Health

(NEW YORK) — The sudden death of 49-year-old author Julie Powell, whose life inspired the movie Julie & Julia, is raising new questions about her health, including a recent battle with COVID-19.

Her husband, Eric Powell, reported to The New York Times on Tuesday that the author died of a cardiac arrest on Oct. 26 at their home in Olivebridge, New York.

As many fans took to social media to express condolences, questions arose around some of Powell’s final tweets, including her recent COVID-19 recovery and a “black hairy tongue.”

On Oct. 25, a day before Powell reportedly died, the food writer tweeted that she woke up with black hairy tongue, adding further, “people, including my doctor, seem to think it’s no big deal, and will go away soon, but it certainly is gross.”

While alarming by sight, black hairy tongue is a benign and temporary condition that can be caused by a variety of factors including excessive alcohol, coffee or black tea intake, dehydration, smoking, poor oral hygiene or even certain medications, according to Dr. Darien Sutton, a board-certified emergency medicine physician and ABC News medical contributor.

Earlier this fall, in September, Powell — who gained notoriety as the food writer behind the Julie/Julia blog that chronicled her journey cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering The Art of French Cooking — tweeted about suffering from COVID-19, writing that her symptoms included fatigue and a cough.

According to Sutton, there is “no reason to believe” that Powell’s diagnosis of black hairy tongue is associated with her battle with COVID-19.

Sutton said we also have “no evidence” that her death was associated with her COVID diagnosis.

“I think the reason why people speculated about this is that we know that there’s an association between COVID-19 and an increased risk of certain conditions that can cause cardiac arrest,” said Sutton, noting that data shows patients with COVID-19 are more likely to face increased risks of heart attacks, abnormal heart rhythms and blood clots.

In Powell’s case, the only known fact about her death is her husband’s report that it was due to cardiac arrest, which is a broad term, according to Sutton.

“It simply means that the heart has stopped functioning,” he said of cardiac arrest. “We do not know her medical history other than what she relayed in her tweets.”

Cardiac arrest is the cause of as many as 450,000 deaths in the United States each year, according to the National Institute of Health.

Heart disease is also the number one cause of death for women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disease can be caused by a range of things like diabetes, smoking, an unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity and more. Sutton added it is also possible to suffer cardiac arrest due to factors not related to having heart disease, such as problems with the lungs, electrolytes or blood disorders.

“Unfortunately for cardiac arrest, there are no real symptoms,” said Sutton. “It’s often a sudden loss of consciousness.”

If you see a person lose consciousness, Sutton recommends immediately dialing 911 and starting CPR.

The American Heart Association offers resources for people who want to get education and training to provide first aid and CPR that could save a life.

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(NEW YORK) — Pfizer and BioNTech have launched a clinical trial on a vaccine targeting both COVID-19 and influenza, the companies announced Thursday.

The phase 1 trial is being done in the United States with 180 participants between the ages of 18 and 64, with the first participant dosed this week, the companies said. The follow-up period for each participant will be six months.

“By combining both indications in one vaccine approach, we aim to provide individuals with an efficient way to receive immunization against two severe respiratory diseases with evolving viruses that require vaccine adaptation,” Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech, said in a statement.

The combination vaccine is based on the currently available bivalent COVID-19 booster and a quadrivalent mRNA flu vaccine, which is designed to protect against four different flu viruses.

The phase 1 trial will test for safety, immune response and optimal dose level of the combination vaccine, before moving on to larger trials. The data will also provide insight into the potential of mRNA vaccines to address more than one pathogen, Sahin said.

Annaliesa Anderson, senior vice president and chief scientific officer of vaccine research and development for Pfizer, called this an “exciting step in our ongoing journey with BioNTech as we collectively look to transform the prevention of infectious diseases around the world.”

“Even with existing seasonal influenza vaccines, the burden of this virus is severe across the world causing thousands of deaths and hospitalizations every year,” she said in a statement.

