People who play video games shouldn’t live in glass houses

I didn’t realize this was still in question, but just in case — another study has come out, this one out of London’s City University, that says Nope, violent video games don’t lead to violence in real life. (Everyone knows the real culprit is Dungeons & Dragons. )

But there’s a twist! According to the study’s author, while violent games don’t lead to violence against people, parents reported that children were more likely to destroy things after playing violent video games.

At least they’re staying healthy

In case you were worried that health insurers were being clobbered by costs of treating Covid patients, don’t fret.

The ones that did have to pay more are just raising premiums. And enough people are deferring other types of care during the pandemic, so payouts are lower.

The bottom line: Health insurers remain significantly more profitable today than they were before the pandemic, even after factoring in Covid costs.

Hep B shots for (almost) everyone!

A CDC panel is recommending that everyone up to age 60, not just children, be vaccinated for hepatitis B, “because progress against the liver-damaging disease has stalled.”

This would mostly affect people over 30; the young ‘uns probably got theirs, as it’s been standard for kids since 1991.

What about those over 60? Meh.

Money and resources spent on vaccinating the elderly would have diminishing returns on reducing infections.

Now Pfizer’s got a Covid pill

Or it will soon. The company says its Paxlovid antiviral pill reduces the risk of hospitalization and death from Covid by 89%, and it will be submitting its data to the FDA on its way to an emergency use authorization.

It’s a little behind Merck, whose Covid pill just got UK approval and is awaiting the FDA’s nod here. Still, Pfizer’s stock jumped and Merck’s took a dive when the news came out.

Time to get your tinfoil hat*

The FDA has declined an Emergency Use Authorization for Zyesami (its true name is “aviptadil”) for treating critically ill Covid-19 patients. The agency said there just wasn’t enough data showing the benefit outweighs the risks.

Is this part of some kind of cover-up? Is the government hiding yet another Covid treatment? At least it’s still possible that Zyesami will make it to market — just after stage 3 trials are done.

* Why tinfoil? There’s hasn’t been tinfoil since 1946!

Coffee and your kidneys

You knew it wouldn’t be long before the anti-coffee forces came out, and here we go. Johns Hopkins researchers are claiming there might be a link between coffee consumption and kidney disease.

Specifically, three metabolites that are associated with coffee consumption are also associated with chronic kidney disease. Oddly, one of them, glycochenodeoxycholate, “may contribute to favorable kidney health outcomes.”

Really, if a vague connection is all they’ve got, further research is indeed required.

The Long Read: Endemic edition

“Is COVID-19 here to stay? A team of biologists explains what it means for a virus to become endemic” from The Conversation.