Infectious Diseases (All Articles)
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
Large cohort finds low risk of SARS-CoV-2 cardiac involvement in young competitive athletes
20 Apr, 2021 | 06:04h | UTCSARS-CoV-2 Cardiac Involvement in Young Competitive Athletes – Circulation
News Release: Study: Heart setbacks from COVID-19 unlikely in athletes – UW Medicine
UK researchers will deliberately reinfect people with COVID-19 in new ‘challenge study’
20 Apr, 2021 | 06:03h | UTCSee also: Young people to be reinfected with Covid for study – BBC
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
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
RCT: Effect of infusion set replacement intervals on catheter-related bloodstream infections – “Infusion set use can be safely extended to 7 days with resultant cost and workload reductions”
20 Apr, 2021 | 05:37h | UTCEffect of infusion set replacement intervals on catheter-related bloodstream infections (RSVP): a randomised, controlled, equivalence (central venous access device)–non-inferiority (peripheral arterial catheter) trial – The Lancet (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries on Twitter
If you're an #RN👩⚕️or #infection preventer & it makes you crazy🤯that different hospitals🏥use infusion sets for different durations⏰- READ this massive #RCT in @TheLancet from @AVATAR_grp @UQHealth @UQMedicine @MetroNorthHHS @MenziesHealth & large team https://t.co/lpz1C6ceM2
— Prof Claire Rickard (@Claire_AVATAR) April 18, 2021
Use for 7 vs. 4 days = similar outcomes. Effect of infusion set replacement intervals on catheter-related bloodstream infections (RSVP): a randomised, controlled, equivalence (CV access device)–non-inferiority (peripheral arterial catheter) trial https://t.co/6qaJczu1Cr
— Skeptical Scalpel (@Skepticscalpel) April 16, 2021
Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) account for around 70% of all health care associated bloodstream infections. New trial indicates that 7-day replacement of infusion sets is safe, with resultant cost and workload reductions. https://t.co/ua633FkA3K pic.twitter.com/LfaC6lZYMv
— The Lancet (@TheLancet) April 19, 2021
RCT: Ravidasvir plus sofosbuvir are effective and well tolerated in patients with chronic HCV infection, with potential as an affordable treatment for these patients
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:19h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter
Trial results of new affordable #hepatitisC treatment showing 97% cure rate now published in @LancetGastroHep!
Ravidasvir + sofosbuvir has the potential to provide an additional affordable, simple, and efficacious #publichealth tool to eliminate HCV.
➡️https://t.co/Oo1ZHQnyn6 pic.twitter.com/FcFntfYMSC
— Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (@DNDi) 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
Pathologic Antibodies to Platelet Factor 4 after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccination
18 Apr, 2021 | 21:43h | UTCCommentaries: Researchers Offer Algorithm for Managing Thrombosis and Thrombocytopenia After COVID-19 Vaccination – NEJM Journal Watch AND Blood Clots After COVID-19 Vaccination Linked to Immune Response: UK Report – TCTMD AND People with rare blood clots after a COVID-19 jab share an uncommon immune response – ScienceNews
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
Evolving changes in mortality of 13,301 critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 over 8 months
16 Apr, 2021 | 06:35h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter
Our paper on covid-19 pandemic trends in the first 8 months in the pandemic at @yourICM. Patients are getting younger, less frail, and mortality decreased over time. Very poor outcomes for elder frail patients. https://t.co/DHJvr22zFl
— Fernando Zampieri (@f_g_zampieri) April 14, 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
Video | Coronavirus variants: What you need to know
16 Apr, 2021 | 06:32h | UTCCoronavirus variants: What you need to know – Nature Video