The U.S. CDC recently published a Research Letter that determined the optimal quarantine duration after a person is exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus variant known as Omicron.
These researchers with South Korea’s CDC evaluated the time from exposure to diagnosis for 107 close contacts of Omicron patients.
They found the average time from exposure to diagnosis was 3.7 days.
Furthermore, 70% of diagnoses were made on day 5 and 99.1% by day 10, suggesting a 10-day quarantine protocol is appropriate.
Containing Omicron Outbreaks Requires Ten Day Quarantine
Dengue Epidemics Curtailed by COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in measurable disruptions in infectious disease dynamics such as dengue, an expanding acute public health threat in southeast Asia and Latin America.
The peer-review journal The Lancet published a study on March 4, 2022, that reported COVID-19-related disruption led to historically low dengue incidence in most countries in 2020.
This study showed the sudden decline in dengue cases in April 2020 was associated with the sudden changes in human movement behaviors.
Insights From the Northern Hemisphere's Flu Season 2022
The Georgia-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported the seasonal influenza vaccines selected for the 2021-2022 flu season were suboptimal at reducing outpatient respiratory illnesses caused by influenza A(H3N2) viruses.
The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) found the overall vaccine effectiveness (VE) against medically attended outpatient acute respiratory infection (ARI) associated with influenza A(H3N2) virus was 16% (95% CI = −16% to 39%), which was considered not statistically significant.
Peripheral Neuropathy Observed in Patients With ‘Long COVID’
Prolonged small-fiber neuropathy after mild infection most common scenario in small sample of referred patients with WHO-defined long COVID
World Tuberculosis Day Re-Energizes After COVID-19 Pandemic
Each year, World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is celebrated on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB.
The date marks when Dr. Robert Koch announced in 1882 that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease, wrote the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2022.
Previous global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 66 million lives since 2000. However, TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers.
Masks Reduced COVID-19 Incidence in K-12 Setting in Arkansas
Districts in Arkansas with full mask requirements had 23 percent lower COVID-19 incidence among students, staff
Risk for Blood Clots After COVID-19 Vaccination Explored
Two studies show increase in intracranial venous thrombosis, thrombocytopenia for those younger than 70 years and in CVST after ChAdOx1-S
Excess Mortality Adds to the Toll of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2021, 18.2 million people were estimated to have died worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Physician’s Briefing Weekly Coronavirus Roundup
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 March 7 to 11, 2022. This …
Preparing For TB, Polio, Measles, and COVID-19 Outbreaks
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) agency recently issued a public health notice regarding the prevention and control of infectious diseases related to visitors from Ukraine.
On March 8, 2022, the ECDC reported a large number of people from Ukraine are entering the European Union (EU) countries Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia. Unfortunately, many of those people, mainly women and children, are under-vaccinated against infectious diseases.