Respiratory Infections News

The Infectious Diseases Society of America has published a set of eight recommendations that provide guidance on the use of personal protective equipment, or PPE, for health care workers treating patients who are suspected, or known, to have COVID-19.

According to data from PCC, an independent firm that provides pediatric electronic health records software, pediatric vaccinations are down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is currently no evidence to suggest that people who recover from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected against reinfection with the illness, according to a scientific brief from WHO. As a result, although some governments have suggested that the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 may be an “immunity passport” that allows individuals to travel or return to work under the belief that they are protected from reinfection, there is no evidence to support that.

This episode focuses on diabetes and COVID-19. Questions are answered regarding the risk for COVID-19 among patients with diabetes, medication concerns in those who test positive for the virus, and the importance of self-monitoring of glucose levels among patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

It is not yet clear whether COVID-19 antibodies are protective against reinfection, according to a briefing on antibody testing held by the Infectious Disease Society of America in which physicians also noted that antibodies are not “a license” to halt mitigation efforts that have been put into place in many states.

In mid-March, before schools in the state closed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, more than 400 people gathered for a birthday party in a rural Nebraska town, one with a population of less than 1,000. Many people from neighboring towns and communities attended the party.

In new guidance, a panel of pediatric infectious diseases physicians and pharmacists suggested that supportive care alone is sufficient to treat most children with COVID-19. Among children who develop severe or critical cases — a rare occurrence — the panel suggested the use of remdesivir as the preferred antiviral.

Interruptions to access to antimalarial medicines and disruptions to insecticide-treated net campaigns, or ITNs, because of COVID-19 could potentially double the number of malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 when compared with 2018, according to a WHO modeling analysis.

New data published in JAMA indicate that continuous pulse oximetry monitoring is being used often in children hospitalized with bronchiolitis who are not receiving active supplemental oxygen administration — a population in whom this is not indicated.

A panel of American physicians, statisticians and other experts has developed NIH treatment guidelines for COVID-19 that are intended for health care providers. The guidelines, which can be found here, will be updated as more data emerge throughout the course of the pandemic.