COVID shot boosters for all adults will help to reduce confusion, FDA says
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 22, 2021
The FDA “heard loud and clear” that a simpler booster strategy was needed, its vaccine chief says. But the action may be too late to head off a winter virus surge, observers say.
Monoclonal antibodies excel in treating COVID-19 breakthrough cases, Mayo Clinic says
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 19, 2021
Monoclonal antibody treatment lowers the odds of hospitalization by 77% in patients with COVID-19 breakthrough infections, investigators say. These SARS-CoV-2 reinfections have become more common in long-term...
Smartphone technology helps seniors with mild dementia complete daily tasks, study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 18, 2021
Despite the pervasive notion that older adults dislike technology, participants enjoyed learning to use smartphone memory apps and were able to improve their daily prospective memory performance over four...
Fed’s booster OK too late? Nursing home loses 8 to coronavirus outbreak this fall
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 17, 2021
A Connecticut nursing home has weathered a facility-wide COVID-19 outbreak that has sickened 89 residents and staff. Booster shots were not yet authorized when the first cases appeared, the operator reports.
‘Universal and persistent’: Surfaces near nursing home beds may harbor coronavirus for days
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 16, 2021
Surfaces in 90% of COVID-19 patients’ rooms were contaminated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, most commonly bed and TV remote controls, nurse call buttons, window sills and door knobs, investigators say.
‘How good are those vaccines now?’ Mixed AARP nursing home report prompts a thorny question
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 15, 2021
A new AARP report shows encouraging trends in COVID-19 cases and vaccinations. But the steady rate of resident deaths raises concerns for the future as vaccine efficacy wanes, analysts say.
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine highly effective in octo- and nonagenarians, German study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 10, 2021
The data, from 700,000 older residents of Bavaria, resolves questions about the vaccine’s protectiveness that weren’t answered by the drugmaker’s clinical trials, investigators say.
Survey: Short-stay residents want more help with meds, clinician connections upon discharge
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 03, 2021
Fully 80% of respondents said they received and understood their discharge instructions. But at least two-thirds would have liked more help with their medication regimen, physician referrals, and other...
CMS’s goal: All Medicare, most Medicaid recipients in an affordable care plan by 2030
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 01, 2021
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a radical, 10-year overhaul to its care delivery programs that could have a major impact on the long-term care sector.
Vaccinated people easily transmit COVID in close quarters, daily testing reveals
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 29, 2021
People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are just as infectious as their unvaccinated counterparts, albeit for a shorter period of time, finds an unusual new household study from the United Kingdom.