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B117, a SARS-CoV-2 variant believed to have increased infectivity, is linked to high viral loads in COVID-19 patients in the United Kingdom, while a small number of patients with extremely high viral loads could have largely driven the second wave of the pandemic in Houston, according to two new studies in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Also, Walgreen's, Rite Aid, CVS, and other pharmacies start distributing COVID-19 vaccines.
An open-label study found the two supplements did not reduce symptom duration in outpatients.
Study authors are testing to verify the strain is not more infectious or faster growing than other strains.
In another encouraging trend, deaths have fallen for the second week in a row.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
A revised antimicrobial prophylaxis protocol for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was associated with reduced broad-spectrum antimicrobial use in those patients, without increased risk of infection or poor outcomes, researchers from the Mayo Clinic reported today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
A single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was immunogenic in 92% of recipients, with no difference in immunogenic response between men and women but a decreasing response among older recipients, researchers from Israel's Bar-Ilan University reported yesterday in Eurosurveillance.
Delaying antibiotics for uncomplicated respiratory tract infections did not result in longer or more severe symptoms.
Those fully vaccinated and exposed to a case no longer need a 14-day quarantine.
Patients given the monoclonal antibody were less likely to die or need a ventilator.
"Right now, it’s a thin line between the hope of a vaccine and a false sense of security," a European official says.
A second fatal Ebola case was reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in a person from North Kivu province, where the first case was recently reported in the wife of an Ebola survivor, according to media reports that cited a joint statement from the DRC and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Presymptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases contributed at least 50% of transmissions during New York City's first COVID surge, according to a study published yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Also, the WHO says overall cases and deaths are falling, but more nations are reporting variant viruses.
Nursing homes with more than 40% non-white residents had COVID-19 death rates 3.3 times higher.
New CDC data show the fit of face masks may significantly reduce COVID-19 spread.
Hospitalized adults with COVID-19 are 3.5 times more likely to die than adults with the flu, reports a study today in CMAJ. The study also found that those with COVID were 1.5 times more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and have 1.5 times longer hospital stays.
Telemedicine visits in Brazil performed under rigorous adherence to antibiotic stewardship guidelines were associated with appropriate antibiotic prescribing for patients with low-risk conditions, Brazilian and Australian researchers reported yesterday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Few preschoolers attending 22 daycare centers in France last spring had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their blood.
