Respiratory Infections News

A CDC advisory committee said Wednesday that it needs more information before it can decide whether to alter its recommendation for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Using a traditional definition of health care-associated influenza missed more than 80% of possible cases among patients admitted to acute-care hospitals during seven influenza seasons, researchers reported at the SHEA Spring Conference.

Leaving the middle seat vacant on airplanes reduced exposure to SARS-CoV-2 by up to 57% in a laboratory-based modeling study, according to results published in MMWR.

In recent comments regarding COVID-19, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director and chief presidential medical advisor Anthony S. Fauci, MD, referred to the concept of herd immunity as “an elusive number.”

Two peaks of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children — the rare but severe condition associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection — occurred 2 to 5 weeks after peaks of COVID-19 in United States, experts reported in JAMA Pediatrics.

Federal health officials recommended Tuesday that the U.S. “pause” the rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine so experts can review six reported cases of a rare but severe type of blood clot in people who have received the vaccine.

One subcutaneous injection of REGEN-COV — a combination of two monoclonal antibodies — reduced the risk for symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection by more than 80% among household contacts of infected individuals, Regeneron said.

Racial and ethnic disparities for hospitalizations and ED visits related to COVID-19 persisted through the end of last year, according to two new MMWR reports.

Top-line data from the phase 3 DARE-19 trial show that the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin failed to prevent organ dysfunction and all-cause mortality among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 at risk for developing serious complications.

The FDA recommended that facilities begin to move away from “crisis capacity conservation measures” implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as reusing decontaminated respirators.