Studies indicate​ COVID-19 vaccine efficacy fades over time, though it’s not clear if every American will need an annual COVID-19 booster. As scientists continue to assess the need, several companies are at work on creating a single injection each fall that protects against both seasonal flu and COVID-19.

In addition to Pfizer, pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Novavax have announced plans to work on a combo shot.

Moderna said it anticipates starting clinical trials on a single-dose vaccine that combines a booster against COVID-19 and a booster against flu by the end of the year, with hopes of the vaccine being available for the 2023 season.

“We believe this is a very large opportunity that is ahead of us, if we could bring to market a high efficacy pan-respiratory annual booster,” Moderna COE Stéphane Bancel said during the Sept. 9 investor meeting.

Last year, Novavax enrolled people in a Phase 1/2 study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immune response of a combination vaccine using the company’s seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccines. A phase 2 confirmation trial is expected to begin later this year, the company said in October.

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(NEW YORK) — The number of people with the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, has surged, with cases hitting a two-year high, according to data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

RSV is twice as high among people of all ages at this point this year compared to last year, with the U.S. seeing more than twice as many cases per week, according to ABC News contributor Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital.

One reason for the surge amongst kids is because they are socializing in ways reminiscent of how they mingled pre-pandemic, Brownstein told ABC News.

“Those respiratory viruses have been on a hiatus because kids have been somewhat isolated and have returned to normal school,” he said.

While RSV affects children and adults, it’s particularly dangerous for kids under 1-year-old and seniors 65 years old and older.

According to the CDC, there are between 100 to 500 pediatric deaths and 14,000 adult deaths each year related to RSV, with the actual figure likely being higher due to undercounting.

There isn’t much testing for RSV because of the prevalence of the illness.

Pediatric hospitalizations from RSV are up 1% this week compared to last week. Nationally, pediatric bed occupancy is the highest it’s been in 2 years — with 76% of the estimated 40,000 beds filled with patients, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Washington, D.C. and 17 states, including Tennessee, Connecticut, Delaware, Arizona and Rhode Island, are seeing between 80% and 90% of pediatric hospitalizations bed capacity, according to HHS data. Maine sits at 102%, which means it has more patients than beds available.

Brownstein said that RSV isn’t the sole cause of the hospitalizations among kids, as other respiratory diseases, including the common cold, are spreading.

The rise in RSV cases on top of the spread of COVID-19 and the flu during the fall and winter have doctors worried that Americans are facing a potential “tripledemic” this year.

According to the CDC, respiratory illnesses have appeared earlier and in more people than in recent years. The federal health agency says there have also been early increases in flu activity across most of the U.S., with indications that this season could be much more severe than the recent seasons.

ABC News’ Eric Strauss contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The number of positive flu tests and hospitalizations in the United States is the highest in more than a decade, indicating this influenza season may be the most severe in years.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been at least 880,000 cases of flu-like illness during the 2022-23 flu season.

Over the season’s first three weeks, clinical laboratories have recorded more than 9,100 positive tests, CDC data shows.

This is the highest number of tests recorded this early in a season since 2009-2010, when the country was seeing a swine flu outbreak. More than 21,000 positive tests were recorded that season, according to an ABC News analysis of data from the federal health agency.

Additionally, there have been about 6,900 hospitalizations so far this season with a cumulative rate of 1.5 per 100,000. According to the CDC, this is “higher than the rate observed … during previous seasons going back to 2010-2011.”

At least two states have also experienced pediatric flu death deaths within the last week, including two reported in Texas and one in South Carolina.

“What the data tells us so far is we’re likely to have a fairly substantial influenza season,” Dr. Timothy Brewer, a professor of epidemiology at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, told ABC News. “It’s taking off at a faster rate than usual. We’re clearly in the influenza season but what we’re seeing is a more rapid rise in cases.”

He added, “It does seem to be spreading quicker, particularly along the eastern seaboard and the south. It’s unusual for the East Coast to be seeing so much influenza this early in the season.”

