How disease detectives are trying to crack the mystery of hepatitis in healthy children

When four young kids who’d turned yellow with jaundice turned up at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham last October, liver transplant specialist Helena Gutierrez and colleagues got nervous. Neither the gastroenterology nor the pediatric infectious diseases teams could figure out what had triggered hepatitis — inflammation of the liver — in these previously healthy children. The doctors reached out to the state public health department, which in turn reached out to the CDC. As cases continue to crop up around the world, CDC’s disease detectives have marshaled a team with a broad array of expertise, explained Eric Pevzner, chief of the agency’s famed Epidemic Intelligence Service. “The first thing we look at is: What do we think we might be dealing with? And what are the skill sets that we need?” Pevzner told STAT’s Helen Branswell. Read more on how the investigation is unfolding.

Biogen has new hurdles to vault after decisions on its CEO and Alzheimer's drug

Biogen, a stalwart of the global drug industry for the past four decades, is perilously poised for 2022. Yesterday's decisions to replace CEO Michel Vounatsos and cut nearly all spending marketing on the Alzheimer’s disease treatment Aduhelm resolved some of the questions swirling around the embattled biotech. But the storied company is moving forward with a lame-duck CEO, an interim chief scientist, and a board with a long history of gridlock. Biogen’s core business continues to deteriorate and the company’s best hope is yet another risky Alzheimer’s therapy, one whose success or failure will have sweeping implications for Biogen’s future. On its to-do list are finding a new CEO and keeping key talent, along with succeeding where Aduhelm failed. STAT’s Adam Feuerstein and Damian Garde have some ideas for any aspiring Biogen Kremlinologists or biotech tea-leaf readers. Read more in STAT+.

Gates Foundation CEO has ‘zero expectation’ that Melinda French Gates will step down

In the most extensive public comments about the stewardship of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since the founders announced their divorce a year ago, the philanthropy’s chief executive said there was now “zero expectation” for Melinda French Gates to step down as co-chair after two years, as they both had agreed if the partnership was not working out. CEO Mark Suzman told STAT’s Rick Berke that even as they work through “the personal stuff,” Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates remain “deeply, passionately committed” to the foundation. Gates and French Gates sit atop the world’s largest private charitable foundation. A year ago Suzman announced a series of corporate governance steps, including that if the two couldn’t work together following their divorce, Bill Gates would get full control of the foundation in two years. Read more in this STAT+ exclusive.

Closer look: ADHD drug debate could be a cautionary tale for telehealth

(adobe)

Online pharmacy startups have pledged to make it faster and easier than ever to get needed medications. But a high-profile series of setbacks involving brick-and-mortar pharmacy chains refusing to to fill Adderall prescriptions calls those promises into question. Experts say the unfolding debate about online prescribing of ADHD drugs points to broader questions about how to balance the best of what telehealth can offer — easier access to necessary care for more people — with its risks and the rapidly changing regulations that govern how patients are diagnosed and treated virtually. "There are people who have chronic medical conditions who we know need access to prescription medications, and there’s an important problem to be solved,” said Aaron Neinstein of UCSF told STAT’s Mohana Ravindranath. But newer companies are “completely losing the nuance of a health care interaction and the relationship between a doctor and a patient." Read more.

Women and Black adults wait longer in ERs for chest pain evaluation

Chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack in both men and women, but it’s less likely to be recognized among women, research has repeatedly shown. A new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association reports that women and people of color under age 55 who went to hospital emergency rooms with chest pain waited longer than white men under 55 to be evaluated by a doctor. Women were also less likely than men to be hospitalized or kept under observation. The survey of more than 4,100 patient records in hospitals across the U.S. didn’t say what the outcomes were for people who waited longer for a thorough evaluation, but the study’s authors note that young women and young Black adults have worse outcomes after a heart attack compared to men and white adults.

1 in 5 parents of kids under 5 would seek Covid vaccination 'right away' if authorized

In a Kaiser Family Foundation poll conducted just before Moderna asked FDA to authorize use of its Covid vaccine in the youngest kids, about 18% of parents with children under 5 said they would seek a shot right away once available. While 38% said they would wait and see, 27% would definitely not get their child vaccinated and 11% would do so only if required for school or day care. Other sentiments:

Most (88%) people working outside their homes feel “very” (55%) or “somewhat” (33%) safe from Covid-19 while at work.
Fewer Black (31%) and Hispanic (48%) workers than white (63%) workers feel “very safe”; workers with incomes under $40,000 annually are less likely (41%) than those with higher incomes (57%) to feel “very safe.”
Three-quarters of adults (75%) say they have been vaccinated and, unlike previous surveys, similar shares of Black (47%), Hispanic (43%), and white (48%) adults report having gotten a booster.

On this week's episode of the "First Opinion Podcast," First Opinion editor Patrick Skerrett talks with physicians Antje Barreveld and Haider J. Warraich about how doctors should treat pain in the wake of the opioid crisis. Listen here.

What to read around the web today

Alito’s plan to repeal the 20th century. The Atlantic
Early transgender identity tends to endure, study suggests. Associated Press
Medicare surprise: Drug plan prices touted during open enrollment can rise within a month. Kaiser Health News
Scientific collaborations are precarious territory for women. Nature
A compromise on patent waivers for Covid-19 vaccines takes a key step at the WTO. STAT+