The ACIP recommended that nursing home residents and staff members be among the first people in the United States to receive the coronavirus vaccine. However, each state has to figure out where long-term care staff members must go to get vaccinated; some may have to go off-site. Public health officials are also confronting hesitance among some workers as well as …
Recent research has linked impaired senses to Dementia, especially the sense of smell. Does this mean if you have lost your sense of smell you have Dementia? Probably not, however, it can be an early sign. Patients participated in a study where they underwent hearing tests (with no hearing aids), vision tests with contrast (eyeglasses were permitted), vibration testing in …
A systematic review of the evidence presented at the 2020 ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID) showed that air around patients with COVID-19, as well as patient toilets and staff and public areas in surveyed hospitals all, showed significant levels of contamination with SARS-CoV-2. What are the clinical implications of this research? According to the researchers, this review suggests very …
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been vigilant in providing information about both new vaccines that have been approved to provide protection against COVID-19. On December 11, 2020, the FDA issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and the Moderna vaccine received an EUA shortly after on December 18, 2020. The FDA has web …
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 43,548 participants underwent randomization, of whom 43,448 received injections: 21,720 with BNT162b2 and 21,728 with placebo. There were 8 cases of COVID-19 with onset at least 7 days after the second dose among participants assigned to receive BNT162b2 and 162 cases among those assigned to placebo; BNT162b2 was 95% effective …
As the U.S. recorded its five highest days of coronavirus cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield said this is the perfect time to develop a strategy to better detect asymptomatic cases. The nationwide seven-day average of new daily cases now stands at about 86,363, more than double what it was on September 4 per …
During a period of visiting restrictions, it is important to strengthen the communication between nursing home staff and relatives of nursing home residents. Timely communicate information on what the visiting restrictions entail, and frequently inform relatives on health, well-being, and care planning of nursing home residents. Also, communication between nursing home residents and their relatives is vital. Facilitate regular communication …
With the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infecting over 50 million people worldwide with hundreds of thousands experiencing severe respiratory illness, researchers have been trying to find the factors associated with severe disease. From the start of the pandemic in March this year, several studies have indicated heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, …
Foothill Retirement Social isolation and boredom have been nagging problems for nearly everyone during the pandemic, especially for residents in long term care facilities. We are grateful to our newest HealthCap Hero, Jocelyn Pacheco, for doing her best to solve this problem by keeping her residents engaged and in high spirits. Jocelyn has been actively engaging her residents with activities …
The COVID-19 pandemic presents an urgent need to investigate whether existing drugs can enhance or even worsen prognosis. Metformin, a known mammalian target of rapamycin (m-TOR) inhibitor (or in layman terms, medication to control high blood glucose levels) has been identified as a potential agent. In nursing home residents infected with SARS-CoV-2, taking metformin was associated with lower 30-day mortality relative to SARS-Co-V2 infected …
