Study: Paxlovid safe, effective in pregnancy EmiliaU / iStock CIDRAP

A study based on 211 pregnant women given the antiviral drug nirmatrelvir and ritonavir (Paxlovid) during pregnancy for acute COVID-19 infections shows no increased risk of adverse events in the women or their babies and a reduced risk of complications called the maternal morbidity and mortality index (MMMI).

The findings, published today in Nature Medicine, suggest the drug is safe to use in pregnancy and is effective in reducing MMMI risk but not COVID-related hospitalizations.

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Opinion

America Is Gambling With Another Low-Vax Winter - The Atlantic

A Winter of Low COVID Vaccination Will Probably Seem Fine Missed vaccinations ultimately mean more illness, more total lives lost, and more gaps in our defenses against the virus. Katherine J. Wu The Atlantic

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Health misinformation and lack of confidence in vaccines continue to grow, years after the Covid-19 pandemic, survey shows | CNN Vaccine misinformation, which first began spiraling during the Covid-19 pandemic, has grown in the United States in the years since, according to a new survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Carma Hassan CNN

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Children’s hospitals prepare for surge in admissions amid shortage of RSV drug A supply shortage means a drug that can prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants won’t have a major immediate impact, children’s hospitals said, and they are preparing for a… nweixel The Hill

“Widespread access [to the new antibody drug] will take time across many sectors of the pediatric population and won’t have as great an impact on volumes this immediate respiratory season,” the Children’s Hospital Association said in a statement.

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Unapproved stem-cell therapies marketed to people with long COVID Evgeniia Medvedeva/iStock CIDRAP

New research has identified 38 direct-to-consumer businesses marketing stem-cell treatments and exosome therapies for COVID-19 infections and, especially, long COVID, despite lacking approval by US Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory body in the United States. Descriptions of the businesses and an analysis of their marketing strategies are published in Stem Cell Reports.

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Extreme heat could lead to 233% increase in U.S. excess cardiovascular deaths, study says A large increase in greenhouse gas emissions would lead to a 233% increase in excess cardiovascular deaths in the U.S., or 5,491 excess deaths annually, according to a new study. Theresa Gaffney STAT

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US, global COVID-19 markers show declines Ezra Acayan/World Bank/Flickr cc CIDRAP

COVID-19 activity in the United States last week showed more signs of declines, though deaths were up, and the World Health Organization's (WHO's) monthly snapshot of global activity suggests decreased activity, though the group cautioned that few countries are reporting data.

A new Covid variant has become dominant amid slow uptake of the updated shots The HV.1 variant took over this week as the dominant variant in the U.S., but just around 3.5 % of the population has received an updated Covid shot thus far. NBC News

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Senate panel advances NIH nominee Bertagnolli - Roll Call President Biden’s choice to run the National Institutes of Health won approval from a key Senate committee. Ariel Cohen Roll Call

After months of back and forth, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Wednesday advanced the nomination of Monica Bertagnolli to lead the National Institutes of Health by a vote of 15-6, with ranking member Bill Cassidy, R-La., voting for President Joe Biden’s nominee and Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., opposing it.

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