Global & Public Health (all articles) | Page 43 of 252 | Links Medicus Content Curation & Alerts in Medicine

What can masks do? The science behind COVID-19 protection.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:51h | UTC

COMMENTARY: What can masks do? Part 1: The science behind COVID-19 protection – CIDRAP

Study evaluated several heterologous SARS-CoV-2 vaccine regimens; no efficacy data but there was increased antibody production on study days 15 and 29 after booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:49h | UTC

Heterologous SARS-CoV-2 Booster Vaccinations: Preliminary Report – medRxiv

Commentary: Study: Mixing and Matching COVID-19 Booster Shots Is Effective, Safe – U.S. News

Commentary on Twitter

So yes, mRNA vaccines are great at generating antibodies but what does that mean? Where is the efficacy data? How come JnJ gets really great efficacy at preventing symptomatic COVID and severe disease with low antibodies? T-cells? Still much to learn. https://t.co/YwKUyogAhQ

— Daniel Griffin MD PhD (@DanielGriffinMD) October 13, 2021

‘I hope you die’: how the COVID pandemic unleashed attacks on scientists.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:46h | UTC

‘I hope you die’: how the COVID pandemic unleashed attacks on scientists – Nature

Commentary on Twitter

#COVID19 has changed many things- one has been the way the public interacts with scientists.

Like many of my colleagues I was not prepared for the onslaught of harassment and it affected me deeply.

Thanks to @Nature for telling our stories https://t.co/PiVCREyc8A

— Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA (@KrutikaKuppalli) October 13, 2021

Perspective | Trying to Block SARS-CoV-2 Transmission With Intranasal Vaccines.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:44h | UTC

Trying to Block SARS-CoV-2 Transmission With Intranasal Vaccines – JAMA

Editorial: Covid-19 treatments and vaccines must be evaluated in pregnancy.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:41h | UTC

Covid-19 treatments and vaccines must be evaluated in pregnancy – The BMJ

Two observational studies suggest spontaneous abortion is not increased following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination during pregnancy.

Study shows high effectiveness of the Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy.

5 Crucial Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines and Pregnancy.

CDC Guidance: Pregnant people should be vaccinated against COVID-19.

ACOG and SMFM Recommend COVID-19 Vaccination for Pregnant Individuals – “ACOG encourages its members to enthusiastically recommend vaccination to their patients.”

Cohort study: Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine associated with 78% lower risk of Covid-19 in pregnancy.

Commentary on Twitter

Inconsistent messaging from authorities, driven by lack of trial data, has increased covid-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women@DrAllyah and colleagues argue that pregnant women should be included in drug and vaccine development from the outsethttps://t.co/P3v1ouk8tQ

— The BMJ (@bmj_latest) October 14, 2021

FDA panel green-lights Moderna COVID boosters for risk groups.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:43h | UTC

FDA panel green-lights Moderna COVID boosters for risk groups – CIDRAP

FDA issues food industry guidance for reduction of sodium in processed and packaged foods.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:29h | UTC

News Release: To Improve Nutrition and Reduce the Burden of Disease, FDA Issues Food Industry Guidance for Voluntarily Reducing Sodium in Processed and Packaged Foods – U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Guidance for Industry: Voluntary Sodium Reduction Goals – U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Commentaries:

FDA Issues New Guidance on Sodium Targets for Food Industry – TCTMD

Reducing Sodium Intake in the US: Healthier Lives, Healthier Future – JAMA

FDA Reduces Recommended Salt Levels in Americans’ Food – HealthDay

FDA guidance to food industry aims to reduce sodium consumption – American Heart Association

New FDA guidance aims to drastically cut salt in food supply – NBC News

Cohort study: Vaccinated pregnant patients had 90% lower risk of severe or critical Covid-19 compared with unvaccinated pregnant patients.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:38h | UTC

Maternal Outcomes After Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection in Vaccinated Compared With Unvaccinated Pregnant Patients – Obstetrics & Gynecology

Two observational studies suggest spontaneous abortion is not increased following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination during pregnancy.

Study shows high effectiveness of the Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy.

5 Crucial Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines and Pregnancy.

CDC Guidance: Pregnant people should be vaccinated against COVID-19.

ACOG and SMFM Recommend COVID-19 Vaccination for Pregnant Individuals – “ACOG encourages its members to enthusiastically recommend vaccination to their patients.”

Cohort study: Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine associated with 78% lower risk of Covid-19 in pregnancy.

Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)

First dataset I have seen for vaccine efficacy in pregnant persons during #Delta era. Impressive aOR for both severe illness (0.11) and infection positivity in general (0.31)! #GetVaccinatedNow 🤰🏻💉 https://t.co/VhBHyeOWjz

— Lauren Hassen, MD MPH (@ljhassen) October 14, 2021

WHO Report: Tuberculosis deaths rise for the first time in more than a decade due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:30h | UTC

Tuberculosis deaths rise for the first time in more than a decade due to the COVID-19 pandemic – World Health Organization

Report: Global tuberculosis report 2021

Commentary: Tuberculosis deaths rise for 1st time in years, due to COVID – Associated Press

Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)

🆕 WHO's Global TB Report reveals deaths from #tuberculosis rise for the first time in more than a decade due to the #COVID19 pandemic.

1.5 million people died in 2020 & the number will continue to rise unless urgent action is taken 👉https://t.co/RFmWYIelhq #EndTB pic.twitter.com/33G7sI8K2J

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) October 14, 2021

Former CDC director: Low sodium salt could save millions of lives.

15 Oct, 2021 | 02:27h | UTC

Former CDC director: Low sodium salt could save millions of lives – CNN

Is salt good for you after all? The evidence says no.

#ESCCongress – Cluster RCT: Among patients at increased risk for stroke, salt substitution (75% sodium chloride and 25% potassium chloride by mass) reduced the rates of stroke, major cardiovascular events, and death from any cause.

Systematic Review: Altered dietary salt intake for people with chronic kidney disease.

New WHO benchmarks help countries reduce salt intake and save lives.

RCT: Reduced-sodium added-potassium salt substitute reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients

Potassium Enriched Salt Substitution Could Prevent a Large Number of Cardiovascular Deaths

Meta-Analysis: Effect of Reduction in Dietary Sodium on Blood Pressure Levels

Cluster Randomized Trial: Effect of Salt Substitution on Community-wide Blood Pressure and Hypertension Incidence

Systematic Review: Short-term and long-term rates of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

14 Oct, 2021 | 10:15h | UTC

Short-term and Long-term Rates of Postacute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Systematic Review – JAMA Network Open

Commentaries:

Most COVID-19 survivors have symptoms 6 months on, review finds – CIDRAP

Expert reaction to systematic review on rates of postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) – Science Media Centre

How many people get ‘long COVID’? More than half, researchers find – Penn State

WHO Consensus: A clinical case definition of post COVID-19 condition (Long Covid).

Characterizing long COVID: a living systematic review.

Long Covid – The illness narratives.

New guidelines to help doctors manage long COVID patients published.

M-A: More than 50 long-term effects of COVID-19. (several articles on the subject)

Commentary on Twitter

Most #COVID19 survivors have symptoms 6 months on, review finds

Data on more than 250,000 survivors reveal 54% had at least 1 symptom 6 months or more after diagnosis #LongCovid https://t.co/xd0lvhQFfL pic.twitter.com/65mqe7SQPg

— CIDRAP (@CIDRAP) October 13, 2021

[Preprint] In RCT with 29,949 participants, the Novavax vaccine demonstrated high overall efficacy (>90%) for the prevention of Covid-19, and all moderate-to-severe cases occurred in placebo recipients.

14 Oct, 2021 | 10:17h | UTC

Efficacy and Safety of NVX-CoV2373 in Adults in the United States and Mexico – medRxiv

Commentary: Novel vaccine demonstrates high efficacy for prevention of COVID-19 – News Medical

RCT: Novavax vaccine conferred 89.7% protection against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and 100% protection against hospitalizations or deaths.

Opinion | The mRNA vaccines are extraordinary, but Novavax is even better.

(Press release – not published yet) Novavax COVID-19 vaccine demonstrates 90% overall efficacy and 100% protection against moderate and severe disease.

RCT: Novavax vaccine is 49.4% effective against B.1.351 SARS-CoV-2 variant.

[Press release – not published yet] Novavax reports 96% efficacy against original strain of COVID-19, 86% efficacy against B.1.1.7 variant, and 55% efficacy against B1.351 variant

New COVID-19 vaccines: here’s how the promising Novavax and Johnson & Johnson jabs work

Covid-19: Novavax vaccine efficacy is 86% against UK variant and 60% against South African variant

Commentary on Twitter

Remember Novavax's #COVID vaccine?

