Chest Medicine
Short review: Diagnosis and management of acute respiratory distress syndrome
26 May, 2021 | 08:19h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter
#ARDS is an important priority in our ICUs at the moment. Our @CMAJ review looks at diagnosis, and provides a guideline-based approach to management, along with a discussion on #COVID19 ARDS.
A great primer for those new to ARDS!
OPEN ACCESS Link: https://t.co/saVdFT6Wyn pic.twitter.com/HbhoYbeG3u
— Shannon Fernando (@shanfernands) May 25, 2021
Admission respiratory status predicts mortality in COVID-19 – hypoxemic patients (oxygen saturation less than 92%) had a 1.8- to 4.0-fold increased mortality risk; those with respiratory rates over 22 breaths per minute were at 1.9- to 3.2-fold elevated mortality risk.
25 May, 2021 | 08:56h | UTCAdmission respiratory status predicts mortality in COVID-19 – Influenza and Other Respiratory Virus
Commentaries: COVID-19 mortality associated with 2 signs easily measured at home – University of Washington School of Medicine AND Low oxygen levels, shallow breathing tied to COVID death – CIDRAP
2 signs easily measured at home can indicate increased Covid mortality risk—respiration rate & blood-oxygen saturation. Both are distinctly predictive of higher mortality. Anyone receiving a positive Covid test can easily monitor for these signs at home https://t.co/8n7oc0d4E4 pic.twitter.com/02ysVaElsL
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) May 24, 2021
Living systematic review: The evidence is insufficient to determine the benefits and harms of vitamin D supplementation as a treatment of COVID‐19.
25 May, 2021 | 08:55h | UTCSummary: Is vitamin D an effective and safe treatment for COVID-19? – Cochrane Library
Perspective | Coronavirus: so many variants, but vaccines are still effective.
25 May, 2021 | 08:46h | UTCCoronavirus: so many variants, but vaccines are still effective – The Conversation
Secondary analysis of RCT finds Tocilizumab was beneficial to patients hospitalized with Covid-19 if CRP levels were greater than 15.0 mg/dL, but not if CRP levels were 15.0 mg/dL or less.
25 May, 2021 | 08:52h | UTC
Mild COVID-19 induces lasting antibody protection, study finds.
25 May, 2021 | 08:51h | UTCOriginal study: SARS-CoV-2 infection induces long-lived bone marrow plasma cells in humans – Nature
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
Just published @nature
After even mild covid infections there are, in addition to memory B cells, bone marrow plasma cells are induced to provide long-term protection > 1 yrhttps://t.co/zVfUFvciVk
@TheBcellArtist @WUSTLmed
(NB vaccination still provides further protection) pic.twitter.com/rUd8pMAP1T— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) May 24, 2021
[Preprint] RCT: Both REGEN-COV 2400mg and 1200mg antibody cocktails significantly reduced Covid-19-related hospitalization or all-cause death compared to placebo (71.3% reduction and 70.4% reduction, respectively).
24 May, 2021 | 08:46h | UTCREGEN-COV Antibody Cocktail Clinical Outcomes Study in Covid-19 Outpatients – medRxiv
Commentary on Twitter
REGEN-COV Antibody Cocktail(casirivimab with imdevimab) Clinical Outcomes Study in Covid-19 Outpatients: N:>4000 pts
Both 1200mg IV&2400mg REGEN-COV led to a ≥70% ⬇️ (vs placebo) in Covid-19 hospitalization or all-cause death over 28 days after treatmenthttps://t.co/NJxF4BjZRs pic.twitter.com/CFdvEEIWEL— Antibiotic Steward Bassam Ghanem 🅱️C🆔🅿️🌟 (@ABsteward) May 21, 2021
[Preprint] Pfizer and AstraZeneca Vaccines effective against B.1.617.2 variant after 2 doses.
24 May, 2021 | 08:42h | UTCNews release: Vaccines highly effective against B.1.617.2 variant after 2 doses – Public Health England
Original study: Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against the B.1.617.2 variant – Public Health England
Commentary: Covid: Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs effective against Indian variant – study – BBC
[Preprint] Effectiveness of the CoronaVac vaccine in the elderly population during a P.1 variant-associated epidemic of COVID-19 in Brazil – “CoronaVac was 42% effective in the real-world setting of extensive P.1 transmission, but significant protection was not observed until completion of the two-dose regimen”.
24 May, 2021 | 08:43h | UTC
M-A: Tocilizumab in COVID-19 – “For hospitalized COVID-19 patients, there is some evidence that tocilizumab use may be associated with a short-term mortality benefit, but further high-quality data are required”.
24 May, 2021 | 08:39h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter
Tocilizumab as IL-6 antagonist in hospitalized #COVID19 pts, SR/MA/TSA:
➡️10 RCTs/6493 pts (52.2% ➡️ tocilizumab)
➡️some evidence suggests tocilizumab may be associated with short-term mortality benefit
➡️tocilizumab may prevent disease progression to MVhttps://t.co/sWR4Y351sl pic.twitter.com/JPD31Nb5rn— Intensive Care Medicine (@yourICM) May 22, 2021
WHO: The impact of COVID-19 on global health goals – COVID-19 responsible for at least 3 million excess deaths in 2020.
