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COVID disrupts healthcare in low- and middle-income countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected healthcare programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that work to protect populations against HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria, according to a new report by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Study suggests airline passenger spacing will slow COVID-19 spread

Keeping middle seats vacant on air flights has the potential to cut transmission of virus particles by 57% when multiple passengers are infected and by 23% when a single passenger is infected, according to an aerosol dispersion study that included earlier data that modeled plane airflow.

P1 COVID-19 variant more transmissible, may evade cross-immunity

The P1 SARS-CoV-2 variant, which was first identified in Brazil, may be more than twice as transmissible as non-P.1 lineages, and it may lower protective immunity from non-P1 variants 21% to 46%, according to a study published yesterday in Science.

Scientists tie platelet factor 4 to AstraZeneca COVID vaccine-related clots

UK researchers have uncovered the novel mechanism behind rare abnormal blood clotting seen in some AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine recipients, according to a study today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Study: Indoor school sports most likely to spread COVID-19

A study in an Atlanta school district revealed that the highest secondary COVID-19 attack rates were in indoor, high-contact sports settings (23.8%), staff meetings or lunches (18.2%), and elementary school classrooms (9.5%), and that staff were more susceptible to COVID-19 than students were.

Study: ICU ECMO experience a factor in COVID-19 patient survival

An analysis of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) use at 17 intensive care units (ICUs) in the greater Paris area during France's first COVID-19 wave reveal that 90-day survival was strongly linked to a hospital's earlier experience with the procedure. Investigators from France detailed their findings yesterday in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Study: B117 variant 45% more transmissible than wild-type COVID-19

A study yesterday in Cell Reports Medicine shows the B117 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom in December, is 45% more transmissible than the original, wild-type COVID-19 virus, but Pfizer's mRNA vaccine protected elderly populations against infections caused by the variant.

No safety signals in pregnant women who got mRNA COVID vaccines

Preliminary findings from a large analysis of pregnant women who received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines showed no obvious safety signals, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers reported yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Higher stroke risk linked to asymptomatic COVID-19 in younger men

Men under 50 recovering from asymptomatic COVID have double the likelihood of acute ischemic strokes (AIS) compared with men of the same age without COVID infection, according to a study last week in JAMA Network Open.

Shift work may increase risk of COVID-19

People who work irregular or permanent shifts were associated with double the risk of COVID-19, according to findings from a Thorax study published yesterday. The study looked at 27,056 irregular and 21,836 permanent shift workers between ages 40 to 69, as well as 235,135 non-shift workers, all identified in the UK Biobank.

COVID-related inflammatory syndrome hits poorer, minority kids harder

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which has been linked with pediatric COVID-19, may pose higher risks to children in lower socioeconomic statuses or who are minorities, according to a Pediatrics study today.

CDC: 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally a COVID-19 super-spreader event

The August 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota spread COVID-19 across the country, resulting in at least 649 infections—including transmission to household and workplace contacts—over the next 6 weeks, according to a study today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Study finds low rate of mom-to-baby COVID-19 spread, effect on infants

Infants born to women with COVID-19 have a low chance of contracting the disease from their mothers and having complications, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA.

Single COVID dose may leave virus-naïve vaccinees vulnerable to variants

The first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimen confers a robust immune response against the B117 and B1351 variants in people previously infected with the coronavirus—but not in those in those never infected, according to a new study led by researchers from Imperial College London, Queen Mary University of London, and University College London.

Mortality rates for hospitalized COVID patients declined through 2020

In 2020, in-hospital mortality dropped from 19.1% in March and April to 10.8% in September through November in COVID-19 patients in the United States, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

Comorbidities, racial disparity found in homeless hospital COVID patients

Almost two thirds of homeless patients hospitalized for COVID-19 were of non-White descent and more than 80% had at least one comorbidity, according to a descriptive study in The Journal of Infectious Diseases yesterday.

Bamlanivimab cuts hospitalization, deaths in high-risk COVID outpatients

Fewer high-risk outpatients with mild or moderate COVID-19 needed hospitalization or died within 28 days when given bamlanivimab soon after infection compared with their matched peers, finds an observational study yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Study finds long-haul COVID-19 common, in even those with mild disease

Long-haul COVID-19 was associated with severe or very severe symptoms, low income, and some age-groups, but was common even in those with mild symptoms, with a quarter of patients in that group having symptoms after 60 days, according to a Clinical Infectious Diseases study today that looked at adult Michigan patients.

1 in 7 adult COVID-19 patients requires care for new illness after infection

One in seven US adult COVID-19 patients developed at least one new illness requiring medical care after recovery from their infection in 2020, finds an observational study yesterday in BMJ.

Report: COVID-19 outbreaks affected 6% of DC child care facilities

While one in four Washington, DC, child care facilities reported at least one COVID-19 case from July to December 2020, only 5.8% had COVID-19 facility-associated outbreaks, according to yesterday's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report. A facility-associated outbreak was defined as two or more lab-confirmed cases at a child care site within 14 days.

Age, health conditions are linked with COVID severity in pregnant women

Increased age and underlying medical conditions were associated with a greater likelihood for more severe COVID-19 infections in pregnant women, according to a study late last week in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Dentists may have fewer COVID-19 infections than other health workers

Monthly dentist surveys showed a cumulative infection rate of 2.6%, according to a study yesterday in the Journal of the American Dental Association (ADA). The researchers say these rates are lower than those in other health workers, such as physicians or emergency medical service professionals.

Low testosterone concentration associated with men's COVID severity

Low testosterone concentrations in men with COVID-19 are associated with a greater likelihood of COVID-19 infection severity, artificial ventilation or intensive care unit (ICU) treatment, and death, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

Two inactivated Chinese COVID-19 vaccines found 73% to 78% effective

A randomized controlled trial of two inactivated (vero cell) COVID-19 vaccines made in China finds a vaccine efficacy of 73% in one and 78% in the other, according to a study yesterday in JAMA.

The whole-virus inactivated vaccines were developed with strains of the virus taken from patients in Wuhan, China.