HIV status is not associated with mpox treatment outcomes in persons using tecovirimat

Embargoed News from Annals of Internal Medicine

2023-05-02

(Press-News.org)
Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 01 May 2023
Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet
@Annalsofim
Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.
----------------------------
1. HIV status is not associated with mpox treatment outcomes in persons using tecovirimat
Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M22-3132
URL goes live when the embargo lifts
A cohort study of persons with confirmed mpox infections who were treated with the novel antirviral tecovirimat has found that the HIV status of the patients did not impact treatment outcomes. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

In May 2022, an outbreak of the zoonotic DNA orthopoxvirus mpox began in Europe. The most recent outbreak occurred mostly among men who have sex with men (MSM) and has been associated with significant rates of coincident sexually transmitted infections. Almost half of mpox infections during this outbreak occurred in people with HIV, but it is unknown to what degree HIV acts as an independent risk factor for mpox acquisition.

Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital conducted a retrospective cohort study of 196 people treated with tecovirimat from 20 June to 29 August 2022. Of the 196 participants, 154 were diagnosed with mpox and 72 were persons with HIV. The authors report that indications for tecovirimat treatment were similar between persons with and without HIV. They also report that only 22 percent of participants had nonsevere adverse effects, and only 4 participants had serious adverse events. Three of the four participants who experienced serious adverse were persons with HIV.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Angela Collom at acollom@acponline.org. To speak with corresponding author Jacob McLean, DO, please email jm5146@cumc.columbia.edu.
----------------------------
2. Most improvements in acute stroke care attributable to a few quality measures
Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M22-3186
URL goes live when the embargo lifts
A cost-effectiveness analysis of acute stroke care found that out of 15 process measures to improve the quality of care, five of them contributed the most to improvements in care. Early carotid imaging and intravenous tissue plasminogen activator contributed the largest fraction of the total potential value of quality improvement, accounting for 72 percent of the total value. The analysis is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA) endorsed 15 process measures for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) to improve the quality of care. Setting quality targets can help providers prioritize their clinical care efforts, and payers can leverage these measures in designing payment schemes to incentivize high-quality care. However, which measures have the highest value and should be prioritized in stroke quality improvement initiatives remains unclear.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Harvard School of Public Health, and Weill Cornell Medicine used a computer simulation model to analyze the cost-effectiveness and health impact of 10 of 15 AHA/ASA-endorsed quality measures. Of the 10 measures with available data on clinical effectiveness, all were estimated to be cost-saving or highly cost-effective, with substantial variation in potential value for improvement across quality measures. The other 5 measures lacked evidence of quantifiable health effects. For example, although rehabilitation programs are effective in reducing recurrent ischemic events, the effect of implementing the quality measure “assessed for rehabilitation” on the engagement in rehabilitation was unclear, highlighting a need for future studies on the clinical evidence to support the use of these 5 quality measures. According to the authors, their findings can assist AIS care providers and payers in setting priorities for quality improvement and value-based payment.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Angela Collom at acollom@acponline.org. To speak with corresponding author Jinyi Zhu, PhD, please email Jake Lowary at jacob.lowary@vumc.org.
--------------------------------
Also new in this issue:
Challenges in Estimating the Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccination Using Observational Data
William J. Hulme, PhD; Elizabeth Williamson, PhD; Elsie M.F. Horne, PhD; Amelia Green, PhD; Helen I. McDonald, PhD; Alex J. Walker, PhD; Helen J. Curtis, DPhil; Caroline E. Morton, MRCGP; Brian MacKenna, MPharm; Richard Croker, MSc; Amir Mehrkar, MRCGP; Seb Bacon, BA; David Evans, MPhil; Peter Inglesby, MPhil; Simon Davy, PhD; Krishnan Bhaskaran, PhD; Anna Schultze, PhD; Christopher T. Rentsch, PhD; Laurie Tomlinson, PhD; Ian J. Douglas, PhD; Stephen J.W. Evans, MSc; Liam Smeeth, PhD; Tom Palmer, PhD; Ben Goldacre, MRCPsych; Miguel A. Hernán, MD, DrPH; and Jonathan A.C. Sterne, PhD
Research and Reporting Methods
Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M21-4269

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Juvenile salmon migration timing responds unpredictably to climate change

2023-05-02

Climate change has led to earlier spring blooms for wildflowers and ocean plankton but the impacts on salmon migration are more complicated, according to new research. In a new study, published in the journal Nature, Ecology & Evolution, Simon Fraser University (SFU) researcher Sam Wilson led a set of diverse collaborators from across North America to compile the largest dataset in the world on juvenile salmon migration timing. The dataset includes 66 populations from Oregon to B.C. to Alaska. Each dataset was at least 20 years in length with the longest dating back to 1951. Only wild salmon, and not salmon from hatcheries, ...