24 May, 2021 | 08:49h | UTCThe impact of COVID-19 on global health goals – World Health Organization
Related: Covid-19 pandemic: approximately one million excess deaths occurred in 2020 in 29 high income countries. AND Perspective | Tracking lives we’ve lost to COVID-19. AND COVID-19 has caused 6.9 million deaths globally, more than double what official reports show
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
🆕 The latest World Health Statistics report finds that #COVID19 is responsible for at least 3 million excess deaths in 2020 👉 https://t.co/yAXB5bzx1g#HealthData pic.twitter.com/DMd9fg69I2
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 21, 2021
Using resources wisely in the COVID-19 pandemic: an international list of Choosing Wisely recommendations.
24 May, 2021 | 08:36h | UTC
Neutralizing antibody levels are highly predictive of immune protection from symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection.
24 May, 2021 | 08:38h | UTCCommentary: Scientists find new way of predicting COVID-19 vaccine efficacy – University of New South Wales
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
Just published @NatureMedicine: For 7 vaccines, the neutralizing antibody levels are highly predictive of the magnitude of clinical efficacy, support long term protection vs severe illness, and preserved efficacy vs variantshttps://t.co/ZQIrTQErMm pic.twitter.com/rUl9TMbVrC
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) May 17, 2021
Risk factors for illness severity among pregnant women with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection – moderate-to-severe COVID-19 was associated with age 25 years and older, healthcare occupation, pre-pregnancy obesity, chronic lung disease, chronic hypertension, and pregestational diabetes mellitus.
24 May, 2021 | 08:34h | UTC
Indirect Protection by Reducing Transmission: Ending the Pandemic with SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination – “Tell the hesitant: the vaccines protect both you and protect others — a lot!”
24 May, 2021 | 08:31h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter
*Strongly* recommend this comprehensive review of just how much COVID19 vaccines reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to others. Tell the hesitant: the vaccines protect both you and protect others — a lot! @mugecevik @AaronRichterman @EricMeyerowitz https://t.co/Cv3t3zNMRL pic.twitter.com/sOLAKKIJnQ
— Paul Sax (@PaulSaxMD) May 21, 2021
A deep learning algorithm can estimate malignancy risk of pulmonary nodules detected at low-dose screening CT.
24 May, 2021 | 08:21h | UTCCommentaries: AI predicts lung cancer risk – Radiological Society of North America AND AI Takes LDCT Further for Lung Cancer Prediction – Diagnostic Imaging
Commentary on Twitter
A deep learning algorithm can have a discriminative performance comparable to that of clinical experts on low-dose screening chest CTs. https://t.co/60U518u6eA pic.twitter.com/phZPFDpUpx
— Radiology (@radiology_rsna) May 20, 2021
Covid-19 pandemic: approximately one million excess deaths occurred in 2020 in 29 high income countries.
21 May, 2021 | 08:52h | UTCEditorial: Measuring the impact of covid-19
Commentary: Nearly 1 million excess deaths in 29 nations during pandemic – CIDRAP
Related: COVID-19 has caused 6.9 million deaths globally, more than double what official reports show
Perspective | Tracking lives we’ve lost to COVID-19.
21 May, 2021 | 08:51h | UTCTracking Lives We’ve Lost to COVID-19 – Think Global Health
Related: COVID-19 has caused 6.9 million deaths globally, more than double what official reports show
Observational study finds a single dose of either Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines in older adults is about 80% effective at preventing admission to hospital with covid-19.
21 May, 2021 | 08:54h | UTCEditorial: Effectiveness of England’s initial vaccine roll out – The BMJ
M-A: Prevalence and outcomes of co-infection and superinfection with SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens – The pooled prevalence of co-infection at the time of a SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis was 19%, and that of superinfection was 24%.
21 May, 2021 | 08:48h | UTC
Report: Face masks effectively limit the probability of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
21 May, 2021 | 08:49h | UTCFace masks effectively limit the probability of SARS-CoV-2 transmission – Science
AARC Guideline: Management of adult patients with tracheostomy in the acute care setting.
21 May, 2021 | 08:26h | UTC
Cohort study: 14% of adults aged 65 years or less who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 had at least one new type of clinical sequelae that required medical care after the acute phase of the illness.
20 May, 2021 | 08:59h | UTCEditorial: Unpacking post-covid symptoms – The BMJ
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
After covid infections, 14% of >266,000 people, age ≤ 65, developed at least 1 sequelae that required medical care #LongCovid Just out @bmj_latest @OptumLabs @mlipsitch Risk increased w/ pre-existing conditions but also found in healthy, age < 50 https://t.co/h8IlnRNp2v pic.twitter.com/e15uSj9BXN
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) May 19, 2021
FDA In Brief: FDA advises against use of SARS-CoV-2 antibody test results to evaluate immunity or protection from COVID-19, including after vaccination.
20 May, 2021 | 08:55h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
Today, we issued a safety communication notifying the public and providers that results from SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests should not be used to evaluate immunity or protection from #COVID19 at any time – especially after receiving a #COVID19 vaccination. https://t.co/KlywV04WYO pic.twitter.com/TPdIVxWzSh
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) May 19, 2021
Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies suggest low-dose aspirin may be of benefit for patients with Covid-19 – the finds require further investigation in randomized studies.
20 May, 2021 | 08:54h | UTC