Article Summary
April 19, 2021
“Somebody Like Me”: Understanding COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Staff in Skilled Nursing Facilities
Responses from focus groups of skilled nursing facility staff (n = 58) conducted between December 17-23, 2020 indicated that to improve their confidence in the vaccine, staff preferred to see local community members or someone like themselves receive the COVID-19, rather than public figures. Among staff who were hesitant to be vaccinated, reasons for hesitancy…
Reduced Humoral Response to MRNA SARS‐Cov‐2 BNT162b2 Vaccine in Kidney Transplant Recipients without Prior Exposure to the Virus
Few kidney transplant recipients (51/136, 38.5%) who had been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine developed a positive response to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, suggesting that this population may remain at risk of infection despite vaccination. Compared to controls, mean IgG anti‐spike levels were lower (31.05 vs 200.5 AU/mL). Older age (OR = 1.7), use…
Impact of Convalescent Plasma Therapy on SARS CoV-2 Antibody Profile in COVID-19 Patients
Convalescent plasma (CP) treatment did not predict survival in a longitudinal analysis of plasma samples from hospitalized patients with COVID-19 (n = 16) treated with either CP or standard of care. Among 8 patients who died, marked declines in neutralization titers were observed prior to death, which CP treatment did not reverse. Irrespective of CP…
Randomized Comparative Clinical Trial to Evaluate Efficacy and Safety of PNB001 in Moderate COVID-19 Patients
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Patients with moderate COVID-19 (n=40) randomized to treatment with the novel anti-inflammatory medication PNB001 had lower clinical severity scores assessed by the 8-point WHO Ordinal Scale for COVID-19 at day 14 than patients who received standard of care alone (score 0.2 vs. 1.1, p<0.05). The multicenter randomized trial did not detect a…
Increased Transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 Lineage B.1.1.7 by Age and Viral Load Evidence from Danish Households
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Among Danish households in which an index case was infected with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 lineage, the attack rate was 38%, compared to 27% in households with an index case infected with other lineages. A study of 5,241 households with index cases (n = 808 B.1.1.7 and n = 4,433 other lineages) conducted…
SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in a Georgia School District — United States, December 2020–January 2021
A study of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a Georgia public school district found that indoor sports may pose a high infection risk in school settings. From December 1, 2020 to January 22, 2021, 85 SARS-CoV-2 index cases and 1,119 contacts were identified by school and public health officials, with 59 contacts testing positive. Among 55 contacts…
April 16, 2021
Safely Social: Promoting and Sustaining Adolescent Engagement in Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Adolescents motivated by preventing others from getting sick were more likely to engage in physical distancing to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission, according to over 6,000 assessments from a national sample of US adolescents (n=444, aged 13-18 years). Daily social support from friends, connectedness with friends via technology, and practical knowledge on preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 predicted…
SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Correctional Staff in the Federal Bureau of Prisons
SARS-CoV-2 infections were reported by 665 Federal Bureau of Prisons (FOB) staff across 60% of institutions from March to June 2020, corresponding to a case rate of 1,767 per 100,000. Among institutions that experienced outbreaks, the staff case rate was 4,813 per 100,000. Infections among staff working in lower security prisons and detention centers that…
Effect of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Pregnancy Outcomes in an Inner-City Black Patient Population
No statistical differences in obstetric or neonatal outcomes were observed between SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative individuals in a cohort study of predominantly Black pregnant women in Brooklyn (n=335). On admission, most (86%) patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were asymptomatic, and remained asymptomatic throughout their time in the hospital. Rates of preterm birth, cesarean delivery,…
COVID-19 Stats: COVID-19 and Influenza Discharge Diagnoses as a Percentage of Emergency Department (ED) Visits, by Year — United States, June 2018–March 2021
Between June 2020 and March 2021, emergency department (ED) visits for influenza accounted for less than 0.1% of all visits in approximately 71% of US facilities in all states except Hawaii. By contrast, influenza visits reached 3.1% of all ED visits in February 2018 and 5% of all ED visits in February 2019 alone. ED…
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