Public health experts said one of the possible reasons why cases and hospitalizations are so high is because during the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools and businesses were closed and people were staying at home, they weren’t exposed to many viruses.

Due of this, people may be more susceptible to getting sick, as their immune systems are remembering (or learning for the first time) how to fight off these infections.

“It takes some time for immunity to build back up,” Dr. Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News. “Immunity … is what protects [us] against severe disease in the future. And that’s why we’re seeing so many people who are sick in the hospital with viruses.”

Doron said there also may be more people being tested for flu this season than usual.

“In a normal flu season, we were not recommended to test everyone with flu symptoms … we’re now in a situation where everyone who has symptoms of any kind is supposed to test,” Doron said.

The doctors stressed it’s not too late to get the flu shot and encouraged everyone 6 months and older to receive a dose.

“It’s definitely not too late,” Dr. Justine Justman, an associate professor of medicine in epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, told ABC News. “Now is a great time. This week is a great time to get your flu shot. I wouldn’t put it off, it’s still completely worth it.”

The experts also suggested Americans follow the same steps they did during the COVID-19 pandemic, including washing hands thoroughly, avoiding crowded indoor spaces and even wearing masks.

“All of those things that we talked about, over and over for COVID, what are called the non-pharmaceutical interventions, they will work really well, to help you avoid flu, just the way they help you avoid COVID,” Justman said. “So we’ve all learned how to do those things. We just have to remember to keep going.”

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(NEW YORK) — A Facebook group started to help protect women from the dangers of drinks “spiked” with illegal drugs has gone viral with nearly 8,000 followers.

The group was started by Melanie Hubbard after police in Boston issued a safety warning following more allegations from women about their drinks being spiked with dangerous drugs.

Hubbard co-founded the Facebook page “Booze in Boston” as a way for people to shed light on incidents of spiked drinks in the Boston area.

“People don’t feel safe anymore. People don’t want to go to the bar because they hear what happened to their friends,” Hubbard told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I hope that it spreads that awareness.”

Boston police said Friday they have received reports of more than 70 incidents involving spiked drinks this year alone, according to Boston ABC affiliate WCVB-TV.

Of those incidents, four were confirmed by subsequent drug tests, WCVB reported, citing comments made Friday by Boston Police Department Lt. Detective Richard Driscoll.

The Boston Police Department also issued a warning about reports of spiked drinks in September, as college students returned for the start of school.

“The Boston Police Department has become aware of numerous social media posts from various individuals who state that they were victims of drink spiking at local area bars,” stated a letter signed by Boston Police Commissioner Michael A. Cox.

In the letter, Cox encouraged people to report incidents of drink spiking to the police department.

One of the many colleges in the area, Boston University, shared a new warning last week about “scentless, colorless and tasteless drugs being placed in alcoholic drinks.”

“Drugs used in this way can cause disorientation, unconsciousness or other symptoms,” the university’s police department said in a warning that was shared on Twitter.

Sarah Solomon told GMA she became incapacitated after having a third round of drinks at a concert in Boston.

“I couldn’t stand up,” Solomon said. “I basically had to sit on the sidewalk, and then I just started getting sick, like uncontrollably.”

Solomon said she was hospitalized the next day, adding, “Even in the hospital I was throwing up. I mean it was like the worst hangover.”

Solomon, who is now recovered, said she filed a police report after her experience. She said she wants people to know that this can happen to anyone.

“I just turned 40. I’m not a college kid. I’m not a party animal,” she said. “Make sure you keep your wits about you.”

Another woman, who asked that her name not be used, told WCVB that she was terrified after an alleged drugging incident in Cambridge, outside of Boston.

“All of a sudden, I felt so drunk and then I collapsed,” the woman said, adding that her memory of the incident is “hazy.” “I did end up in the emergency room. I couldn’t stop shaking. I couldn’t stop throwing up.”

