Jan 22nd, 2022 - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic that continues to cause numerous deaths till to date. Four vaccines have been approved by the FDA as of July 2021 to prevent the transmission of COVID-19: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen. These vaccines have shown great efficacy and safety profile. One side effect that has been widely reported is post-COVID-19 vaccinatio...

Jan 22nd, 2022 - AbstractGlobal concern has been raised by the emergence and rapid transmission of the heavily mutated SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529). So far, the infection features and immune escape ability of the Omicron variant have not been extensively studied. Here, we produced the Omicron pseudovirus and compared its entry, membrane fusion, and immune escape efficiency with the original strain and...

Jan 22nd, 2022 - The literature on neonates with SARS-CoV-2 is mainly concerned with perinatal cases, and scanty data are available about environmentally infected neonates. To fill knowledge gaps on the course and prognosis of neonatal cases, we analyzed 1-year data from the Turkish Neonatal Society in this prospective cohort study of neonates with postnatal transmission. Data from 44 neonatal intensive care un...

Jan 22nd, 2022 - Novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants pose a challenge to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies indicate that clinical samples collected from individuals infected with the Delta variant may contain higher levels of RNA than previous variants, but the relationship between levels of viral RNA and infectious virus for individual variants is unkno...

Jan 22nd, 2022 - The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects for individuals and healthcare systems in the United States. Increasing and sustaining behavioral changes to reduce transmission of disease among medical providers is essential for the protection of the community at large. Using a social norms perspective, this study aimed to (a) examine the accuracy of perceptions of engagement in protective h...

Jan 21st, 2022 - Since December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has constituted a serious threat to global health. So far, there is little published evidence on the laboratory features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We have reviewed laboratory findings from multiple studies, mostly relating to the digestive system, since the virus outbreak. Laboratory data from older coronavir...

Jan 21st, 2022 - The novel SARS-CoV-2 variant, Omicron (PANGO lineage B.1.1.529) is being reported from all around the world. The WHO has categorized Omicron as a Variant of Concern (VOC) considering its higher transmissibility and infectivity, vaccine breakthrough cases. As of 6 Jan 2022, Omicron has been reported in at least 149 countries. Therefore, this study was planned to investigate the transmission dyna...

Jan 21st, 2022 - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has caused a worldwide pandemic. Control measures differ among countries and have a varying degree of effectiveness, which requires assessment. To evaluate the effectiveness of public health interventions of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Guangzhou by 3 periods according to interventions: January 7 to 22 (no intervention), January ...

Jan 21st, 2022 - CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Omicron variant, which is spreading far faster than previous versions of the coronavirus, is not likely to help countries achieve so-called herd immunity against COVID-19, in which enough people become immune to the virus that it can no longer sustain transmission, leading disease experts say. From the earliest days of the pandemic, public health officials have expressed...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Primary ciliary dyskinesis (PCD) is an autosomal recessive disorder associated with impaired mucociliary clearance caused by defects in ciliary structure and function. The major clinical feature of PCD is recurring or persistent respiratory tract infection. Respiratory tract colonization with drug-resistant organisms impacts the frequency of infections and lung function decline. Protective gear...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Genomic RNA of severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been detected in the breast milk of lactating women, but its pathological significance has remained uncertain due to the small size of prior studies. Breast milk from 110 lactating women was analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (285 samples) and viral culture (160 samples). Tho...

Jan 20th, 2022 - As of November, 2021 there have been more than 250 million coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) cases worldwide and more than 5 million deaths. Obstetric patients have been a population of interest given that they may be at risk of more severe infection and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The purpose of this review is to assess current epidemiology and outcomes research related to COVID-19 for the o...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Pregnancy increases the risk of severe illness due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Thus, prevention of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission in all obstetrical health care settings requires consistent implementation of multiple evidence-based practices and consideration of local epidemiology, local regulations for COVID-19, and guidance from the Cente...

Jan 20th, 2022 - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected over 200 million people worldwide and has likely exposed millions of neonates to SARS-CoV-2 in utero. A large body of literature has examined the possibility of vertical transmission from pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 to their neonates. In this chapter, we review mechanisms of-and evidence for-vertical trans...

Jan 20th, 2022 - The role of human behavior to thwart transmission of infectious diseases like COVID-19 is evident. Psychological and behavioral science are key areas to understand decision-making processes underlying engagement in preventive health behaviors. Here we adapt well validated methods from behavioral economic discounting and demand frameworks to evaluate variables (e.g., delay, cost, probability) kn...

Jan 20th, 2022 - The use of next generation sequencing is critical for the surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, transmission, as single base mutations have been identified with differences in infectivity. A total of 1,459 high quality samples were collected, sequenced, and analyzed in the state of Delaware, a location that offers a unique perspective on transmission given...

Jan 20th, 2022 - SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein mediates viral entry and membrane fusion. Its cleavage at S1/S2 and S2' sites during the biosynthesis in virus-producer cells and viral entry are critical for viral infection and transmission. In contrast, the biological significance of the junction region between both cleavage sites on S protein synthesis and function is less understood. By analyzing the conse...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States is still breaking records for hospital overcrowding and new cases. The US is logging nearly 800,000 cases a day, hospitals are starting to fray, and deaths in the US have topped 850,000. Schools oscillate from remote to in-person learning, ...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Health Minister Robin Swann is to provide £25 million from his department’s budget to fund a pay rise for Northern Ireland’s health workers. The minister thanked staff for their "superhuman efforts" in maintaining services across the COVID pandemic, which has led to unprecedented pressures on hospitals. Mr Swann made the announcement in a letter to health workers, seen by PA news agency. It com...

Jan 20th, 2022 - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The rate of contamination of surfaces in rooms with hospitalized COVID-19 patients is low, researchers report. Of the 347 individual samples collected from the rooms of 20 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, less than 6% were positive via RT-PCR and only one demonstrated cytopathic effect (CPE), researchers report in Clinical Infectious Diseases. "The presence of SARS...