Global & Public Health (All Articles)
COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen: EMA finds possible link to very rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets
21 Apr, 2021 | 07:07h | UTCCommentary: Johnson & Johnson vaccine: EU regulator says blood clot very rare side effect – BBC
Commentary on Twitter
EMA has concluded there is a possible link between TTS (thrombosis & thrombocytopenia syndrome) & the J&J vaccine, & they will be adding it as a rare side effect to the product information: the same as for AZ, but so far reported at a much lower rate…1/n https://t.co/aonOEObeHR
— Hilda Bastian, PhD (@hildabast) April 20, 2021
What do we know about India’s Covaxin vaccine?
21 Apr, 2021 | 07:05h | UTCWhat do we know about India’s Covaxin vaccine? – The BMJ
WHO panel comes out against requiring vaccination proof for travel
21 Apr, 2021 | 07:03h | UTCWHO panel comes out against requiring vaccination proof for travel – The Hill
Related: Opinion | How to lose friends and alienate people? On the problems of vaccine passports (several texts on the subject)
We know a lot about Covid-19. Experts have many more questions
21 Apr, 2021 | 07:02h | UTCWe know a lot about Covid-19. Experts have many more questions – STAT
Large clinical trial to study repurposed drugs to treat COVID-19 symptoms
21 Apr, 2021 | 06:59h | UTCLarge clinical trial to study repurposed drugs to treat COVID-19 symptoms – NIH News Releases
Another study shows SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 is more transmissible than the original virus
21 Apr, 2021 | 06:58h | UTCCommentary: The British variant is 45% more contagious than the original virus – Tel Aviv University
Related: New studies suggest SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 is not more deadly, just more transmissible AND Study confirms higher transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7
Chlamydia and gonorrhea: new recommendation to screen sexually active patients under 30
20 Apr, 2021 | 05:42h | UTCRelated USPSTF Draft Statement: Screening for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea – U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
Perspective | The Confident Generalist: Putting The Primary Care Physician Back At The Center
20 Apr, 2021 | 05:35h | UTCThe Confident Generalist: Putting The Primary Care Physician Back At The Center – Health Affairs
M-A: Diagnostic performance of different sampling approaches for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing
20 Apr, 2021 | 06:09h | UTCCommentary: Beyond COVID-19—will self-sampling and testing become the norm? – The Lancet Infectious Diseases
Related Meta-analysis: Saliva and nasopharyngeal swab nucleic acid amplification have similar diagnostic accuracy for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 AND Saliva vs. nasopharyngeal swabs equally sensitive for Covid-19 diagnosis
[News release – not published yet] Sputnik V demonstrates 97.6% efficacy according to the analysis of data of 3.8 million vaccinated persons in Russia
20 Apr, 2021 | 06:08h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter
Press release from Russia on Sputnik V claiming effectiveness is 97.6% based on a comparison of the infection rate of people fully vaxed & those with confirmed Covid-19; says a publication in the works, but no mention of safety data…1/n https://t.co/7V5cbUxTSV
— Hilda Bastian, PhD (@hildabast) April 19, 2021
COVID-19 dynamics after a national immunization program in Israel
20 Apr, 2021 | 06:06h | UTCCOVID-19 dynamics after a national immunization program in Israel – Nature Medicine
Commentary on Twitter
Our paper on the effect of Israel's vaccination program now out @NatureMedicine https://t.co/ENpKjz21uu
Life is now back to normal except for masks in closed places
Vaccines pretty much eradicated COVID-19 from Israel, at least for the time being
— Eran Segal (@segal_eran) April 19, 2021
Pfizer CEO says third Covid vaccine dose likely needed within 12 months
20 Apr, 2021 | 06:02h | UTCPfizer CEO says third Covid vaccine dose likely needed within 12 months – CNBC
Commentary: Fully Vaccinated? Get Ready For Your Third Dose – Forbes
M-A: Prevalence of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder in health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
20 Apr, 2021 | 06:00h | UTC
Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:51h | UTCTen scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 – The Lancet
Animated Videos: Aerosols and making spaces safe – University of Oxford
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
Just out in @TheLancet what experts have said for a year
SARS-CoV2 spreads PRIMARILY via airborne route
Failure to act on this has hampered efforts to prevent spread of COVID
Thank you @trishgreenhalgh @linseymarr @kprather88 @j_g_allen, others who stuck to the evidence https://t.co/uuJcUIKWHE
— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) April 16, 2021
Indoor Air Changes and Potential Implications for SARS-CoV-2 Transmission