ABC News contributor Brad Garrett said drink spiking has always been prevalent, but can be underreported.

He said the latest rise in reported incidents in the Boston area may mean that people are more empowered to speak out.

“It is a crime that’s big-time underreported,” Garrett said. “And so, as a result, we don’t really know the numbers.”

Garrett said people should always keep an eye on their drinks and surround themselves with trusted friends.

The Boston Police Department is also urging people not to consume a drink that is not served to them directly by the bartender or server, and to keep their drink covered with their hand when they are not drinking it.

The department said people can also use products for sale that enable a drink to be tested for drugs.

Signs that a person may have consumed a spiked drink include loss of motor skills, vomiting, numbness, loss of control over the body and gaps in memory, according to Boston University and the Boston Police Department.

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(NEW YORK) — Drug overdose deaths in New York state spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the state comptroller’s office.

The analysis, published Tuesday, found that fatalities surged by 68% between 2019 and 2021.

Additionally, the more than 5,800 deaths statewide from drugs in 2021 surpassed the previous peak in 2017 by more than 1,700.

“Too many New Yorkers have died from the misuse of drugs, but the jump in these numbers is alarming,” comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement. “It is a tragedy that devastates families and impacts our communities in countless ways.”

The report also found that the number of deaths linked to opioids has skyrocketed.

In 2021, the rate of opioid overdoses was 25 per 100,000 in New York, a spike from five per 100,000 in 2010.

Additionally, the report found there were disparities in drug overdose fatalities across racial and ethnic groups.

During the pandemic, death rates rose fivefold for Black residents and quadrupled for Hispanic residents. White New Yorkers also saw a rise in drug overdose deaths, with rates tripling during the pandemic.

“The data shows our battle against drug overdose deaths is far from over,” DiNapoli’s statement continued. “State leaders must ensure an ongoing commitment of public resources and strategies, including new funding from legal settlements, and innovative, evidence-based solutions for the fight against this deadly epidemic to be effective.”

The trends in New York reflect those seen on a national level. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year showed that more than 100,000 Americans died of a drug overdose during the first year of the pandemic.

It’s a 29% increase from the same period in 2019 and equates to a person dying every five minutes.

According to the CDC, many of those drug fatalities were due to opioids, particularly synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

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(NEW YORK) — New research is shedding light on just how much higher proportions of dangerous toxins people in minority communities are breathing in.

Populations in racially segregated communities in the U.S. may be more likely to be exposed to a form of air pollution, according to a study published in Nature Communications on Tuesday.

Researchers combined air pollution monitoring and American Community Survey data from 2014 to 2019 to assess air pollution exposure across the U.S. and found that communities with a high degree of racial residential segregation are exposed to concentrations of total fine particulate matter that are two times higher. Concentrations of metals from anthropogenic sources are over 10 times higher when compared to communities with a low degree of racial residential segregation, John Kodros, who authored the study as a research scientist at Colorado State University, told ABC News.

The research also suggests these communities were exposed to an even more toxic form of air pollution, with a three times higher mass proportion of known toxic and carcinogenic metals — including lead, nickel and chromium.

“What this is showing, is that communities across the United States are not exposed to the same mixture of particulate air pollution,” Kodros said.

While scientists have long proven that residents in impoverished and minority communities are suffering greater environmental detriments than other populations, little was previously known about the distribution of exposure among racially segregated communities to specific toxic chemical elements contained in particulate matter, the researchers said.

There has been “extensive research” looking at the disparities of total fine particulate matter across lines of racial and ethnic demographics, Kodros said. The new findings illustrate the disproportionate burden of air pollution faced by some populations, according to the study.

“Even normalizing by total air pollution, the concentrations of these metals are much higher in content in more racially segregated communities compared to well integrated communities,” Kodros said.

Segregation has “been systematic in the history of our country,” Kodros added.

