Article Summary
December 8, 2020
Evaluation of Rooming-in Practice for Neonates Born to Mothers With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection in Italy
It may be possible to effectively mitigate the risk of mother-to-infant transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection, based on findings from a multi-cohort study of mother-infant dyads (n=62 neonates, 61 mothers) in Italy that found no positive results among neonates 24 hours after birth despite a 95% breastfeeding rate. Infected mothers observed contact precautions such as handwashing…
December 7, 2020
Unraveling US National COVID-19 Racial Ethnic Disparities Using County Level Data Among 328 Million Americans
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An analysis of 9.8 million cases and 234,000 deaths from 2,990 US counties comprising 99.8% of the total US population through November 8th found that COVID-19 racial and ethnic health disparities were partially explained by previously reported social determinants of health and pre-existing comorbid conditions. After adjusting for these variables, significant unexplained…
Covid-19 Will Reduce US Life Expectancy at Birth by More Than One Year in 2020
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Based on data from the Johns Hopkins University online dashboard, the US passed the cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths (275,000) that would lower the life expectancy at birth (LEB) for 2020 by one full year on December 3rd. By comparison, the opioid crisis led to an average 0.1 year decline in LEB…
How Do the Public Interpret COVID-19 Swab Test Results Comparing the Impact of Official Information about Results and Reliability Used in the UK US and New Zealand a Randomised Controlled Trial
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A randomized controlled trial with 1744 UK participants evaluated test interpretation and guidance from public health websites by giving hypothetical test results and randomizing participants to either receive no more information or information on the interpretation of test results from a public health website from the UK, US, or New Zealand. Most…
Assessment of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospitalization and Mortality in Patients With COVID-19 in New York City
A retrospective cohort study of 9722 patients tested for SARS-COV-2 in New York City found that Black and Hispanic patients were more likely than white patients to test positive (OR 1.3 and OR 1.5, respectively). Odds of hospitalization were similar for Black, Hispanic, and white individuals, but higher for Asian and multiracial individuals (OR 1.6…
Quantifying the Impact of Test-Trace-Isolate-Quarantine (TTIQ) Strategies on COVID-19 Transmission
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A study modeling impacts of a test-trace-isolate-quarantine (TTIQ) strategy on SARS-CoV-2 transmission showed that finding and isolating positive individuals quickly after symptom onset had the largest effects on reducing cases, and that contact tracing may mitigate suboptimal test coverage or delays. Overall, TTIQ was found to be effective in controlling epidemics with…
A Cross-National Study of Factors Associated with Perinatal Mental Health and Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An anonymous, online, cross-sectional survey of pregnant and postpartum women (n= 6,894) in 64 countries between May and June found that substantial proportions of women scored at or above the cut-offs for elevated posttraumatic stress (43%), anxiety/depression (31%), and loneliness (53%). Excessive information seeking (5 or more times per day from any…
Explaining the Rise and Fall of Psychological Distress during the COVID‐19 Crisis in the United States: Longitudinal Evidence from the Understanding America Study
An analysis of longitudinal data on the rise and fall of psychological distress during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US showed that mediating factors accounted for 70% of the increase in distress between March 10th‐18th and April 1st‐14th, and 46.4% of the decline in distress between April 1st‐14th and early June….
Clinical Status and Lung Function 10 Weeks after Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection
54% of 220 patients who recovered from COVID-19 had abnormal lung function 10 weeks after diagnosis in a study using chest CT, pulmonary function testing, and COVID-19 symptoms in Belgium. Restrictive pulmonary impairment was the most common type of lung function impairment observed (38%) and was associated with longer hospital stay (8 vs 6 days),…
A Prospective Study on Rapidly Declining SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG Antibodies Within One to Three Months of Testing IgG Positive: Can It Lead to Potential Reinfections?
A prospective study of IgG antibody concentrations among 201 individuals in India who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 found that only 28.4% of participants retained IgG antibody responses at 45-65 days follow-up. The authors highlight the need for future studies that use quantitative antibody assays and measure neutralizing antibody to assess risk of reinfection. Nag et…
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