Here is what the editors at Physician’s Briefing chose as the most important COVID-19 developments for you and your practice for the week of June 22 to 26, 2020. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal studies and other trusted sources that is most likely to affect clinical practice.
Black Americans More Likely to Know Someone Who Has Died of COVID-19
FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Far more black Americans say they know someone personally who has died of COVID-19 than whites, a new poll finds.
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U.S. Has Second Day of Record Rise in COVID-19 Cases; Young People Fueling Trend
FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — As the United States reported yet another record-breaking number of COVID-19 cases on Thursday, public health officials warned that younger Americans now account for an ever-growing percentage of infections.
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Older Age, Obesity, Disability Tied to Severe COVID-19 in MS
FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For patients with multiple sclerosis, age, obesity, and high Expanded Disability Severity Scale score are significantly associated with increased risk for severe COVID-19, according to a study published online June 26 in JAMA Neurology.
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CDC Updates List of Who Is at Highest Risk for COVID-19
FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The list of conditions that put people at risk for severe COVID-19 illness has been expanded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Colchicine May Improve Time to Clinical Deterioration in COVID-19
FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 receiving colchicine have significantly improved time to clinical deterioration, according to a study published online June 24 in JAMA Network Open.
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Genomewide Level Associations Identified for Severe COVID-19
FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Patients with COVID-19 and severe disease have associations at locus 3p21.31 and 9q34.2, which are significant at the genomewide level, according to a study published online June 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Neonatal COVID-19 Uncommon, Not Linked to Mode of Delivery
FRIDAY, June 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Neonatal COVID-19 is uncommon and the rate of maternal transmission is not increased with any particular mode of delivery or type of infant feeding, according to a review published online June 12 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
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Texas Pauses Reopening as COVID-19 Cases Rise
THURSDAY, June 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — As COVID-19 cases surge in Texas, the state is pausing its reopening process and freeing up hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.
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Risk for Hospitalization Up for Pregnant Women With COVID-19
THURSDAY, June 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Among women of reproductive age with COVID-19, pregnant women are more likely to be hospitalized and to be admitted to the intensive care unit, according to research published in the June 26 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Sex, Ethnic Differential Patterns of COVID-19 Unexplained
THURSDAY, June 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Sex and ethnicity differential patterns of COVID-19 positivity are not explained by cardiometabolic, socioeconomic, or behavioral factors, according to a study published online June 19 in the Journal of Public Health.
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Model May Help Predict Risk for Testing Positive for COVID-19
THURSDAY, June 25, 2020 (HealthDay News) — It is possible to predict the likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19, according to a study published online June 10 in CHEST.
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Sanofi Speeds COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts
WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — French drugmaker Sanofi has shortened its timeline to get a COVID-19 vaccine on the market.
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Experts Weigh in on Pace of Reopening, Preventive Measures
WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — As states across the country continue to move into different phases of reopening, many are questioning whether the rush to stabilize the economy will result in an influx of new COVID-19 infections. HD Live! sat down with Marjorie Jenkins, M.D., dean of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, and Thomas Giordano, M.D., section chief of infectious diseases at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, to discuss the health care and economic uncertainty that faces the nation.
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Quality of Life Worse for Cancer Patients During COVID-19
WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Patients with stage III and IV cancer have worse quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a research letter published online June 17 in Psycho-Oncology.
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ED Use Down for MI, Stroke, Hyperglycemic Crisis in COVID-19
WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Following declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic as a national emergency, there was a decrease in visits to the emergency department for myocardial infarction, stroke, and hyperglycemic crisis, according to research published in the June 22 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Tocilizumab Shows Promise for Treatment of COVID-19
WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Use of tocilizumab to target cytokine release syndrome seems beneficial for patients with COVID-19, according to a study published online June 15 in CHEST.
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Patients With COVID-19 Mount Acute Cortisol Stress Response
WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Patients with COVID-19 mount a marked and appropriate acute cortisol stress response, according to a research letter published online June 19 in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
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Older Age, Black Race, Diabetes Up Hospitalization in COVID-19
WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Characteristics that are independently associated with hospitalization for COVID-19 include older age, black race, and having diabetes mellitus, according to research published in the June 17 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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COVID-19 Vaccine May Be Available by Late 2020, Early 2021: Fauci
TUESDAY, June 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — There could be a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this year or early next year, according to Anthony Fauci, M.D., infectious diseases chief at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
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Black, Hispanic Medicare Patients Much More Likely to Be Hospitalized With COVID-19
TUESDAY, June 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Black Medicare recipients are nearly four times more likely and Hispanics are nearly two times more likely than whites to be hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the U.S. government.
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RN Staffing Linked to COVID-19 Incidence in Nursing Homes
TUESDAY, June 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Higher registered nurse staffing is associated with a reduced number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes, according to a study published online June 18 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
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Convalescent Plasma Safe for Diverse Patients With COVID-19
TUESDAY, June 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Convalescent plasma seems safe for COVID-19 patients based on data from the first 20,000 transfused patients, according to a study published online June 9 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
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Asthma Seems Not to Be Linked to COVID-19 Hospitalization
TUESDAY, June 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Asthma seems not to be associated with COVID-19 hospitalization, according to a study published online June 9 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
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COVID-19 Hospitalization Up With Prednisone in Rheumatic Disease
TUESDAY, June 23, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For patients with rheumatic disease with COVID-19, glucocorticoids are associated with increased odds of hospitalization, according to a study published in the July issue of the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.
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Inhaled Remdesivir May Allow COVID-19 Patients to Be Treated at Home
MONDAY, June 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — An inhaled version of the antiviral drug remdesivir will soon be tested outside a hospital setting, Gilead Sciences announced Monday.
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NIH Stops Hydroxychloroquine Trial
MONDAY, June 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The National Institutes of Health announced Saturday that a clinical trial evaluating hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 has been stopped because the drug likely provides no benefit.
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Costs for COVID-19 High With Consumer-Directed Health Plans
MONDAY, June 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — COVID-19 hospitalizations could result in high out-of-pocket spending for commercially insured consumer-directed health plan enrollees, according to a study published online June 15 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
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No Big Increase Seen in Loneliness During U.S. COVID-19 Outbreak
MONDAY, June 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic has not led to an overall increase in loneliness among Americans, according to a study published online June 22 in American Psychologist.
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Taste, Smell Dysfunction With COVID-19 Can Be Severe
MONDAY, June 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — COVID-19 should be suspected when patients present with a severe reduction of taste and smell in the absence of severe nasal obstruction, according to a study published online June 18 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.
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Transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 High Within Households
MONDAY, June 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has high transmissibility within households, according to a study published online June 17 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
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Many U.S. Counties Lack Infectious Disease Specialists
MONDAY, June 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The distribution of infectious disease (ID) physicians in the United States is geographically skewed, with 90 percent of U.S. counties having below-average ID physician density or no ID physicians at all, according to a research letter published online June 3 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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