FDA News Release – Multiple Sclerosis

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, News

On March 26, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of a new device indicated for use as a short-term treatment of gait deficit due to mild to moderate symptoms from multiple sclerosis (MS). The device is intended to be used by prescription only as an adjunct to a supervised therapeutic exercise program in patients 22 years …

Effectiveness of BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

As mass vaccination campaigns against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) commence worldwide, vaccine effectiveness needs to be assessed for a range of outcomes across diverse populations in a non-controlled setting. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine cited data from Israel’s largest health care organization to evaluate the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. The study evaluated the …

Freshman 15 or COVID 19?

Angie SzumlinskiNews

Weight is a clinically relevant health outcome that is independently associated with all-causemortality. It is also a helpful proxy for physical activity, another measurement associated withall-cause mortality. In analyzing weight trends around initial “stay in place” (SIP) orders, therewas a significant increase in weight over the post-SIP period at a rate of roughly a pound and ahalf weight gain per …

Herd Immunity

Angie SzumlinskiNews

Herd immunity is the point where there’s enough people that have been either infected or vaccinated that you basically can’t sustain transmission in the community and if one case leads to less than one new infection, then eventually it can’t be sustained. Estimates vary on how much of the population needs to have immunity to reach that goal. Dr. Anthony …

Seropositive Antibody Test – Reinfection

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

Limited research has shown that the majority of patients who clear their infections of SARS-CoV-2 develop serum antibodies against the virus that last for at least several months but may decline over time. Although it has been speculated that the development of antibodies may be associated with a decreased risk of reinfection, the evidence for this hypothesis is limited and …

PPE Disposal – Be Safe

Angie SzumlinskiHealth

I recently spent a few days circling a University hospital where a family member was being treated. Visitation was limited to one person, the same person, daily. As I walked around the beautiful campus and across the street to a public park/playscape, I noticed something disturbing, facemasks and gloves disposed of in the public area, hanging from trees, settled into …

Vaccine Hesitancy

Angie SzumlinskiNews

Each of us is a unique individual with unique beliefs and needs. In this age of uncertainty, many people have listened to the experts, read the reports, looked at the numbers, and at the end of the day have decided not to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This is individual choice, right or wrong; we as Americans make choices to fit …

Frailty Outweighs Polypharmacy

Angie SzumlinskiNews

A study was done to investigate the association between different combined statuses of frailty and polypharmacy on risks of adverse outcomes. The subjects were aged 65-100 years old and were identified from an Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. Frailty was categorized into fit, mild, moderate, and severe frailty based on the multimorbidity frailty index. The use of 5-9 and over …

Antimicrobial Use Appropriateness

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

Optimizing antimicrobial use is critical to slowing the spread of resistant pathogens. In 2014, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called for acute care hospitals to implement antimicrobial stewardship programs with the goal of improving antimicrobial use to optimize infection cur rates and minimize harms. Efforts to evaluate antimicrobial stewardship programs’ effect on hospital antimicrobial use typically …

Variants and Vaccines

Angie SzumlinskiHealth

So how well do the COVID-19 vaccines protect against novel coronavirus spinoffs? “This virus is telling us it’s going to throw out a lot of mutations”, “even if we don’t have a critical situation right at the moment, there’s a real possibility that variants will continue to evolve that have the potential to avoid vaccine immunity”, said infectious disease specialist …