Inequities in neonatal mortality are wide even with assisted reproduction, study finds

This is startling news of a different health disparity in births. Researchers set out to compare outcomes among people who conceived spontaneously, used assisted reproduction technologies like IVF, or used other types of fertility aids. Among 7 million single births, neonatal mortality rates were twice as high among spontaneously conceived children of Black women versus white women. But they were four times as high among infants of Black women conceived through technologies like IVF, according to the new study in Pediatrics.

The findings highlight how technologies like IVF can’t mitigate the influence of structural racism on health outcomes, Isabel Morgan, the director of the Birth Equity Research Scholars program at the National Birth Equity Collaborative, told STAT’s Andrew Joseph. (Morgan was not involved in the new research.) “What is quite remarkable is seeing those inequities even more pronounced,” she said. Read more.

BU lab didn’t need NIH clearance for potentially controversial study, director says

Yesterday we told you about potentially controversial research at Boston University testing a lab-made hybrid version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. STAT’s Helen Branswell reported there is no evidence the work, conducted under biosecurity level 3, was done improperly or unsafely. But it did draw the attention of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Now, the director of the laboratory said his institution didn’t clear the work with the National Institutes of Health because it wasn’t funded by the federal agency. The research was financed with money from the university itself and approved by the institutional biosafety committee of BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, and by Boston’s Public Health Commission. Scientists from the BU facility posted results from their work in a preprint and the British tabloid The Daily Mail suggested on Monday that the group had fabricated a more dangerous version of the SARS-2 Omicron variant. Read more.

FDA, DOJ sue six vape shops

In a striking escalation of the FDA’s enforcement efforts against vaping companies, the agency is suing six vape shops that ignored its warnings that some of their products are illegal. Under current rules, both large manufacturers like Juul and Vuse and small vape shops that mix their own vape juice in-house have to apply for permission to sell their products with the FDA. STAT’s Nicholas Florko reported in August that many vape companies were ignoring the FDA's warnings about that law — and that the FDA wasn't then taking more serious action to force them to comply.

The companies the FDA is suing – E-Cig Crib, Soul Vapor LLC, Super Vape’z LLC, Vapor Craft LLC, Lucky’s Vape & Smoke Shop, and Butt Out — previously received formal FDA warnings. Read more.

Closer look: Long-term effects of monkeypox infections are an open question

(NIAID)

The current global outbreak of monkeypox has exposed gaps in our knowledge about a virus that has long plagued people in Central and West Africa. Now that cases are subsiding, more unknowns are surfacing about what happens next for people who are recovering. Given the dearth of research, health experts are struggling to understand what the long-term effects might be and how to treat them. STAT’s Helen Branswell reports on worrisome sequelae — Latin for “that which follows” — affecting men who represent the majority of cases, including:

Problems after genital rashes: Even men who didn’t have severe infections or need to be catheterized in order to urinate during their acute illness could face problems down the road, urological surgeon Walter Falconer told Helen.
Blindness: CDC reported five U.S. cases where infection in one or both eyes occurred.
Scarring and secondary bacterial infections: Tissue damage is aggravated.

Flu disparities persist for vaccination and hospitalizations

The message is clear: Everyone should get a flu shot today, the CDC says, especially with an early start to the flu season. But “everyone” has not been the reality. A CDC analysis released yesterday tracks inequities in who gets flu vaccine and who is hospitalized with severe flu. Vaccination has been lower among Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native adults since 2010: Last flu season, vaccination coverage was 54% among white and Asian adults but only 42% among Black adults, 38% among Hispanic adults, and 41% among AI/AN adults.

Compared to white adults, hospitalization rates were nearly 80% higher among Black adults, 30% higher among AI/AN adults, and 20% higher among Hispanic adults. The reasons behind lower vaccination rates include barriers to affordable health care, while more severe flu outcomes may follow higher rates of asthma, diabetes, obesity, and other chronic conditions.

More infants are getting special formula than need to, study says

The recent infant formula shortage drew attention to families for whom breastfeeding isn’t the sole solution to nutrition. A new study in Clinical & Experimental Allergy concludes that many more healthy infants are getting hypoallergenic versions of formula than require it. Looking at the three years leading up to the pandemic, the researchers found that 5.5% of formula purchased was hypoallergenic but only 1.3% of children are allergic to the proteins in cow’s milk.

Even though most healthy infants can digest lactose in human milk or formula, 59% of formula sold was lactose-reduced and 47% of the carbohydrates in formula were not lactose. There’s a downside for babies who are not lactose-intolerant, the authors note: Lactose alternatives, often based on glucose (corn syrup) or sucrose (sugar), have a higher glycemic index and are metabolized differently. “There is no medical indication for non-thickened, intact dairy protein, lactose-reduced formula” they write.

On this week's episode of the "First Opinion Podcast," First Opinion editor Patrick Skerrett talks with nutrition policy expert Marion Nestle about which labels mean a food is healthy (spoiler alert: if they say it's made with food). Listen here.

What we're reading

In new White House plan, Biden administration outlines ambitious strategy to prevent and prepare for pandemics, STAT
Desperate pleas and smuggled pills: A covert abortion network rises after Roe, Washington Post
Heart risks, data gaps fuel debate over Covid-19 boosters for young people, Science
We need a global system for testing and approving cancer treatments, Harvard Business Review
Feds make big funding push for more mental health clinics, U.S. News