Recent data looks really good.

~30K participants enrolled in a prospective clinical trial.

The vaccine appeared to be safe & effective (>90%).

Unclear why approval is taking so long.

Preprint 👉 https://t.co/MQkJXdgJyR pic.twitter.com/217Erw2stC

— Isaac Bogoch (@BogochIsaac) October 12, 2021

WHO provides guidance to address the shortage of quality palliative care services.

14 Oct, 2021 | 09:59h | UTC

News release: WHO takes steps to address glaring shortage of quality palliative care services – World Health Organization

See Guidance:

Assessing the development of palliative care worldwide: a set of actionable indicators – World Health Organization

Quality health services and palliative care: practical approaches and resources to support policy, strategy and practice – World Health Organization

Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)

Today is World Hospice and Palliative Care Day!

DYK❓ Over 5⃣5⃣ million people around the 🌐 are in need of #PalliativeCare but only 12% of the global need is met.

Access to palliative care services is a human right to health 👉https://t.co/MebmzEstql pic.twitter.com/WQ3d40dH6d

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) October 9, 2021

How Covax failed on its promise to vaccinate the world – “Covax, described as “naively ambitious” by one expert, has contributed just 5% of all vaccines administered globally”.

14 Oct, 2021 | 10:12h | UTC

How Covax failed on its promise to vaccinate the world – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Perspective | A beautiful idea: how COVAX has fallen short.

WHO Launches Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination by mid-2022.

WHO special envoys: To beat Covid, there’s a simple lesson – no one’s safe until everyone’s safe.

Joint COVAX Statement on the Equal Recognition of Vaccines – COVAX urges all government authorities to recognize as fully vaccinated all people who have received COVID-19 vaccines that have been deemed safe and effective by WHO.

WHO COVAX Joint Statement: Call to action to equip COVAX to deliver 2 billion doses in 2021.

Covax: How will Covid vaccines be shared around the world?

WHO advisers recommend 3rd COVID vaccine dose for highest-risk groups.

13 Oct, 2021 | 01:48h | UTC

WHO advisers recommend 3rd COVID vaccine dose for highest-risk groups – CIDRAP

Real-world data show that filters clean COVID-causing virus from air.

13 Oct, 2021 | 01:43h | UTC

Real-world data show that filters clean COVID-causing virus from air – Nature

Original article: The removal of airborne SARS-CoV-2 and other microbial bioaerosols by air filtration on COVID-19 surge units – medRxiv

Commentary on Twitter

Research at a hospital swamped by people with COVID-19 has confirmed that portable air filters effectively remove SARS-CoV-2 particles from the air https://t.co/OT3JKIxWhB

— nature (@Nature) October 11, 2021

Opinion | COVID lesson: trust the public with hard truths.

13 Oct, 2021 | 01:47h | UTC

COVID lesson: trust the public with hard truths – Nature

Commentary from the author on Twitter (thread – click for more)

Today in @Nature, I outline a key lesson from COVID-19:

"Governments, dare to to trust your citizens."

Governments' fear of their people is not supported by science & it stymies pandemic management and breeds vaccine hesitancy.

Read it here: https://t.co/dbr5Epggow.

🧵 (1/8) pic.twitter.com/EegEIxGb2r

— Michael Bang Petersen (@M_B_Petersen) October 12, 2021

A primer on what we know about mixing and matching Covid vaccines.

13 Oct, 2021 | 01:44h | UTC

A primer on what we know about mixing and matching Covid vaccines – STAT

Real-world data shows increased reactogenicity in adults after heterologous compared to homologous prime-boost COVID-19 vaccination.

RCT: Safety and immunogenicity of heterologous vs. homologous prime-boost schedules with an adenoviral vectored and mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

Another study shows increased immune response with heterologous Oxford-AstraZeneca/mRNA vaccination.

Heterologous Oxford–AstraZeneca and Moderna Vaccination induce increased levels of neutralizing antibody compared to 2 doses of Oxford–AstraZeneca.

Heterologous Oxford–AstraZeneca and BioNTech/Pfizer Vaccination induce increased levels of neutralizing antibody compared to 2 doses of Oxford–AstraZeneca.

[Preprint] Mixing Covid jabs has good immune response, study finds – “The Com-Cov trial looked at the efficacy of either two doses of Pfizer, two of AstraZeneca, or one of them followed by the other. All combinations worked well, priming the immune system”.

