On December 11, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, administered as two doses separated by 21 days. Notifications and reports of suspected severe allergic reactions and anaphylaxis following vaccination were captured in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), the national passive surveillance (spontaneous …
More people with fever and body aches are turning to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to ease symptoms, but the drugs have come under new scrutiny as investigators work to determine whether they are a safe way to relieve the pain of COVID-19 vaccination or symptoms of the disease. One theory is that NSAIDs alter susceptibility to infection by modifying angiotensin-converting …
The United States has the most coronavirus cases in the world but in sequencing cases to check for genetic changes, it lags at an astoundingly low rate. Of the more than 18 million cases officially reported in the U.S., just 51,212 or 0.3% have been genetically analyzed for variants. Worldwide, the United States ranks 43rd in percentage of cases sequenced …
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, both the CDC and the World Health Organization identified asthma patients as being at high risk for severe disease and hospitalization, but it soon became evident that this may not be the case when study after study showed little or no support for that conclusion. A recent study published in the American Journal of Respiratory …
A new database will collect information from clinicians about COVID-19 related neurological symptoms, complications, and outcomes as well as COVID-19 effects on pre-existing neurological conditions. The COVID-19 Neuro Databank/Biobank (NeuroCOVID), which was created and will be maintained by NYU Langone Health in New York City, will be a resource of clinical information as well as biospecimens from people of all …
ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) has been responding to an ongoing pandemic and accelerated vaccine development through evidence-based recommendations for the use of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. civilian population. The COVID-19 Work Group meets weekly and the topics covered include: Safety updates COVID-19 in children Plans for clinical studies of COVID vaccine in children Plans for vaccine effectiveness …
Researchers from the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands have trialed cooling vests, originally designed for elite athletes, in nursing staff working long shifts in COVID19 wards wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE). The study found that among 386 healthcare workers involved in COVID-19 care, a high prevalence of: Thermal discomfort (77%), Excessive sweating (64%), Thirst/dehydration (81%), Headache (57%) …
In a recent study, frailty is associated with all-cause mortality risk in older inpatients with COVID-19. Frailty is defined as the propensity to deteriorate in the face of a stressor. It reflects homeostatic reserve and physiological resilience or “biological age.” It is increasingly used to stratify clinical populations to reflect differing prognosis and clinical needs, in particular the need for …
They say two heads are better than one; can the same be said for facemasks? The answer is yes, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert. A study published in the peer-reviewed journal “Matter” in July found that wearing two masks could increase protection from virus particles by 50% up to 75%. It not only added …
Each January, SNN tries to predict the top trends that will sweep the industry for the coming 12 months. COVID-19 completely wiped out the predictions they made for 2020, a year that began with the looming specter of clawbacks related to the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), further Medicaid strain, and the potential over-extension of organizations that had sought to diversify …
