Measles vax and C-section kids

Here’s an unexpected finding: There’s almost a 1 in 8 chance that a single dose of the measles vaccine won’t work on a child born by caesarean section.

A study out of the University of Cambridge (with Chinese help) found that 12% of children born via C-section had little or no immune response to their first measles vaccination, compared to 5% of children born vaginally. That makes the second shot — which a lot of kids miss — a lot more important. (And yes, a second shot fixed the problem.)

Some new GLP-1 stats

The usage: A new poll found that about 12% of Americans has taken one of the new weight-loss drugs. Of note is that only 6% say they’re still taking one. Side effects are one reason people quit, but affordability is the big one. “About 54% of those who have taken GLP-1 drugs found it challenging to afford them, even with insurance.”

The payment: The same survey also found that insurance paid part of the cost of the drugs for 57% of people (many of whom still had trouble affording them), and another 24% said insurance paid the full cost.

And speaking of GLP-1s

Here’s an interesting twist. It’s known that GLP-1 agonists can improve patients’ heart health, and it was assumed that was because losing weight is, well, good for your heart. The twist is that a pair of new studies suggests that the heart benefits are due to other mechanisms of the drugs, not simply because of weight loss.

As one researcher put it:

“These two studies show that these anti-obesity medications are also heart-health drugs. The benefits to the heart for people with established cardiovascular disease or a certain type of heart failure occur regardless of the amount of weight loss.”

How did they figure this out? Simple: Not everyone loses weight on semaglutide, but the people who didn’t lose weight still saw the cardiovascular benefits. What these other mechanisms are isn’t clear yet, but enough eyebrows (and bank accounts) were raised to guarantee more research.

When antibiotics kill

When piperacillin/tazobactam went into shortage in 2015, researchers at the University of Michigan saw an opportunity. They were able to look at the data and see how patients who took those drugs compared with those who received cefepime.

After two weeks, there was little difference … “But the differences at three months were dramatic.”

[T]reatment with piperacillin-tazobactam was associated with a 5% increase in 90-day mortality, more days on a ventilator, and more time with organ failure.

Why the difference? Gut bacteria. Unlike cefepime, piperacillin/tazobactam can wipe out the GI tract’s anaerobic bacteria, and those “play important roles in the body’s metabolism, immunity, and prevention of infections.”

Said the lead researcher, “We need to think about antibiotics like chemotherapy. In the right context, treatment can be lifesaving, but in the wrong context it can be quite harmful.”

Overdose deaths drop

For the first time since 2018, overdose deaths have declined in the US — they dropped 3% from 2022 to 2023, according to CDC data.

There are important details, though. Overdose deaths from opioids, cocaine, and stimulants still killed more than 147,000 Americans in 2023. And while opioid OD deaths dropped, those from cocaine and stimulant overdoses both rose slightly.

The changes aren’t uniform across the country, either.

States including Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana and Maine saw declines of 15% or more in such deaths, mostly from opioids, while Alaska, Washington and Oregon reported notable increases of at least 27% compared to 2022, the data showed.

(Sorry, no data about Georgia was available.)

Short Takes

Protect your brain

In case you’re worried, Forbes offers some help with “How Worms Get Into Your Brain And How To Prevent It.”

Don’t use Cue Covid tests

The FDA is warning consumers to throw out any Covid-19 tests made by Cue Health. Apparently the company made changes to the tests without FDA approval, and now the results might be inaccurate.

Medical debt relief on the table

A bill in the US Senate would essentially wipe out Americans’ medical debt. The plan would “eliminate all $220 million in medical debt held by millions of Americans, wipe it from credit reports, and drastically limit the accrual of future medical debt.”

While federal plans to forgive student loans have been divisive politically, there may be more support for wiping out medical debt. The bill sponsors cited an October 2022 poll by the Medicare Plans Patient Resource Center that found 92% of Americans — including 84% of Republicans — favor medical debt forgiveness.