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COVID-19 hospitalizations 29 times more likely in unvaccinated individuals, CDC study suggests

Getting inoculated against SARS-CoV-2 protects against getting severe COVID-19 or being hospitalized. In a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), scientists noted that unvaccinated individuals are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 than those who were vaccinated.

25 Aug 2021

Study: Majority of hospital-acquired COVID-19 cases were contracted from other patients

The majority of patients who contracted COVID-19 while in the hospital did so from other patients rather than from healthcare workers, concludes a new study from researchers at the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke's Hospital.

25 Aug 2021

After pandemic ravaged nursing homes, new state laws protect residents

When the coronavirus hit Martha Leland's Connecticut nursing home last year, she and dozens of other residents contracted the disease while the facility was on lockdown. Twenty-eight residents died, including her roommate.

20 Aug 2021

Vaccine quickly reduced COVID-19 infections among health care workers

A UC Davis Health retrospective study published recently in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology shows how quickly COVID-19 infections were reduced among health care workers when vaccines were first distributed late last year.

19 Aug 2021

Study suggests Harmony COVID-19 assay is superior to laboratory-based tests

A new study suggests a new coronavirus test developed by scientists from the University of Washington and the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine produces faster and more sensitive results than conventional PCR tests to measure severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral RNA.

18 Aug 2021

UK survey reveals variations in care provided across the country

Over 600,000 emergency calls to 999 during the first wave of the pandemic were for suspected Covid, with ambulances sent in almost 80% of cases and 43% of patients being conveyed to hospital, a major new survey of UK ambulance services has shown.

18 Aug 2021

New nanobiotechnology shows remarkable ability to battle dangerous fungal infections

They’re roughly the same size as a coronavirus particle, and 1000 times smaller than a human hair, yet newly engineered nanoparticles developed by scientists at the University of South Australia, are punching well above their weight when it comes to treating drug-resistant fungal infections.

17 Aug 2021

More than one in ten COVID-19 patients acquired the virus in a hospital during UK's first wave

More than one in ten COVID-19 patients in 314 UK hospitals caught the infection in hospital during the first pandemic wave say researchers conducting the world's largest study of severe COVID-19.

16 Aug 2021

‘I don’t want to risk my life for a paycheck’: Immunosuppressed people grapple with returning to work

Elizabeth Groenweghe got a kidney transplant 14 years ago. She now takes several medications to prevent her body from rejecting her transplant organ. But these medications also weaken her immune system, putting her at higher risk of becoming seriously ill if she catches covid-19.

13 Aug 2021

Fine aerosols generated during talking, singing may play a major role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been thought to spread primarily when an infected person coughs or sneezes, but little is known about its transmissibility through activities such as breathing, talking, and singing.

11 Aug 2021

Comparative scoring system suggests possibility of global COVID-19 eradication

The global eradication of COVID-19 is probably feasible, and more so than it is for polio, although considerably less so than it was for smallpox, suggests a comparative score of technical, sociopolitical, and economic factors for all three infections, published in the online journal BMJ Global Health.

10 Aug 2021

Study shows efficacy of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 delta variant

Researchers in Singapore have conducted a study showing that the messenger RNA- (mRNA) based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are highly effective at protecting against symptomatic and severe disease following infection with the rapidly spreading B.1.617.2 (delta) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

2 Aug 2021

Is it possible to identify pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 clinically?

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted morbidity and mortality in nursing home residents across the world. Earlier detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may help better mitigate the risk of viral transmission. As both pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission is common in these outbreaks, screening for threshold temperatures of 38°C or higher could miss timely detection in most infected people.

29 Jul 2021

CDC monitoring over 200 individuals possibly exposed to monkeypox

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is monitoring over 200 people who may have been exposed to the monkeypox virus.

22 Jul 2021

Diagnosis and management of COVID-19 in clinical settings

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has spread throughout the globe and much time has passed since it was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

14 Jul 2021

Study reports low risk for COVID-19 in Emergency Medical Service personnel exposed to aerosol-generating procedures

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that emergency medical service personnel exposed to aerosol-generating procedures (AGP) on COVID-19 patients are generally at low risk of infection. The findings, published in CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases, support clinical strategies that maintain established and evidence-based practices for emergency conditions.

13 Jul 2021

Why is the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant so concerning?

As cases surge in the United States, health experts have raised the alarm that vaccinated individuals may be spreading the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Delta variant. Over half of new infections in the U.S. are now caused by this highly transmissible variant.

9 Jul 2021