Mar 29th, 2023 - In certain groups of men, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency was linked with an increased likelihood of severe COVID-19, a Veterans Affairs cohort study found. In Black men under 65, for example, those with the common enzyme deficiency had a roughly 1.5-fold higher risk for severe illness (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.03-2.09), reported Lavannya Pandit, MD, MS, of the Michael E. DeBakey V...

Mar 28th, 2023 - Two groups of long COVID patients -- those hospitalized for acute COVID, and those with mild SARS-CoV-2 infection who weren't hospitalized -- had different neurologic manifestations, prospective data showed. Long COVID patients who were hospitalized with acute infection more frequently had an abnormal neurologic exam (62% vs 37%, P<0.0001) and performed worse on processing speed, attention, and...

Mar 28th, 2023 - Testing and contact tracing (CT) can interrupt transmission chains SARS-CoV-2. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) can potentially strengthen these investigations and provide insights on transmission. We included all laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases diagnosed between June 4 to July 26, 2021, in a Swiss canton. We defined CT clusters based on epidemiological links reported in the CT data and genomi...

Mar 28th, 2023 - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) seasonality is dependent on the local climate. We assessed the stability of RSV seasonality prior to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Western Australia (WA), a state spanning temperate and tropical regions. RSV laboratory testing data were collected from January 2012 to December 2019. WA was divided into three regions determined by population density and climate: Met...

Mar 27th, 2023 - Patients with hematologic malignancies are considered at high risk for COVID-19 infection either from the disease or the treatment. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, one of the approved therapies for hematologic malignancies, was performed worldwide during the COVID-19 era with some regulations, such as COVID-19 testing, before proceeding with transplantation or cellular therapy. To the ...

Mar 26th, 2023 - Although there are numerous brief odor identification tests available for quantifying the ability to smell, none are available in multiple parallel forms that can be longitudinally administered without potential confounding from knowledge of prior test items. Moreover, empirical algorithms for establishing optimal test lengths have not been generally applied. In this study, we employed and comp...

Mar 26th, 2023 - The COVID-19 pandemic led to an acceleration in the adoption of videoconferencing (VC) for conducting forensic mental health evaluations (forensic mental health assessments [FMHA]). Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we administered a survey to 71 Minnesota-licensed forensic evaluators. Approximately two-thirds (65.7%) had started using VC for FMHA only after the pandemic, though a combined ...

Mar 26th, 2023 - Subjective illness perception (IP) can differ from physician's clinical assessment results. Herein, we explored patient's IP during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recovery. Participants of the prospective observation CovILD study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04416100) with persistent somatic symptoms or cardiopulmonary findings one year after COVID-19 were analyzed (n = 74). Explanatory variabl...

Mar 26th, 2023 - For a country such as South Africa which is targeting malaria elimination, mobile and migrant populations pose a substantial risk to importation of malaria parasites. It has been hypothesized that halting cross-border movement of mobile and migrant populations will decrease the importation of malaria, however this option is not a politically, operationally, and financially viable prospect. It h...

Mar 25th, 2023 - Targeted surveillance allows public health authorities to implement testing and isolation strategies when diagnostic resources are limited, and can be implemented via the consideration of social network topologies. Yet, it remains unclear how to implement such surveillance and control when network data are unavailable. We evaluated the ability of socio-demographic proxies of degree centrality t...

Mar 25th, 2023 - HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise nationally and internationally. The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic drove a shift toward telemedicine and prioritization of symptomatic treatment over asymptomatic screening. The impact in safety-net settings, which faced disproportionate baseline STI/HIV rates rooted in structural inequities, and where many patients lack...

Mar 25th, 2023 - COVID-19 oral treatments require initiation within 5 days of symptom onset. Although antigen tests are less sensitive than RT-PCR, rapid results could facilitate entry to treatment. We collected anterior nasal swabs for BinaxNOW and RT-PCR testing and clinical data at a walk-up, community site in San Francisco, California between January and June 2022. SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences were generate...

Mar 25th, 2023 - To use serological testing to assess the pre-Omicron seroprevalence, seroconversion, and seroreversion of infection-induced SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in children and adolescents in Montreal, Canada. This analysis is from a prospective cohort study of children aged 2 to 17 years (at baseline) that included blood spots (DBS) for antibody detection. The serostatus of participants was determined by enz...

Mar 24th, 2023 - Tuberculosis (TB) case counts in the U.S. increased to near pre-pandemic numbers in 2022, according to preliminary surveillance data from the CDC. With a 5% increase over the year prior, a total of 8,300 cases were recorded in 2022, for an incidence rate of 2.5 per 100,000 individuals. That compared with 8,895 cases in 2019 (2.7 per 100,000), reported Kimberly R. Schildknecht, MPH, of the CDC i...

Mar 24th, 2023 - Following the first wave of COVID-19 there have been several variants. We wished to review the number and severity of infections with the different variants in a population of haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. We reviewed the outcomes and results in HD and PD patients testing positive for COVID-19 between March 2020 -August 2022. 795 cases of COVID-19 were recorded in 71...

Mar 24th, 2023 - Despite millions of COVID-19 cases in the United States, it remains unknown whether a history of COVID-19 infection impacts the safety of pharmacologic myocardial perfusion imaging stress testing (pharmacologic MPI). The aim of this study was to assess if a prior COVID-19 infection was associated with a higher risk of complications during and following pharmacologic MPI testing. This retrospect...

Mar 24th, 2023 - The COVID-19 pandemic required clinicians to care for a disease with evolving characteristics while also adhering to care changes (e.g., physical distancing practices) that might lead to diagnostic errors (DEs). To determine the frequency of DEs and their causes among patients hospitalized under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19. Retrospective cohort. Eight medical centers affiliated with the Ho...

Mar 24th, 2023 - Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening reduces morbidity and mortality, but screening rates in the USA remain suboptimal. The Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) was established in 2009 to increase screening among groups disproportionately affected. The CRCCP utilizes implementation science to support health system change as a strategy to reduce disparities in CRC screening by directing resour...

Mar 24th, 2023 - End-stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis (ESRD) patients are at high risk for contracting COVID-19. In this propensity matched cohort study, we examined the prevalence of COVID-19 in emergency room (ER) patients and examined whether clinical outcomes varied by ESRD status. Patients who visited George Washington University Hospital ER from April 2020 to April 2021 were reviewed for COVID...

Mar 24th, 2023 - We evaluate the diagnostic performance of dried blood microsampling combined with a high-throughput microfluidic nano-immunoassay (NIA) for the identification of anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike IgG seropositivity. We conducted a serological study among 192 individuals with documented prior SARS-CoV-2 infection and 44 SARS-CoV-2 negative individuals. Participants with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection had a long...