State study: labor induction doesn’t always reduce caesarean birth risk or improve outcomes for term pregnancies

2023-05-02

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In recent years, experts have debated whether most birthing individuals would benefit from labor induction once they reach a certain stage of pregnancy. But a new statewide study in Michigan suggests that inducing labor at the 39th week of pregnancy for people having their first births with a single baby that is in a head down position, or low risk, doesn’t necessarily reduce the risk of caesarian births. In fact, for some birthing individuals, it may even have the opposite effect if hospitals don’t take a thoughtful approach to ...

OSU-Cascades researcher explores AI solution for tracking and reducing household food waste

2023-05-02

BEND, Ore. – A researcher at Oregon State University-Cascades has received funding to develop a smart compost bin that tracks household food waste. The project led by Patrick Donnelly, assistant professor of computer science in the OSU College of Engineering, seeks to make a dent in a multi-billion-dollar annual problem in the United States: More than one-third of all food produced in the U.S. goes uneaten. “At every other step of the agricultural supply chain, food waste is tracked, measured and quantified,” Donnelly ...

Survival from cardiac arrest less likely in Asian American Pacific Islander communities

2023-05-02

DALLAS, May 1, 2023 — Science tells us that when a cardiac arrest happens, bystander CPR can double or even triple the chances of survival.[1] Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adults who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting have a substantially lower chance of receiving bystander CPR.[2] During Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month in May, the American Heart Association, a global force for healthier lives for all, is asking people to “Be the Beat” for their family and learn Hands-Only ...

Your health is in your hands during American Stroke Month

2023-05-02

DALLAS, May 1, 2023 — Strokes can happen to anyone, at any age. In fact, globally about one in four adults over the age of 25 will have a stroke in their lifetime.[1] During American Stroke Month, the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, as part of a nationally supported collaboration with HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation, will teach people everywhere that stroke is largely preventable, treatable and beatable. A stroke happens when normal blood flow in the brain is interrupted. When parts of the ...

Blocking a tiny RNA may forestall age-related bone and muscle loss, inflammation

2023-05-02

AUGUSTA, Ga. (May 2, 2023) – Inhibiting a tiny RNA whose levels significantly increase with age, along with problems like weaker bones and sagging muscles, may be a way to keep our bodies more youthful and healthy, scientists say. MicroRNAs help regulate gene expression and consequently the function of our cells, and several, including one called microRNA-141-3p, have been implicated in the ills of aging, like increasing levels of potentially damaging chronic inflammation and that shrinking muscle mass. “When we age in all these complications like chronic inflammation, muscle loss, bone loss, this microRNA is elevated,” says Sadanand ...

Fish thought to help reefs have poop that’s deadly to corals

2023-05-02

HOUSTON – (May 2, 2023) – Feces from fish that are typically thought to promote healthy reefs can damage and, in some cases, kill corals, according to a recent study by Rice University marine biologists. Until recently, fish that consume algae and detritus — grazers — were thought to keep reefs healthy, and fish that eat coral — corallivores — were thought to weaken reef structures. The researchers found high levels of coral pathogens in grazer feces and high levels of beneficial bacteria in corallivore feces, which they say could act like a “coral probiotic.” “Corallivorous ...

Do people and monkeys see colors the same way?

2023-05-01

New findings in color vision research imply that humans can perceive a greater range of blue tones than monkeys do. “Distinct connections found in the human retina may indicate recent evolutionary adaptations for sending enhanced color vision signals from the eye to the brain,” researchers report April 25 in the scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Yeon Jin Kim, acting instructor, and Dennis M. Dacey, professor, both in the Department of Biological Structure at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, led the international, collaborative project. They were joined ...

Organ transplant policies need an overhaul!

2023-05-01

INFORMS Journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management New Study Key Takeaways: Matching supply and demand of organs can provide broader sharing in a way that results in greater transplant equity. By indiscriminately enlarging the pool of supply locations from where patients can receive offers, they tend to become more selective, resulting in more offer rejections and less efficiency. The model accounts for the variation of “incidence of disease” (i.e., demand) and “availability of deceased-donor organs” ...

Scientists describe carbon cycle in a subglacial freshwater lake in Antarctica for first time

2023-05-01

TAMPA, Fla. (May 1, 2023) – Subglacial lakes that never see the light of day are among the least accessible frontiers of science, brimming with more tales yet untold than even the planets of our solar system. One thing seems certain: where there is water, there is life -- even if said water is at the bottom of a frigid lake, in pitch darkness, below more than a half mile of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. As reported in AGU Advances, scientists analyzed the chemical fingerprint of the ocean and microbes retrieved from sediments and water at the bottom of a subglacial ...

First evidence of olaparib maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed homologous recombination deficient positive/BRCA wild-type ovarian cancer: real-world multicenter study

HIV status is not associated with mpox treatment outcomes in persons using tecovirimat

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: