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Lighthouse Pharmaceuticals announced it received a $49.2 million grant from the National Institute of Aging (NIA), a section of the National Institutes of health (NIH). The grant was awarded to Lighthouse to support the advancement of the Phase 2 clinical trial of LHP588 for patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and Porphyromonas Gingivitis infections.

Teenagers who get poor sleep are more likely to harm themselves on purpose, a new study says.

Shorter sleep, going to sleep later and frequent waking during the night all were significantly associated with a 14-year-old’s risk of self-harm, researchers report in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

This risk remained elevated even as teens turned 17, researchers noted.

“While this is clearly an unfavorable relationship, one positive from this research is that sleep is a modifiable risk factor — we can actually do something about it,” lead researcher Michaela Pawley, a doctoral candidate in psychology at the University of Warwick in the U.K., said in a news release.

As many as 70% of teenagers get inadequate sleep, researchers said in background notes.

Meanwhile, rates of self-harm among young people are increasing, researchers said.

To see if the two were connected, researchers analyzed data from more than 10,000 14-year-olds participating in a long-term health study of U.K. residents born between 2000 and 2002.

Participants provided details on their usual sleep, and also were asked if they’d engaged in self-injury or self-mutilation.

“We discovered that shorter sleep on school days, longer time to fall asleep and more frequent night awakenings at age 14 associated with self-harm concurrently and three years later at age 17,” Pawley said.

Sleep problems increased risk of self-harm even after accounting for other factors like age, gender, socioeconomic status, self-esteem and depression, researchers said.

Poor sleep can interfere with a teen’s impulsiveness and ability to make good decisions, researchers said. A lack of sleep also might impede their ability to cope with depression or anxiety, and make them more likely to view their life in a negative light.

“Self-harm is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents and young adults. It is a sobering topic,” senior researcher Nicole Tang, director of the University of Warwick Sleep and Pain Lab, said in a news release.

“Knowing that poor and fragmented sleep is often a marker preceding or co-occurring with suicidal thoughts and behavior, it gives us a useful focus for risk monitoring and early prevention,” Tang said.

Researchers said future study should investigate whether promoting better sleep through cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia might provide protection against self-harm.

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics has more on children and self-harm.

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The first look at uptake of two new tools for protecting newborns against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during the first year they were recommended found that coverage in the United States was low, with only 29% of infants receiving either the preventive monoclonal antibody shot (nirsevimab) or benefitting from maternal RSV vaccination, though coverage varied greatly by state, a research team from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported this week.

RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization in US infants, and in August 2023, the CDC’s vaccine advisory group recommended nirsevimab (Beyfortus) for all infants younger than 8 months old entering their first RSV season. A month later, the group recommended one dose of the Pfizer’s Abrysvo RSV vaccine for pregnant women at 32 to 36 weeks gestation during September to January to provide maternal antibodies against the virus to protect infants younger than 6 months old.

The launch of monoclonal antibody shots and maternal RSV vaccination in the United States and other countries over the last few years have led to decreased hospitalization rates in infants. In a related development, Italian investigators this week reported that nirsevimab was 89% effective in preventing RSV-associated hospitalization in infants under 12 months of age during the last respiratory virus season, based on data from seven of the country’s pediatric hospitals.

State variations, timing tracking

In the new study, CDC researchers based their findings on immunization system and live-birth data from 33 states and the District of Columbia on infants born between October 2023 and March 2024. The team published their findings yesterday in the latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Of the 29% who got the extra protection from RSV, 18.5% received it through nirsevimab and 10.4% got it through maternal vaccination. Overall coverage ranged from 10.8% in Nevada to 53.1% in Vermont. Nirsevimab coverage ranged from 6.5% in Nevada to 34.9% in Alaska, and maternal vaccination coverage was lowest in Mississippi at 1% and highest in Minnesota at 21.8%. 

When the team examined timing, they found that the largest percentage of nirsevimab was administered in December, January, and February. Of those receiving the shot, 38.1% received it during the first 6 days of life and 30.4% got it between 7 days and 1 month. Babies born toward the end of the respiratory virus season were more likely to receive their dose even sooner, within the first 3 days of life, which researchers said could reflect supply improvements as the season progressed.

Shortages, unfamiliarity may have led to low rates

The CDC said several factors may have contributed to the low uptake, including nirsevimab shortages early in the first season it was available. Patients and providers may not have been very familiar with the monoclonal antibody or maternal RSV vaccination recommendations. Also, they added that cost concerns could have played a role, as insurance coverage adapted to the new recommendation. 

The authors said the findings can serve as a baseline to help guide immunization strategies in future respiratory virus seasons and that more efforts are needed to increase infant protection with the two strategies. They noted that the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization (ACIP) recommendation in June of a second RSV monoclonal antibody for babies, clesrovimab, could help boost access and increase coverage rates.