By Caitlyn Stulpin
When given together, Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus vaccine and the seasonal influenza vaccine generated robust immune responses and were well tolerated among older adults when coadministered, data from a recent study showed. Read the article in Healio.
By Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Most organ transplantations involve supply from older donors to younger recipients. Aging cells can become senescent, a condition in which they stop multiplying and secrete chemicals that negatively affect neighboring cells. Senescent cells accumulate in older donor organs and have the potential to compromise transplant outcomes.
Read the article in Medical Xpress.
By Kristen Monaco
Short-term prophylaxis with direct-acting antivirals was fully effective at protecting kidney transplant recipients when their donors had hepatitis C, a proof-of-concept study showed.
In the small, uncontrolled trial, a 2-week prophylactic course prevented hepatitis C infection in all 10 negative recipients of positive donor kidneys, Christine Durand, MD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues, found. Read the article in MedPage Today.
Six months after new kidney policies took effect, more than 6,100 Black kidney candidates have had their waiting times modified, helping them get the organs they need. A new monitoring report shows the median (statistical midpoint) of additional waiting time given to these candidates was 1.7 years. The attached figure below shows the distribution of waiting time awarded to candidates with a waiting time modification. Read the full article from UNOS.
By Joyce Frieden
WASHINGTON — Heart transplant patient Eddie Garcia was “feeling like a million bucks” one day in the summer of 2021. He had just gotten back from a 3-mile walk, something he couldn’t do prior to his transplant in 2020 — “There was a time when I couldn’t walk down to my mailbox and back without huffing and puffing,” Garcia said Tuesday at a press conference at the Cannon House Office Building here. Read the full article in MedPage Today.
By Michael Monostra
Walking at a faster speed may decrease the risk for developing type 2 diabetes, though more studies are needed to confirm the association, according to findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis.
“Currently, there is no specific instruction for gait speed in current guidelines,” Ahmad Jayedi, PhD, a research assistant at the Social Determinants of Health Research Center at Semnan University of Medical Sciences in Iran, told Healio. Read the article in Healio.
By Eduardo Cuevas
Evan Dame lives in near-constant fear his body will reject his transplanted kidney.
For a time, a simple blood test from the comfort of the 39-year-old’s Maryland home just outside of Washington would assuage that fear. He’d get the test every two to three months at 6 a.m., just before he started work as a facilities manager. Read the article in
USA Today.
Dec 4, 2023 | Heart/lung, News, Policy monitoring reports
A new data monitoring report evaluates key metrics six months after the implementation of the current lung allocation system that went into effect March 9, 2023.
Lung is the first organ type to adopt the flexible and patient-centric system known as continuous distribution. Under the current system, each lung candidate is assigned a single and unique score for each match run that combines multiple factors to determine priority. Read the full article from UNOS.
By Mark E. Neumann
PHILADELPHIA — The percent of patients who choose home dialysis within the first year of treatment varies by country, a study presented here showed.
“There is a wide variability in home dialysis use from a high of 50% of patients receiving home dialysis in New Zealand to less than 10% in France,” Annabel Boyer, MD, of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Caen, Caen, Basse-Normandie, France, and colleagues from Canada, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom wrote in the poster. Read the article in Healio.
By David Statman
PHILADELPHIA — The association between obesity and chronic kidney disease may be partially explained by inflammatory cytokines and high levels of leptin, according to data from a study presented at ASN Kidney Week.
The data showed that inflammatory and proinflammatory mediators were highest in obese patients, with maximum aberrations occurring in obese patients with CKD, suggesting a potential link. Read the article in Healio.