Respiratory Infections News

As researchers work rapidly to publish research on COVID-19, major medical journals including The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine have retracted articles because of issues regarding data transparency and methodology.

Public-private partnerships, collaboration among researchers and knowledge of existing coronaviruses have all contributed to the accelerated development of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, according to Infectious Disease News Editorial Board Member Kathleen M. Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA.

According to the authors of a recent paper in Clinical Infectious Diseases, the “true burden” of SARS-CoV-2 in children may be underrepresented based on a number of factors that make them less likely than adults to be tested.

The prescribing of unnecessary antibiotics in U.S. physician offices and EDs decreased slightly, from 30% to 28%, between 2010 and 2015, according to findings published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The COVID-19 pandemic may not peak until July, leaders of the Pan American Health Organization said during a virtual press conference today.

Low-dose dexamethasone used as a treatment for COVID-19 reduced the risk for death by one-third in ventilated patients and also lowered risk in patients receiving oxygen, according to early results from the RECOVERY trial.

The American Lung Association recently held a virtual Town Hall meeting to debunk widespread misperceptions in the United States about which populations should be prioritized for COVID-19 testing and how to interpret the results.

The FDA has rescinded the emergency use authorization, or EUA, for hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, according to a letter from RADM Denise Hinton, the FDA’s Chief Scientist.

During a recent shift in the ED, Nida F. Degesys, MD, redonned her used duckbill N95 mask and thought to herself, “Does this mask still fit my face properly?”

Ventilated patients with severe COVID-19 infection may experience air hunger and psychological trauma. A new paper published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society calls attention to ventilation and medication strategies.