Nurse making vaccine injection to elderly patient

Adjuvanted Influenza Vaccine

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

Influenza outbreaks in nursing homes pose a threat to frail residents and occur even in vaccinated populations. A pragmatic cluster-randomized trial was performed comparing adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine (aTIV) versus trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV). Of 823 randomized nursing homes, 777 reported information on influenza outbreaks. The treatment group had similar characteristics at baseline except for race/ethnicity; homes assigned to TIV …

Information Sharing Practices

Angie SzumlinskiStudies, Training

Patient transitions from hospitals to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) require robust information sharing. After a decade of investment in health information technology infrastructure and new incentives to promote hospital-SNF coordination in the U.S., the current state of information sharing is unknown. A recent study was conducted to determine the quality of communication and sharing between the two settings. U.S. SNFs …

Saliva Versus Nasopharyngeal Swab Testing

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

Testing is the cornerstone of a successful public health response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Nasopharyngeal sampling for nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) is the current, non-invasive criterion standard diagnostic test. However, nasopharyngeal testing requires trained personnel and handling of a specially designed swab, and the technique cannot be easily or reliably performed in all populations (i.e., children and quarantined …

Spotlight on HealthCap Heroes:

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured

Hooper Care Center It’s the little things that make a big difference for residents who are experiencing isolation during this pandemic. Katie Stanton of Hooper Care Center has given one resident at her facility something to look forward to each week, and has demonstrated her devotion to long term care in her hard work this past year! Katie Stanton is …

Neurological Manifestations – COVID-19

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

COVID-19 can involve multiple organs including the nervous system. In a recent study published in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, 509 consecutive patients admitted with confirmed COVID-19 in a hospital network in Chicago, Illinois were examined for neurologic manifestations. The severity of COVID-19 and outcomes in patients with and without neurologic manifestations were compared. Neurologic manifestations were present …

100% Vaccination Rate in Ohio Facility

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, News

A skilled nursing center in Dayton, Ohio recently achieved an inspiring feat: a 100% vaccination rate against Covid-19 for residents and staff. Even more incredible is the fact that the facility, Grafton Oaks, had zero call-outs from staff due to side effects, and the residents were even less affected than the staff. However, this wasn’t as easy of a task …

COVID-19 – Overpowers Immune System

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, Studies

Seeking to understand why COVID-19 is able to suppress the body’s immune response, new research from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology suggests that mitochondria are one of the first lines of defense against COVID-19 and identifies key differences in how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 affects mitochondrial genes when compared to other viruses. Pinchas Cohen, professor of …

10 Steps to Reform and Improve Nursing Homes

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, News

In a recent article published in AARP, FAMILY CAREGIVING Medical, the “experts” identified 10- steps to reform and improve nursing homes. Some of the key points of the article were not “new” to those of us in the trenches however it is interesting how it was presented. Here are a few things that the organization and experts think we need …

Universal Testing

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

In a study conducted in 11 nursing homes in Maryland, universal testing was initiated after the centers had previously conducted symptom-based testing. 354 positive cases (39.6% of those tested) were identified through universal testing despite initial targeted, symptom-based testing. According to data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the overall case-fatality among residents of long-term care facilities is …

Mutations and Vaccines

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, News

As scientists are trying to track the spread of a new, more infectious coronavirus variant, it has been identified that the mutation identified in South Africa and Brazil, changes a part of the virus that your immune system’s antibodies get trained to recognize after you’ve been infected or vaccinated. What the lab studies have shown is that the antibodies we …