Article Summary
September 14, 2020
SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Prevalence and Association with Routine Laboratory Values in a Life Insurance Applicant Population
[Preprint, not peer-reviewed] Testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies indicates that the total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the US is 3.8-times higher than the total number of cases reported to the CDC. This estimate is based on a seropositivity rate of 3% among 50,130 consecutive life insurance applicants, which would correspond to 6.98 million SARS-CoV-2 infections…
Spatial and Temporal Trends in Social Vulnerability and COVID-19 Incidence and Death Rates in the United States
[Preprint, not peer-reviewed] Classifying US counties based on a social vulnerability index and comparing COVID-19 burden over time shows that early in the COVID-19 pandemic, US counties with a high social vulnerability index had fewer COVID-19 cases. However, after March 30, the relationship reversed and counties with higher social vulnerability experienced a greater burden of…
Frequency of Children vs Adults Carrying Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Asymptomatically
A study among children (n=83) and adults (n=131) hospitalized in Milan, Italy for noninfectious conditions identified 1 child (1%) and 12 (9%) adults who were asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2, suggesting children without symptoms and signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection may be less likely to be carriers than adults. Milani et al. (Sept 14, 2020). Frequency of…
September 11, 2020
Association of Public Interest in Preventative Measures and Increased COVID-19 Cases after Expiration of Stay-at-Home Orders: A Cross-Sectional Study
• Higher proportions of Google searches for COVID-19 preventive measures were associated at the state level with longer Stay-at-Home orders and fewer COVID-19 cases after the Stay-at-Home orders expired (r=-0.33) and higher case-fatality rates (r=0.60). A moderate to strong negative correlation was found between states’ percentage of voters supporting the Republican nominee in 2016 and…
Racial/Ethnic Variation in Nasal Gene Expression of Transmembrane Serine Protease 2 (TMPRSS2)
A study of nasal epithelial gene expression in a racially/ethnically diverse cohort (n=305) showed significantly higher expression of transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) in Black individuals compared with Asian, Latino, mixed race/ethnicity, and white individuals. Given the essential role of TMPRSS2 in SARS-CoV-2 entry, higher nasal expression of TMPRSS2 may be one of the many…
Weight Stigma as a Predictor of Distress and Maladaptive Eating Behaviors During COVID-19: Longitudinal Findings From the EAT Study
• Among participants in the COVID-19 Eating and Activity over Time (C-EAT) study (n=584), young adults who have experienced weight stigma were found to have increased vulnerability to distress and maladaptive eating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-pandemic experiences of weight stigma predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, stress, eating as a coping strategy, and an…
Worries, Strategies and Confidence of Older Chinese Adults During the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak
Results from online surveys disseminated to Chinese adults during the initial (n=1,148) and second stages (n=470) of the COVID-19 pandemic showed that watchfulness among older Chinese adults fluctuated over time and their worries gradually increased. In the first wave, older adults were less likely to worry about being infected by COVID-19 and reported less attention…
Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Findings in Competitive Athletes Recovering From COVID-19 Infection
• Among 26 competitive college athletes who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 11-53 days earlier and had not require hospitalization, 4 (15%) had cardiac MRI findings suggestive of myocarditis (heart muscle inflammation) and 8 (31%) athletes exhibited late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) without T2 elevation, suggestive of prior myocardial injury. Cardiac ventricular function was within normal…
Elevated D-Dimers and Lack of Anticoagulation Predict PE in Severe COVID-19 Patients
Pulmonary embolism (PE) was diagnosed in 44/162 (27%) patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in a university hospital in France who had severe respiratory disease or rapid clinical worsening and who received computed tomography pulmonary angiography. Elevated D-dimer level (OR=4.0 per additional quartile) and lack of anticoagulant therapy (OR=4.5) were associated with confirmed PE. D-dimer level >2590…
Effect of Recombinant Human Granulocyte Colony–Stimulating Factor for Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Lymphopenia
• In preliminary findings from a randomized trial at 3 participating centers in China (n=200), recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) treatment for patients with COVID-19 with lymphopenia but no comorbidities did not accelerate clinical improvement, but the number of patients who developed critical illness (proportion difference=-13%, 95%CI -21.4 to -5.4) or died (HR=0.19, 95%CI…
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