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Today’s item on bacterial outbreaks linked to ice machines in hospitals reminded me of The song ‘Ice Machines’ by the National so pardon me for going into music recommendation mode for a moment.
From Wild Pink new, wonderfully crunchy Heartland rock album (featuring not only pedal steel, but also – wait for it – bagpipes on one track) is out today; I’m going to listen to it all fall.
Acoustic guitarist Yasmin Williams also has one new album released today. She has one of the most unique ways of playing guitar; I highly recommend her Tiny Desk concert 2021.
And now the news.
Why some people with schizophrenia hear voices
What does tickling have to do with auditory hallucinations? Even the most ticklish person can’t tickle themselves because when muscles move, the brain sends a copy of that information to the sensory system so the body knows it’s doing so and can suppress that sensory input. This helps the body know what internal and external input is.
By studying people’s brain waves as they were about to speak, scientists were able to discern what’s different about people with schizophrenic auditory hallucinations, as opposed to people without schizophrenia or people who had schizophrenia but no auditory hallucinations. They found that people who heard voices showed signs that their neural suppression systems were not only disrupted, but also likely interacting with each other to create auditory hallucinations.
Read more from STAT’s Timmy Broderick, including how this could lead to better schizophrenia treatments, here. And don’t miss last week’s news about the first new type of drug for schizophrenia in decades.
The AI PI
If, like me, you’re tuned into Twitter for scientific research (I mean, doing. “Then cancer will eventually be cured,” Altman said in the interview.
Will that happen? STAT’s cancer reporter Angus Chen spoke with Shantanu Singh, a machine learning biologist and co-leader of the Broad Institute’s Carpenter-Singh Lab, about how useful AI is in research right now and whether we should expect it to replace researchers.
“I would love to retire if I can find an ally who can do the research I think the world really needs… But can we really be replaced? I think this is a fundamental question about creativity: what is it about the human mind that is associated with creativity? And are these models really capable of simulating what we consider creative thinking?” he said to Angus. Read more here.
Hurricane Helene’s effect on medical facilities
Earlier this week, medical supplies manufacturer Baxter reported that its Marion, NC, plant was closed due to damage from Hurricane Helene. According to the American Hospital Association, this plant produces 60% of the country’s IV solutions. Yesterday, Mass General Brigham sounded the alarm on a potential shortage due to the supply disruption and called for conservation. Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai told STAT that it has also started using contingency plans, although operations remain normal.
Astute observers will recall that there was a shortage of IV bags during Hurricane Maria in 2017 as the storm damaged factories in Puerto Rico. While that shortage This mainly concerns small infusion bags that are used to dilute and administer medications. This shortage appears to mainly concern large ones used for irrigation and continuous hydration.
Other IV bag manufacturers, such as B. Braun and Fresenius Kabi, told STAT they were not affected by the hurricane, and the AHA told STAT that it and the FDA are monitoring the situation.
If you understand how companies have found key IV plants in hurricane-prone areas, please email me: [email protected]
What you need to know about protecting babies against RSV
Until last year, nothing could be done to protect against RSV infection, a seasonal respiratory disease that is particularly serious for babies whose lungs are still developing. But over the spring and summer of last year, several vaccines and antibody shots for older adults, pregnant people and infants were all approved by the Food and Drug Administration and recommended for use by the CDC.
Last year’s rollout was plagued by a number of problems, including a shortage of shots and regulatory approvals that came too late in the year for all eligible mothers and babies. This year, drugmaker Sanofi says there is enough Beyfortus — the protective antibody shot for new babies — “for every eligible baby” in the US. But hurdles to the rollout still remain.
“I think it won’t be perfect for a number of reasons,” Nancy Foster, vice president of quality and safety policy for the American Hospital Association, told STAT’s Helen Branswell. ‘Will more babies be vaccinated? Yes, absolutely.” Read more.
A more specific ‘concept of a plan’
During Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, Republican candidate JD Vance provided some clarity on the Trump campaign’s vague plans to make health insurance more affordable. Vance had said in previous campaign stops that Donald Trump wants to deregulate the Affordable Care Act and put people into risk pools to provide different types of insurance depending on how sick people are. During the debate, he clarified that he was referring to “reinsurance regulation” that Trump put in place during his time in office.
Reinsurance is insurance for insurance—in this case, for the companies that offer plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. This lowers premiums for people who get Obamacare, because extremely high patient bills are paid by these reinsurance programs.
For more on what Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz said in response, the gist of what Vance was talking about and whether it will work, check out Rachel Cohrs and John Wilkerson’s story.
Beware of biological hazards from ice machines
A new CDC report describes outbreaks of an unusual bacterial infection that researchers traced to one brand of ice cream machines used in four different hospitals. Ice and water from the machines are used for bed baths, swallowing assessments, and ice packs that may touch surgical incisions or insertion sites.
The outbreaks – 46 of which occurred between 2020 and 2024 – occurred in three hospitals in California and one in Colorado. The bacterium, Burkholderia multivoransis commonly found in patients with cystic fibrosis but is otherwise rare, raising alarm bells among doctors. It can be antibiotic resistant and lead to serious infections.
The bacteria was found in ice machines at three of the four hospitals, although researchers are unsure where it originally came from. They advised hospitals to consider how water can transmit infections in their hospital and to avoid using tap and ice water when outbreaks are detected.
In related news: hospitals around Asheville, NC – including the controversial HCA Mission Hospital – are left without access to high-pressure water due to Hurricane Helene, meaning basic tasks such as food preparation, flushing toilets and showers are not possible. HCA told STAT that the hospital is using water trucks, mobile hand-washing stations and bathroom stations, and is exploring drilling more wells for its cooling systems.
What we read
- Can flashing lights slow Alzheimer’s disease? What science shows Nature
- A rare disease causes a mother’s body to attack her unborn child. Now a Texas doctor has found a drug to stop it, Texas Monthly
- Condoms are not a given for young Americans. They are an afterthought AP
- It is time for a new medical specialty in asynchronous care, STAT
- ‘Joy’ tells the moving story behind the world’s first ‘test tube baby’ Netflix
- The Medicare Advantage market is expected to grow through 2025, despite major changes among insurers, STAT