Phase 2 RCT: Immunogenicity and reactogenicity of a Pfizer-BioNTech booster in patients that have received a single dose of AstraZeneca vaccine – “BNT162b2 (Pfizer) given as a second dose in individuals prime vaccinated with ChAdOx1-S (AstraZeneca) induced a robust immune response, with an acceptable and manageable reactogenicity profile”.

Lab study shows heterologous AstraZeneca/Pfizer vaccination produces strong immune response against SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant.

Lab study shows a heterologous AstraZeneca + Pfizer immunization strategy provides stronger immunogenicity against Covid compared to homologous AZ + AZ or Pfizer + Pfizer strategies.

RCT: Mixing 2 different Covid vaccines is associated with increased risk of side effects.

Seroconversion and fever are dose-dependent in a nonhuman primate model of inhalational COVID-19.

13 Oct, 2021 | 01:41h | UTC

Seroconversion and fever are dose-dependent in a nonhuman primate model of inhalational COVID-19 – PLOS Pathogens

Commentary: Dose-dependent COVID-19 symptoms – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Commentaries on Twitter

When exposed to #SARSCoV2 why does one person have no illness, while another is soon in ICU?
Dose.
Controlled study in monkeys shows the dose of viruses inhaled is a key factor determining the severity of the disease.
Seems obvious, yet this is new.https://t.co/zdfCnR40bR pic.twitter.com/HH8kxMM2xm

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 11, 2021

In summer of 2020, our group had proposed a hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 viral dose or "inoculum" was associated with severity of symptoms in COVID (and proposed NPIs reduced the dose). There is now an experimental model showing this in cynomolgus monkeys:https://t.co/dXGDPyPBFZ

— Monica Gandhi MD, MPH (@MonicaGandhi9) October 12, 2021

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018.

13 Oct, 2021 | 01:21h | UTC

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018 – Nature Medicine

Invited commentary: Anemia in women — an intractable problem that requires innovative solutions – Nature Medicine

Review: Optimal diet for cardiovascular and planetary health.

13 Oct, 2021 | 01:22h | UTC

Optimal diet for cardiovascular and planetary health – Heart

Nationwide study in Sweden shows link between COVID vaccination and reduced household transmission.

12 Oct, 2021 | 00:25h | UTC

News release: Nationwide study shows link between COVID vaccination and reduced household transmission – Umea University

Original study: Association Between Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Nonimmune Individuals and COVID-19 Immunity in Their Family Members – JAMA Internal Medicine

Review | Prevention of host-to-host transmission by SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

Study ties COVID vaccines to lower transmission rates.

Effect of Vaccination on Household Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in England – “the likelihood of household transmission was approximately 40 to 50% lower in households of index patients who had been vaccinated 21 days or more before testing positive than in households of unvaccinated index patients”.

Study in England showed one dose of COVID-19 vaccine can cut household transmission by up to half – This protection is on top of the reduced risk of a vaccinated person developing symptomatic infection, which is around 60 to 65% after the first dose

Covid-19 vaccination prevents transmission from vaccinated to unvaccinated household members.

Covid-19: Is New Zealand’s switch in policy a step forward or a retreat?

12 Oct, 2021 | 00:21h | UTC

Covid-19: Is New Zealand’s switch in policy a step forward or a retreat? – The BMJ

New Zealand acknowledges it can no longer completely get rid of the coronavirus.

Why we must not allow COVID to become endemic in New Zealand – The Conversation

Commentary on Twitter

On 4 October New Zealand's prime minister announced that the country was shifting from a policy of elimination to a mitigation approach more in line with policies in other developed countries.

What comes next and what lessons have been learnt?https://t.co/Z62olXHzb9

— The BMJ (@bmj_latest) October 11, 2021

WHO’s Special Report on Climate Change and Health.

12 Oct, 2021 | 00:12h | UTC

News release: WHO’s 10 calls for climate action to assure sustained recovery from COVID-19 – World Health Organization

Report: COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health – World Health Organization

Commentary: ‘Burning of Fossil Fuels is Killing Us’ – Declares New WHO Climate and Health Report – Health Policy Watch

Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)

#ClimateCrisis harms our health!#ClimateCrisis harms our health!#ClimateCrisis harms our health!

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C isn't only the right thing to do but also a shared responsibility for health.

🆕 WHO #COP26 Special Report explains why 👉https://t.co/WXMdMgPSWv pic.twitter.com/r8NFs1oI37

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) October 11, 2021