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U.S. government agencies reticent about H5N1, a new definition of airborne disease spread, and another retraction from Dana-Farber

April 19, 2024
Annalisa-Merelli-avatar-teal
General Assignment Reporter

It's venerdì, everyone! In other words, happy Friday. The H5N1 bird flu situation continues to evolve in the U.S., but government agencies don't seem to have learned a key lesson from the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic: the value of prompt and transparent communication. Thankfully, our Helen Branswell has been following all the developments.  

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public health

U.S. government agencies aren't answering questions about H5N1 bird flu

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Charlie Neibergall/AP

Nearly a month after announcing that milking cows in a Texas herd had tested positive for H5N1 avian flu, U.S. government agencies have been reluctant to share more information. They haven't said what they know about whether pasteurization kills the virus, and only on Thursday did authorities tell STAT it seems the now 29 affected herds are not part of a single linked outbreak.

This is causing challenges to other countries trying to understand their risk, writes Helen Branswell. "A country with capacity like the United States should be able to generate this information within days," said Marion Koopmans, head of the department of viroscience at Erasmus Medical Center in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. "I would expect very fast, very transparent updates and it's somewhat amazing not to see that happening." 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is leading the outbreak's investigation, pushed back against the criticism, saying it is sharing information as it becomes available. But experts believe the delays and what is perceived as a lack of transparency may undermine trust in government agencies, evoking déjà vu from Covid-19 times. Read more.


research

Dana-Farber retracts paper co-authored by CEO amid ongoing research review

The ongoing investigation into data integrity at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is continuing to find compromised papers. The latest is a 2006 Science paper on the role of two proteins in endoplasmic reticulum stress co-authored by institute president and CEO Laurie Glimcher. According to the retraction notice, the authors had become aware of discrepancies in the images that made them lose confidence in the accuracy of the findings. The lead author, Claudio Hetz, opposed the retraction. 

The new retractions are welcomed by the scientific watchdog community, which is praising Dana-Farber for effectively investigating its past body of research linked to the compromised images, writes STAT's Angus Chen. "It is good to see this institution taking a harder stance against sloppy science and intentional data falsification that many institutes have done in the past," said scientific whistleblower Elizabeth Bik. Read more.


infectious disease

The WHO has a new definition of airborne disease transmission 

It took two years of contentious debate, but the World Health Organization has published a new report with a set of more accurate definitions of airborne disease transmission. Until now, the official definition limited the label of "airborne" to a few pathogens, such as tuberculosis and measles, known to float in the air and travel long distances. Now, it includes all situations when transmission happens through inhaled particles. "It feels like finally the end of the most stubborn and senseless resistance to accepting this science," said Jose-Luis Jimenez, an aerosol chemist at the University of Colorado Boulder. 

What remains unclear is how the new definition of airborne transmission will shape efforts to protect and limit future outbreaks, writes STAT's Megan Molteni. Though the report says that protective measures such as masks and isolation rooms are important to prevent airborne spread, it did not recommend them in all settings, and the cost and politics associated with such measures may prove challenging. Read more.



first opinion

GLP-1 drugs are helping society accept obesity as a disease

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Adobe 

Ozempic and other semaglutide drugs have revolutionized obesity in more ways than one. Not only do the drugs provide an effective treatment for weight loss — alongside improving cardiovascular health and easing sleep apnea — but they have helped change the social perception of obesity from a lifestyle choice to a disease. That's something clinicians have long advocated for; the National Institutes of Health identified obesity as a disease in 1998.

STAT's Matt Herper and Elaine Chen described the potential cultural impact of these drugs in a prescient piece back in March 2023. And in a new First Opinion, Jonathan Isaacsohn, a cardiologist and CEO of CinRx Pharma, writes that this reframing of obesity helps drug developers because it validates and supports their work. The spotlight on GLP-1 drugs is also fueling interest in what scientists see as the next frontier in this line of research: weight loss drugs that do not reduce lean mass. Read more.


health disparities

Racial discrimination predisposes young Black adults to metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome, a condition that predisposes individuals to cardiovascular disease, disproportionately affects Black people. An investigation published on Thursday in JAMA Network Open found a link between the condition and experiences of discrimination, showing that discrimination during late adolescence increases the risk of metabolic syndrome.

The study included 322 young adults living in some of the poorest counties in rural Georgia who reported discrimination between the ages of 19 and 21, during which the researchers conducted yearly evaluations. More frequent exposure to discrimination was associated with a higher likelihood of metabolic syndrome at ages 25 and 31. No differences were found depending on the participant's sex. The study suggests that interventions aimed at reducing discrimination and socioeconomic improvement should be considered as a way to reduce the burden of metabolic syndrome. 


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  • Millions of girls in Africa will miss HPV shots after Merck production problem, New York Times

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  • What toilets can reveal about COVID, cancer and other health threats, Nature


Thanks for reading! More on Monday — Nalis


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