Three-quarters of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were still experiencing at least one symptom of the infection 6 months after being discharged, according to a follow-up study involving 1,733 patients. Fatigue or muscle weakness, reported by 63% of patients, was the most common symptom, followed by sleep difficulties, hair loss, and sense of smell disorder. Altogether, 76% of those examined …
Anaphylaxis is a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction that occurs rarely after vaccination. Early safety monitoring of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has detected 21 cases of anaphylaxis after reported administration of 1,893,360 first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Most anaphylaxis cases had symptom onset within 30 minutes of vaccination and most persons with anaphylaxis had a history of allergies or allergic …
Now that vaccines are being administered around the country, we need to be alert to signs and symptoms post-vaccination. Per the CDC, distinguishing between systemic signs of COVID-19 vaccination symptoms of coronavirus infection will depend on many factors. Clinical judgment will be critical in determining COVID-19 symptoms versus post-vaccination symptoms, beginning with whether the healthcare provider had “unprotected exposure to …
Have you been compliant with reporting requirements for your facility? If your facility is licensed for 13 or more individuals as a Home for the Aged (HFA) or Adult Foster Care (AFC), you must participate in weekly COVID-19 data reporting. Please read the statement from MCAL below for more information: HFA and AFC – Licensed for 13 or More, Required to …
Flu activity is unusually low at this time but may increase in the coming month per the CDC’s FluView. Throughout the fall, public health officials urged Americans to get a flu vaccine to avoid a “twindemic” that could occur if both the flu and COVID-19 overwhelmed hospitals. Pharmacies and health care organizations ordered more flu vaccines this year to prepare …
Eli Lilly announced that an investigational agent targeting beta-amyloid, Donanemab, appeared to slow decline in patients with early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The drug showed significant slowing versus placebo on a composite measure of cognition and daily function in the phase II TRAILBLAZER-ALZ study. The medication met the primary endpoint of change from baseline to 76 weeks in the Integrated …
As of November 11, 2020, there have been 50,810,753 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide, with 1,263,844 confirmed deaths. The clinical picture of the infection may vary regarding the disease severity and usually includes general, otolaryngological, and neurological symptoms. Olfactory dysfunction (OD, sense of smell) is one of the most prevalent symptoms. The prevalence of OD may vary …
Data serves an important role in informing efforts to prevent and reduce public health risks. Every day, many studies are released to help answer critical questions about COVID-19. But given the large number and different types of studies being released, it can be difficult to stay on top of the latest research. To help inform CDC’s COVID-19 Response, as well …
An ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine will examine how our nation delivers finances, regulates and measures the quality of nursing home care with particular emphasis on challenges that have arisen in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee will consider a broad range of issues such as: Ways to generate and assess the …
Late this week, the Centers for Disease Control are offering a webinar on Point of Care Test Reporting Trainings. There are two session times participants can choose from. The first option is February 11, 2021 at 2pm and the second is February 12, 2021 at 1pm. Both sessions will have identical content and allow time for questions and answers. The …
