The Autopsy, a Fading Practice, Revealed Secrets of COVID-19
By MARION RENAULT Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — The COVID-19 pandemic has helped revive the autopsy.
When the virus first arrived in U.S. hospitals, doctors could only guess what was causing its strange constellation of symptoms: What could explain why patients were losing their sense of smell and taste, developing skin rashes, struggling to breathe and reporting memory loss on top of flu-like coughs and aches?
At hospital morgues, which have been steadily losing prominence and funding over several decades, pathologists were busily dissecting the disease’s first victims — and finding some answers.
“W...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - December 27, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: AP News Coronavirus Source Type: news
Here's what we know about the new variant of coronavirus | Sharon Peacock
My team at the Genomics UK consortium sequenced the new Sars-CoV-2 variant, but we ’ll need more evidence to understand how it might change the pandemicIt was always predictable that the genome of Sars-CoV-2 would mutate. After all, that ’s what viruses and other micro-organisms do. The Sars-CoV-2 genome accumulates around one or two mutations every month as it circulates. In fact, its rate of change is much lower than those of other viruses that we know about. For example, seasonal influenza mutates at such a rate that a new vacc ine has to be introduced each year.Even so, over time the virus population will accumulat...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - December 22, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Sharon Peacock Tags: Coronavirus Infectious diseases Medical research Microbiology Science World news Source Type: news
What Makes COVID-19 Different From the Flu?
Living through the COVID-19 pandemic is hard. TIME’s advice column is here to help. Trying to decide if that dinner party is safe to attend? Fighting through your quarantine fatigue? Our health reporters will consult experts who can help find a safe and practical solution. Send us your pandemic dilemmas at covidquestions@time.com, and we will choose some to answer in a column on TIME.com.
Today, Judy Jones from Missouri asks:
Please help.
I have a few friends who refuse to take the risks of COVID-19 seriously. They claim that it is no worse than the flu, and that there have always been a certain amount of deaths each...
Source: TIME: Health - December 17, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tara Law Tags: Uncategorized COVID Questions COVID-19 Source Type: news
< i > The Lancet Respiratory Medicine < /i > : COVID-19 causes more severe disease than seasonal influenza, comparison of data from over 130,000 hospitalised patients confirms
(The Lancet) Nearly twice as many people were admitted to hospital for COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic than were for influenza at the peak of the 2018/2019 flu season, a study of French national data published today inThe Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal has found (COVID-19, 89,530 patients vs influenza, 45,819 patients). (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - December 17, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Emergency Considerations in COVID-19 Vaccine Administration
Conclusion
The joint response of science and medicine to develop safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines has been brisk and productive. Distribution efforts will now be the next step in limiting the breadth of this pandemic. EMS agencies will play a key role in some areas in the administration of vaccinations for their communities.
The authors suggest that to better clarify the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, EMS systems must maintain a log of the type and incidence of adverse events following vaccine administration, EMS responses to the adverse events, as well as those patients’ outcomes from this management. ...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - December 16, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Coronavirus Exclusives EMS EMT Paramedic Source Type: news
Emergency Considerations in COVID-19 Vaccine Administration
Conclusion
The joint response of science and medicine to develop safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines has been brisk and productive. Distribution efforts will now be the next step in limiting the breadth of this pandemic. EMS agencies will play a key role in some areas in the administration of vaccinations for their communities.
The authors suggest that to better clarify the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, EMS systems must maintain a log of the type and incidence of adverse events following vaccine administration, EMS responses to the adverse events, as well as those patients’ outcomes from this management. ...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - December 16, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Coronavirus Exclusives EMS EMT Paramedic Source Type: news
Emergency Considerations in COVID-19 Vaccine Administration
Conclusion
The joint response of science and medicine to develop safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines has been brisk and productive. Distribution efforts will now be the next step in limiting the breadth of this pandemic. EMS agencies will play a key role in some areas in the administration of vaccinations for their communities.
The authors suggest that to better clarify the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, EMS systems must maintain a log of the type and incidence of adverse events following vaccine administration, EMS responses to the adverse events, as well as those patients’ outcomes from this management. ...
