Result for
Topic: Testing and Treatment
May 21, 2021
COVID-19 Testing to Sustain In-Person Instruction and Extracurricular Activities in High Schools — Utah, November 2020–March 2021
An evaluation of two high school COVID-19 testing programs implemented in Utah to support continuation of in-person instruction and extracurricular activities found that the programs saved an estimated 109,952 in-person instruction student-days and supported continuation of extracurricular activities. One program implemented SARS-CoV-2 testing every 14 days for participation in extracurricular activities, and the other implemented…
Mutation-Specific SARS-CoV-2 PCR Screen: Rapid and Accurate Detection of Variants of Concern and the Identification of a Newly Emerging Variant with Spike L452R Mutation
An evaluation of a novel multiplex, mutation-specific PCR-based assay on 247 SARS-CoV-2 positive samples found 100% concordance for strain typing of variants B.1.1.7 and P.1 compared to whole genome sequencing methods. This method detects five variants of concern and three variants of interest, including the B.1.526.1 variant emerging in the Eastern US. The assay can…
May 20, 2021
Tocilizumab in the Treatment of COVID-19 – a Meta-Analysis
The immunosuppressive monoclonal antibody treatment tocilizumab (TCZ) was associated with a 11% reduction in risk for all-cause 28- and 30-day mortality compared to placebo/control in a systematic review and meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials, which included 6,481 patients mostly with severe but non-critical COVID-19. TCZ was also associated with reduced risk of mechanical ventilation, ICU…
May 19, 2021
Evaluation of Six Different Rapid Methods for Nucleic Acid Detection of SARS-COV-2 Virus
In a comparison of 6 rapid antigen tests against RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection in 4,981 participants, AQ-TOP and Genechecker had the highest sensitivity (98% and 95%) and positive predictive value (96% and 95%), followed by the sensitivity of Abbott ID NOW (95%) and Cobas Liat (95%). The performance of the Atila iAMP COVID-19 test was…
Colchicine in Patients Admitted to Hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY) a Randomised Controlled Open-Label Platform Trial
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] The anti-inflammatory drug colchicine was not associated with reductions in 28-day mortality, duration of hospital stay, or risk of progression to invasive mechanical ventilation (IVM) or death among adults hospitalized with COVID-19 in an analysis of the RECOVERY trial (a randomized, placebo-controlled open-label trial). In both the treatment (n=5610) and control (n=5730)…
May 17, 2021
Seven-Day COVID-19 Quarantine May Be Too Short Assessing Post-Quarantine Transmission Risk in Four University Cohorts
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A cohort study conducted at four US universities between September 2020 and February 2021 found that a seven-day quarantine period may not be sufficient to maintain a 5% transmission risk threshold, and that risk depends on the strictness of quarantine measures. The study compared “strict quarantine”, which included designated housing with private…
Convalescent Plasma in Patients Admitted to Hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): A Randomised Controlled, Open-Label, Platform Trial
Among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, convalescent plasma treatment did not improve 28-day mortality (RR = 1.0), time to hospital discharge (RR = 0.99), or result in a significant difference in the proportion of patients who either received invasive mechanical ventilation or died (RR = 0.99), according to results from the RECOVERY trial in the UK….
May 14, 2021
Interferon-a-2b Aerosol Inhalation Is Associated with Improved Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Coronavirus Disease-2019
A retrospective analysis of patients with COVID-19 (N=1,401) found that patients treated with IFN-α-2b aerosol inhalation in combination with standard treatment had a 61% lower risk of ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death, even after adjusting for comorbidities, baseline disease severity, and antiviral use. A subgroup analysis found that delayed IFN treatment was associated with…
Ivermectin in Combination with Doxycycline for Treating COVID-19 Symptoms: A Randomized Trial
A randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial of ivermectin combined with doxycycline for patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms (N=400) found that treated patients had a shorter median time to recovery (7 vs. 9 days) and were more likely to be SARS-CoV-2 negative by RT-PCR at two weeks follow-up. However, the investigators note that the majority of study…
Community-Based Testing for SARS-CoV-2 — Chicago, Illinois, May–November 2020
A community-based SARS-CoV-2 testing (CBT) program in Chicago found that persons tested at CBT sites (N=250,000) were more likely to have SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to persons tested in other settings. Persons who were tested at the CBT sites were also more likely to be <40 years of age, Hispanic, and live in economically marginalized zip…
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