COVID-19 associated with increased risk for autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases up to a year after infection

A large, binational study found that SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with an increased risk for autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIRDs) that extends up to 12 months after infection. The risk was found to be higher with greater severity of acute COVID-19, even among those who were vaccinated. These findings suggest that care strategies for patients who survive COVID-19 should pay close attention to manifestations of AIRD, particularly after severe illness. The study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

MSU co-authored study: 10 insights to reduce vaccine hesitancy on social media

Young Anna Argyris, associate professor in the Michigan State University Department of Media and Information, is part of an international team studying the detrimental effects of vaccine misinformation on social media and interventions that can increase vaccine uptake behaviors.

Podcast: Experts in Health: How we can design our houses to improve our health

Dr Ben Roberts, Lecturer in Building Energy at Loughborough University, discusses how our houses can help or hinder our health, why air conditioning isn’t always the best answer to reduce indoor heat, and how systemic building changes could transform our wellbeing.

Time Stamps:
00:00 – 09:27 – Introduction to guest, the topic and background
09:28 – 18:45 – Loughborough University test houses and how are they being used
18:46 – 23:25 – Night ventilation and ventilation maps
23:26 – 28:12 – Abroad vs the UK
28:13 – 32:30 – Air conditioning and staying cool
32:31 – 39:45 – Impacting policy and air quality
39:46 – 41:20 – Current and future work
41:21 – 43:45 – Outro

New Insights on Long COVID

David Winter, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, answers the most common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research. What is long COVID, and how common is it? (SOT@ :14, TRT :32) Why do some people get…

Registration Open for First-of-its-Kind Conference to Establish Routine Smell and Taste Testing

Registration is open for a visionary conference titled, “Towards Universal Chemosensory Testing.” The Monell Chemical Senses Center, with colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), The Ohio State University, and the University of Florida, organized this conference with the overarching goal to involve multiple stakeholders to develop strategies for implementing routine chemosensory testing – smell, taste, and related senses – across the lifespan as a part of healthcare in the United States.

Free At-Home COVID Tests and Paxlovid

David Winter, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, answers the most common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research. Are COVID cases starting to go down? (SOT@ :14, TRT :49) How reliable are at-home COVID tests? Can…

Long COVID patients show distinct immune, hormone responses to virus

People suffering from long COVID symptoms show different immune and hormonal responses to the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study led by researchers at Yale School of Medicine. An estimated 7.5% of people infected with the SARS-CoV-2…

ACP issues updated Rapid, Living Practice Points on treating COVID-19 patients in outpatient settings

In an updated rapid, living practice points, the American College of Physicians (ACP) summarizes the latest evidence on the use of pharmacologic and biologic treatments of COVID-19 in the outpatient setting, specifically addressing the dominant severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant. The paper is published in Annals of Internal Medicine

Promising Gene-Based Approaches to Repair Lethal Lung Injury in the Elderly from COVID-19, Pneumonia, Flu, Sepsis

Discovery from the lab of Youyang Zhao, PhD, from Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago offers promising treatment approaches for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the elderly that can be caused by severe COVID-19, pneumonia, flu or sepsis.

Getting vaccines for flu, RSV, pneumonia and COVID.

David Winter, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, answers the most common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research. With flu season approaching, who should get a flu shot and when? (SOT@ :14, TRT :24) RSV cases…

Dr. Carol Nwelue discusses how to keep your kids healthy when going back to school.

Carol Nwelue, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, answers common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research. How can parents keep their kids healthy this back-to-school season? (SOT@ 0:14, TRT 0:34) Why do sicknesses spread easily when…

Dr. Marc Elieson discusses concerns about COVID-19 and kids going back to school

Marc Elieson, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, answers common patient questions and reacts to the latest medical research. The CDC says COVID cases will continue to increase this summer and when school resumes this fall. What is behind…

Early-Stage Cancer Diagnoses Decreased Sharply in the U.S. During First Year of COVID-19 Pandemic; Underserved Greatly Affected

A new study from researchers at the American Cancer Society found monthly adult cancer diagnoses decreased by half in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The largest decrease was for stage I cancers, resulting in a higher proportion of late-stage diagnoses.

Promising Results of Next-Generation Intranasal COVID-19 Booster Vaccine: Implications for Infection Prevention and Transmission

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, NY is pleased to announce that CastleVax, Inc. has completed enrollment and a preliminary analysis of a phase 1 trial of its licensed Newcastle disease virus (NDV)-based COVID-19 booster vaccine.

Adding a single data point to COVID-19 reporting may more accurately convey the real-time burden of infection in health care settings

In a new ‘Medicine and Public Issues,’ authors from Tufts Medical Center, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health advocate for the inclusion of both the total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations daily and the number of inpatients who received dexamethasone at any point during their hospital stay. The authors emphasize that the addition of this data element is an easy and much-needed update to COVID-19 surveillance efforts that may help to more accurately convey the real-time burden of a rapidly changing infection in health care settings. The article is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Johns Hopkins Nursing’s Silver Linings from Pew Research study ‘Parenting in America Today’

Raising children is, has been, and almost certainly will remain one of life’s great challenges. (Ask your parents.) Yet new data from the Pew Research Center show that 62 percent of parents across the board and the nation are finding it even more difficult than they ever imagined.

Can the Lingering Effects of a Mild Case of COVID-19 Change Your Brain?

People with long COVID who experience anxiety and depression months after a mild case of COVID-19 may have brain changes that affect the function and structure of the brain, according to a preliminary study released today, February 20, 2023, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 75th Annual Meeting being held in person in Boston and live online from April 22-27, 2023.

Key Change in Genetics of SARS-CoV-2 Evolved to Counter Weakness Caused by the Virus’ Initial Mutation that Enabled Its Spread

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say their new studies suggest that the first pandemic-accelerating mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, evolved as a way to correct vulnerabilities caused by the mutation that started the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Telehealth cuts health care’s carbon footprint and patient’s costs during pandemic

UC Davis Health researchers assessed the carbon footprint and potential savings in lives, costs and time of telehealth visits during the pandemic’s first two years. They found that video visits in five UC health systems resulted in substantial savings in patient costs and carbon emissions.

Data Analytics Could Prevent Testing Bottlenecks During Future Pandemics

Breaking research demonstrates the efficacy of two data analytics-based strategies that clinical labs employed to meet COVID-19 testing demands during the height of the pandemic. These findings, published in the Data Science Issue of AACC’s The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine, give labs a blueprint for using data analytics to ensure patient access to testing during future infectious disease outbreaks.

Researchers Leverage Pathogen “Fingerprints” in Blood to Accelerate Infection Diagnosis

MEDIA ADVISORY   UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL DECEMBER 21, 2022 in Cell Systems   Corresponding Authors: Elena Zaslavsky, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Steven H. Kleinstein, PhD, Anthony Brady Professor of Pathology at Yale School of…

New Receptor “Decoy” Drug Neutralizes COVID-19 Virus and Its Variants

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have developed a drug that potently neutralizes SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 coronavirus, and is equally effective against the Omicron variant and every other tested variant. The drug is designed in such a way that natural selection to maintain infectiousness of the virus should also maintain the drug’s activity against future variants.