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Today’s item on bacterial outbreaks linked to hospital ice machines reminded me of The National’s song “Ice Machines,” so pardon me for slipping into music recommendation mode for a second.
Wild Pink’s new, wonderfully crunchy heartland rock album (featuring not just pedal steel, but also — wait for it — bagpipes on one song) is out today; I will be listening to it all autumn long.
Acoustic guitarist Yasmin Williams also has a new album out today. She’s got one of the most unique ways of playing the guitar; I highly recommend her 2021 Tiny Desk concert.
And now the news.
Why some people with schizophrenia hear voices
What does tickling have to do with auditory hallucinations? Not even the most ticklish person can tickle themselves, because when muscles move, the brain sends a copy of that information over to the sensory system so the body knows it is doing that and can tamp down that sensory input. This helps the body know what is internal and external input.
By studying people’s brain waves when they were about to speak, scientists were able to discern what’s different about people with schizophrenic auditory hallucinations, as opposed to people without schizophrenia or those who had schizophrenia but not auditory hallucinations. They found that people who hear voices showed signs that their neural suppression systems were not only disrupted, but likely interacted with each other to create auditory hallucinations.
Read more from STAT’s Timmy Broderick here, including how this might lead to better schizophrenia treatments. And don’t miss last week’s news about the first new type of medication for schizophrenia in decades.
The AI PI
If you, like me, are tuned into scientific research Twitter (I mean, X), you may have recently seen a clip circulating of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggesting that one day, artificial intelligence will suggest experiments for humans to do. “Then at the end of that, cancer will be cured,” Altman said in the interview.
Will that happen? STAT’s cancer reporter Angus Chen caught up with Shantanu Singh, a machine learning biologist and co-leader of the Carpenter-Singh Lab at the Broad Institute, about how handy AI is in research right now and whether we might expect it to replace researchers.
“I would love to retire if I can find an ally who can do the research that I think the world really needs…But can we truly be replaced? I think that is a fundamental question about creativity — what is it about the human mind that is associated with creativity? And are these models truly able to mimic what we consider creative thinking?” he told Angus. Read more here.
Hurricane Helene’s effect on medical supplies
Earlier this week, medical supply manufacturer Baxter reported that its Marion, N.C., plant was closed due to damage from Hurricane Helene. According to the American Hospital Association, this plant manufactures 60% of the nation’s IV solutions. Yesterday, Mass General Brigham sounded the alarm on a potential shortage due to the supply disruption and called for conservation. Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai told STAT it also has started using contingency plans, though its operations remain normal.
Astute observers will remember that, during Hurricane Maria in 2017, there was an IV bag shortage because the storm damaged plants in Puerto Rico. While that shortage mainly involved small IV bags used to dilute and deliver medications, this shortage appears to mainly involve large ones, which are used for irrigation and continuous hydration.
Other IV bag manufacturers like B. Braun and Fresenius Kabi told STAT they were not affected by the hurricane, and the AHA told STAT it and the FDA are monitoring the situation.
If you understand how companies came to locate key IV plants in areas susceptible to hurricanes, email me: [email protected]
What to know about protecting babies from RSV
Until last year, there was nothing that could be done to protect against RSV infection, a seasonal respiratory illness that’s particularly severe for babies whose lungs are still developing. But over the course of the spring and summer last year, several vaccines and antibody shots for older adults, pregnant people, and babies were all approved by the Food and Drug Administration and recommended for use by the CDC.
Last year’s rollout was plagued by a number of hiccups, including a shortage of the shots and regulatory approvals that came too late in the year for all eligible mothers and babies. This year, drugmaker Sanofi says there’s enough Beyfortus — the shot of protective antibodies for new babies — “for every eligible baby” in the U.S. But hurdles in rollout still remain.
“I think for a number of reasons, it’s not going to be perfect,” Nancy Foster, the American Hospital Association’s vice president of quality and safety policy, told STAT’s Helen Branswell. “Will there be more infants … inoculated? Yes, absolutely.” Read more.
A more specific ‘concept of a plan’
During the vice presidential debate Tuesday, Republican nominee JD Vance provided a bit more clarity on the Trump campaign’s vague plans to make health insurance more affordable. Vance in prior campaign stops had said Donald Trump wants to deregulate the Affordable Care Act and sort people into risk pools to provide different kinds of insurance depending on how sick people are. During the debate, he clarified that he was referring to “reinsurance regulation” that Trump had implemented during his term in office.
Reinsurance is insurance for insurance — in this case, for the companies that offer plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. This lowers premiums for people getting Obamacare because extremely high patient bills are taken care of by these reinsurance programs.
For more on what Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz said in reply, the nitty-gritty of what Vance was talking about, and whether it will work, check out Rachel Cohrs and John Wilkerson’s story.
Watch out for ice machine biohazards
A new CDC report details outbreaks of an unusual bacterial infection that researchers traced back to a single brand of ice machines used in four different hospitals. Ice and water from the machines are used for bed baths, swallow evaluations, and ice packs that may touch surgical incisions or insertion sites.
The outbreaks — 46 of them spanning from 2020 to 2024 — occurred in three hospitals in California and one in Colorado. The bacterium, Burkholderia multivorans, is commonly found in cystic fibrosis patients but is rare otherwise, which is what raised clinicians’ alarm. It can be antibiotic-resistant and lead to severe infections.
The bacterium was found in ice machines in three of the four hospitals, though researchers aren’t sure where it originally came from. They recommended hospitals track how water could transmit infections in their hospital and avoid using tap and ice water when outbreaks are detected.
In related news, hospitals around Asheville, N.C. — including the embattled HCA Mission Hospital — are struggling without access to high-pressure water due to Hurricane Helene, which means basic tasks like food preparation, flushing toilets, and showers aren’t possible. HCA told STAT that the hospital is using water trucks, mobile handwashing, and bathroom stations, and is exploring drilling more wells for its cooling systems.
What we’re reading
• Can flashing lights stall Alzheimer’s? What the science shows, Nature
• A rare disease causes a mother’s body to attack her unborn child. Now a Texas doctor has found a drug to stop it, Texas Monthly
• Condoms aren’t a fact of life for young Americans. They’re an afterthought, AP
• It’s time for a new medical specialty in asynchronous care, STAT
• ‘Joy’ tells the moving story behind the world’s first “test-tube baby,” Netflix
• Medicare Advantage market expected to grow in 2025, despite big changes from insurers, STAT
