Respiratory Infections News

A recently published study found that SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, including induced abortion, cesarean sections, preterm birth and fetal growth restriction.

Beginning Jan. 15, private health insurers and group health care plans in the United States will be required to reimburse people for the cost of up to eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per month, federal health officials announced.

Researchers found that decontaminating N95 respirators using vaporized hydrogen peroxide provided a “viable means” to reuse the masks without compromising their effectiveness.

The rate of antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory infections “decreased modestly” between 2011 and 2018, according to researchers, who noted that still more reductions are needed.

Pediatric hospitalizations due to COVID-19 reached a peak in recent weeks, according to CDC data.

The FDA on Friday amended an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to shorten the suggested time between a primary two-dose series and a booster shot from 6 to 5 months.

The addition of a digital chest X-ray to symptom-based screening doubled the yield of undiagnosed tuberculosis among inmates in South Africa compared with symptom-based screening alone, researchers reported.

Data from a survey representing more than 7,500 parents showed that about one-quarter were hesitant to get their child vaccinated.

The omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 now accounts for 95% of COVID-19 cases in the United States, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, said during a White House briefing on Wednesday.

The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee voted Wednesday to recommend that adolescents aged 12 to 17 years receive a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.