Keeping it cheap in ATL

Atlanta is the fourth least expensive city for prescription drugs, according to the latest data from GoodRx. (Most expensive, by far, New York City. Least expensive, by far, Denver.)

Why the price differences? Lots of “maybes” not many answers: cost of living? Big box stores? Markup? Ley lines?

Teachers as virus spreaders

The Marietta school district in Cobb County was the focus of a CDC investigation — not for wrongdoing, but to study how the SARS-CoV-19 virus spreads.

The issues it found included “less than ideal physical distancing,” “inadequate mask use by students*,” “a high number of in-person students” as well as “small group instruction” (!). But the most interesting finding was that teachers played the bigger role in transmission — not students.

In four of the clusters, an educator was the “index patient,” or initial case, and a student was the index patient in just one cluster. In the other four clusters, the index patient was not determined. Eight of the nine clusters involved likely transmission from educators to students.

Georgia officials are considering adding teachers to the list of people eligible for the Covid-19 vaccination.

* Marietta has a mask mandate in its schools, although Cobb County does not

Oh, sheesh, another one?

Now there’s yet another Covid-19 variant — this one from Japan, and “nearly identical to the Brazilian variant and carries similar mutations to the infamous United Kingdom and South Africa [variants].”

This new variant carries two mutations. One mutation (N501Y) increases transmissibility, while the other (E484K) “increases the virus’s resistance to neutralizing antibodies.” Joy.

To stay healthy, don’t be a swinger

When it comes to type-2 diabetes, a new study out of Louisiana’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center found that it’s the variability of a person’s A1C that’s a better predictor of a cardiovascular disease than the number itself.

“Our findings suggest that measuring the swings in blood hemoglobin A1c levels over a specific time — six months to a year, for example — could serve as a supplemental blood sugar target.”

It’s better this way

Tweaked Covid vaccines don’t need the full trial

Pharma companies are working to update their Covid-19 vaccines to work against the new variants coming out, but luckily the FDA says they don’t have to put each new version through the same large, randomized control trials as the original vaccine.

Instead, the FDA said it recommended companies submit data from small trials comparing a person’s immune response to a vaccine that has already been authorized.

Testing with variants

And if you’re wondering “Will these variants mean we may need new tests, too?” The answer is … not yet, but maybe. The FDA is issuing (and updating) guidance.

The FDA has already issued a safety alert to caution that the presence of viral genetic mutations in a patient sample can potentially change the performance of a diagnostic test.

The FDA identified a few tests that are known to be impacted by emerging viral mutations, though at this time the impact does not appear to be significant.

RIP, Jo Ann Adams

She was Gainesville’s first female pharmacist, the original co-owner of Riverside Pharmacy, and a UGA graduate (1947). She passed away February 16, at 93, the first of at least three generations of female pharmacists.

Jo Ann Adams with daughter Jane Hall (right), and granddaughter Margie Curry; all three are pharmacists. Photo courtesy Jane Hall.