Article Summary
September 8, 2020
Convalescent Plasma in the Management of Moderate COVID-19 in India An Open-Label Parallel-Arm Phase II Multicentre Randomized Controlled Trial (PLACID Trial)
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] COVID-19 convalescent plasma infusion was not associated with a reduction in mortality or progression to severe COVID-19 at 28 days post-enrollment (aOR=1.1, 95% CI: 0.7, 1.8) in a randomized trial among persons with moderate COVID-19 in India (n=464). Death or progression to severe disease occurred in 18.7% of participants in the intervention…
Prevalence and Predictors of Early COVID-19 Behavioral Intentions in the United States
People who expressed higher levels of self-efficacy, perceived severity of COVID-19 illness, and a belief that prevention measures would be effective were more like to plan to engage in eight behaviors designated as critical by the CDC for the prevention of COVID-19. The authors suggest that public health messaging should focus on the severity of…
September 4, 2020
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospital Admissions from COVID-19 and Determining the Impact of Neighborhood Deprivation and Primary Language
[Pre-print, not peer reviewed] Compared with white patients, minority race/ethnicity was found to be associated with hospital admission for Hispanic (OR: 3.8, 95% CI: 2.72-5.30), Asian (OR: 2.39, 95% CI: 1.74-3.29, and Black (OR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.15-1.94) patients. Within each racial/ethnic group, quintiles of neighborhood-level deprivation were not associated with hospitalization. The analysis was…
Factors Contributing to Healthcare Professional Burnout during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Rapid Turnaround Global Survey
• 51% of healthcare professionals from 60 countries reported burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. The cross-sectional study (n=2,707) also found burnout was associated with work impacting household activities, feeling pushed beyond training, exposure to COVID-19 patients, and making life prioritizing decisions due to supply shortages. Adequate PPE was associated with lower risk of burnout. Burnout…
SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies, Serum Inflammatory Biomarkers and Clinical Severity of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients
The level of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies was highly correlated (r=0.82) with the concentration of IgG antibodies in the sera of 51 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. However, the level of neutralizing antibody responses was not associated with disease severity or inflammatory biomarkers. Gozalbo-Rovira et al. (Sept 1, 2020). SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies, Serum Inflammatory Biomarkers and Clinical Severity of…
Risk Factors for COVID-19 Death in a Population Cohort Study from the Western Cape Province, South Africa
HIV and tuberculosis were each associated with increased risk of COVID-19 mortality in a population cohort study in South Africa (n=3,460,932) that included 625 deaths due to COVID-19. In models adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidities, the HIV-associated risk was 2.1 (95% CI 1.7-2.7), compared to 2.7 (95% CI 1.8-4.0) for current tuberculosis and 1.5…
Association of Vitamin D Status and Other Clinical Characteristics With COVID-19 Test Results
Patients classified as having a likely deficient vitamin D level were more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than patients with sufficient vitamin D levels (RR=1.77, 95%CI: 1.12-2.81). [EDITORIAL NOTE: A summary of a pre-print version of this manuscript appeared in the Lit Rep on May 13] Meltzer et al. (Sept 3, 2020). Association of…
Cytokine Levels in Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 and Other Conditions
Cytokine levels among patients critically ill with COVID-19 were lower or not significantly different from levels among patients with other critical illnesses, including bacterial septic shock, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and multiple traumas. In particular, levels of all 3 cytokines tested (tumor necrosis factor, IL-6, and IL-8) were significantly lower in patients with COVID-19 than in…
A Direct Comparison of Enhanced Saliva to Nasopharyngeal Swab for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Symptomatic Patients
There was very high agreement in SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing results between enhanced saliva specimens (i.e. strong sniff, elicited cough, and a collection of saliva/secretions) and nasopharyngeal swabs collected from 224 patients suspected of having COVID-19. The positive agreement was 100% and the negative agreement was 99.4%. Saliva samples had a lower mean viral load compared…
Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
A meta-analysis of 12 observational and 3 randomized trials found that the efficacy of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine was inconsistent across the studies. There was no significant reduction in mortality with hydroxychloroquine use (RR=0.98, 95% CI: 0.66-1.46), and there was a higher risk of ECG abnormalities /arrhythmia associated with hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine use (RR=1.46, 95% CI: 1.04-2.06). Elavarasi…
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