Infection control experts throw support behind healthcare vaccine mandates
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 01, 2021
Voluntary vaccination policies are not a sure path to herd immunity in healthcare facilities, APIC says. The infection control advocate has endorsed vaccine mandates as a condition of employment.
The COVID race: Vaccines 90% effective in frontline workers, but variant cases rising
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 30, 2021
The pace of U.S. vaccinations must hold up against the effects of spreading virus variants to keep further outbreaks under control, according to the CDC and expert observers.
Dementia decline could be slowed by antiseizure meds in some cases, study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 05, 2022
The results revealed profound early decline among dementia patients with active seizures, including worse cognitive and mental health, and daily functioning.
Medicare costs could soar with availability of new obesity drugs, experts say
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 15, 2023
If efforts are successful to expand Medicare Part D to cover these drugs, premiums could soar, according to economists with Vanderbilt University and the University of Chicago.
July 4 sees COVID-19 spike, ventilator shortage for Missouri hospitals
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 07, 2021
An area of Missouri with low COVID-19 immunization rates has seen a 27% spike in hospitalizations and a public call for respiratory therapists, a report finds.
Fatal outcome in trial of Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab raises patient safety concerns
By
Alicia Lasek
May 25, 2023
The findings highlight unresolved questions about how patients respond to this treatment, and how to best vet and advise recipients, investigators say.
Untracked COVID: Nursing home workers have died at twice the rate of hospital workers
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 09, 2021
Nursing home care providers have the sad distinction of accounting for a large proportion of healthcare workers’ COVID deaths, according to new 2020 data that was not tracked by the U.S. government....
As Fauci warns of letting virus run rampant, new variant causes 7 long-term care facility deaths in Belgium
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 10, 2021
Unchecked COVID-19 transmission among the unvaccinated could cause problems for the vaccinated, a top federal health official says. In Belgium, a new variant has caused severe illness in residents who...
J&J vaccine effective against COVID Delta variant, drugmaker says
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 06, 2021
Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine prompts a “strong neutralizing antibody response” that lasts at least eight months, the drugmaker has announced.
COVID ‘breakthrough’ outbreak affects one quarter of residents at French nursing home
By
Alicia Lasek
Sep 15, 2021
In a facility with a 97% resident vaccination rate, the large number of infections shows that a shot alone is not enough to protect the frail elderly from SARS-CoV-2, researchers contend.