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ASMBS calls for safe and rapid resumption of metabolic and bariatric surgery

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), the leading organization of bariatric surgeons and integrated health professionals in the nation, declared metabolic and bariatric surgery "medically necessary and the best treatment for those with the life-threatening and life-limiting disease of severe obesity" and called for the safe and rapid resumption of procedures, which have been largely postponed along with other surgeries deemed elective amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

23 Jun 2020

Researchers provide evidence-based review on COVID-19 respiratory transmission

In a new article, scientists provide an exhaustive, evidence-based review of how COVID-19 droplets from infected patients spread through the air and describe how health care professionals can protect themselves.

22 Jun 2020

SARS-CoV-2 saliva testing that omits the RNA extraction step

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses throughout the world, the lack of consistent diagnostic testing has been a bugbear, preventing public health control of the spread of infection. A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports a new testing method that uses saliva, does not require RNA extraction, and can be scaled up quickly and inexpensively.

21 Jun 2020

Global experts develop open-source N95 face mask

In one of the latest COVID-19 response projects at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication laboratory is collaborating with a global network of design, engineering and manufacturing experts to help develop an open-source N95 face mask.

18 Jun 2020

COVID-19 collaborative program reduces mortality in long-term care facilities

A collaborative program developed at UVA Health to work with local long-term care facilities control COVID-19 is saving lives and offers a model for communities across the country, a new scientific paper reports.

18 Jun 2020

Georgia Tech professor donated 7,000 gallons of redesigned sanitizer to fight COVID-19

So many people Seth Marder spoke to didn't see the hand sanitizer crisis brewing. The country was going to run dangerously short if someone did not act urgently.

16 Jun 2020

Wealthy hospital taps small craft breweries for financial aid to buy masks, gloves

As Inova Health System sought donations in March to buy personal protective equipment for its staff to treat COVID-19, Zach Mote, a police officer turned brewer, came to their aid.

16 Jun 2020

Researchers are developing new diagnostic tool for rapid detection of coronavirus

Coronavirus diagnostics currently require centralized facilities and collection/distribution of swabs and results are 'next day'.

15 Jun 2020

Health workers resort to Etsy, learning Chinese, shady deals to find safety gear

A nursing home worker in New Jersey rendezvoused with "the parking lot guy" to cut a deal for gowns. A director of safety-net clinics in Florida learned basic Chinese and waited outside past midnight for a truck to arrive with tens of thousands of masks.

12 Jun 2020

Survey: UK public understand that fast-tracking COVID-19 treatments could bring greater risks

The majority of the British public understand that fast-tracking vaccines, treatments and tests for COVID-19 could bring greater risks, according to a survey commissioned by law firm Hill Dickinson’s Life Sciences practice.

12 Jun 2020

Behavioral health support needed for front line healthcare providers during COVID-19 pandemic

Healthcare workers have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing care to the sick at great personal risk.

11 Jun 2020

Federal help falters as nursing homes run short of protective equipment

Around the country, nursing homes trying to protect their residents from the coronavirus eagerly await boxes of masks, eyewear and gowns promised by the federal government. But all too often the packages deliver disappointment — if they arrive at all.

11 Jun 2020

A family with five doctors — and two COVID deaths

On the morning of April 1, Dr. Priya Khanna inched her way from the bedroom to the front door, using walls, doors and railings to hold herself up long enough to get to the stretcher waiting outside. She had been battling COVID-19 for five days and was struggling to breathe.

11 Jun 2020

Mitigating "second wave" COVID-19 risk to health frontliners and patients

Researchers at University College London have made important discoveries about the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among frontline healthcare workers that could help to inform new policies for protecting staff and patients in the future.

10 Jun 2020

Pharmacists involved in cancer care face restricted access to essential PPE items

Oncology pharmacy practitioners around the globe are fighting to provide cancer patients high quality cancer care with increasingly limited and sometimes restricted personal protective equipment supply as well as impaired access to essential anticancer medication, according to University of California, Irvine-led study.

8 Jun 2020

Study: Surfaces play a key role in viral transmission

Virus DNA left on a hospital bed rail was found in nearly half of all sites sampled across award within 10 hours and persisted for at least five days, according to a new study by UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

8 Jun 2020

Bystander CPR benefits outweigh the risks of COVID-19 infection

Analysis of Seattle emergency medical services and hospital data from January 1 to April 15, 2020, indicates bystander CPR is a lifesaving endeavor whose benefits outweigh the risks of COVID-19 infection, according to a new article published yesterday in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.

5 Jun 2020