The new antivirals are here! The new antivirals are here!

The Georgia DPH says it’s received the first (limited!) shipment of Merck’s molnupiravir and Pfizer’s Paxlovid oral antiviral treatments for Covid-19, and it will distribute them to “select retail pharmacies” — translation: Walmart, Walgreens, and members of the Good Neighbor Pharmacy Group.

Stay away from the ER

In the name of all that’s holy, says the Georgia DPH, if you need a Covid test, don’t go to the emergency room. Register for a test through the DPH’s ‘register for a test’ site.

Stay off the floating Petri dishes

In the name of all that’s holy, says the CDC, if you need a vacation, don’t go on a cruise ship.

The agency has raised its travel health warning level for cruise ships to “Vantablack” because of repeated outbreaks on cruise ships, even among vaccinated passengers.

Speaking of testing

The headlines: “Antigen tests may have reduced sensitivity detecting Omicron!” (all because of an FDA release).

The reality about those at-home antigen tests:

  • The study was based on lab results, not real-world ones.
  • It found that some antigen tests weren’t as good at detecting Omicron as molecular ones were.
  • Heck, antigen tests in general are “less sensitive and less likely to pick up very early infections.”

Go for the throat:

Metformin recall

Yes, another one. Viona Pharmaceuticals is recalling its metformin extended-release tablets (750 mg) due to impurities that could cause cancer. Check the FDA site for instructions and the list of lot numbers.

A step to understanding OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder shows up in all sorts of ways, from the mild to the severe. And there’s no timetable, either. That makes treatment tough.

So Brown University researchers came up with an experiment. They wired the brains of five people with severe OCD. They gave them smart watches to track biometrics. They tracked them in the lab and at home, and also used computer vision — i.e., artificial intelligence that watches video — to monitor their behavior.

Then they compared ‘episodes’ of OCD with the brain scans. Result: They found patterns of brain activity that correlated with OCD symptoms.

So what? This means that there are distinct signals in the brain that either cause or are caused by OCD — and that’s a big step to being able to treat it, even with existing deep brain stimulation therapy. As always, of course, “Work on this line of research is ongoing.“

Good vaccine news

Forget Pfizer’s test data. Now real-world data shows that the mRNA vaccine is safe for kids.

During a six-week period after the shots’ approval (Nov. 3 through Dec. 19), VAERS [CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Reporting System] received 4,249 reports of adverse events after Pfizer vaccination in kids ages 5-11. The vast majority — 97.6% — […] consisted largely of reactions often seen after routine immunizations, such arm pain at the site of injection, or some transient fatigue or headache.

Weight, weight

On the one hand, losing weight can cut your risk of severe Covid-19 complications significantly. (If you take it to the extreme, a Cleveland Clinic study found that bariatric surgery “was associated with a 60% lower risk of developing severe complications from COVID-19 infection.”)

On the other hand, semaglutide, Novo Nordisk’s injected weight loss drug, is in short supply for at least the next several months. One of its contractors had to stop manufacturing the injector pens.

Captain Obvious is slipping notes under the desk

“Schools play role in adolescent mental health, study finds”

Picture of the day: 1918 flu

They all didn’t know how to wear masks then, either.