NIH experts review monkeypox challenges

Lessons learned from the public health responses to the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics should help guide the response to the current outbreak of monkeypox, National Institutes of Health experts write in an editorial published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and H. Clifford Lane, […]

IL-13 blocker dupilumab appears to improve survival in COVID-19

Treatment with dupilumab appears to improve survival rates for patients with moderate to severe COVID-19. Researchers reported these findings on August 16, 2022 in Open Forum of Infectious Diseases. “Our clinical trial suggests that treatment with the anti-allergy medicine dupilumab may decrease deaths due to COVID-19. UVA [University of Virginia] is the first to test this novel and promising approach […]

How did the early COVID-19 pandemic affect cancer survivors?

Recent research indicates that during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of working-aged U.S. adults without health insurance did not change despite increases in unemployment, and the prevalence of unhealthy behaviors decreased. The findings, which were published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, pertained to individuals with and without a history of cancer. […]

BCG vaccine appears to protect patients with type 1 diabetes from COVID-19 infection

Multiple does of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine appears to offer patients with type 1 diabetes strong protection against COVID-19, researchers reported on August 15, 2022 in Cell Reports. “Multiple studies have shown that adults with type 1 diabetes who are diagnosed with COVID-19 are at increased risk of severe illness,” said lead Denise Faustman, MD, PhD, director of the […]

How hepatitis E tricks the immune system

Over three million people are infected with the hepatitis E virus every year. So far, no effective treatment is available. An international team has investigated which factors are important for the virus in the course of its replication cycle and how it manages to maintain the infection. The researchers analysed various mutations of the virus and found changes that may […]

New guideline introduces recommendations for vaccinations in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) released a summary of its new treatment guideline for Vaccinations in Patients with Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (RMDs). The effectiveness and safety of vaccines may differ in rheumatology patients as compared to the general population. The guideline summary provides recommendations on topics such as broadened indications for some vaccines in patients on immunosuppressants, medication management at […]

New COVID-19 rapid-test technology performs PCR faster than similar tests on the market

For more than 30 years, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been the gold standard in molecular diagnostic testing, detecting genetic material, such as those from a virus or from human DNA. But PCR, including reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), is mostly done at large, centralized laboratories, not in point-of-care (POC) settings, because its instrumentation is bulky, expensive, takes a […]

AI speeds sepsis detection to prevent hundreds of deaths

Patients are 20% less likely to die of sepsis because a new AI system developed at Johns Hopkins University catches symptoms hours earlier than traditional methods, an extensive hospital study demonstrates. The system, created by a Johns Hopkins researcher whose young nephew died from sepsis, scours medical records and clinical notes to identify patients at risk of life-threatening complications. The […]

Long COVID has a significant impact on UK workforce, study finds

Researchers have warned the long-term effects of coronavirus will have a significant impact on the UK workforce for some time. Of those who have been infected with Covid-19, 5.5 per cent of people will develop life-changing chronic illness, in particular heart and lung conditions. Others have also experienced long lasting symptoms, including shortness of breath, fatigue, fever, headaches, brain fog […]

Adults with blood cancers respond to booster, not initial dose of COVID-19 vaccine

People with hematologic malignancies—or blood cancers including leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma—have an impaired immune system due to their disease and its treatment, putting them at risk of severe COVID-19 infection and experiencing a reduced response to COVID-19 vaccination. In a recent study published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, less than half of patients with […]