Category: COVID
Metformin found to reduce Long Covid in clinical trial
Inside Medicine A study posted on a preprint server operated by the medical journal The Lancet reports that Long Covid diagnoses were found to be lower in patients who received metformin (an inexpensive diabetes drug) compared to those who received placebo. The study has not yet been peer reviewed. Still, the findings are promising. Around 10.6% (1 in 9) […]
Mar 7, 2023
CDC Releases Important Updates on COVID
(CDC) In the acute phase, clinical manifestations and complications of COVID-19 of varying degrees have been documented including death. However, patients who recover from the acute phase of the infection can still suffer long-term effects (8). Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), commonly referred to as “long COVID,” refers to the long-term symptoms, signs, and complications […]
Mar 7, 2023
Lion infected with covid-19 probably passed it on to two zoo workers
New Scientist A lion at Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Indiana, tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus after it started coughing and became breathless. Zoo workers who had cared for the lion later caught the infection. A lion that was infected with the coronavirus probably passed it on to two zoo employees, researchers have said […]
Mar 7, 2023
After Severe COVID, Cognitive Trajectories Go One of Three Ways
MedPageToday Cognitive impairment persisted for 1 year in some patients age 50 and older. Hospital patients discharged after severe SARS-CoV-2 infection followed one of three cognitive trajectories, longitudinal data showed. Of 946 severe COVID patients age 50 and older with no previous dementia or memory complaints, 69.0% had no cognitive impairment 1 month after discharge, […]
Mar 7, 2023
Bloomberg As the pandemic drags us into a fourth year, two key questions are on researchers’ minds: What’s driving the proliferation of immune-evasive variants, and what’s causes the persistent symptoms plaguing some 140 million Covid survivors worldwide? Answers to both have been informed by two different and somewhat unsavory lines of inquiry. In the spring of […]
Mar 7, 2023
World’s Failure to Wipe Out Covid Bodes Badly for Next Pandemic
(Bloomberg) Virus elimination has fallen from grace, leaving experts divided on how best to contain infectious diseases. For much of the past century, a strategy known as elimination was the gold standard for dealing with deadly new viruses. But China’s abrupt reversal of its Covid Zero policy, which took it to an extreme, has cast doubts over […]
Feb 21, 2023
COVID-19 Immunity: Catching a Disease to Prevent a Disease?
(Infection Control Today) Catching COVID-19 to prevent a more severe case is not a good strategy, says Kevin Kavanagh, MD. I had to stop and read the Seattle Times news article “UW study: Catching COVID gives protection from its worst effects.” The title appears to advocate catching a dangerous virus so you will not have to worry […]
Feb 21, 2023
This week, Dr. Joseph Fauver, Assistant Professor at UNMC’s College of Public Health provides us with SARS-CoV-2 updates and informs us of the accelerated evolution of Covid-19 in free-ranging white tailed deer.
Feb 21, 2023
How scientists are protecting themselves from COVID-19
(The Age) I spent the past couple of days reporting on federal parliament’s long COVID inquiry. Amid the discussion of science and policy and just how we are going to care for all these sick people, one small detail caught my eye: a box sitting on the desk in front of Burnet Institute director Professor Brendan […]
Feb 21, 2023
An ICU Doctor on How This COVID Wave Is Different
(The Atlantic) It’s hard to tell from the data who’s still getting hospitalized with COVID. One frontline worker shares her observations. Last week, 3,171 COVID deaths were reported in the United States. In the past seven days, an average of 13 COVID deaths were reported each day in Los Angeles County, California, the country’s most populous county. […]
Feb 19, 2023