“Often when areas are building a road or a factory, it goes into a certain part of the city,” Kodros said. “Putting in that factory or that highway often ends up in areas that are more racially segregated and in the communities of color.”

This leads to emissions from the factories and roads occurring at different rates based on segregation and race and ethnicity, Kodros said.

The researchers found evidence that disproportionate exposure could be reduced through regulatory action, including recent regulations on marine oil that have reduced concentrations of vanadium and lessened the pollution risk faced by racially segregated communities

The scientists hope the research helps to inform regulations to reduce air pollution exposure.

Policymakers also need to consider targeted regulations to reduce emissions through a lens of environmental justice, as opposed to just trying to reduce emissions everywhere, Kodros said.

“We need to really think about reducing emissions in communities that are not often well representative at the table,” he said.

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(NEW YORK) — The amount of time women will have to travel to receive an abortion has quadrupled from about half an hour to nearly two hours since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade this summer, a new study finds.

The decision — known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — determined that there is no constitutional right to an abortion and gave individual states full power to regulate abortion.

Researchers from several institutions, including the University of California, San Francisco; Boston Children’s Hospital; Boston University; and Harvard University looked at how far women lived from an abortion clinic while Roe was still in effect — from January 2021 to December 2021 — compared with how far women lived post-Dobbs.

Of the at least 749 abortion clinics that were operating pre-Dobbs, the team determined that women lived an estimated 27.8 minutes.

However, post-Dobbs, several abortion facilities in states with either total or six-week abortion bans closed, leaving 671 open.

The team found that women now lived an average of 100.4 minutes from a facility, which could equate to living hundreds of miles away.

Results showed there were racial/ethnic disparities. Black, Hispanic, and American Indian women who had to travel 60 minutes or more increased disproportionately by almost 25%.

The authors note this is especially concerning because communities of color in the U.S. have a higher rate of death due to pregnancy- or delivery-related complications compared to white women.

There were also disparities when it came to geography. Women living in states that subsequently banned or severely restricted abortion after Roe was overturned saw the greatest effects, according to the study.

For example, in Texas — where a trigger ban was implemented after Roe fell — travel to a clinic increased by almost a full workday, defined in the U.S. as eight hours.

Similarly, in Louisiana, which also had a trigger ban go into effect, women in the state have to travel seven hours to get to the nearest facility.

Those without a high school diploma, internet subscription, health insurance, and were of lower income were also significantly affected, the study said.

Some limitations of the study include not considering air travel as a means of transportation, which excludes the states of Alaska and Hawaii.

What’s more, the study only examined the physical locations of abortion clinics and did not consider telemedicine visits or mail-ordering medication.

It comes after a data set shared exclusively with FiveThirtyEight showed that two months after the Court’s decision, there were 10,570 fewer abortions compared to estimates pre-Dobbs.

ABC News’ Dr. Avish Jain contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — After decades of researching respiratory syncytial virus, an illness especially dangerous for newborns and the elderly, scientists this week announced a major development in plans for a possible vaccine that could be available as soon as next year.

“Among very young children, particularly those [younger] than 6 months of age, we have a high probability now of protecting against serious illness and hospitalization,” Pfizer’s Dr. William Gruber told ABC News.

Gruber is responsible for the company’s vaccine development programs and has been personally working on the RSV vaccine for over 40 years.

Pfizer announced Tuesday that given promising preliminary data on their maternal RSV vaccine for newborns, the Food and Drug Administration granted a green light to stop enrolling new patients in the study. The company said it will move forward with the vaccine approval process.

Pfizer’s traditional protein-based RSV vaccine works by vaccinating a pregnant person, who then passes on some protective antibodies to the infant. The company also said that the same vaccine has also shown promising data in adults 65 and older.

According to data collected from the preliminary studies, Pfizer said, the vaccine was 82% effective at protecting newborns, within the first three months of life, from severe RSV illness. Within six months of an infants’ life, the vaccine effectiveness dropped to 69%.

