Opinion | ‘This Is an Extremely Rare Phenomenon’: What We Heard This Week
“It is important to note that this is an extremely rare phenomenon.” — Apurv Soni, MD, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in Worcester, on cases of false-positive rapid COVID tests. “Likely, if we are able to treat one of these illnesses, we will be able to treat them all.” — Avindra […]
Alzheimer’s May Be Transmissible in Rare Circumstances
Alzheimer’s disease appeared to be transmissible under rare conditions, according to new research. Five patients treated with human growth hormone from cadaveric pituitary glands when they were children subsequently developed early dementia or biomarker changes consistent with Alzheimer’s disease, reported John Collinge, MD, of University College London in England, and co-authors in Nature Medicine. Four […]
Rare Syndrome After COVID Vaccines Described
People who experienced rare long-term adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination often had neurologic symptoms, survey data showed. Among 241 people who self-reported a post-vaccination syndrome (PVS), the five most common symptoms were exercise intolerance (71%), excessive fatigue (69%), numbness (63%), brain fog (63%), and neuropathy (63%), reported Harlan Krumholz, MD, of Yale School of Medicine […]
FDA Warns of Rare Life-Threatening Reaction to Anti-Seizure Drugs
Two anti-seizure drugs — levetiracetam (Keppra and others) and clobazam (Onfi, Sympazan) — can cause a rare but serious hypersensitivity reaction known as drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) that can be life-threatening, the FDA warned Tuesday. DRESS may start as a rash but can quickly lead to internal organ injury or death, […]
Senators Discuss Making Medicare’s Relaxed Telehealth Rules Permanent
It’s the rare Senate hearing when the only disagreements occur not between senators, but between panelists themselves. Yet that’s what happened at Tuesday’s Senate Finance Healthcare Subcommittee hearing on making particular telehealth rules permanent for the Medicare program. The senators present all agreed on one thing: the current flexible rules for telehealth — such as […]
Efgartigimod Offers Hope in Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy
PHOENIX — A subcutaneous infusion of efgartigimod cut the risk of relapse in patients with a rare but serious immune-mediated neuropathy, according to the phase II ADHERE trial. Patients with diagnosed chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) treated with efgartigimod alfa and hyaluronidase-qvfc (Vyvgart Hytrulo) saw a 61% reduction in the risk of relapse versus placebo, […]
Long COVID Rare in U.S. Kids, Has Affected 7% of Adults
Long COVID in the U.S. is rare among children and has affected roughly one in 14 adults, according to a pair of data briefs from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Overall, in 2022, an estimated 1.3% of children in the U.S. ever had long COVID, and 0.5% currently had long COVID, reported […]
Rare Bacterial Infections Reported in Wyoming – Wyoming Department of Health
Rare Bacterial Infections Reported in Wyoming September 15, 2023 A rare, potentially serious bacterial infection known as leptospirosis has been recently diagnosed in several dogs and one human in Laramie County, according to the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) and the Wyoming Livestock Board. The human case is believed to be the state’s first on […]
Adenovirus May Trigger Thrombocytopenia, Thrombosis, Case Studies Suggest
In rare cases, symptomatic human adenovirus infection may trigger a life-threatening prothrombotic anti-platelet factor 4 (PF4) disorder resembling vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), according to a report based on two patients. A 5-year-old boy and a 58-year-old woman based in the U.S. developed serious — and in the case of the boy, ultimately fatal — […]
10 Myths About Mental Illness in Crime Fiction
I’m the rare girl who went to medical school with a love of watching whodunits and ended up — 10 gruelling years later — a forensic psychiatrist. Forensic psychiatry is the most thrilling job imaginable, but forensic psychiatrists in mysteries and crime TV have some very different roles than we do in real life. We […]