Body
Below please find a summary and link(s) of new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. The summary below is not intended to substitute for the full article as a source of information. A collection of coronavirus-related content is free to the public at http://go.annals.org/coronavirus.
Masks for Prevention of Respiratory Virus Infections, Including SARS-CoV-2, in Health Care and Community Settings
Washington, DC - June 25, 2020 - Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, there is an increasing shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) crucial to protecting health care workers from infection. N95 respirators are recommended by the CDC as the ideal protection method from COVID-19 and, although traditionally single-use, PPE shortages have necessitated the need for reuse.
LONDON, ONTARIO - A team from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University are the first in the world to profile the body's immune response to COVID-19. By studying blood samples from critically ill patients at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), the research team identified a unique pattern of six molecules that could be used as therapeutic targets to treat the virus.
What The Article Says: How to best treat patients with severe mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic is detailed in this article.
Authors: Kai G. Kahl, M.D., of the Hannover Medical School in Hannover, Germany, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.1701)
Editor's Note:
On June 24th, an error occurred and the incorrect press release was attached to the PLOS paper: The association between long term exposure to low level PM 2.5 & mortality in the state of Queensland, Australia. A Modelling study with a differences in differences approach. Please see the correct copy.
New research by a multidisciplinary collaboration between Queen Mary University of London, Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research (AUKCAR) University of Edinburgh, University of Nottingham, University of Cambridge and charity Asthma UK, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, looks at the characteristics of superusers who are actively engaged in the Asthma UK online community and Facebook group to help healthcare professionals better understand the role they play in supporting the management of long-term conditions.
The role of the superuser
The global COVID-19 pandemic could significantly increase the global burden of tuberculosis (TB) due to disruptions to health services, and delays to diagnosis and treatment, according to new estimates published in the European Respiratory Journal.
Before COVID-19, over 4,000 people were dying from TB every day. In countries where health services are strained, there is a fear that TB cases and deaths could rise significantly.
A type of virus that preys on bacteria could be harnessed to combat bacterial infections in patients whose immune systems have been weakened by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease, according to an expert at the University of Birmingham and the Cancer Registry of Norway.
Called bacteriophages, these viruses are harmless to humans and can be used to target and eliminate specific bacteria. They are of interest to scientists as a potential alternative to antibiotic treatments.
The use of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins is associated with a lower death rate and a lower incidence of mechanical ventilation in patients hospitalized with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), researchers report June 24 in Cell Metabolism. The large-scale retrospective study also showed that mortality risk and other negative outcomes were not increased by combination therapy consisting of statins and blood pressure-lowering drugs called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs).
PHILADELPHIA (June 24, 2020) - Sudden school closures in the United States were undertaken to reduce COVID-19 transmission this spring. Those closures were not typical, and how and when schools reopen will create a set of new norms, with unique stressors for students, families, school personnel, and communities.
June 24, 2020 - Regions with an early interest in face masks had milder COVID-19 epidemics, according to a new letter-to-the-editor published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (June 24, 2020)--Women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) become estrogen deficient at an early age, which makes them more vulnerable to the loss of bone mineral density. A new study suggests that use of continuous combined oral contraceptives may be especially effective in reducing bone mass loss. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).
WHAT:
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), an infertility disorder affecting at least 15% of reproductive-age women, may have at least two different subtypes, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings could provide important information on the possible causes of PCOS and for developing more effective ways to treat the condition. The study appears in PLOS Medicine and was funded by NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
A new modeling study illustrates how accounting for factors such as age and social activity influences the predicted herd immunity threshold for COVID-19, or the level of population immunity needed to stop the disease's transmission. The model hints that herd immunity could potentially be achieved with around 43% of the population being immune, as opposed to the 60% threshold derived from previous models. However, the authors stress that their study serves mostly as a sketch of how population differences affect herd immunity, rather than as a precise estimate.
Research led by Queen Mary University of London has revealed novel insights into the molecular circuitry controlling cancer cell growth and spread. The findings highlight new pathways involved in these key processes of cancer progression that may represent targets for therapies.
A complex communication network