Article Summary
September 2, 2020
Cross-Sectional Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Among Skilled Nursing Facility Employees and Residents Across Facilities in Seattle
Between March 29 and May 13, 2020, 16 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in the Seattle area (1,583 employees and 1,208 residents) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR, of which 11 (69%) SNFs had one or more employees or residents positive. Overall prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was 3% among employees and 9% among residents. Despite facility policies…
Does Incubation Period of COVID-19 Vary with Age? A Study of Epidemiologically Linked Cases in Singapore
A study among people with confirmed, locally transmitted SARS-CoV-2 in Singapore (n=164) reported that patients older than 70 years had significantly longer incubation periods for COVID-19 than those younger than 70 years (median 8 days vs. 5 days, p=0.04). Researchers concluded that elderly people may benefit from earlier and proactive testing, especially after exposure to…
Nasopharyngeal Viral Load Predicts Hypoxemia and Disease Outcome in Admitted COVID-19 Patients. Critical Care
Initial SARS-CoV-2 viral load in nasopharyngeal samples was significantly higher among hospitalized patients who required mechanical ventilation and/or subsequently died (n=21) compared to non-mechanically ventilated patients who survived (n=149). Initial SARS-CoV-2 viral load has negatively associated with the lowest level of blood oxygen saturation recorded during hospitalization, but was not associated with other clinical parameters…
Serological Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Infections among Children Visiting a Hospital during the Initial Seattle Outbreak
Six of eight children who had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detected in leftover clinical samples had not been suspected of having COVID-19. Dingens et al. screened 1,775 leftover serum samples from children seeking medical care at Seattle Children’s Hospital during the early Seattle outbreak period and found one child was seropositive with SARS-CoV-2 in March and seven…
Association Between Administration of Systemic Corticosteroids and Mortality Among Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 A Meta-Analysis
A meta-analysis of 7 randomized trials conducted in 12 countries and including 1,703 critically ill patients with COVID-19 found that administration of systemic corticosteroids, compared with usual care or placebo, was associated with lower 28-day all-cause mortality (OR=0.7, 95%CI 0.5-0.8). Serious adverse events occurred in 64/354 (18%) patients who were randomized to corticosteroids and 80 events…
What Protective Health Measures Are Americans Taking in Response to COVID-19? Results from the COVID Impact Survey
A survey of Americans in ten states and eight metropolitan areas (n=25,269) found that knowing someone who had COVID-19 and/or died from it was strongly associated with taking protective health measures like washing hands, avoiding public places, and canceling social engagements. Qeadan et al. (Aug 29, 2020). What Protective Health Measures Are Americans Taking in…
September 1, 2020
Exposure and Risk Factors for COVID-19 and the Impact of Staying Home on Michigan Residents
[Pre-print, not peer reviewed] A survey of Michigan Medicine biorepository participants (n=8,407, 133 COVID-19 cases) found that risk factors for COVID-19 included African American race (6% of African American participants reported COVID-19 vs 2% for White participants), younger age (51 years among participants reporting COVID-19 vs 59 among participants not reporting COVID-19), and being an…
Telemedicine and Healthcare Disparities: A Cohort Study in a Large Healthcare System in New York City during COVID-19
While electronic health record data from a New York university healthcare system (n=140,184) showed that the proportion of Black patients using telemedicine for urgent care increased from 2019 to 2020, Black patients were less likely than white patients to accessing care through telemedicine. The increase in utilization of telemedicine among Black patients was predominantly among…
High Level of Food Insecurity among Families with Children Seeking Routine Care at Federally Qualified Health Centers during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic
During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas (April to May 2020), 47% of families (n=200) receiving routine pediatric care at federally qualified health centers screened positive for food insecurity, with 94% indicating this had begun or worsened during the pandemic. Both Hispanic ethnicity (< 0.001) and WIC participation (p = 0.03) were…
The Urgent Need for Phased University Reopenings to Mitigate the Spread of COVID-19 and Conserve Institutional Resources A Modeling Study
[Pre-print, not peer reviewed] A modeling study indicates that phased reopening of college campuses (one-third of student population returning to campus each month) coupled with pre-arrival SARS-CoV-2 testing would reduce peak of daily infections compared to pre-arrival testing without phased reopening or no intervention at all. Phased reopening with pre-arrival testing could reduce the peak…
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