Immunotherapy May Hold Promise for Skin Cancers After Kidney Transplant
The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors given as part of an immunosuppressive regimen for kidney transplant recipients with advanced cutaneous cancers may be effective and safe, depending on the regimen, two small studies suggested. In the first study among 12 kidney transplant recipients with advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) who were treated with cemiplimab […]
No Survival Benefit to Higher Intranasal Naloxone Dose
There was no difference in survival between recipients of 4-mg or 8-mg intranasal naloxone (Narcan) administered by law enforcement, according to data from New York state. A review of 354 naloxone administration reports from New York State Police from March 2022 to August 2023 showed that 99% of people who received the 8-mg dose and […]
Fecal Transplants in Kidney Recipients Reduced Resistant Pathogens
In the single-center PREMIX clinical trial, most renal transplant recipients were negative for multidrug-resistant pathogens shortly after receiving fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), with longer times to recurrent infections. Eight of 10 participants who received a least one FMT, and eight of nine participants who received all FMT treatments were multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) negative by day […]
Georgia Set to Implement Medicaid Work Requirements
Georgia’s new Medicaid demonstration program that requires recipients to be working, going to school, or volunteering is expected to start up next year, but critics say it will be expensive to administer and will result in far fewer people added to the Medicaid rolls compared with a regular Medicaid expansion. “The systems being set up […]
Bacteria in donor organs complicate immune response after transplantation
Organ transplant recipients take life-long immunosuppressive drugs to prevent their bodies from mounting an immune response against the donated organ, yet a substantial number of them still reject the organs. A new study by researchers from the University of Chicago shows that transplant recipients also mount an immune response against commensal bacteria in the organ […]
Reassuring Data on Two-Dose Hep B Vaccine, Risk of Acute MI
There was no higher risk of heart attack for recipients of the two-dose hepatitis B cytosine phosphoguanine adjuvant vaccine (Heplisav-B) compared to the three-dose hepatitis B vaccine with an aluminum hydroxide adjuvant (Engerix-B), a prospective study found. Among nearly 70,000 adults who received at least one hepatitis B vaccine dose, type 1 acute myocardial infarctions […]
Did HIV Status Affect Transplant Patients’ Long-Term Outcomes?
Patient survival in liver transplant recipients and graft survival in kidney transplant recipients was comparable among patients living with and without HIV, even 15 years later, researchers found in a retrospective study. For liver transplant recipients, patient survival at 15 years among those living with HIV was 70% (95% CI 60.6-80.8%) compared to 75.7% (95% […]
How High Is Breakthrough Infection Risk for People With Arthritis, HIV?
Among immunocompromised individuals vaccinated against COVID-19, solid organ transplant recipients as well as those with HIV and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were significantly more likely to experience breakthrough infections versus people without immune dysfunction, a retrospective study found. In a national database analysis involving over 650,000 people who received at least one vaccine dose, the highest […]
COVID Booster Cuts Death Rate by 90 Percent – MedicineNet Health News
Latest Coronavirus News THURSDAY, Dec. 9, 2021 Booster doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine set recipients up to effectively withstand the ravages of both the Delta and Omicron variants, a group of new studies suggest. Boosted folks are 90% less likely to die from a Delta infection than people relying solely on the initial […]
Regular Blood Work After Gene Therapy Warranted by Rare Condition
Recipients of certain adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-based gene therapies should be monitored closely for signs of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA), FDA advisors agreed. “Frequent laboratory assessments are necessary,” said Barry Byrne, MD, PhD, of the University of Florida in Gainesville, based on his observations that patients on onasemnogene abeparvovec (Zolgensma) tend to first show IgM presence […]