Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Aug. 12, 2024–Aug. 16, 2024.
U.S. experiencing summer COVID-19 surge
NBC News (8/9, Syal) reported the U.S. is currently experiencing a surge of COVID-19 infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s wastewater data marks current COVID-19 rates as “high,” with western states, “including Texas and California, showing some of the highest levels of virus.” Meanwhile, eastern states like Florida and North Carolina “are also reporting very high levels of virus in the community.” The rise in cases has surprised experts, though they attribute the higher numbers to this year’s summer wave beginning “in early June, compared with July and August 2023.” Hospitalizations and deaths remain lower than in previous years, and experts anticipate the wave “to peak in the next few weeks, with case numbers becoming much lower around September.”
You may also be interested in: COVID summer surge: Updates on the FLiRT variant and more.
Cancer cases and deaths among men expected to surge by 2050
CNN (8/12, Gumbrecht) reports, “Cancer cases and deaths among men are expected to surge by 2050, according to a study published Monday, with large increases among men age 65 and older.” Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing “cases and deaths from 30 different types of cancer in 185 countries and territories in 2022 to make projections for 2050.”
The Hill (8/12, Weixel) reports the study estimates that between 2022 and 2050, cancer cases among men will “increase 84% from 10.3 million to 19 million.” Deaths are also “expected to rise 94%, from 5.4 million to 10.5 million, with a 117% increase among men aged 65 years and older.” The findings were published in Cancer.
Parvovirus B19 infections are on the rise, CDC says
CNN (8/13, Dillinger) reports, “A seasonal respiratory virus named parvovirus B19—sometimes also called fifth disease—is increasing in activity, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday.” As with “other respiratory illnesses, efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic dramatically lowered parvovirus B19 infections, with a corresponding loss of immunity.” The CDC warned “that it has received reports of higher test positivity rates recently, as well as clusters of complications among people at high risk of severe illness.” The percentage “of people with antibodies indicating recent infection, which fell below 3% during 2022-24, reached 10% in June, with the highest increase among children ages 5 to 9.”
WHO declares mpox an international health emergency
The Washington Post (8/14, A1, Nirappil, Chason) reports, “The World Health Organization on Wednesday again declared mpox an international health emergency in response to a growing outbreak in Africa.” The WHO’s “declaration comes after suspected and confirmed cases in Africa exceeded 15,000 this year, exceeding the toll in all of 2023.” Mpox cases “reached record highs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the virus has been endemic for decades and the vast majority of African cases are concentrated.” Meanwhile, “a new form of the virus, known as clade 1b, has spilled into eastern parts of the African nation and has been reported in other countries for the first time, including Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.”
The New York Times (8/14, Mandavilli) reports WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern D.R.C., its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.”
Reuters (8/14, Satija, Rigby) reports “an emergency committee met earlier on Wednesday to advise” Tedros “on whether the disease outbreak constitutes a ‘public health emergency of international concern,’ or PHEIC.” According to Reuters, “PHEIC status is WHO’s highest level of alert and aims to accelerate research, funding and international public health measures and cooperation to contain a disease.” Tedros said, “It’s clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”
FDA lays out goals to reduce sodium levels in packaged, processed foods by 20%
Reuters (8/15, Vanaik) reports the FDA “on Thursday laid out fresh goals to cut sodium levels in packaged and processed foods by about 20%, after its prior efforts to address a growing epidemic of diet-related chronic diseases showed early signs of success.” In October 2021, the FDA “had set guidelines to trim sodium levels in foods ranging from potato chips to hamburgers in a bid to prevent excessive intake of salt that can trigger high blood pressure.” The FDA “is now seeking voluntary curbs from packaged-food makers such as PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz and Campbell Soup.” The agency “wants to cut sodium intake over the next three years to an average of 2,750 milligrams per day—20% lower than the levels prior to 2021, though above the recommended daily limit of 2,300 mg.”
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