Jan 20th, 2022 - Rapid antigen testing using a nasal swab with the BinaxNOW test was able to detect the Omicron variant at an urban community testing site, whereas other swabbing routes did not perform as well, researchers found. Sensitivity of the BinaxNOW assay for detecting PCR-positive cases within a cycle threshold (Ct) of <30, indicating a higher viral load, was 74% (95% CI 53.7-88.9%) using a throat swab...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Americans keep hearing that it is important to test frequently for COVID-19 at home. But just try to find an “at-home” rapid COVID test in a store and at a price that makes frequent tests affordable.

Jan 20th, 2022 - Couples who were vaccinated against COVID-19 did not have a lower likelihood of getting pregnant, but previous infection with SARS-CoV-2 could affect male fertility, according to a prospective study. Both female and male partners who had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose did not face lower chances of getting pregnant than unvaccinated patients (female fecundability ratio [FR] 1.08, 95% CI 0.95...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Patients recovering from COVID-19 showed cardiac dysfunction on transthoracic echocardiography 3 to 4 months after hospital discharge, according to a Norwegian study. Compared with matched controls, 204 COVID patients had worse right ventricular longitudinal strain (RVLS; adjusted estimated mean difference 1.5 percentage points, 95% CI 0.5-2.6), lower tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion ...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Young adults performed worse on memory and attention tests several months after an acute case of mild COVID-19, according to a small study that may support the "brain fog" reported by many. Most cognitive abilities tested -- including working memory, executive function, and planning -- were normal, but COVID-19 patients displayed significantly worse episodic memory for up to 6 months after infe...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Outcomes for older patients were similar regardless of whether or not hospitalists were having their busiest days, a large national study using data from 2018 found. Among older Medicare recipients (mean age 80), those admitted on hospitalists' busiest days did not experience any "meaningful differences" in outcomes for common conditions, compared to those that were admitted during less busy da...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Note that some links may require registration or subscription. A top Florida health official was placed on leave after encouraging his colleagues to get vaccinated against COVID-19. (Washington Post) NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD, suggested that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine could be authorized for kids under 5 as soon as next month. (Fortune) Due to the Omicron variant, updated NIH COVID guidel...

Jan 20th, 2022 - This study examined the association between serious mental illness diagnoses and COVID-19 vaccination among Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients. The sample (N=4,890,693) comprised veterans ages ≥18 years with VHA outpatient visits from March 1, 2018, through February 29, 2020. Veterans with serious mental illness were identified with ICD-10 diagnostic codes from electronic health reco...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Major efforts are being made to control the spread and impacts of the coronavirus pandemic using vaccines. Ethiopia began on March 13, 2021, to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) for COVID-19 with the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, willingness to be vaccinated depends to a large extent on factors beyond the availability of vaccines. This study aimed to determine the rate of intention to refuse ...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Educators who train healthcare students to provide behavioral health services in primary care settings frequently encounter challenges as they work to ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills to effectively function on interprofessional practice teams. This has become increasingly important during COVID-19, as interprofessional collaborative practice is needed more than ever to add...

Jan 20th, 2022 - The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. Little is known about vaccine attitudes and uptake among this population. To address this, the objectives of this study were to explore this group's COVID-19 vaccine attitudes, and facilitators and barriers impacting vaccine uptake. 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness in the Greater Toronto Area...

Jan 20th, 2022 - The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption in medical education. Students and lecturers had to adapt to online education. The current study aimed to investigate the level of satisfaction and future preference for online lectures among clinical clerkship students and elucidated the factors that affect these outcomes. We selected a sample of 114 medical students undergoing clini...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Understanding antibody-based SARS-CoV-2 immunity in hematologic malignancy (HM) patients following infection is crucial to inform vaccination strategies for this highly vulnerable population. This cross-sectional study documents the anti-SARS-CoV-2 humoral response and serum neutralizing activity in 189 HM patients recovering from a PCR-confirmed infection. The overall seroconversion rate was 8...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Pregnant women represent a high-risk population for severe/critical COVID-19 and mortality. However, the maternal-fetal immune responses initiated by SARS-CoV-2 infection, and whether this virus is detectable in the placenta, are still under investigation. Here we show that SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy primarily induces unique inflammatory responses at the maternal-fetal interface, whi...

Jan 20th, 2022 - The beneficial effect of glucocorticoids in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is established, but whether adrenal cortisol secretion is impaired in COVID-19 is not fully elucidated. In this case-control study, we investigated the diurnal free bioavailable salivary cortisol secretion in COVID-19 patients. Fifty-two consecutive COVID-19 patients-before dexamethasone treatment in cases required-recru...

Jan 20th, 2022 - To detail how the scope of practice of dentistry was expanded in Kentucky allowing dentists to be rapidly mobilize and join a mass vaccination campaign and administer COVID-19 vaccines to the community. The processes involving policy change, an emergency administrative regulation, provider training and community action are detailed. In just 21 days from state authorization, dentists from the Un...

Jan 20th, 2022 - The COVID-19 pandemic led to rapid and widespread adoption of telemedicine in rheumatology care. The Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR) working group was tasked with developing evidence-based recommendations for rheumatology practice to guide maintenance of the highest possible standards of clinical care and to enable broad patient reach. A systematic review of English...

Jan 20th, 2022 - The COVID Pandemic as Mosaic.|2022|Katz DL,|

Jan 20th, 2022 - Both global and US data show associations between COVID-19 death rates and overweight or obesity, which are also risk factors for several other outcomes. Evidence suggests that among the strategies to reduce overweight and obesity are the simple actions of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. Potential benefits include saving thousands of lives and billions of dolla...

Jan 20th, 2022 - Access to healthcare has been difficult for over a thousand internally displaced people (IPDs) living in camps even before the COVID-19 pandemic surge in Myanmar. Amidst the pandemic crisis, the coup d'etat state power on February 1, 2021, and arbitrary detained all elected officials. Subsequently, over a hundred thousand civilians were displaced from their homes due to the intensified conflict...