Week in Review: September 16

By Samantha Rossi • September 16, 2022

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The Week in Review provides an overview of the past week’s top health care content, including industry news and trends, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Laboratories news, and upcoming events.

Industry News

New York declares a state of emergency over polio

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency on Friday in response to poliovirus, which has been detected since April in wastewater from four counties plus New York City. Just one case has been confirmed — an unvaccinated man in his 20s who was diagnosed with paralytic polio in Rockland County in July. But one paralytic case is usually a sign of hundreds of additional infections, since only around 1 in 100 polio infections result in serious disease, according to New York's declaration. Nassau County was the latest to find polio in its wastewater. The poliovirus found in a sample collected there in August was genetically linked to the paralytic case. The viruses found in another 50 samples collected from Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties share the same genetic link. Source: NBC News

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CDC warns of increase in respiratory illness among children that could lead to polio-like muscle weakness

Across the U.S., physicians have seen an increase in enterovirus D68 causing a condition called acute flaccid myelitis which can result in polio-like muscle weakness. Source: The Hill

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1st ever partial heart transplant saves 5-month-old: ‘revolutionary’ for other kids

Owen Monroe was just days old when his parents learned that his congenital heart defect was so severe that it could not be treated with the standard surgeries. But using a procedure that had only been performed successfully on pigs, surgeons transplanted parts of a donor heart into Owen’s heart, saving his life. The groundbreaking procedure is being hailed as a game changer in the field of pediatric heart surgery and provides hope for thousands of babies with congenital heart defects. Source: TODAY

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Mayo Clinic News

Should I get the new COVID-19 booster shot now or wait?

There is a new Covid-19 booster just in time for fall. Timing your next shot right could help maximize your protection. U.S. health regulators authorized the additional shots from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. last month. Now the boosters are available at health centers and pharmacies across the country. The new shots are bivalent, retooled to target both the original strain of virus as well as the now-dominant Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5. … Can I get the booster at the same time as the flu shot? Yes. You don’t need to plan two separate trips, according to doctors and CDC guidance.  You might feel a little more achy than normal if you get both at one time, says Dr. Abinash Virk, an infectious-disease specialist at Mayo Clinic, but it is otherwise safe. Source: Wall Street Journal

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U.S. reaches medical milestone with millionth organ transplant

Mayo Clinic leads the country with the largest integrated transplant center with campuses in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida. To date – the Rochester location alone has performed seven thousand successful organ transplants. Dr. Taner with Mayo Clinic’s transplant center says it is a privilege to help people in need. “A remarkable milestone, if you think about it no other country has ever reached that number, the U.S. is the only country that has transplanted 1 million people, the numbers are increasing every year, for the past 11 years, and every year is a record year,” Transplant surgeon Timucin Taner said. Source: KAAL

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Mayo Clinic health system experts say mental health issues on the rise

Mental health issues in adolescents were on the rise before the COVID-19 pandemic, but health experts are seeing rates of depression and anxiety symptoms double since the pandemic, according to La Crosse’s Mayo Clinic Health System. The United States Centers for Disease Control is warning of a mental health crisis among teenagers…“We’ve seen that socialization continue for kids,” said clinical therapist Janice Schreier. “They’re not as involved in activities that they had been in the past. We also know social media has played a part. Kids are disconnecting from other activities and are engaging more in social media. Source: WKBT La Crosse

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Samantha Rossi

Samantha Rossi is a Digital Marketing Manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories. She supports marketing strategies for product management and specialty testing. Samantha has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2019.