“To be able to be in a position where we have the potential to provide 80% or more protection against serious disease is a dream fulfilled,” Gruber said.

Pfizer plans to submit the vaccine for official FDA approval by the end of the year and, if greenlit by the FDA and recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the maternal RSV vaccine could be available as soon as next year.

Currently, there is no approved RSV vaccine. If Pfizer’s vaccine is approved, it would be the first RSV vaccine given to pregnant people to protect infants. The company said that there were “no safety concerns” for vaccinated pregnant participants and their newborns during the trial.

The news comes as pediatric hospitals across the country are experiencing a rise in the number of patients admitted with RSV. Infections due to RSV have spiked by 69% over the last four weeks and are appearing earlier than usual this year, according to the CDC.

Pediatric bed occupancy in the U.S. has reportedly hit its highest in two years, with 75% of the estimated 40,000 beds filled, according to an ABC News analysis.

RSV usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, and is the most common cause of bronchitis and pneumonia in kids under the age of 1 in the U.S., according to the CDC.

The CDC also states that premature infants and young children with weakened immune systems, congenital heart or chronic lung disease are the most vulnerable to complications from RSV.

Dr. William Linam, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, told ABC News last year that parents can help protect their kids from RSV by following the three W’s of the coronavirus pandemic: wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance.

“Pretty much all kids have gotten RSV at least once by the time they turn 2, but it’s really younger kids, especially those under 6 months of age, who can really have trouble with RSV and sometimes end up in the hospital,” Linam said at the time.

“If you have a child who has significant underlying health conditions, you probably need to sort of maintain some of those precautions you were following during the worst of the pandemic, like continuing to wear masks more when you’re in enclosed spaces, being diligent about keeping hand sanitizer with you and using it a lot and avoiding crowds,” he added.

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(NEW YORK) — One version of amoxicillin, a common antibiotic used to treat issues like ear infections in kids, is in short supply, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The shortage of amoxicillin means that parents and other caregivers may need to visit multiple pharmacies in order to fill a prescription for liquid amoxicillin or may need to ask their doctor for an alternative medication. Some pharmacies may also be able to adjust the strength of the supply on hand to meet demand.

The FDA lists the oral solution of amoxicillin in its drug shortage database, describing it as “currently in shortage.”

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists also lists amoxicillin in its drug shortages database, noting that multiple different manufacturers of the drug are experiencing shortages.

Amoxicillin is an antibiotic that can be prescribed for bacterial infections.

In addition to ear infections, amoxicillin is commonly prescribed to children for strep, whooping cough and some urinary tract infections.

One manufacturer of the drug, Sandoz, a division of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, told ABC News that what it described as a “supply situation” is the result of a “significant uptake” in demand for amoxicillin.

The increased demand combined with several other factors, including supply chain issues, is leading to the short supply, according to the company.

“The combination in rapid succession of the pandemic impact and consequent demand swings, manufacturing capacity constraints, scarcity of raw materials, and the current energy crisis means we currently face a uniquely difficult situation,” Sandoz said in a statement. “We are working with key stakeholders including governments to find ways to manage this critical situation.”

Amoxicillin is not used to treat COVID-19, RSV or the flu, but the drug’s limited supply comes at a time when many pediatric hospitals across the country say they are reaching capacity due to an early rise in respiratory illnesses.

Last week, pediatric bed occupancy in the U.S. was the highest it’s been in two years with 75% of the estimated 40,000 beds filled with patients, according to an ABC News analysis.

Walgreens told ABC News on Friday the pharmacy chain is “not seeing any constraints around availability of amoxicillin at this time.”

CVS told ABC News it has seen “isolated” shortages of the drug.

“We’ve seen isolated supplier product shortages of certain doses of the medication,” the company said in a statement. “We’re working with manufacturers to replenish supply as quickly as possible.”

ABC News’ Sony Salzman, Eric Strauss, Alicia Zellmer and Emma Egan contributed to this report.

 

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