More people can get pneumonia shot

A reminder that the latest CDC recommendation for the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is that people 50 and older should get it. (It had been 65 and older, but that changed this October.) Considering that pneumonia killed 40,000 Americans in 2022 alone, getting the vaccine seems like a no-brainer.

When anti-vax goes to a whole new level

Apparently Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lawyer — who is helping review candidates for HHS positions — is so off the deep end of the bell curve when it comes to vaccines, he actually petitioned the FDA to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine. In fact, his law firm specializes in trying to prevent vaccines from being required … or even available.

It’s not known whether he receives funding from iron-lung manufacturers.

Ah, the good old days.

Nicotine reduction moves closer

It’s been on the radar since 2018, and now the FDA might finally, really and for true officially limit the amount of nicotine allowed in tobacco products. The agency submitted a proposed rule to that effect to the Office of Management and Budget, which will pull out its abacus to determine how much of an impact it might have on the budget.

When you consider how much harm smoking does — and thus how much taxpayers pay to treat people — it could be a whopping big savings.

Short takes

Respiratory update

Flu activity is still low across the country, but it’s rising a bit. Covid levels are “moderate” and also starting to rise in some parts of the country (not Georgia, though). RSV activity continues to rise.

Not a good sign

So far this year, only 2 kids in the US have died of the flu. Last flu season the total number was 205, setting a new record — and that’s not counting the 521 kids who died from complications related to the flu. And last year saw the lowest flu vaccination rate among kids in more than a decade. Probably a coincidence.

That said, this year even fewer kids have gotten the flu vaccine than last year — only 37% compared to 43% at this time in 2023.

Skin in the (vax) game

The human body naturally produces antibodies against Staphylococcus epidermidis, a harmless bacteria that lives on our skin. Stanford Med researchers found that mice, which don’t have S. epidermidis, will not only generate the same immune response if you just dab the bacteria on their fur, that response is long-lasting.

In other words, you can vaccine mice against S. epidermidis with just a skin rub.

So the Stanfordians tried something (and this is a very broad-brush description): They genetically engineered S. epidermidis to contain the tetanus toxin. Then they swabbed it on the mice. And those mice “developed extremely high levels of antibodies targeting tetanus toxin.”

Then they tried it with diphtheria. Same result. Then they tried lower and lower amounts of the tetanus toxin. Same result.

So yeah, they’ve created a topical vaccine delivery system … for mice.

“We know it works in mice,” [said the lead researcher]. “Next, we need to show it works in monkeys. That’s what we’re going to do.” If things go well, he expects to see this vaccination approach enter clinical trials within two or three years.

HIV PrEP breakthrough

Current HIV PrEP antiretrovirals (e.g., Truvada) are taken orally, and they have to be taken daily … and consistently. But an alternative — a twice-yearly shot of Gilead’s lenacapavir — appears to be 96% effective at preventing HIV, according to the company’s phase 3 study conducted by Emory University and Atlanta’s Grady Health System.

99% of the participants in the lenacapavir group did not acquire an HIV infection. During the trial, only two participants in the lenacapavir group, comprised of 2,179 people, acquired HIV. This compares to nine new HIV infections in the Truvada group, which had 1,086 people.

In fact, lenacapavir is showing itself to be so effective against HIV that it was named Science magazine’s Breakthrough of the Year.

The Long Read: Country road edition

West Virginia started covering GLP-1 agonists for its state employees, figuring it would save on medical costs in the long run. Then a couple of years later, it changed its governmental mind, leaving thousands of employees in the lurch … and gaining back weight. Read about the fallout from “West Virginia’s Weight-Loss Experiment.”