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More seniors may have become homebound during COVID-19, study says

The number of older adults who are homebound (leaving home once a week or less) increased in 2020 over the prior decade, according to a research letter yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers say that this could affect social, psychological, and physical needs because of factors such as physical distancing and caretaker or telehealth access.

Youth substance use was stable in early pandemic, study says

Substance use among US kids 10 to 14 years old remained relatively stable during the first 6 months of the pandemic, according to longitudinal study results published yesterday in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Rates of US veteran suicidal thoughts dipped slightly during COVID-19

US veteran suicide ideation (SI) rates showed a slight decrease during the first year of the pandemic, according to a JAMA Psychiatry study yesterday. Among the associated risks, however, was having COVID-19, which doubled the odds of SI.

COVID-19 infection tied to much higher clot risk than vaccination

The risk of blood clots is higher following COVID-19 infection than after vaccination, researchers based at Oxford University reported today in BMJ.

Antibody combo lowers hospitalizations in high-risk COVID-19 patients

High-risk adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 who receive a dose of casirivimab and imdevimab have lower hospitalization rates than those who don't, according to a randomized, controlled trial today in The Lancet's EClinicalMedicine. The casirivimab and imdevimab combination is under emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration.

COVID vaccine doses may have weaker effect in immune-compromised

After two doses of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, nearly 90% of immunocompromised patients had an antibody response, but it was about as third as strong as those with healthy immune systems, according to data published in the Annals of Internal Medicine yesterday.

Pre-hospital antiplatelet therapy linked to lower COVID-19 death rates

Pre-hospital antiplatelet therapy, most commonly aspirin, was associated with significantly lower in-hospital mortality rates for COVID-19 patients, according to a study this week in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

Baricitinib reduces deaths in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

The rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib was shown to reduce mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, according to a randomized, controlled trial published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine yesterday. Baricitinib acts as a Janus kinases inhibitor and is under emergency use authorization to treat severe COVID-19 by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Vaccine less protective but very beneficial vs Delta SARS-CoV-2 variant

COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) against the Delta (B1617.2) variant was 65% in those fully vaccinated, according to a population-based study in Norway. The results, published in Eurosurveillance yesterday, looked at 4,204,859 infected adults without previous COVID-19 from mid-April to mid-August.

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine 96% effective in pregnant women, study says

Results from an observational cohort study of pregnant women indicated a 96% vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19 infection and an 89% VE against hospitalization for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in pregnant women, according to a study in Nature Medicine today.

COVID mRNA vaccine effectiveness high in those 16 and up

The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines have a collective 91% vaccine efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Americans 16 years and older, according to a test-negative study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases today.

Colorectal cancer patients fared worse after COVID lockdowns, study finds

Patients diagnosed as having metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) after COVID-19 lockdowns in France had significantly higher tumor burdens and died sooner than those diagnosed before the pandemic, shows a multicenter study yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

Two thirds of COVID survivors report persistent symptoms 4 weeks later

A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study shows that 65.9% of a sample of US adults who tested positive for COVID-19 reported at least one lingering symptom more than a month later.

Study looks at US counties' non-COVID excess deaths

US counties with more excess deaths not attributed to COVID-19 had less health insurance coverage and primary care as well as more at-home deaths, according to a research letter today in JAMA Network Open.

The researchers looked at 2020 data from the US National Center for Health Statistics for 2,096 counties with 319.1 million residents and divided county characteristics into quartiles.

Severe COVID linked to more self-attacking antibodies, study says

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients were more likely to have autoantibodies, or self-attacking antibodies, than those without COVID-19, according to a study today in Nature Communications.

Face coverings offer modest source control for COVID-19, study finds

Cloth or surgical facial masks reduced SARS-CoV-2 RNA 77% in exhaled coarse aerosol particles and 48% in exhaled fine aerosol particles, offering "modest" source control, according to a Clinical Infectious Diseases study yesterday. The study also found that the Alpha (B117) COVID-19 variant contained 43-fold more fine-aerosol viral RNA compared with earlier virus strains.

Pregnancy intentions lowered during early pandemic, study says

Almost half of New York women who had been trying to become pregnant before COVID-19 stopped trying during the first few months of the pandemic, according to survey results published in JAMA Network Open yesterday.

Kids' BMI increased at double the rate during pandemic, study says

Since March 2020, children's body mass index (BMI) has increased at almost double its prepandemic rate, according to a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

Salmonella outbreak sickens 127 in 25 states; cake mix E coli probe ends

A rapidly growing Salmonella Oranienburg outbreak linked to an unknown food source has sickened 127 people, some of them part of restaurant clusters, from 25 states, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a Sep 17 announcement.

CDC alerts providers about infectious diseases in Afghan evacuees

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday sent a Health Alert Network notice to health providers warning that cases of measles and mumps have been detected in people recently evacuated from Afghanistan.

Overall COVID risk for air travel is low, study says

Overall SARS-CoV-2 attack rates in airplane flights under 4 hours were less than 1%, according to a study of 177 flights departing from Wuhan, China, in January 2020. The results, published yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases, also indicated that people in the same row as an index case had the highest risk of infection.

COVID-related syndrome in adults severe, hard to diagnose, study finds

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS-A) is a rare but severe hyperinflammatory condition that begins roughly 4 weeks after COVID-19 symptom onset and likely results from an outsized immune response, concludes a systematic review yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has decreased, survey says

Of 1,061 people who were hesitant about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at the end of 2020, 32% were at least partially vaccinated by spring 2021, and 37% said they were likely to be, according to a research letter published today in JAMA Network Open.

Anticoagulants linked with reduced COVID hospitalization, death

Taking anticoagulants before contracting COVID-19 is associated with a 43% lower risk for hospital admission, and receiving anticoagulants while in the hospital is tied to a lower death rate, according to a study published late last week in EClinicalMedicine.

COVID vaccine protection stayed strong in teens during Delta, data show

Vaccine effectiveness (VE) for the two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was up to 91.5% in Israeli teens 12 to 15 years old during the Delta (B1617.2) variant outbreak, according to a study published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.