“New U.S. hepatitis C infections dropped slightly in 2022, a surprising improvement after more than a decade of steady increases, federal health officials said Wednesday.
Experts are not sure whether the 6% decline is a statistical blip or the start of a downward trend. Seeing 2023 and 2024 data, when it’s available, will help public health officials understand what’s going on.”
From Associated Press.
“Cape Verde and Egypt became malaria-free. Brazil and Timor Leste eliminated lymphatic filariasis, the disfiguring parasite that causes a condition commonly known as elephantiasis. Jordan became the first country to ever be certified as leprosy-free. Chad got rid of one form of human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness. And Pakistan, Vietnam and India eliminated trachoma, which causes blindness.”
From NPR.
“Cardiovascular disease mortality has fallen massively since the 1950s…
The decline is substantial. In the United States, the death rate dropped from over 500 per 100,000 people in 1950 to under 150 in 2021 — a four-fold decline. The reduction in France and the United Kingdom was even greater, with death rates falling five-fold.
This progress comes from advancements in medical science, surgeries, emergency care, public health efforts, and dietary changes, improving cardiovascular health.”
From Our World in Data.
“Some indications suggest that Covid in 2025 is a milder disease. The once common symptoms of loss of taste and smell are becoming less common. And though some people are being hospitalised and dying, Chin-Hong says the vast majority of people will either be asymptomatic or experience a cold so mild that some might well mistake it for a seasonal allergy, such as a pollen complaint. While immunocompromised individuals are still particularly vulnerable, he believes that the major risk factor for more severe Covid is now simply being over the age of 75.”
From BBC.
Fierce Pharma | Noncommunicable Disease
“Johnson & Johnson’s combination of Rybrevant and Lazcluze has racked up an overall survival (OS) victory against AstraZeneca’s standard-of-care Tagrisso as a first-line treatment for advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In reporting positive top-line results from the phase 3 MARIPOSA study in 1,074 patients with NSCLC with EGFR exon 19 deletions or L858R substitution mutations, J&J’s combo is expected to keep patients alive for at least a year longer than Tagrisso.
The results, details of which are yet to be revealed, show a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in OS, according to J&J.
While it was a secondary endpoint from the trial, OS is typically viewed by patients and physicians as the ‘gold standard endpoint,’ according to Mark Wildgust, Ph.D., J&J’s vice president of oncology global medical affairs.
‘The (result) really shows that we have a new standard of care for patients with EGFR non-small cell lung cancer,’ Wildgust added in an interview with Fierce Pharma. ‘We know that Tagrisso gives about a three-year median overall survival. We’re expecting that we will be adding at least a year beyond that.'”
From Fierce Pharma.
