May 6th, 2021 - These are the global coronavirus stories you need to know about this week. India reported 3780 deaths on May 5, the highest daily death toll since the beginning of the pandemic. In the past week, India accounted for 46% of total COVID-19 cases and 1 in 4 COVID-19 deaths worldwide. On May 1, India widened its COVID-19 vaccination programme to include all adults aged 18 and over. However, several...

May 5th, 2021 - These are the UK coronavirus stories you need to know about today. A supplementary analysis showed that a single dose of the vaccine was associated with moderate protection against infection, hospitalisation, and death, emphasising the importance of fully vaccinating adults, the researchers said. They acknowledged remaining uncertainties about the duration of immunity, and the possible emergenc...

May 5th, 2021 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. A 68-year-old woman with COVID-19, who has been in intensive care in an Illinois hospital for a month, started receiving the controversial drug ivermectin (Stromectol) this week after her family sued the hospital to have someone administer it, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. In a f...

May 5th, 2021 - Patients who suffer a stroke during hospitalization for infective endocarditis (IE) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) have a dismal prognosis, with more than half dying during the index hospitalization and two thirds within the first year, a new study shows. The study — the first to evaluate stroke as an IE-related complication following TAVR in a large multicenter cohort — is...

May 4th, 2021 - The family of Ohio surgeon Thomas Lee Flanigan, 48, who died last week, made public the obituary he wrote himself, self-eulogizing his "shocking and unexpected, yet fabulous, exit." Flanigan, who referred to himself as the "Ginger God of Surgery and Shenanigans," wrote, "Yes, I have joined the likes of Princess Diana, John Belushi, and Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter in leaving while still at ...

May 4th, 2021 - Physicians and non-physicians clearly differ in whether or not a PhD or EdD should be able to call themselves 'doctor,' a new Medscape poll Who Should Get to Be Called 'Doctor'? shows. The topic has clearly struck a nerve, since a record number of respondents — over 12,000 — voted in the poll. Most physicians think it's appropriate for people with other doctorate degrees such as a PhD or EdD to...

May 4th, 2021 - These are the UK coronavirus stories you need to know about today. Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi again confirmed today that plans are being formed for autumn booster jabs for some people, possibly over-50s. "We want them [CMOs] to be able, if they need to, from September onwards to boost those that are most vulnerable," he told Sky News. Deaths The number of deaths registered in England and W...

May 4th, 2021 - Cardiothoracic surgeon J. Marvin Smith III, MD, had always thrived on a busy practice schedule, often performing 20 to 30 surgeries a week. A practicing surgeon for more than 40 years, Smith says he had no plans to slow down anytime soon. But Smith says his career was derailed when leaders at Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio initiated a sudden peer review proceeding against him. The h...

May 4th, 2021 - NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A court in India's capital New Delhi has become the last hope for many hospitals struggling to get oxygen for COVID-19 patients as supplies run dangerously short while government officials bicker over who is responsible. A two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court has been holding almost daily video conferences to hear petitions from hospitals invoking India's constitutional...

May 3rd, 2021 - These are the UK coronavirus stories you need to know about today. Meanwhile, Savanta ComRes polling of more than 2000 UK adults for health unions suggests 60% think the proposed 1% NHS pay rise in England is too low. Emergency Departments Latest Scottish Government data for March show emergency department attendances returning to pre-pandemic levels, with a 30% increase compared to February th...

May 2nd, 2021 - Severely ill COVID-19 patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) had similar survival to hospital discharge and long-term outcomes as survivors treated with mechanical ventilation alone, results of a new, multicenter study suggest. Importantly, the study also showed that survivors, regardless of the treatment they received, experienced significant deficits following their ...

May 2nd, 2021 - On December 29, 2020, in front of cameras and reporters, Patricia Cummings, RN, gave Vice President–elect Kamala Harris and her husband their first COVID-19 vaccine. Patricia Cummings, RN, vaccinating Vice President–elect Kamala Harris. It was a long journey from her birthplace in Guyana, and a rather interesting Christmas surprise, to say the least. On Christmas Day, Cummings received a phone ...

May 2nd, 2021 - LONDON (Reuters) - A very small number of mainly frail, elderly COVID-19 patients are being hospitalised and dying even after having a first dose of Pfizer's or AstraZeneca's vaccines, but this does not mean the shots aren't working, UK researchers said on Friday. Presenting real-world data on a subset of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in the UK, the researchers said the findings showed some le...

May 2nd, 2021 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. India extended COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to ages 18 and older on Saturday as the country reported another world record for new cases and states announced new lockdowns in an attempt to slow the massive coronavirus surge, according to  The New York Times . Several states reported that vaccine ...

Apr 29th, 2021 - These are the global coronavirus stories you need to know about this week. The surge of COVID-19 infections in India continues with another record rise of 386,452 daily cases reported on Friday. On the same day there were 3498 deaths reported, meaning the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in India is more than 204,000. Hospitals in New Delhi and many other states severely hit by the second wa...

Apr 29th, 2021 - (Reuters) - Last April, Kate Needham's one-year-old son Robbie pushed through a screen and plunged from a second story window in the family's rental home near Naval Base San Diego. Robbie landed head first on the ground, suffering a life-threatening head injury that required a $30,000 hospital stay. On a warm day, Needham and her Navy-enlisted husband had cracked open a window in the home that ...

Apr 29th, 2021 - A treatment for shortening the painful episodes of sickle cell disease (SCD) is not effective, results published in JAMA indicate. But the effort it took to publish the findings is an important part of the story and reveal problems with data ownership, company motivations, and public resources that go well beyond a single clinical trial or experimental agent. Topline neutral results for the tri...

Apr 29th, 2021 - These are the UK coronavirus stories you need to know about today. Jabs for 30s People aged 30-34 are being offered COVID jabs in Northern Ireland with limited availability. Health Minister Robin Swann said: “Uptake is very encouraging and I’m pleased that we are moving so quickly through the cohorts. We have a limited number of slots that we can now offer to those aged 30 to 34, so if you’re e...

Apr 29th, 2021 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. People over 65 who are fully vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccines were 94% less likely to be hospitalized than unvaccinated people of the same age group, the CDC says. Partially vaccinated people were 64% less likely to be hospitalized, the CDC's Morbidity and Mort...

Apr 29th, 2021 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. The majority of children with type 1 diabetes who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were cared for at home and did well, according to the first report of outcomes of pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 from the United States. Most children who were hospitalized had diabetic ketoaci...