Good morning. It's not every day that anteaters make medical news.

Next up for FDA: Pfizer's Covid vaccine booster for kids 5 to 11 years old

Just as new Covid-19 cases are rising in the U.S., particularly in the Northeast, Pfizer and BioNTech said yesterday that in a small trial of children ages 5 to 11, a booster shot of their vaccine increased neutralizing antibodies against both the original coronavirus and the Omicron variant. Among the 140 kids given a booster six months after their two doses, the companies said in a press release, there were 30 children who had a 36-fold jump in their virus-fighting antibodies. The data haven’t been published or peer-reviewed, but the companies will ask FDA to authorize a booster for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds. They also plan to share the data with European and other regulators. In general, Covid-19 is more dangerous for adults, but kids can also get seriously ill. Regulators will have to decide if — and when — healthy elementary-age kids need a booster.

Experts investigate unusual hepatitis cases in young children

U.S. and U.K. public health officials are investigating unusual cases of serious hepatitis in young children. Evidence from the U.K. and from Alabama points to the possible involvement of an adenovirus. Adenoviruses generally lead to cold-like illnesses, but they are also linked to bladder inflammation and infection, and occasionally to hepatitis, though rarely in healthy children. Roughly 75 cases have been reported in England and Scotland, and a small number of the children have had or may require liver transplants. Some of those children tested positive for adenoviruses and for SARS-CoV-2, but the adenoviruses appear to be the leading suspects, according to an article in Eurosurveillance yesterday. The pandemic is still implicated: The authors note that little children exposed to fewer germs during the pandemic may be more vulnerable when masks come off and social distancing ends. STAT's Helen Branswell has more.

An anteater's transfer between zoos highlights wider 'rabies zones'

An anteater, also known as a tamandua, and her baby in Regents Park Zoo in London. (bruno vincent/getty images)

The transport of an anteater from a zoo in Virginia to another in Tennessee may have exposed more than a dozen people to rabies, researchers said yesterday — a warning that such transfers can expand “rabies zones.” Thirteen people had to undergo rabies treatment for possible exposure, and no human cases were ultimately reported, according to the CDC report. Rabies, almost universally fatal if untreated, is sometimes underestimated as a threat, recent research suggests. Earlier this year another CDC report described the cases of three people who died from rabies contracted from bats, all of whom could have survived had they sought or accepted post-exposure care. Earlier this month, a rabid fox bit at least nine people on Capitol Hill before being euthanized; those who had to be treated included a member of Congress. STAT’s Andrew Joseph has more.

Closer look: Leana Wen on Covid risk tolerance and her response to critics

Leana Wen, then president of Planned Parenthood, speaks at a 2019 press conference. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University, drew criticism recently when she described an outbreak of cases following the Gridiron Club dinner as what living with Covid-19 looks like. She spoke to STAT's "Readout LOUD" podcast team about risk.

Why should events like the Gridiron dinner go on?
I think there is an absolutism that’s taken over on both sides. There’s one side that has peddled misinformation and said that Covid isn’t real. And then there was another side that just can’t seem to let go of the fact that at some point you do have to move on.

How do you respond to your critics?
I think we all have a different calculus of risk. I think the better question to ask is, how much do I want to keep on avoiding Covid? And I’m not trying to be cavalier. If it looks like all of us are going to contract Covid in the near future, what are you willing to give up in order to keep on avoiding it?

You can read the full interview here.

Loophole closes for e-cigarette companies

They did it. Last month STAT’s Nicholas Florko told us lawmakers were within striking distance of closing the largest loophole in FDA oversight of e-cigarette companies. Now regulators can begin cracking down on companies that use synthetic rather than plant-derived nicotine, the Associated Press reports, including in fruit-flavored e-cigarettes popular among teenagers. The law, which took effect yesterday, targets Puff Bar and other vaping companies that switched their recipes to include lab-made nicotine and thus elude FDA oversight set by an older law. Synthetic nicotine will now be subject to the same federal age limit and sales restrictions as other tobacco products. The FDA’s action does not automatically ban Puff Bar and similar products, but it does brings them under the same regulatory framework as older e-cigarettes. Puff Bar did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.

Physician salaries rebound, disparities remain

Physician salaries stayed flat during the start of the pandemic, but not for long. By the end of 2021, doctors’ compensation headed back up by 7% toward an overall average of $339,000, a new Medscape survey reports. That’s up more than 29% since 2015. Some highlights:

Male physicians in primary care earned 23% more than female physicians and male specialists earned 31% more than female specialists.
White physicians ($346,000) earned more than Latinx/Hispanic ($328,000), Asian American ($329,000), and African American/Black physicians ($313,000).
The highest-paid specialists are plastic surgeons ($576,000) and the lowest-paid are public health and preventive medicine specialists ($243,000), but the latter group is the most likely (72%) to say it's fairly compensated.
36% of doctors earn money from side gigs, moonlighting or other medical-related work.

What to read around the web today

Many virus cases go uncounted. Are there better ways to track the pandemic? New York Times
Persistent problem: High c-section rates plague the South. Kaiser Heath News
Editas Medicine names new CEO — its fourth — as delays, poor data hamper its gene-editing treatments. STAT+
Opinion: Will ARPA-H work? Science
Omicron’s speedy retreat helped bolster UnitedHealth Group’s bottom line. STAT+