Articles related to PUBLIC HEALTH

Should COVID continue to be treated differently than other respiratory viruses? CDC and ID physicians note that COVID is more highly transmissible than other URIs we have more history with, and the outcomes of severe illness and long COVID are important differences as well. And the US is still seeing some 300 deaths per day from COVID.

The excess mortality amounts to 150,000 to 470,000 deaths. Mortality rates were lower, and in keeping with peer country comparisons, in the 10 states with highest vaccination levels.

According to a survey conducted by the Association for Clinical Oncology, the majority of respondents (96%) said prior authorization has led to delays in cancer treatment, with 80% claiming prior authorization has enabled disease progression, and 36% of them saying prior authorization has led to patient deaths. 300 ASCO members who work in academic or university (29%) settings, private practice (34%), or community or hospital-based health network/systems (35%), completed the survey.

Massachusetts ended its statewide requirement for all students to wear masks in public schools in February 2022, and numerous school districts in the state later relaxed their masking regulations. Only the Boston and neighboring Chelsea districts in the greater Boston area maintained masking requirements through June 2022. In the 15 weeks following the cancellation of the statewide masking policy, there were an additional 44.9 COVID-19 cases per 1,000 students and staff in school districts in the greater Boston area.

Aniruddha Hazra, MD, of Howard Brown Health in Chicago, and colleagues found that of 90 people who tested positive for monkeypox following a single dose of Jynneos, 77% of the cases happened within 14 days of the first dose and 14% occurred within 14-28 days of the first dose. Five positive tests were returned following a second dose of the modified vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) vaccine in the eight cases that occurred 28 days after vaccine initiation.

In a three-page letter, Kathryn A. Coleman, director of the agency’s Medicare Drug and Health Plan Contract Administration Group, stated that CMS is immediately stepping up its examination of marketing materials, which are required to be submitted in accordance with its legal “File and Use” authority for Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans, and “may exercise its authority to prohibit” their use. As of right now, Medicare Advantage marketing materials are allowed to go live five days after being submitted, as long as the company submitting them “certifies the material complies with all applicable standards.” Starting January 1, 2023, however, no television advertisements will be eligible for submission under its “File and Use” authority, meaning that the advertisements will not air until CMS approves them.