News Roundup: Vaccines, a Nasal Spray to Prevent Covid, Species-Busting Ants, and More

Happy September, and what a start to the month! Lots going on in science and health news right now, so let’s get to it.

Vaccines: Good News and Bad

It’s been a wild ride for vaccines in recent years. They can be victims of their own success: vaccines are so effective in wiping out disease that it doesn’t take long for people to forget the horrors of any particular disease. For those of us who never lived through the terror of polio, for instance, it’s all too easy to begin to question the need for or value of a polio vaccine. (Hint: huge need, extremely high value.)

As you’ve probably heard by now, the FDA recently updated guidelines for Covid vaccines, which seems like it will make it more difficult for many of us to get the annual shot. In response to that and other affronts on well-established vaccine science, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington have banded together to create the West Coast Health Alliance, which is expected to create vaccine guidelines for the region that are more in line with prior FDA and CDC recommendations. Some states are already putting their own rules in place to try to expand access to this year’s Covid shots. Meanwhile, Florida’s surgeon general just announced plans to cancel all vaccine mandates (not just for Covid) in the state.

There’s a reason this patchwork approach will be so detrimental to public health. Yes, it’s good news that people in some states will be able to get Covid shots. But pathogens don’t respect state boundaries. Having vast areas of low vaccination rates — for Covid or any other vaccine-preventable infectious disease — means people who live there are at higher risk of infection, and they’re also at higher risk of transmitting that infection to all other people through travel.

A cornerstone of vaccine effectiveness comes from a phenomenon called herd immunity: having so many people vaccinated that even people who aren’t vaccinated are extremely unlikely to come into contact with the pathogen. For people who can’t be vaccinated, like babies, or for whom vaccines may not be effective, such as the immunocompromised, herd immunity is a literal life saver. Historically, vaccine mandates were critical for reaching the necessary levels to achieve herd immunity. As vaccination rates edge lower — and, in the case of Covid, prepare to fall off a cliff — those vulnerable people are at extraordinarily high risk for infection. This is precisely what we saw in this year’s measles outbreak in Texas, which was the worst in our country in more than 30 years.

A Nasal Spray to Prevent Covid?

This is pretty cool, especially for people who want to get Covid vaccines and can’t get access. Scientists in Germany conducted a study of 450 people to find out whether azelastine, a commonly used over-the-counter nasal spray for seasonal allergies, could prevent Covid infections. And it did! Half of participants used the spray three times a day for nearly two months, while the other half used a placebo spray. Participants were followed and tested twice a week for Covid. Laboratory-confirmed Covid cases were three times higher in the placebo group, suggesting that the allergy spray may in fact help to prevent infection. It also appeared to lower the incidence of common colds.

Time for the disclaimers. No, you should not run out and stock up on azelastine or start dosing yourself three times a day all through respiratory infection season. The scientists note that larger studies will be needed to confirm their findings. They also don’t know exactly how the nasal spray might be preventing infection. But since the allergy medication is readily available, you could talk to your doctor if you’re interested in trying it out as a preventive measure during peak infection times. (And a friendly PSA: high-quality masks still work!)

Species-Busting Ants

And now a palate cleanser: Once there was a little old ant...

If that line didn’t make you burst into song, well, you must not be my dad. (Also, to the reader who is singing: Hi, Dad!)

I guess the jury’s still out on whether ants can in fact move rubber tree plants, but thanks to new research in Europe, we now know that they’re not the only ants with high hopes. Scientists have known for a long time now that ant queens can control the sex of their offspring to maintain a desired ratio of males to females in a colony. What we’ve just learned is even more amazing: ant queens can actually produce offspring of an entirely different species when needed.

The finding was made in Messor ibericus, a common ant in Europe. And the distinct species we’re talking about are not so closely related as to be barely indistinguishable: these species diverged more than 5 million years ago. Apparently the second species is needed for worker ants, and when that species isn’t nearby, the ant queens have developed a totally unexpected ability to lay male eggs cloning that species. Mother Nature, you’ve thrown us for a loop once again.

Finally, Some Gut Fungi

Salisbury’s Take readers know that I’m a big fan of gut microbiome studies, so it’ll come as no surprise that I was thrilled to see a new study looking at the much more mysterious fungal residents of our GI tracts. Researchers at Penn State refer to it as the “gut mycobiome,” reporting the first major analysis of these populations. They found nine different fungal families, with a certain type of yeast that was most prevalent. I hope it’s the first of many such studies.