- Center on Health Equity & Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
What We're Reading: Joint Pledge on Vaccine Safety; COVID-19 Symptoms in Children; Vaping, Risk of Infection
Nine pharmaceutical companies issued a joint pledge that seeks to reassure the public about the safety, efficacy of their potential vaccines; fatigue, headache, and fever were indicated as the most common symptoms of COVID-19 in children; the link between vaping use and risk of COVID-19 infection and adverse outcomes becomes clear.
Drug Companies Issue Vaccine Safety Pledge
Amid concerns of intermingled political influence in the pursuit of a vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), 9 pharmaceutical companies issued a rare joint pledge that seeks to reassure the public about the safety, efficacy of their potential vaccines. Reported by The Hill, the joint pledge, which was signed by top drug companies such as Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Moderna, states that each signee’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate will not seek FDA approval until a comprehensive phase 3 clinical trial is conducted and data exhibits positive results.
Fatigue, Headache Cited as Common COVID-19 Symptoms in Children
Fatigue, headache, and fever were indicated as the most common symptoms of COVID-19 in children, with cough and loss of taste or smell shown to occur as well. Reported by The Guardian, symptom risk was assessed by a group of researchers behind the COVID-19 symptom study app in the United Kingdom. Of the COVID-19 positive children in the study, 55% had fatigue, 54% had headache, and almost half had a fever.
Examining How Vaping Connects to Higher COVID-19 Risk
Reported by The New York Times, the link between vaping use and risk of COVID-19 infection and adverse outcomes were spotlighted, with 1 study reporting that young adults who vape are 5 times more likely to receive a diagnosis. While doctors remain unsure of why vaping makes some people severely sick and spares others, similar negative trends to that of cigarettes have been noted for vape users as vaping has been shown in mice to increase vulnerability to bacteria and viruses, as well as send surges of inflammation throughout the body.
Urticaria Diagnosis Challenged by Overlapping Pruritic Skin Conditions
April 23rd 2025Urticaria is complicated to diagnose by its symptomatic overlap with other skin conditions and the frequent misclassification in literature of distinct pathologies like vasculitic urticaria and bullous pemphigus.
Read More
New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
Listen
Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
Listen
ACOs’ Focus on Rooting Out Fraud Aligns With CMS Vision Under Oz
April 23rd 2025Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are increasingly playing the role of data sleuths as they identify and report trends of anomalous billing in hopes of salvaging their shared savings. This mission dovetails with that of CMS, which under the new administration plans to prioritize rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.
Read More
