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A rapid review and meta-analysis of studies involving more than 35,000 COVID-19 patients has found that three-quarters received antibiotics even though fewer than 10% had a bacterial co-infection, Canadian researchers reported today in Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
The phase 3 clinical studies indicate good safety, efficacy for both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
Also, Florida and New York confirm their first cases involving the UK variant.
"Hospitals are becoming overwhelmed with more patients than can be managed with typical care standards."
The country's third lockdown will last till at least mid-February.
Impaired cognition and physical impairment were both tied to higher death rates.
A new study by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a substantial decrease in the number of outpatients who received antibiotic prescriptions during the first 5 months of 2020 compared with previous years.
Interim study results published late last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) found that only 19% of people exposed to a COVID-19 patient in their home who had no symptoms nor a positive test result in the first 7 days of the patient's illness later tested positive—lending support for recently changed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Originally published by CIDRAP News Dec 30
UK vaccine advisors also recommend 12 week intervals between doses of both vaccines to protect more people with initial doses.
As labs rush to determine variant prevalence, the CDC warns it could put more pressure on US hospitals.
Faced with azithromycin shortages, researchers found the clarithromycin substitute decreases endometritis.
On top of general hesitancy, vaccine attitudes reflected concerns about government interference in the process, including with scientific evaluation.
An Italian study in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy yesterday found that 21.9% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients acquired bacterial or fungal superinfections—infection by a secondary pathogen—that complicated the course of their recovery.
In other developments, Australia and Japan reported cases involving the South African SARS-CoV-2 variant.
The incoming administration's goals are to take stronger federal leadership to get efforts back on track and speed vaccination by five or six times its current pace.
Older people, Asians, and those with Medicaid coverage and preference for a non-English language at one US hospital system had fewer completed telemedicine visits than their peers during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study of patients scheduled for primary care or specialty telehealth visits at the University of Pennsylvania.
Only two reinfections occurred in antibody-positive workers, both asymptomatic, and researchers said earlier infection appears to protect for at least 6 months.
As cases soar in both the UK and South Africa, scientists are scrambling to detail variant virus characteristics.
The next few months could be difficult, if Christmas and New Years gatherings and travel seed a new surge in infections.
