Pfizer also planning to start trials of the vaccine in younger children, teens, people with weakened immune systems
XDR Typhoid Fever Cases Found in the USA
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced nine extensively drug-resistant (XDR) typhoid fever cases in the USA unrelated to international travel.
Additionally, the CDC’s Health Advisory Network issued an Alert on February 12, 2021, stating an ongoing outbreak of XDR typhoid fever has sickened more than 5,000 people in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan since 2016.
Veklury Use While Pregnant to be Studied
A recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will evaluate the effects of Veklury (remdesivir) in pregnant women who are being treated for COVID-19.
This NIH study announced on February 17, 2021, aims to determine how pregnant women metabolize Veklury and any potential side effects.
The study will be conducted at 17 sites in the continental United States and Puerto Rico. It will be led by the NIH-funded International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Network.
Myocardial Injury Prevalent in Patients With Severe COVID-19
54 percent of discharged patients who had troponin elevation in conjunction with severe COVID-19 had late gadolinium enhancement and/or ischemia
Age, Frailty Independently Linked to COVID-19 Mortality
Frailty also associated with increased risk for higher care needs on discharge and increased likelihood of adverse outcomes
Many U.S. Troops Refusing COVID-19 Vaccination
Up to two-thirds of troops who were offered the vaccine have accepted, according to ‘very early data’
Expanded Collaboration to Advance New Therapeutics for Respiratory Viruses
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) announced an agreement to expand their existing collaboration to include the research and development of new therapies for influenza and other respiratory viruses.
Editorial: U.S. FDA’s Experience with COVID-19 Antibody Tests
An editorial published by The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) highlights ‘establishing robust and coordinated national and international mechanisms for generating evidence and gathering, sharing, and disseminating information will be critical to ending the current pandemic and addressing future public health emergencies.’
ED Visit Volume Dropped for Mental Health, Substance Use Early in Pandemic
However, from March 15 to Oct. 10, 2020, higher median emergency department visit rates seen when compared with 2019
Zinc, Ascorbic Acid Do Not Cut Symptom Duration in SARS-CoV-2
No difference in length of time required to achieve 50 percent reduction in symptoms seen with supplements versus usual care