The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent global health research center at the University of Washington, made predictions about the future of the pandemic, including that April would be a turning point for COVID-19 vaccines. That said, predicting future cases and deaths has been made even more difficult due to mutating variants of the virus, including the …
If you experience a needlestick from a used or contaminated needle, seek immediate evaluation and treatment. Call the PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) hotline at 1.888.448.4911 immediately for guidance on treating exposures. Sharps are objects that can pierce the skin (for example, contaminated syringes and needles, lancets, scalpels, infusion needle sets, connection needles, auto injectors), as defined in the Occupational Safety and …
The World Health Organization (WHO) report on the joint WHO-China study of COVID-19 origins was a “consensus” effort of a “sheer size” but it was too soon to provide definitive conclusions in a work that is still in progress, a member of the WHO research team said. Peter K. Ben Embarek, leader of the international team of experts to Wuhan, …
A study of about 200 COVID-19 patients last year found that nearly half reported a loss of taste or smell. While most of them regained their senses within four weeks, roughly 10% reported their condition had been unchanged or worse. Doctors are still learning about this COVID-19 related symptom and what possible treatments could be helpful. Some physicians have begun …
Clinical trials suggest high efficacy for COVID-19 vaccines, but evaluation of vaccine effectiveness against severe outcomes in real-world settings and in populations at high risk, including older adults, is needed. In a multistate network of U.S. hospitals during January-March 2021, receipt of Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines was 94% effective against COVID-19 hospitalization among fully vaccinated adults and 64% …
President Biden believes this is the moment to reimagine and rebuild a new economy. The American Jobs Plan is an investment in America that will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our country’s infrastructure, and position the United States to out-compete China. Read the fact sheet about the plan, released March 31, 2021, below: The American Jobs Plan
The University of Liverpool’s Professor Tom Solomon is a co-author of the research paper discussing the rare cases of blood clots in the brain and low platelets seen in some patients after vaccination. The authors stress the importance of rapidly identifying the syndrome, vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT), and the importance of following a particular treatment approach that is very …
A New York Department of Health surveyor auditing a Bronx nursing home exposed residents and staff to COVID-19 per a source at Fox News. According to an employee at Pelham Parkway Nursing Home, a team of health department surveyors began auditing the facility on April 5. While department guidance “strongly encourages” all visitors to be tested before entering a nursing …
An estimated 5.8 million Americans age 65 and older and 50 million people worldwide are living with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias. Strong risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Many of these common comorbidities in patients with dementia are also demonstrated risk factors for COVID-19 and are associated with worse clinical outcomes. …
Among death certificates from calendar year 2020 listing COVID-19 and at least one other co-occurring diagnosis, the documentation is consistent with these deaths being attributable to COVID-19. Specifically, in 97% of 357,133 death certificates with COVID-19 and at least on other diagnosis, the documented chain-of-event and significant contributing conditions were consistent with those reported in clinical and epidemiologic studies to …
