COVID-19 more severe for children in the South
Children in the Southern U.S. were much more likely to have severe complications from COVID-19 during the early years of the pandemic than children in other parts of the country, new findings show.
Researchers with the University of Texas’ Southwestern Medical Center looked at records from more than 165,000 children who tested positive for COVID-19 from January 2020 to January 2022. They found that children in the Southern U.S. were more than three times as likely to experience severe complications that required admission to a hospital intensive care unit or ventilator support or resulted in their death.
While the study did not determine the reason for the disparity, the researchers suggested that the South’s higher poverty rates and reduced access to health care and social programs may have played a role. Previous research has linked higher COVID-19 death rates in the Southern U.S. to low rates of protective behaviors such as mask use and social distancing.
Poor vaccination uptake could also have played a role. By mid-January 2022 — almost three months after vaccines were authorized for children ages 5-11 — rates of COVID-19 vaccination were below 11% for children in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, compared to an average of about 45% in New England states. The new study, published in Hospital Pediatrics, confirmed that children who were vaccinated were less likely to have serious cases of the disease.
Children with preexisting health conditions, such as heart disease or asthma, were also at higher risk for severe complications when infected with COVID-19. The more chronic diseases a child had, the higher their risk was, the study found.
For children under 5, those younger than age 2 were at highest risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19, contrary to early assumptions that infants were not as threatened by the disease, the researchers noted.
Worker death underscores need for protections in cannabis industry
Federal researchers are advising cannabis producers to better protect workers from dust and other respiratory hazards following the death of a young worker.
Lorna McMurrey, a 27-year-old worker at a Holyoke, Massachusetts, cannabis facility, died last year after an asthma attack — the first known occupational asthma death in the industry. McMurrey, who did not have a history of asthma or allergies, was exposed to cannabis dust at work and developed respiratory problems, according to an investigation published this month in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Despite using a mask and an inhaler, her symptoms worsened during her eight months at the facility, resulting in her January 2022 death.
An Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection found cannabis dust levels were low at the Massachusetts facility after its grinder was attached to a vacuum with HEPA filtration. However, levels of endotoxin, an inflammatory contaminant associated with bacteria on cannabis flowers, were much higher than recommended, especially for grinder workers.
Asthma, allergies and rhinitis have been reported at other U.S. cannabis facilities, according to the study researchers, who included staff with OSHA, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The researchers recommended that cannabis facilities take additional steps to control respiratory exposures, provide worker training and monitor occupational allergies. Some employees may be advised to stop working at the facilities and be eligible for workers’ compensation, they said.
Trulieve, the company that operated the Massachusetts facility, reached a settlement with OSHA this year regarding McMurrey’s death and was fined $14,502. McMurrey’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit this month.
U.S. adults more likely to skip health care because of cost
Americans are more likely to have problems with health costs than people in other high-income countries, with low-income earners struggling the most, a new report from the Commonwealth Fund says.
Almost a third of Americans with high incomes reported at least one cost-related problem with health care in the past year, according to the report, which examined disparities in health care affordability.
Survey respondents reported missing doctor visits, forgoing medical tests or treatments, not filling their prescriptions and skipping medication doses because of concerns about payment.
People in the U.S. with low and middle incomes fared the worst, with about 46% experiencing barriers because of costs.
Compared to people in other high-income countries, Americans with low and middle incomes were more likely to struggle to afford their care, even with public and private insurance. But high-income Americans had problems as well: High-earning people in the U.S. were more likely to report issues with health care costs than people with low and average incomes in other countries.
The report compared the U.S. to eight other countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Among the nations, U.S. adults were the most likely to have medical bill problems, regardless of income. The lowest rates of affordability problems were reported in Germany and the Netherlands, both of which have universal health insurance with little cost sharing, researchers noted.
5.1 million annual deaths linked to fossil fuels
More than 60% of annual deaths from outdoor air pollution across the globe are linked to fossil fuel use, a new study finds.
Published Nov. 29 in The BMJ, the study estimated that fossil fuels from power generation, transportation and industry cause 5.1 million extra death a year globally.
About 8.3 million deaths worldwide were attributable to ozone and fine-particle pollution, also known as PM2.5, in 2019. A third of the deaths were caused by heart disease, followed by stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes. Additional deaths were linked to high blood pressure and dementia.
Replacing fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy sources could avert many premature deaths, according to the team of international researchers. In high-income countries such as the U.S., about 460,000 deaths could be prevented annually. The biggest reductions in deaths from ending fossil fuel use would occur in South, Southeast and East Asia, which experience 3.85 million related deaths a year.
Phasing out fossil fuel use could also prevent illnesses such as asthma and COPD, reducing hospital admissions and health care costs, the researchers said.
The United Nations kicked off its 2023 Climate Change Conference, also known as COP28, in Dubai this week. The agenda includes discussions on accelerating transitions to green energy, innovation and industrial decarbonization.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public-health journalist.