Infection News

A CDC advisory panel voted unanimously in favor of recommending a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in patients who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, according to an American College of Rheumatology press release.

In a cohort of four children and four adults with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, children generally had superior outcomes after discharge, noted a speaker at the 2021 North American Young Rheumatology Investigator Forum.

Immunocompromised individuals have a number of justifiable concerns surrounding COVID-19. One of those concerns is that a two-dose vaccine schedule may not produce a sufficient antibody response to protect them from the virus.

Clinicians have an increasing number of options to treat patients with all stages of COVID-19 infection, from pauci-symptomatic early infection to those with long hauler syndromes, noted a speaker at the 2021 Rheumatology Nurses Society annual conference.

A new survey conducted by The Harris Poll for San Diego-based pharmaceutical company Neurocrine Biosciences found that 80% of U.S. patients will “always prefer” in-person physician visits to telemedicine.

Approximately 27% of patients with a rheumatic disease experienced a change in employment status during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to survey results published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Canakinumab fails to significantly increase the likelihood of survival without accompanying invasive mechanical ventilation, compared with placebo, in patients with severe COVID-19, according to data published in JAMA.

Last July, I wrote an editorial entitled “The rheumatologist, the third inning of COVID-19 and the importance of masks.” Thinking back and wondering where we are now, I would say the top of the eighth!

This past spring, two studies shed light on how some of the largest clinician organizations and publishers in rheumatology, including the American College of Rheumatology and EULAR, have failed to provide adequate training materials or clear guidelines when it comes to caring for patients of color.

There is no evidence that recovery from multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children differs following treatment with glucocorticoids alone, intravenous immune globulin alone or a combination of the two, according to data.