By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) – Residents who returned to unburned homes after a 2021 wildfire near Boulder, Colorado often reported health issues months later, a study has found.
The most common symptoms reported by survey participants six months after the Marshall Fire were itchy or watery eyes (33%), headache (30%), dry cough (27%), sneezing (26%), and sore throat (23%).
These remained the most reported symptoms a year after the fire, but at lower rates, researchers reported in ACS ES&T Air.
Wildfires that rage in cities, like the Marshall Fire and the ones spreading now across Los Angeles, burn not just natural vegetation but also high amounts of human-made materials, which emit high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds that are linked to negative health outcomes.
Smoke exposure symptoms were most often reported by residents whose homes were within 250 meters (820 feet) of burned structures. Dry coughs, itchy/watery eyes and sneezing were also associated with a change in the home’s smell post-fire and with findings of smoke damage or ash inside.
Many participants said cleaning their homes, using HVAC systems, hiring cleaning companies, or replacing affected furniture or carpets helped reduce the smell over time.
The researchers did not sample ash or indoor air quality in the homes, and they did not have information on how much time residents spent in their homes or how they cleaned them after the fire, which could impact their exposure to chemicals.
Still, they say, because the reported health symptoms are likely due to inhalation of gaseous pollutants or re-suspended dust, personal protective equipment such as masks, preferably N95 or KN95 masks, gloves, and gowns should be provided for residents who are cleaning smoke-damaged homes after wildfires.
Experimental flu pill shortens illness
An experimental pill speeds recovery from influenza without inducing the dangerous mutations in the flu virus that have resulted from similar drugs, according to results from a Chinese study.
In a trial involving 527 otherwise healthy children and adults with non-severe cases of the flu – predominantly due to influenza A – a single oral dose of suraxavir marboxil shortened the median time to alleviation of symptoms to 42 hours, from 63 hours with a placebo.
Resolution of fever, cough, sore throat, headache, nasal congestion, muscle or joint pain, and fatigue was 21 hours faster with suraxavir, which is under development by China’s Jiangxi Qingfeng Pharmaceutical Co.
Patients who received suraxavir also had more rapid decreases in viral load, according to a report in Nature Medicine.
The drug acts by inhibiting the polymerase acidic (PA) protein that helps the influenza virus replicate.
Roche’s PA inhibitor, baloxavir marboxil, sold under the brand name Xofluza, has shown similar benefits, but viral mutations that confer resistance to its effects develop quickly, particularly in children.
Suraxavir, however, “had a remarkably low incidence of drug resistance,” at less than 1%, the researchers reported.
Everyone in the trial was treated within two days of symptom onset. The researchers next hope to study the effect of later administration, and the drug’s efficacy and safety in high-risk patients.
Dementia rates predicted to surge as US population ages
Nearly half of all Americans will experience cognitive difficulties after age 55, more than double the risk reported previously, new research suggests.
The study predicts an estimated 500,000 new cases in 2025, rising to 1 million new cases a year by 2060, figures directly tied to the aging of the U.S. population, researchers reported in Nature Medicine.
The average risk is predicted to be 42% overall, 35% in men and 48% in women, with the higher risk in women due to longer life expectancy.
The lifetime risk of dementia increases to over 50% among those who reach age 75, the researchers said.
Other contributors to dementia risk include high rates of hypertension and diabetes, obesity, unhealthy diets, lack of exercise, and poor mental health.
Unreliable documentation of dementia in health records and on death certificates, minimal reporting of early-stage cases, and the underreporting of cases among racial minority groups have contributed to underestimates of risk, the researchers said.
While dementia numbers among white individuals are expected to double over the next four decades, rates among Black individuals are seen tripling, according to the report.
The predictions are drawn from the ongoing Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Neurocognitive Study, which has been tracking nearly 16,000 participants since 1987.
Previous studies have indicated that steps to prevent heart disease, such as blood pressure control and diabetes prevention, should also slow cognitive decline and prevent dementia, the researchers said.
“Efforts should also focus on reducing social, environmental and structural factors that drive inequalities in dementia and cognitive dysfunction,” study leader Dr. Josef Coresh of NYU Langone in New York wrote in an accompanying research briefing.
(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; editing by Bill Berkrot)
