Respiratory Infections News

Approximately one in 10 Americans used telehealth as an alternative to in-person visits to doctor’s offices, urgent care centers and EDs, according to a survey published last year. However, it was not until the COVID-19 pandemic that the uptake of telehealth dramatically changed, an expert told Healio Primary Care.

Four older adults residing in an independent and assisted living facility in Seattle were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and became infected with the virus but remained asymptomatic in the preceding 14 days. A facility-wide outbreak was avoided because early surveillance strategies and strict self-isolation measures were implemented shortly after the facility’s first case was identified, researchers wrote in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Tularemia is a zoonotic disease caused by Francisella tularensis, an aerobic gram-negative coccobacillus. Francisella are slow growing, fastidious and difficult to cultivate.

Among patients with COVID-19 treated during the height of the pandemic in New York City, critical illness was common and was significantly associated with invasive mechanical ventilation, extrapulmonary organ dysfunction and in-hospital mortality, according to a study published in The Lancet.

Several gatherings at an Arkansas church between March 6 and 11 resulted in 35 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among attendees and 26 additional cases among contacts of attendees, according to findings published in MMWR. Researchers said this further highlights the potential for widespread transmission of COVID-19 at both group gatherings and within the broader community.

Rates of tuberculosis recurrence increased by almost ninefold between episode 2 and 5 regardless of HIV status, according to a study assessing recurrent tuberculosis in Cape Town, South Africa, over a 13-year period.

Research exploring inhaled nitric oxide’s potential to treat COVID-19 is underway.

A multidisciplinary team developed a process that uses vaporized hydrogen peroxide, or VHP, to disinfect N95 respirators, according to a paper published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Patients with coronavirus-related respiratory infections are often prescribed broad-spectrum empirical antimicrobials despite scarce evidence for bacterial or fungal co-infections, according to a review in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Two primary care physicians in Singapore outlined containment and infection control strategies that a network of general practitioner clinics in the country used to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The framework was published in Annals of Family Medicine.