Happy First Day of Autumn!

From Capitol Hill, Roll Call discusses the Senate Majority Leader’s plans for successfully passing the continuing resolution funding the federal government through December 16, 2022.

[I]n theory the tentative plan to start the process this Thursday could lead to a final Senate vote by next Friday, when the current fiscal year expires. It might even enable the House to take up the Senate-passed bill and clear it in time to beat the midnight deadline.

All that assumes everything goes according to plan and that there’s an acceptable stopgap funding package that can pass in both chambers. None of those details have been released, but top appropriators and other lawmakers said Wednesday there’s no talk yet of a very short-term CR to buy more time.

From the Omicron and siblings’ front —

• Fierce Healthcare tells us about the possible blossoming of another Omicron variant BF.7

• The Wall Street Journal reports on the rollout of nasal Covid vaccines in Asia “though just how effective they are remains to be seen.” These are adenovirus, not mRNA-based, vaccines. Nonetheless

Delivering a vaccine through the nose has the potential to build up a type of immune response known as mucosal immunity, or immunity in the upper airway tract, said David Curiel, professor of radiation oncology at Washington University School of Medicine who co-developed the Bharat vaccine. That is important because mucosal immunity could more effectively block infection and transmission of the coronavirus than the type of immunity induced by injected vaccines, he said.

In other virus news, Forbes offers an illuminating article by Gayle Smith, the CEO of the ONE Campaign, which fights to end extreme poverty and preventable disease. Ms. Smith writes on the emergence of polio.

The re-emergence of polio is worrisome, particularly considering the politicization of and uneven response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Panic, however, is unwise. What is needed is vigilance and vaccination coverage. Fortunately, there are millions of people who are living proof that polio vaccines work.

This is a moment when the world can do the right thing and eradicate a preventable disease. Since the mid-1950s, a concerted global effort has confined endemic polio to only two countries and proven that this is a virus we can defeat. 

Going all the way is a moonshot and a win for the world. It is not without its challenges, of course. But it is far easier right now than defeating Covid, or malaria, or AIDS. One can only hope that ridding the world of a disease known as “infantile paralysis” might be something we can all agree on — if not for ourselves then for the children whose lives continue to be at risk.

Also, from the public health front, the National Institutes of Health helpfully informs us

In a large clinical trial that directly compared four drugs commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, researchers found that insulin glargine and liraglutide performed the best of four medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to maintain blood glucose levels in the recommended range. Blood glucose management is a key component of keeping people with type 2 diabetes healthy. All four medications evaluated were added to treatment with metformin, which is the first-line drug to treat type 2 diabetes. The trial was funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health.

More than 37 million Americans have diabetes, and approximately 90 to 95% of them have type 2 diabetes. People with diabetes who keep their blood glucose levels in the near-normal range generally have a much lower risk of developing diabetes complications such as nerve, kidney, and eye diseases. Most people with type 2 diabetes require more than one medication to control blood sugar levels over time. 

While there is general agreement among health care professionals that metformin combined with diet and exercise is the best early approach in diabetes care, there is no consensus on what to do next to best keep high blood glucose in check.

From the wellness front, Fierce Health relates that United Healthcare is expanding its relationship with exercise machine marker Peleton. As a result, UHC will be making Pelton’s fitness services available to as many as 10 million of its members.

From the federal compensation and benefits front

• Govexec reports on locality pay developments, and Social Security changes that Congress may approve this year.

• Reg Jones writing in FedWeek provides a personal story about federal survivor benefits worth a gander.