What We're Reading: CRISPR Shows No Side Effects; Fatal Fungus in Nursing Homes; Walmart Healthcare "Super Center"

Mixed Results of CRISPR Treatment Show No Side Effects

Nursing Homes Harbor Fatal Fungus

A man with HIV who was treated with CRISPR 19 months ago is still doing well, reported STAT News, making him the longest-followed individual ever to be treated with the gene-editing tool. The findings were reported in the The New England Journal of Medicine this week, and the patient’s survival, without side effects, offers some assurance that CRISPR-based treatment might be safe. However, the findings also revealed that the treatment fell short of its goal of eliminating HIV from the cells of the man, who has received treatment or his HIV/AIDS, as well for his acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Drug-resistant germs, including Candida auris, are impacting hundreds of ill patients in skilled nursing facilities, reported The New York Times. Since C. auris arrived in the United States 4 years ago, nearly 800 people have been infected, with half of patients succumbing to the infection within 90 days. While most drug-resistant infections like C. auris have been attributed to medication overuse in humans and livestock, public health experts say that nursing facilities and long-term hospitals are a “dangerously weak” link in the healthcare system due to poor care and low staffing.

Walmart Opens First Healthcare “Super Center”

Walmart has opened its first “Walmart Health” center, a 10,000 square-foot center that will offer a variety of primary medical services, dental and orthopedic care, and behavioral health services, putting “key health services under one roof.” The first center opened in Dallas, Georgia, and another center is set to open in Calhoun, Georgia, later this year. The new model is expected to eventually be replicated in other markets, according to Forbes. Walmart has yet to say if a national rollout is in the cards, but Sean Slovenski, senior vice president and president of Walmart Health and Wellness, said the new centers are a serious strategy and “not a dabble.”