Metabolic changes in plasma and immune cells associated with COVID-19 severity, can predict patient survival
COVID-19 patients have differing immune responses that lead to disease outcomes ranging from asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection to death. After examining the blood samples from nearly 200 COVID-19 patients, researchers have uncovered underlying metabolic changes that regulate how immune cells react to the disease. These changes are associated with disease severity and could be used to […]
2020 Was Not a Good Year for Infection Control
Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in acute care hospitals soared during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, potentially erasing years of progress in combating these infections, researchers said. Significant increases in the national standardized infection ratios for central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated events, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia were noted in 2020 over […]
Major Pandemic Relief Ends In September
September is when a lot of COVID-19 relief expires. By the end of this month, millions of Americans relying on the emergency aid programs to make ends meet will have to do without, as funding for major programs like federal unemployment insurance and subsidized health care for the unemployed runs dry. On Monday Sept. 6, […]
CDC Staff Floats ‘Risk-Based Approach’ to Potential Booster Doses
A risk-based booster dose strategy for COVID-19 vaccines could target populations at risk of severe disease and those critical to the public health infrastructure, CDC staff said at a meeting of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on Monday. Though FDA has yet to review data on booster doses for COVID-19 vaccines among the […]
COVID Hospitalizations Soared With Delta
COVID-19 patients infected with the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) were more likely to need a higher level of care compared with those with the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), British researchers found. Patients infected with Delta were more than twice as likely to be admitted to the hospital within 14 days after PCR testing versus those with the […]
How Long Exactly Is Long COVID?
Almost half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 early in the pandemic had at least one lingering symptom a year after symptom onset, researchers in Wuhan, China found. A total of 49% of patients had at least one post-COVID symptom 1 year later, which included sleep difficulties, palpitations, joint pain, or chest pain, though that was […]
Symptomatic COVID patients are more contagious, study finds: Study identifies link between case severity and infectiousness
Individuals with COVID-19 are most likely to spread the virus to close contacts two days before the onset of symptoms to three days after symptoms appear, and the risk of transmission is highest when patients had mild or moderate disease severity, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia. The study, […]
Altered functional brain network connectivity associated with symptoms of post-traumatic stress in COVID-19 survivors, study shows
COVID-19 survivors report significantly higher symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and these symptoms are associated with changes to the brain’s connectivity, according to a study coauthored by Vince Calhoun, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Georgia State University and director of the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS). Although COVID-19 is primarily considered […]
‘Words Can Mean Life or Death’: What We Heard This Week
“Words have consequences and during a public health emergency like COVID-19, those words can mean life or death for patients.” — Joe Knickrehm, vice president of communications for the Federation of State Medical Boards, on their statement that physicians who spread COVID misinformation could face disciplinary action. “Our plan is to protect the American people […]
How To Say No To Social Invitations Without Getting FOMO
After the initial portion of the COVID-19 pandemic kept us apart for so long, many people pledged to take advantage of every opportunity to see loved ones again once vaccines were available. Thus, “hot vax summer” was born, with a focus on filling our social calendars with parties, trips, weddings and more. Now, as the […]