Source: JEMS Latest News - December 16, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Coronavirus Exclusives EMS EMT Paramedic Source Type: news
Emergency Considerations in COVID-19 Vaccine Administration
Conclusion
The joint response of science and medicine to develop safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines has been brisk and productive. Distribution efforts will now be the next step in limiting the breadth of this pandemic. EMS agencies will play a key role in some areas in the administration of vaccinations for their communities.
The authors suggest that to better clarify the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, EMS systems must maintain a log of the type and incidence of adverse events following vaccine administration, EMS responses to the adverse events, as well as those patients’ outcomes from this management. ...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - December 16, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Coronavirus Exclusives EMS EMT Paramedic Source Type: news
Emergency Considerations in COVID-19 Vaccine Administration
Conclusion
The joint response of science and medicine to develop safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines has been brisk and productive. Distribution efforts will now be the next step in limiting the breadth of this pandemic. EMS agencies will play a key role in some areas in the administration of vaccinations for their communities.
The authors suggest that to better clarify the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, EMS systems must maintain a log of the type and incidence of adverse events following vaccine administration, EMS responses to the adverse events, as well as those patients’ outcomes from this management. ...
Source: JEMS Operations - December 16, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Coronavirus Exclusives EMS EMT Paramedic Source Type: news
Emergency Considerations in COVID-19 Vaccine Administration
Conclusion
The joint response of science and medicine to develop safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines has been brisk and productive. Distribution efforts will now be the next step in limiting the breadth of this pandemic. EMS agencies will play a key role in some areas in the administration of vaccinations for their communities.
The authors suggest that to better clarify the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines, EMS systems must maintain a log of the type and incidence of adverse events following vaccine administration, EMS responses to the adverse events, as well as those patients’ outcomes from this management. ...
Source: JEMS Special Topics - December 16, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: JEMS Staff Tags: Coronavirus Exclusives EMS EMT Paramedic Source Type: news
Pfizer/BioNTech ’s COVID-19 Vaccine Gets a Major Endorsement from FDA Committee
In a 17-4 vote (with one abstention) the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) vaccine advisory committee recommended that Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine should be distributed to the American public.
With that recommendation hand, an FDA team led by the agency’s commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn will now make a final decision about whether to issue an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the vaccine for anyone 16 years and older. The committee vote is not binding, but the agency is likely follow its advice, especially given the urgent need for a vaccine to stave off a rising tide of new infections. T...
Source: TIME: Health - December 11, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news
The First Authorized COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S. Has Arrived
Late in the evening on Dec. 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the first COVID-19 vaccine for use in the country. The emergency use authorization means that doses of the vaccine—made by Pfizer/BioNTech—can be shipped at any time; certain Americans could be vaccinated as soon as next week.
In a statement, FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said “The FDA’s authorization for emergency use of the first COVID-19 vaccine is a significant milestone in battling this devastating pandemic that has affected so many families in the United States and around the world.” In the same pr...
Source: TIME: Health - December 11, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news
Tasmanian devils may survive their own pandemic
(Washington State University) Researchers have found strong evidence that a transmissible cancer that has decimated Tasmanian devil populations likely won't spell their doom. For the first time, a research team employed genomic tools of phylodynamics, typically used to track viruses, such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 , to trace the Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease. The approach they pioneered has opened the door for application to other genetically complex pathogens. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - December 10, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Holidays in a Pandemic? Here ’s What Happened in 1918
The festive season fell between two deadly waves of the deadly influenza outbreak. Families still gathered, often with empty chairs at the table. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - December 9, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jacey Fortin Tags: Quarantine (Life and Culture) Influenza Epidemic (1918-19) Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Christmas Letters Thanksgiving Day Iowa Source Type: news
Stillbirths During the COVID-19 Pandemic in England, April-June 2020, JAMA
Pregnant women have an increased risk of infectious diseases, including respiratory infections such as influenza, 2 External 0 0 0 1 false https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2020.21369?guestAccessKey=a0cf9d09-e1c7-479d-9aaa-a2d925aea316&utm_source=silverchair&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=article_alert-jama&utm_content=olf&utm_term=120720#jld200113r1 true false%> and are included on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) UK clinically vulnerable list. 2 External 0 0 0 2 false https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2020.21369?guestAccessKey=a0cf9d09-e1c7-479d-9aaa-a2d92...
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - December 9, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news