Why doesn't the U.S. have at-home flu tests?

Americans are used to testing at home for signs of coronavirus, but what about for the other pathogens that nest in our lungs? Even as flu sweeps the U.S. with renewed force, if parents or patients want to know whether a sneeze is a sign of “la grippe,” they generally need to wait to see a medical professional.

There are researchers and companies trying to change that, as STAT’s Brittany Trang reports, but the path ahead is uncertain. The FDA and outside advisers considered the question prior to the pandemic but ultimately found that at-home flu tests were too inaccurate or that people wouldn’t stay home even if they tested positive. Now, the agency is looking at the question anew, with specific applicants. The FDA says it wants to find ways to make these tests available, but startups developing them say it’s not always clear what the FDA wants them to show. Read more.

Bacterial infections are the second leading cause of death globally

Before Covid came around, the world’s deadliest pathogens weren’t viruses — they were bacteria. In a new Lancet study, researchers estimated that 7.7 million people worldwide died of infections from 33 different types of bacteria in 2019, making it the second most common cause of death behind heart disease.

Much attention has been given to “silent pandemic” of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, but the report — looking at both drug-resistant and drug-susceptible — highlighted the risks that all forms of pathogenic bacteria continue to pose, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Noting the fight against these bacteria have received dramatically less funding than the fight against HIV and other better-known threats, the authors called for greater investment in vaccination campaigns, basic acute care, sanitation, and efforts that reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

On mitigating climate change, ‘digital health is late to the party’

Digital health is often viewed as an industry that cuts carbon emissions, and understandably so: Seeing your doctor via Zoom saves on the gas you need to drive, the paper to print your health records, and even disposable PPE a nurse might’ve used to take vital signs. But as STAT’s Katie Palmer explains, these are only the most obvious ways digital health touches the environment. Consider, for example, the additional computing infrastructure for those health records. Or the carbon impact of creating, shipping, and operating at-home medical devices.

In one surprising study, researchers found that patients who had follow-up care via telehealth after being in the ER were more likely to later return to the ER, increasing overall health care utilization and, likely, emissions. The obvious savings are “only a small component of the digital health technology footprint,” Zerina Lokmic-Tomkins, a nursing and informatics researcher, told Katie. “There’s this whole other life that nobody is aware of.”

Closer look: How a simple screening question could help millions of women prevent heart disease

Monique Shields developed preeclampsia when she was pregnant with her first child. (Jovelle Tamayo for STAT)

What if someone told you there could be a way to predict which women are most likely to develop heart disease later in life? It’d be a pretty big deal, right? Heart disease kills 1 out of every 5 women in the U.S., making it the leading cause of death for that group. As one expert explained to STAT contributor Katherine Harmon Courage, we may already have an indicator: pregnancy complications.

Those who have preeclampsia, for example, have more than double the risk of eventually developing heart disease. And yet most cardiologists don’t take these well-defined risks into account when assessing which patients to monitor closely. That oversight could have real costs. “You don’t want to wait and see 20, 30 years from now,” said Graeme Smith, head of obstetrics and gynecology at Queen’s University School of Medicine in Canada. “You want to get working on it now to prevent it from happening.” Read more.

Shortage of mental health care providers associated with higher youth suicide rate

Counties with a shortage of mental health care providers were linked to higher rates of youth suicide, researchers reported yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. The findings rely on data from 2015 and 2016, but they come at a time when the number of Americans living in areas with a shortage of mental health professionals is growing. Federal data shows over 150 million people currently live in such areas.

The researchers initially found that counties with provider shortages had a 41% higher youth suicide rate: 5.09 per 100,000 youths, compared to 3.62 per 100,000 in counties without shortages. When they controlled for socioeconomic and other confounding factors — rural and high-poverty areas are known to have higher suicide rates — they still found that living in county with a shortage of mental health workers was associated with a 16% higher youth suicide rate. “Strategies to ameliorate mental health professional workforce shortages…. may be considered in comprehensive youth suicide prevention programs,” the authors concluded.

Scientists send stem cells into space to better understand aging

When SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Earth this afternoon, it will propel an unlikely passenger into space: human stem cells. It’s all part of a continuing mission by UC San Diego’s Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center to better understand how aging affects the stem cells that live in our bone marrow, which give rise to both red and white blood cells.

The institute has already sent stem cells into space twice, and initial evidence shows that doing so actually speeds up the natural aging of these cells, causing changes within a month that would take years to show up on earth, Catriona Jamieson, the institute’s director, told STAT’s Jonathan Wosen. The findings could help scientists better screen whether would-be astronauts are healthy enough to go into space, and may lead to new treatments that boost the ability of stem cells to renew themselves and grow into new cell types.

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. For TTY users: Use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988.

What we're reading

The case for universal oral health coverage, according to a new WHO report, STAT
Opinion: Scientists don’t agree on what causes obesity, but they know what doesn’t, New York Times
Northwest Bio study of cancer vaccine still falls short, STAT
‘Labour advantage’ drives greater productivity at elite universities, Nature
Fixing the broken lovelies, Washington Post