Closer Look
Covid-19 still isn't seasonal yet, and experts can't agree why
Molly Ferguson for STAT
Culturally, many of us are living our lives like the pandemic is over. But scientists say that there's one final step that the virus that caused it hasn't fully taken yet: seasonality. There's no "Covid season" the way there is with other respiratory pathogens, like flu season. It's unclear to experts if and when it might happen. "If you kind of squint, you could see a little, you know, in different places," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead for Covid, told STAT's Helen Branswell. "But that isn't at a national level. … And it's not hemispheric."
It's an interesting academic question, but also a critical planning consideration for hospitals and other health care providers. My colleague Helen spoke to experts about whether we'll ever be able to more readily predict when Covid will spread. Read more.
HIV
U.S. task force adds long-acting PrEP to HIV prevention recommendations
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force yesterday issued an updated recommendation on prescribing PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, for HIV prevention. PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV through sexual activity by 99%, yet racial and income-based inequities remain in accessing the medication. HIV affects over a million people in the U.S., and is acquired most often through sexual activity or injection drug use. Black and Latino LGBTQ+ people in particular are at high risk, but aren't prescribed PrEP anywhere near the rates of their white counterparts.
The panel's recommendation is consistent with 2019's, with added evidence on a long-acting injectable form of PrEP, which experts note could be a "game changer" regarding these racial disparities, according to an editorial published in JAMA Internal Medicine about the recommendation. The injectable medication, cabotegravir, was approved by the FDA in 2021 and can be taken once every two months, which may lower barriers to uptake. But experts are also urging the federal government to work toward making all forms of PrEP more affordable and accessible to those both with and without insurance.
infectious disease
What a doctor who specializes in treating leprosy wants you to know
In recent weeks, you may have seen alarming headlines about how leprosy might become "endemic" in Florida. In a new STAT First Opinion, Florida physician Andrea Maderal, who specializes in treating leprosy, writes that the news didn't necessarily surprise her. She says that experts have long known about endemic cases of leprosy. Even though the disease is more common there than in other parts of the country, it's still incredibly rare.
Maderal also stressed several points the public should know about leprosy:
- Over 95% of the world's population is immune to infection.
- The exact mechanism for the transmission of leprosy is unknown. It is thought to spread through respiratory droplets after prolonged periods of exposure, such as a household contact. It is important to note that spread does not occur by incidental contact.
- Leprosy is still a significant global health burden. The prevalence of leprosy is highest in resource-limited settings, such as India, Brazil, Indonesia, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
Correction: Yesterday's item on Intellia's CRISPR trial incorrectly stated that it had been halted. The trial is still ongoing.
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