The kids are sickening

We all know kids are walking, coughing Petri dishes, but how big a Petri dish are we talking? University of Utah infectious disease specialists decided to find out.

The answer is — yes, we see you nodding in the back, Captain Obvious — very big. Especially the youngest ones, who, they found, “were infected with some kind of respiratory virus a full 50% of the year.” (Keep in mind that infected doesn’t necessarily mean sick.)

Still…

For families with two, three or four kids, someone at home had an infection a little more than half the year. Families with six kids had a viral detection a whopping 87% of the year. Childless households, on the other hand, only had a viral detection 7% of the year.

Covid notes

The vaccines work against Kraken

The CDC finally has data on how well the Omicron booster (mRNA shot #4, if you’re keeping track) works against the latest Kraken variant, aka BA.5 and XBB.

The answer is: pretty well, but not amazing. We’re talking about 52% effective against symptomatic infection in people 18 to 49 years of age, 43% effective for the 50-64 group, and 37% effective for seniors.

The better news is that the efficacy seemed to remain for at least three months (in people who also had the initial mRNA shots).

This jibes with previous studies of the second booster’s effectiveness against older Omicron variants, meaning anyone who says “Almost every study now has said with these new boosters, you’re more likely to get infected with the bivalent booster” is clueless.

Get sick and get vaccinated

That’s how you get the most protection from future Covid infections according to University of Calgary/WHO research. Being fully vaccinated and a prior infection (in any order) is, they say, 95 percent effective against severe disease over a year.

So even if you’ve had your shots, go stand in front of someone^* with a cough and a Flat-Earther T-shirt — just for that extra oomph.

^* Don’t do this.

The drug-advertising loophole

You know that drug companies are prohibited from stretching the truth about their products in television advertising. But thanks to the age of the law, there’s a huge loophole: It only applies to companies “that manufacture, distribute, or pack” prescription drugs.

But now, with online advertising a Big Deal, other companies are making misleading or unproven claims about products. The FDA can’t stop them (per the law) and neither can the Federal Trade Commission (because only the FDA has jurisdiction over prescription-drug ads).

An amino acid for neuropathy

Could a simple amino acid supplement help diabetics with peripheral neuropathy? We wouldn’t ask if it was a possibility.

Salk scientists were studying peripheral neuropathy in mice when they found an interesting connection: “diabetic mice with low levels of two related amino acids, serine and glycine, are at higher risk for peripheral neuropathy.”

Is it cause and effect? Apparently so: “[T]he researchers were able to alleviate neuropathy symptoms in diabetic mice by supplementing their diets with serine.”

So much for serine being a “non-essential” amino acid.

The researchers were surprised to find that low serine, in combination with a high-fat diet, accelerated the onset of peripheral neuropathy in the mice. In contrast, serine supplementation in diabetic mice slowed the progression of peripheral neuropathy, and the mice fared better.

You know the drill, of course: More studies are needed.

A suit with long-term repercussions

Standard warning: This is a story about mifepristone. Remain calm.

A complaint filed in federal court is challenging West Virginia and North Carolina’s ban/restriction on the drug, saying the state doesn’t have the right to override FDA approval.

No matter which side of the question you’re on (if any), the question has much broader implications. If a federal court rules that individual states can regulate drugs separately from the FDA, it would obviously apply to every drug … and wouldn’t that be interesting?

Standard disclaimer: GPhA does not have a position on the dispensing of mifepristone.

The Long Read: The Other Side of Ketamine edition

“Ketamine is being sold as a depression wonder drug. For some, it’s making everything worse.”