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Good morning! I hope you had a nice holiday weekend and are feeling rested and ready for the final sprint of 2024.
This bird flu has been mild so far. Why?
Since the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in U.S. dairy cattle began this spring, there have been 55 cases among people in the U.S. That’s an alarming number, but a surprisingly positive side is that all infections so far have been mild. Bird flu has a reputation – well deserved, says STAT’s Helen Branswell – as a very dangerous pathogen, with a mortality rate of around 50%.
So what’s happening here? Helen spoke to 21 researchers who have spent years studying influenza, and this one in particular. No one has definitive answers (“If you find out, please let me know!” one researcher told Helen), but many raised theories and questions. Can the way the virus is transmitted limit its severity? Do we actually have any protection for it yet? With such limited information, the train of thought can even become existential: has the virus changed? Do we have?
Read more for Helen’s analysis of expert hypotheses.
Race, gender, and promotions in academic medicine
Asians, black women and white women who complete medical school are more likely than white men to be appointed to entry-level positions in academic medicine, according to a study published last week in JAMA network opened. But white men are more likely to be promoted to the upper ranks than almost any other group.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 673,500 graduates between 1979 and 2019, along with data on faculty appointments since 2000. They found that racial and gender disparities in appointments from before the turn of the millennium persisted in the two decades since. Black and Hispanic women consistently had the lowest odds of being promoted to associate professor or full professor.
Some factors to keep in mind: STAT’s Usha Lee McFarling has already reported on the problems caused by lumping so many people under one broad “Asian American” category. And while the study found that black men were more likely than white men to be appointed department chair, that doesn’t change the fact that black men are still vastly underrepresented in medicine. The study found that white men made up more than half of all faculty members who have ever held the position of associate professor.
Not your grandfather’s radiation therapy
Radiation therapy has been an important part of cancer treatment for generations. But in the last few years there has been a surge of interest in a new type of treatment. Radiopharmaceuticals can target cancer cells more precisely by fusing radioactive isotopes with a device that will deliver the compound like a rocket to cancer cells, ideally destroying the diseased cells while leaving the surrounding area relatively unscathed.
It’s an approach with a lot of potential, but as more and more startups focus on it, the challenges ahead become clear. Developing these types of drugs requires a familiarity with radioactive materials that few people in the drug industry have. To then actually deliver the treatment, teams of specially trained doctors, nurses and support staff must measure the correct doses of decaying isotopes and properly handle radioactive material.
According to insiders, there is a significant shortage of these experts. And if workforce issues cannot be addressed, it could limit or even disrupt the rise of this medical field. Read more from STAT’s Allison DeAngelis.
The best and worst restaurant policies on antibiotics
The vast majority of the top 20 restaurant chains in the U.S. have no publicly available policies regarding antibiotic use by their suppliers of beef, pork or turkey, a new nonprofit report shows. In assessed reviews, five chains received failing scores: Olive Garden, Dairy Queen, Arby’s, Little Caesars and Sonic. Only two received the highest grade (A+, of course), indicating that the companies have implemented antibiotic policies in every type of meat served: Chipotle and KFC.
The report comes amid ongoing fears over antibiotic resistance, which killed at least 1.27 million people worldwide in 2019, according to CDC data. Read more about the report from STAT’s Ed Silverman.
Depression can make your periods worse, LOL
From the “cosmically unfair” department: depression could increase a person’s chance of experiencing dysmenorrhea, the scientific word for severe menstrual pain. This is evident from a study published last week in Briefings in bioinformatics. Although previous research has shown a link between the conditions, little research has been done into possible causes.
Researchers in this study analyzed data from approximately 800,000 European people and 8,000 East Asian people from previous genome-wide association studies. To try to understand causality, they used something called ‘ Mendelian randomizationthat analyzes genetic variation to estimate the effects of certain modifiable factors.
Insomnia was a key connecting factor that could make menstrual pain even worse, the researchers found. While the study provides early evidence that depression can worsen menstrual pain, they also note that more research is needed among more diverse populations.
What is YouTube Health doing about disinformation?
And one more question: what is YouTube Health? The company knows that people around the world turn to the video site with questions about their bodies, illness and more. To combat misinformation, people like Garth Graham, YouTube’s global head of health and public health, are trying to promote authoritative, reputable sources in response to people’s questions.
“We are trying to collect high-quality health information and remove dangerous, low-quality health information,” Graham told STAT’s Nick St. Fleur. “The limit around removal is when it comes to things that are harmful and dangerous, the consequences of which could lead to increased mortality and morbidity.”
Graham spoke with Nick earlier this month at the Milken Future of Health Summit about YouTube’s efforts to combat health misinformation, support underserved communities and creators, and protect young people’s mental health. Read the question and answer.
What we read
- Trump’s Former FDA Chief Seeks Senate Confirmation of RFK Jr., STAT
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After an emotional debate, British parliamentarians vote to legalize assisted dying. New York Times
- A new moonshot initiative to fight cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific region is missing something, STAT
- Your friends shape your microbiome – and so do their friends, Scientific American
- Congress’s Crucial Opportunity to Reshape Healthcare, STAT