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Study: 59% of long-COVID patients had nerve damage

A retrospective study of 17 COVID-19 survivors with lingering symptoms reveals that 10 (59%) had nerve damage, which the researchers said could have been triggered by potentially treatable infection-related immune dysfunction.

Women have borne an outsized social, economic burden during pandemic

From March 2020 to September 2021, women were more likely than men to lose their jobs, forego work to care for others, and report increasing violence, and women and girls were more likely than men and boys to drop out of school for reasons other than school closures, according to a study yesterday in The Lancet.

Pfizer COVID vaccine shown highly protective in teens against Delta

The estimated effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine against infection in US adolescents was 91%, with 93% protection against symptomatic illness and 85% against asymptomatic disease amid the Delta SARS-CoV-2 surge in Connecticut, finds a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

COVID patients with heart defects may be at higher risk for severe disease

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients with congenital heart defects (CHDs) were more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), require invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), and die than those without CHDs in the first 11 months of the pandemic, suggests a study published today in Circulation.

Study: 3% of adults with COVID pneumonia develop new-onset dementia

Three percent of 10,403 adults with COVID-19 pneumonia were diagnosed as having new-onset dementia after a median of 182 days, a significantly higher proportion than that observed with other types of pneumonia, finds a study yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Continuing dexamethasone after COVID hospital release shows no benefit

Continuing the corticosteroid dexamethasone after hospital release didn't benefit COVID-19 patients who didn't complete the 10-day drug regimen during their stay, finds a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

Non-COVID post-hospital deaths highlight pandemic consequences

While Medicare beneficiary hospitalizations for non–COVID-19 diagnoses fell sharply in March and April 2020 and stayed low through September 2021, death rates after hospitalization rose substantially—particularly for Black and Hispanic patients, finds a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

COVID vaccine uptake low in young US kids in first months of availability

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children 5 to 11 years old in the United States remained low during the first 11 weeks of vaccine eligibility, especially in high social vulnerability index (SVI) areas. The research was published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

Contact tracing may have averted 1.4 million US COVID cases in 2 months

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) modeling study used data from 59 US case investigation and contact tracing (CICT) programs to estimate that the programs prevented 1.11 to 1.36 million COVID-19 cases, and 27,000 to 34,000 hospitalizations over 60 days in winter 2020-21, well before the Delta and Omicron variant surges. 

Study details poor outcomes tied to long COVID-19

Results of a new survey of 436 Americans with long COVID reveal that the condition is significantly associated with poorer long-term health status, worse quality of life, and psychological distress. The results were published yesterday in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses.

Most COVID pneumonia survivors had lung anomalies at 1 year: study

Among 91 COVID-19 pneumonia survivors in Austria, 54% had lung abnormalities on computed tomography (CT) imaging 1 year after symptom onset, suggests an observational study yesterday in Radiology.

Molnupiravir reduces COVID-19 symptoms, virus by day 3, data show

Three new studies to be presented at the upcoming European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) conference at the end of the month demonstrate benefits of the antiviral molnupiravir against COVID-19 infections, including evidence that Merck's pill reduces symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus by day 3 of administration.

Study: Omicron much more infectious in US preschoolers than Delta

A new study in JAMA Pediatrics shows the Omicron variant has caused six to eight times the rate of Omicron infections in US preschoolers as the Delta variant, but cases were less severe with Omicron.

Studies find long COVID symptoms, including joint pain, at 1 year

Two new studies detail long COVID symptoms, with one from France showing that 85% of patients who had symptoms 2 months after illness onset still had them at 1 year and some symptoms worsened, and one from China revealing that 12% of patients reported rheumatic symptoms at 1-year follow-up.

Fourth COVID vaccine dose boosts protection against infection, severity

A study in Israel during the Omicron variant surge finds that rates of COVID-19 infection and severe illness were lower after a fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine than after three doses, and while protection against infection waned quickly after 4 weeks, protection against severe disease was still strong at 6 weeks.

Fluvoxamine may reduce the odds of COVID-19 patient hospitalization

A new systematic review and meta-analysis of three randomized clinical trials with 2,196 patients suggests that early use of the antidepressant fluvoxamine reduces the risk of all-cause hospitalization in symptomatic adult outpatients.

COVID-19 test-to-stay strategies found safe, effective for students

A study today in Pediatrics suggests a test-to-stay (TTS) strategy, as opposed to quarantine, was a safe and effective tool for Massachusetts public schools for the 2021-22 school year, as it was associated with both limited COVID-19 transmission and increased in-person learning days for students.

Study: Depression, loneliness increased for older adults during pandemic

Depression and loneliness have increased among older adults during the pandemic, prompting a need for more coordinated efforts to address the issue, according to a report on social isolation in older Canadians.

Study shows COVID-19–induced myocarditis rare, linked to severe cases

Approximately 2.4 out of every 1,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 developed myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle that typically follows viral infections, according to an international study published yesterday in the American Heart Association (AHA) journal Circulation.

When including possible myocarditis cases, the rate increases to 4.1 per 1,000 hospitalized patients.

Casirivimab-imdevimab may cut COVID hospitalizations, ICU stays, death

Two new studies describe benefits of the monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment casirivimab-imdevimab in adult COVID-19 outpatients, both suggesting lower rates of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death in an era dominated by the Delta variant.

Most COVID-infected healthcare workers were exposed at work early in pandemic

In its first evaluation of COVID-19 exposures among US healthcare professionals (HCPs) over the first year of the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that most HCPs were likely infected at work rather than in the community.

Upper airway infections in kids with COVID-19 rose with Omicron surge

Rates of upper airway infections (UAIs) such as croup and bacterial tracheitis among pediatric COVID-19 patients, though low, rose after the Omicron variant became dominant in December 2021, with more than one fifth of hospitalized children with both conditions developing severe illness, estimates a study today in JAMA Pediatrics.

Extending time between mRNA COVID vaccine doses may boost efficacy

COVID-19 mRNA vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infection was 5% to 7% higher when the two primary doses were given at least 7 weeks rather than 3 to 5 weeks apart, according to an observational study of hospital and community healthcare workers (HCWs) in British Columbia published late last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Drugs for chronic conditions tied to lower risk of COVID-19, poor outcomes

Use of the common maintenance drugs angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), warfarin, statins, direct-factor Xa inhibitors, and P2Y12 inhibitors was tied to lower risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death, a large US National Institutes of Health (NIH) study suggests.

Androgen suppression not tied to better COVID-19 outcomes in men

A randomized controlled trial found that suppressing androgen hormones in male COVID-19 patients hospitalized with the virus did not improve outcomes. The study was published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.