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October 19, 2020
Cytokine Elevation in Severe and Critical COVID-19: A Rapid Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Comparison with Other Inflammatory Syndromes
Mean interleukin (IL)-6 concentrations among patients with severe COVID-19 were significantly lower than concentrations found among patients with other critical illnesses associated with elevated cytokine concentrations. A systematic review and meta-analysis compared COVID-19 studies in which IL-6 concentrations in patients with severe or critical disease were recorded with studies of sepsis, cytokine release syndrome, and…
Herd Immunity and Implications for SARS-CoV-2 Control
An infection-based herd immunity approach, in which low-risk groups become infected while higher-risk groups are sheltered, has been proposed as a strategy for response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Omer et al. describe methods for estimating the herd immunity threshold and estimate a SARS-CoV-2 herd immunity threshold of 50-67%. Because most, if not all of the…
Weak Correlation between Antibody Titers and Neutralizing Activity in Sera from SARS‐CoV‐2 Infected Subjects
Criscuolo et al. found a poor direct correlation between anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers and neutralizing activity levels against a clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2. The authors suggest these findings highlight a need for future investigations into the role of neutralizing antibodies and their correlation with protection. In keeping with earlier studies, two commercial serology tests by DiaSorin…
Parents’ and Guardians’ Views on the Acceptability of a Future Covid-19 Vaccine a Multi-Methods Study in England
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Most participants in an acceptability study of a future COVID-19 vaccine in England reported that they would accept a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for themselves or their child. Participants were more likely to report willingness to accept a COVID-19 vaccine for themselves than for their child and less than 4% of participants reported that…
Association of Time to Diagnosis with Socioeconomic Position and Geographical Accessibility to Healthcare among Symptomatic COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Study in Hong Kong
Living in public rental houses and living in an area with low educational attainment were associated with longer time to diagnosis in the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Hong Kong. In contrast, this association was not observed during the second wave of infections, when the surveillance measures were enhanced. The study examined socioeconomic characteristics…
Hydroxychloroquine as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers: A Randomized Trial
Pre-exposure prophylaxis with hydroxychloroquine once or twice weekly did not significantly reduce COVID-19 or COVID-19-compatible illness among healthcare workers with ongoing exposure to people with SARS-CoV-2. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of healthcare workers in the US and Canada found that for once weekly hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis, the hazard ratio for COVID-19 was 0.72 (95%CI…
Asymptomatic and Presymptomatic Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection Rates in a Multistate Sample of Skilled Nursing Facilities
SARS-CoV-2 testing surveys among residents of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) identified that approximately 40% of residents testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 cases were asymptomatic, emphasizing the importance of testing all residents rather than relying on symptom-based screening. Greater numbers of asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals were detected in SNFs located in areas with high SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. Of…
Poverty and Economic Dislocation Reduce Compliance with COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place Protocols. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
An econometrics model of population movement from cellphone location data and local mandates indicated that residents of low income areas complied with shelter-in-place ordinances to a lesser degree than those in areas with stronger economic endowments, even after accounting for partisanship, population density, exposure to recent trade disputes, unemployment, and other factors. Analysis of the…
COVID-19 Observations and Accompanying Dataset of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions across U.S. Universities, March 2020
Researchers compiled a database of COVID-19-related non-pharmaceutical intervention policy changes at US universities to be used for future research focusing on drivers and trends of COVID-19 interventions in the university setting. Data from university websites and official statements were combined for 575 universities from all 50 states during March. Preliminary analyses of the dataset indicate…
October 16, 2020
How Confidence in Health Care Systems Affects Mobility and Compliance during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Levels of public confidence in the health care system were related to differences in compliance behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in a study of mobility measures across 38 European countries. Areas in which people had low levels of confidence in their health care system initially showed a faster response with respect to staying home. However,…
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