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Updated Covid booster cuts the rate of infection from the predominant omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 by nearly half, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . These findings indicate that the latest boosters offered 48% effectiveness against symptomatic infection from the XBB.1.5 subvariant in adults up to age 49, which decreased to 40% effectiveness in adults aged 50 to 64 and 43% effectiveness in people aged 65 and older.

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declares that 13 is too young for children to have access to and be active on social media platforms. Murthy’s medical opinion is rooted in the critical development of that age, along with the importance of developing their identity, establishing their self-worth, and building healthy relationships outside of the distorted scope of social media.

While dense breast tissue has been associated with up to a four times higher risk of breast cancer, this fact is largely overlooked by women at risk. This new finding highlights the huge importance of education and awareness, especially with a disease as widespread and threatening as breast cancer.

Analyzing airplane sewage on the table as CDC opens discussions with airlines to add key COVID tracking tool . In an effort to expand their testing parameters for new COVID variants entering the country, the CDC explores testing for the coronavirus in wastewater of planes .

VEXAS Syndrome, characterized by anemia, and inflammation in the skin, lungs, cartilage, and joints, is far more common than previously expected, as cases are hiding in plain sight and being mistaken as other rheumatic or hematologic diseases . This rare disease has only been identified in 25 men in the United States, but new findings suggest the numbers are more accurately represented as 1 in 13,600 people, many of whom have been misdiagnosed.

Pandemic-related education alterations and shutdowns caused significant setbacks in the learning of our nation’s children

Adding to a mountain of evidence, a new study has heightened the damage accumulated due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Children in our nation and across the globe experienced staggering setbacks educationally , along with emerging learning deficits that have not – and may never – fully recover . It is estimated that our students lost out on approximately 35% of the normal school year’s worth of learning due to the response to the pandemic.

In addition to emerging and persisting learning deficits as discovered by this study, the gap in education quality between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds increased and widened during the fallout and recovery of the pandemic.

• Findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress exemplify the views of K-12 parents, who 61% of report that the first year of the pandemic had a negative effect on their children. 44% of those parents believe that negative effect remains to this day, nearly three years later.
  
  
• 48% of parents indicated that the pandemic had a negative effect on their children’s emotional well-being.
  
  
• School closures and lockdowns in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic especially affected children from low socioeconomic backgrounds , with stalled learning progress in mathematics most notably.
  
  

What the author of the study is saying: “One important difference is that remote schooling had a disproportionately negative effect on high-poverty students in the U.S. It was not just the pandemic. Gaps widened less in school districts that returned to in-person learning more quickly,” wrote Thomas Kane, faculty director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. “If we do not act decisively now, learning loss will be the longest-lasting and most inequitable consequence of the pandemic.”

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Bariatric surgery, aimed at primarily solving weight loss, seemingly extends lives as surgical option gains popularity

Key takeaways

• This study further cements the positive outcomes and long-term promise associated with these weight loss surgeries.
  
  
• An earlier 10-year Swedish study found similar reductions in premature death, as well as a significant portion of participants remaining in remission from diabetes at both 2 years and 10 years post-surgery intervals.
  
  
• The strongest results of surgery were paired with substantial lifestyle changes.
  
  
• “Despite the benefits though, only 2% of patients who are eligible for bariatric surgery ever get it, often due to the stigma about obesity, said Dr. Caroline Apovian, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and codirector of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston”
  
  
• Both men and women can benefit from bariatric surgery, but surprisingly 80% of those who elect to undergo the procedure are women.
  
  

By the digits

• 40-year study duration.
  
  
• 22,000 participants who had bariatric surgery in Utah.
  
  
• 72% decline in deaths related to diabetes in people who had surgery compared to those who did not.
  
  
• 29% decrease in deaths from cardiovascular disease.
  
  
• 43% decrease in deaths from various cancers.
  
  
• 16% less likely to die from any cause.
  
  

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A 17-year-old boy is brought to the emergency department by a caregiver after sustaining a large knife wound to his left arm. The caregiver reports that the patient cut himself with a knife, but it is unknown whether this was a suicide attempt. The patient lives in a group home with three other individuals and the caregiver; it is apparent from talking to the patient that he has limited intellectual capacity. He has an appointed legal guardian who has been contacted and is due to arrive at the hospital in approximately 45 to 60 minutes. The patient's vital signs are temperature 36.5°C (97.7°F), pulse 134/min, respirations 22/min, and blood pressure 70/40 mm Hg. He appears pale and he has a large, blood-soaked towel wrapped around his left forearm. Removal of the towel discloses a 9-cm laceration with obvious arterial hemorrhage and tendon exposure. Examinations of the chest and abdomen are unremarkable. A pressure bandage is immediately applied, and consultation is obtained with a surgeon, who wants to take the patient immediately to the operating room.
Which of the following statements is most accurate regarding consent for this patient?

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launches an urgent investigation into EzriCare Artificial Tears, as 50 infections across 11 different states have led to cases of permanent vision loss and one death so far . The CDC has identified Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a strand of bacterium which is highly resistant to antibiotics, as a likely culprit.

Worldwide eradication efforts of Guinea worm disease enter most difficult stage, as 2022 reports indicate only 13 remaining cases across the planet. The eradication effort, which began under President Carter’s administration in 1986 with 3.5 million people infected, has dwindled down in existence to only four remaining countries: Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Central African Republic.

Novel obesity findings highlight shrinkage in regions associated with learning, memory, and judgement, mirroring that of Alzheimer’s Disease. While these brain scan findings are alarming, there is hope that weight loss could potentially reverse the obesity related brain damages.

Study findings show that men who take Viagra and Cialis to treat erectile dysfunction may cut risk of early death via heart disease by nearly 25%. In addition to sexual performance benefits of the drugs, this study indicated major benefits associated with health risks such as heart failure, stroke, and heart attack.

Thank you for reading! More next week,

My best wishes for a productive and idea-filled week ahead. Thanks for your ongoing efforts to improve the lives of the patients we all serve. Please send any news, comments, suggestions and ideas to hello@morningmed.email.

Quiz answer: The correct answer is B) The need for consent can be waived

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