Hospital Medicine News

When predicting mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19-related pneumonia, researchers found that the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, or SOFA, score was “significantly inferior to simply using age.”

Measuring proteinuria within 48 hours of hospital admission for COVID-19 may help predict adverse outcomes, as the condition occurred frequently and was strongly associated with AKI, ICU admission and mortality.

A study involving more than 1,000 patients identified cardiac involvement, age and race as attributes that could differentiate multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children from severe COVID-19, researchers reported in JAMA.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants worldwide has led to concern and confusion among the general public.

Up to 32% of people who died with COVID-19 had a bacterial lung superinfection, according to findings from a review of postmortem studies.

Approximately 30% of patients with COVID-19 enrolled in a study at the University of Washington reported persistent symptoms 3 to 9 months after illness onset, according to results published in JAMA Network Open.

Temporarily separating mothers with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 from their newborns and disrupting skin-to-skin care, rooming-in and direct breastfeeding was “associated with harm and may be unnecessary,” according to researchers.

In the United States, medical and nursing students have stepped up to help with COVID-19 vaccination rollout efforts.

For patients with chronic kidney disease, higher doses of the muscle relaxant baclofen appeared to increase risk for hospitalization due to fall or hypotension, with primary care physicians being most likely to prescribe the medication.

Now is a time of transition in our nation. As physicians, regardless of our background or upbringing, we hold positions of power and privilege in society. We must use our power to give voice to our patients and communities.