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Cheerful Eldest Daughter Day. I’m not the first daughter in my family, but growing up I was always the eldest sibling in the house. I’m often ready to talk about that burden, but this weekend I saw the movie “Dìdi.” It was beautiful, and a reminder that little brothers are people too.

Anyway, the news. Anthony Fauci got the West Nile virus. STAT’s Helen Branswell has everything you need to know about the infection.

How Biden’s $3.2 billion plan to fight the next pandemic turned into a virus bodega

Post-Covid, the Biden administration was determined not to be overwhelmed again. In June 2021, it announced the Pandemic Antiviral Program, which would distribute $3.2 billion across several government departments and dozens of academic laboratories. The idea was to create a “sustainable structure,” as Anthony Fauci said that month, to prepare for any new pandemic threats.

But that structure was never built. Read STAT’s Jason Mast’s story about how a grand plan and $577 million spent by taxpayers can ultimately result in just a few papers and a few interesting molecules. (Learn more about the failure of this crucial federal program, and stick with the writing that compares a box of Zika virus to Trader Joe’s Butter Chicken.)

A social media look at the cancer care disparities transgender people face

We’ve previously written about how, since health care systems do not systematically or consistently collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity, there is a major gap in our understanding of transgender health. A study published on Friday in JAMA network opened used a large language model to analyze social media posts to fill the gap when it comes to cancer care.

“I have stage 4 ovarian/endometrial cancer as a 33 year old trans man… If they had given me a hysterectomy like I cried and begged for years, this wouldn’t be happening. I am beyond angry and depressed,” said one post . “I always felt mistreated and uncomfortable in the oncology facility while I was receiving radiation therapy… which made me feel unwelcome there,” said another.

From the more than 1,200 posts about cancer care from transgender people on Reddit, about what health care services are available and their risk of cancer) and problems accessing care. Despite the limitations of conducting research based on social media posts, the authors write that the research can still provide “valuable insight to guide future initiatives toward achieving equitable health care for transgender people.”

Doctor, heal your campus?

What do Harvard, Penn and Columbia have in common? In addition to being among the elite, Ivy League institutions that have struggled to handle protests and encampments this year, all have chosen doctors as new presidents or interim presidents.

It may sound surprising to you, but it didn’t surprise Guy David, professor of healthcare management at the Wharton School. “I have seen firsthand how clinical decision-making and experience in the trenches of a hospital can prepare a physician to be an effective leader,” David wrote in a First Opinion essay. And it’s not just these three institutions – it’s a whole physician leadership phenomenon. Learn about the push and pull behind the rise of physicians at the helm of all different types of organizations.

Takeaways from the DNC on the healthcare struggle

After another late night waiting for Beyoncé to show up (she didn’t), there were two clear priorities for Democrats at last week’s national convention: protecting abortion rights and making America feel good again.

“Let’s be clear about how we got here,” Vice President Kamala Harris said of the repeal of Roe v. Wade. “Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom, and now he’s bragging about it.”

Read more from STAT’s Sarah Owermohle on the DNC’s top health topics and how the Trump campaign is responding.

How has the ACA affected people with criminal involvement?

People incarcerated or incarcerated in the U.S. criminal justice system have disproportionately low incomes, lack access to health insurance, and have higher rates of chronic illness. A study published on Friday in JAMA Health Forum reviewed existing studies to determine whether the implementation of the ACA and state expanded Medicaid programs had any effect on this population’s access to health care, insurance costs, and health and social security outcomes.

The evidence was mixed: Researchers found that the ACA was linked to lower rates of being uninsured, but it was unclear whether more people had private or public insurance. In terms of access to care, studies focused mainly on substance use and mental health treatment, but the evidence was mixed on whether people had better access to that care.

Does this sound vague? To clarify: this was a ‘scoping review’, which is different from the ‘systemic reviews’ you often read about in STAT. Scoping reviews are broader and more exploratory, while systemic reviews attempt to answer specific questions. In short, the authors concluded that not enough research has been done on this population to know for sure how they have been affected over the years, so the authors called for more research on this high-risk group.

There will be more free Covid tests this fall

The federal government will distribute a new round of free Covid-19 tests in late September, HHS officials announced Friday during a news conference to highlight ways to protect against Covid, flu and RSV in the upcoming respiratory disease season. This continues the seventh round of free testing Covidtests.govwhere people can order up to four tests.

Covid activity in the country has increased dramatically in recent weeks. When asked why the tests aren’t available now, David Boucher of the Administration’s Strategic Preparedness and Response said HHS had to be “a little strategic” about when to launch this round given Covid funding constraints. Covid-19 cases tend to rise to higher levels in the winter, and the department wants people to have tests on hand around the holidays. Boucher said there is a separate program that provides tests to schools, libraries, senior homes and food banks. HHS has distributed a total of about 2 billion free tests, he said.

— Helen Branswell

What we read

• The murder of a teenager, mold in the walls: unfulfilled promises haunt public housing, KFF Health News

• Baby paralyzed in Gaza’s first case of polio type 2 in 25 years, WHO says: Reuters

• A Harm Reduction Approach to Eating Out, STAT
• HPV vaccination lingers among US teens, raising cancer concerns Bloomberg
• STAT readers on mask bans, cancer screening and empathy and AI, STAT