive into this Cell Reports study on why the bears' bamboo diet keeps them chubby year-round, whether they eat shoots or leaves. Wait, is that why pandas are on the cover of that book?