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:49h | UTCIndoor Air Changes and Potential Implications for SARS-CoV-2 Transmission – JAMA
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
In this new piece in @JAMA_current, I teamed up w/ colleague @AndrewMIbrahim to argue that
1) evidence for airborne spread is strong
2) enhanced ventilation/filtration is needed
3) 4-6 air changes per hour should be target for small volume spacesTHREADhttps://t.co/bvdZkyy03j
— Joseph Allen (@j_g_allen) April 16, 2021
A guideline to limit indoor airborne transmission of COVID-19
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:47h | UTC
China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine 67% effective in preventing symptomatic infection, 85% effective in preventing hospitalizations and 80% effective in preventing deaths – Chile govt report
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:45h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
Sinovac's CoronaVac in Chile: for Feb-Mar, during major outbreak. Data from National Health Fund, comparisons adjusted for age, gender, region, income, nationality. Fully vaccinated after 14 days was effective; 1 dose wasn't …1/nhttps://t.co/lNqGqTy7mv (TY for all the alerts!) pic.twitter.com/q1Fk2D3aek
— Hilda Bastian, PhD (@hildabast) April 16, 2021
Editorial: SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine–Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia – “The very low prevalence of this complication of vaccination, however severe, relative to the benefits of preventing Covid-19 must be emphasized”
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:42h | UTCSARS-CoV-2 Vaccine–Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia – New England Journal of Medicine
COVID vaccines and blood clots: five key questions
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:40h | UTCCOVID vaccines and blood clots: five key questions – Nature
See also (podcast): Coronapod: could COVID vaccines cause blood clots? Here’s what the science says – Nature
Study: Double masking improves protection from Covid-19 mostly by eliminating any gaps or poor-fitting areas of a mask
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:37h | UTCFitted Filtration Efficiency of Double Masking During the COVID-19 Pandemic – JAMA Internal Medicine
Commentaries: Fit matters most when double masking to protect yourself from COVID-19 – University of North Carolina Health Care AND Check your fit on that double mask if you want it to work against Covid, study says – CNN
Study shows past COVID-19 infection doesn’t fully protect young people against reinfection
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:35h | UTCOriginal study: SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and subsequent infection risk in healthy young adults: a prospective cohort study – The Lancet Respiratory Medicine
Commentary on Twitter
Risk of covid reinfection in a prospective study of >3,000 Marine recruits
Prior covid: 82% reduced compared w/ no prior covid (+ when reinfections occurred, much less viral loads)
Protection correlated w/ higher spike IgG antibody levels https://t.co/7Jl154lwDX @LancetRespirMed pic.twitter.com/xKVLKm8AA6— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) April 15, 2021
WHO: Benefits of continuing to provide life-saving HIV services outweigh the risk of COVID-19 transmission by 100 to 1
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:32h | UTC
WHO: Global shortage of innovative antibiotics fuels emergence and spread of drug-resistance
16 Apr, 2021 | 06:20h | UTCNews release: Global shortage of innovative antibiotics fuels emergence and spread of drug-resistance – World Health Organization
Commentary: WHO report highlights shortage of new antibiotics – CIDRAP
[Preprint] Risk of rare blood clotting much higher for COVID-19 than for vaccines
16 Apr, 2021 | 06:37h | UTCNews release: Risk of rare blood clotting higher for COVID-19 than for vaccines – University of Oxford
Original study (preprint): Cerebral venous thrombosis: a retrospective cohort study of 513,284 confirmed COVID-19 cases and a comparison with 489,871 people receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine
Commentaries: Brain clots ‘more likely’ with Covid infection than vaccine – BBC AND Risk for Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Elevated After COVID-19 Diagnosis – NEJM Journal Watch AND Study: COVID much more likely than vaccines to cause blood clots – CIDRAP
Commentary on Twitter
There is an interesting new preprint out that will probably generate a lot of coverage at least in the UK. Essentially it argues that the risk of CVST is much higher from #covid19 than from vaccines.
Quick thread on this:https://t.co/0MdDU2z9bp— Kai Kupferschmidt (@kakape) April 15, 2021
CDC study suggests leaving middle seat empty could lower COVID-19 spread on planes by 23% to 57%
16 Apr, 2021 | 06:33h | UTCCommentaries: Keeping middle seats vacant on airplanes can reduce risk of Covid-19 exposure by up to 57%, CDC study says – CNN AND Leaving middle seat empty lowers COVID-19 spread on planes, modeling suggests – LiveScience