Article Summary
October 14, 2020
Understanding the Los Angeles County Coronavirus Epidemic The Critical Role of Intrahousehold Transmission
[Preprint, not peer-reviewed] Household structure may play a role in the persistent propagation of COVID-19 epidemic, as suggested by a modeling study describing three phases of the COVID-19 epidemic in Los Angeles County. The model showed that during phase I (March 1-April 4), initial seeding of infection in relatively affluent areas was followed by radial…
Impact of COVID-19 Mitigation Measures on the Incidence of Preterm Birth: A National Quasi-Experimental Study
Nationwide implementation of COVID-19 mitigation measures in the Netherlands on March 9, 2020 was associated with significant reductions in the incidence of preterm births in the following months compared to the corresponding time window immediately prior to mitigation measures (RR=0.77 to 0.85, depending on the length of the time window on either side of March…
Risk Factors for Re-Detectable Positivity in Recovered COVID-19 Children
In a healthcare setting in China where two negative PCR tests for SARS-Cov-2 were required for hospital discharge, 37% of pediatric patients (n=14) had positive PCR tests upon subsequent PCR testing (“re-detectable positivity”). Family cluster infection, higher white blood cell count, and longer plasma prothrombin time were identified as risk factors for re-detectable positivity. In…
Antiretroviral Drugs for Treatment and Prevention of HIV Infection in Adults
The International Antiviral Society-USA panel released recommendations regarding antiretroviral therapy for both the treatment and prevention of HIV. These guidelines involve recommendations regarding when to start antiretroviral therapy, when to change regimens, and recommendations for specific subpopulations (e.g., elderly patients, patients with organ dysfunction). Highlights of changes from previous versions include new recommendations for initial…
Evaluation of Saliva Sampling Procedures for SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostics Reveals Differential Sensitivity and Association with Viral Load
[Preprint, not peer-reviewed] Saliva collection devices showed poor sensitivities for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Belgian outpatients. Saliva samples collected either by spitting into a commercial preservative (Norgen Biotek) or swabbing (DNA Genotek) had sensitivities of 31% and 22% when compared to individuals who were PCR-positive on nasopharyngeal swabs (N=107) from outpatient triage centers in Belgium….
The Duration of Infectiousness of Individuals Infected with SARS-CoV-2
The detection of SARS-CoV-2 via culture among patients with COVID-19 illness was highly unlikely beyond 10 days of symptom onset in patients with mild-to-moderate disease. In a systematic review of 15 studies with more than 800 patients (5 studies did not specify sample size), the authors estimate that only six out of 217 patients had…
SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing Reveals Rapid Transmission from College Student Clusters Resulting in Morbidity and Deaths in Vulnerable Populations
[Preprint, not peer-reviewed] In September 2020, La Crosse County, Wisconsin experienced a substantial COVID-19 outbreak (2,002 cases), which coincided with the return to in-person instruction at three local higher education institutions. Genomic sequencing identified rapid expansion of two SARS-CoV-2 sub-strains during this period, corresponding to two independent transmission events from college-aged individuals to older individuals…
October 13, 2020
Warning ‘Don’t Spread’ versus ‘Don’t Be a Spreader’ to Prevent the COVID-19 Pandemic
A study investigating the wording of COVID-19 related reminders in Japan found that there was no significant difference in producing behavior change with reminders that emphasize self-identity. The study used a two-wave design and distributed participants (n=2,536) to non-self-identity messaging (“Don’t Spread), self-identity messaging (“Don’t be a spreader”), and control (no reminder). Yonemitsu et al….
Stay-at-Home Orders and Firearms in the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic Preventive Medicine.
Among the forty-three states and the District of Columbia that issued stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, most considered federal firearm licensees to be essential businesses or made provisions for them to remain open in some capacity, while only four states and D.C. did not. The study found that there was an all-time high in…
Using an Agent-Based Model to Assess K-12 School Reopenings Under Different COVID-19 Spread Scenarios – United States, School Year 2020/21
An agent-based model that simulated communities from K-12 schools across the US found that the percentage of individuals with symptomatic COVID-19 significantly decreased by as much as 75% in scenarios where students returned to school in non-overlapping split cohorts. Depending upon community factors like initial level of COVID-19 incidence and number of workplaces open for…
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