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Also, Novavax says its vaccine candidate shows 96% efficacy against COVID-19.
In a review of 65 studies from around the world, pooled data indicate that one in five healthcare workers (HCWs) have experienced moderate depression, anxiety, and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published this week in PLOS One.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced yesterday that it has awarded $2.5 million in grants to support research on bacteriophage therapy.
Community exposure increased healthcare worker's risk of infection 3.5 times.
Also, regulators in Europe recommend the J&J vaccine for emergency use, and the Pfizer vaccine shows very high efficacy against both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection.
Antibodies in those previously infected were 10 to 45 times higher after 1 dose than other vaccine recipients'.
In other news, Americans, regardless of vaccination status, can visit nursing home residents again.
A real-world Mayo Clinic study shows a link between vaccination with two doses of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine—either Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna—and an 80% lower risk of asymptomatic infection.
US nursing homes saw an increase in prescribing of antibiotics commonly used for respiratory infections during the pandemic, and large number of residents were prescribed drugs being evaluated for COVID-19 treatment, according to a study yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The relative risk for death rose 64%, but the absolute risk climbed from 2.5 to just 4.1 deaths per 1,000 cases.
Of COVID patients, 52% received antibiotics in spite of only 29% having a bacterial infection.
Cases were up 2% last week, following a 7% increase the week before, the WHO says.
Included in the stimulus bill is $14 billion for vaccine distribution and $130 billion for schools.
Use of antibiotic order sets built into the electronic medical record for common infectious diagnoses in the emergency department (ED) was associated with improved antibiotic prescribing at an academic medical center, Emory University researchers reported yesterday in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection rates were significant among Americans younger than 25 years early in the pandemic, particularly for Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic people, according to a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Also, 21% of adults polled say they think they'll be able to return to normal by summer.
The rate of anaphylaxis after 1 dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine was well under 0.1%.
In other developments, some hot spot countries report rising COVID-19 hospitalization and ICU levels.
The US and UK digital COVID-19 symptom checkers consistently suggest less healthcare contact than Singapore's and Japan's, which may cause more serious outcomes, according to a study released yesterday by BMJ Health & Care Informatics.
