Article Summary
January 4, 2021
Refuting Spurious COVID-19 Treatment Claims Reduces Demand and Misinformation Sharing
A study investigating the impact of COVID-19 misinformation on hypothetical demand (i.e., willingness-to-pay) for an unproven treatment and propensity to spread misinformation online among US adults (N=678) found that prior exposure to misinformation increased misinformation promotion by 18%. The study tested two interventions to counteract the misinformation: a tentative or “diplomatic” refutation based on materials…
The Association of Previous Influenza Vaccination and Coronavirus Disease-2019
Results from a population-based study conducted from February-April 2020 among members of a health maintenance organization (n=715,164) showed that compared to non-vaccinated people, receiving at least one influenza vaccination was associated with a significantly reduced rate of SARS-CoV-2 positivity. The odds ratios for SARS-CoV-2 infection among individuals vaccinated for influenza in 2018–2019 was 0.82, 2019–2020…
Rapid Mixed-Methods Assessment of COVID-19 Impact on Latinx Sexual Minority Men and Latinx Transgender Women
A rapid, mixed-methods study of Latinx sexual minority men and transgender women found that although no COVID-19 infections were noted among the participants, the pandemic impacted other aspects of participants’ health and wellbeing. Participants reported increases in physical conflict or verbal arguments with a partner (14%) or other adult(s) (19%) due to stressors associated with…
Emergency Visits and Hospitalizations for Child Abuse During the COVID-19 Pandemic
A multicenter study of US children’s hospitals found declines in child physical abuse (CPA) encounters during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the severity of the encounters similar to those in prior years. There was a decline in the overall volume of emergency department visits in children’s hospitals in March and a decline in CPA encounters at…
Mortality in Hospitalized Patients with Cancer and Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis of Cohort Studies
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of COVID-19 on the clinical outcomes of patients with cancer indicated that the pooled 30‐day mortality rate from 13 primarily inpatient studies (n=2922 patients) was 30%. The overall pooled 30‐day mortality risk from 5 studies that included a mixture of inpatient and outpatient populations (n=624 patients) was…
Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Hospitalizations Do Not Lead to Disparities in Outcomes
A retrospective study of 799 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Michigan showed that while Black patients had disproportionately higher rates of hospitalization, mortality was not higher in Black patients in multivariate analysis (aOR=0.61). Black patients tended to be younger (62.9 years vs. 71.8), had a higher mean body mass index (32.4 kg/m2 vs 28.8), had higher prevalence…
Timing of COVID-19 Vaccine Approval and Endorsement by Public Figures
A study using two randomized experiments embedded in surveys found that perceptions of political influence on the COVID-19 vaccine approval process in the US could impact the confidence in, and uptake of vaccines. Announcing approval of a COVID-19 vaccine one week before the presidential election, compared to one week after, reduced reported intentions to vaccinate…
Efficacy and Safety of the MRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine
Results from a phase 3 randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of the Moderna SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) indicated that the vaccine showed 94.1% efficacy at preventing COVID-19, including severe disease. The trial enrolled 30,420 volunteers, and symptomatic illness was confirmed in 185 participants in the placebo group and in 11 participants in the vaccine group. Efficacy…
Longitudinal Testing for Respiratory and Gastrointestinal Shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in Day Care Centres in Hesse, Germany
A longitudinal study of children (n=859, age 3 months – 8 years) and staff (n=376) from daycare centers in Germany conducted from June-September 2020 found that detection of either respiratory or gastrointestinal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was rare in the context of limited community activity and with facility-based infection prevention measures. Of 7,366 buccal mucosa…
Performance of an Antigen-Based Test for Asymptomatic and Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Testing at Two University Campuses — Wisconsin, September–October 2020
Use of SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing on two university campuses had a positive predictive value of 33% and a negative predictive value of 99%. Compared to RT-PCR testing, the Sofia antigen test had a sensitivity of 80.0% and specificity of 98.9% among symptomatic people. Accuracy was lower (sensitivity 41.2% and specificity 98.4%) when used for screening…
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