NJ sees more than 100 active COVID outbreaks in nursing homes … Moderna submits final COVID vaccine data, asks feds for priority review for full authorization … AMA calls for across-the-board vaccine...
Clinical briefs for Tuesday, Aug. 3
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 03, 2021
SNF recovery threatened by spread of delta variant: LTC exec … Nursing home COVID-19 outbreaks rising again in hot spots … Massachusetts outbreak prompts CDC to suggest re-upped pandemic mitigation...
‘Aggressive’ steps needed to keep deadly fungus out of nursing homes: APIC
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 29, 2021
Prevention is the best available strategy for keeping multidrug-resistant Candida auris infections from embedding in nursing homes, the infection control group says. “We may soon run out of options to...
New cases of antifungal-resistant yeast infections in nursing homes alarm CDC
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 26, 2021
For the first time, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has identified U.S. nursing home residents and hospital patients with candida auris yeast infections that resist all first-line antifungal...
Stay on guard: Vaccinated residents remain susceptible to outbreaks, French nursing home studies reveal
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 13, 2021
Vaccinations and infection control measures may not entirely protect nursing homes from COVID-19 outbreaks — especially when staff members are unvaccinated, according to two new studies from France.
Hospital surges tied to lower COVID-19 survival rates; cases rising mostly in the unvaccinated
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 09, 2021
Surges accounted for about 1 in every 4 U.S. COVID-19 hospital deaths through Oct. 2020, analysts say. This trend continued even as more effective treatments became available.
Antigen tests just as effective as PCR in preventing COVID outbreaks, NIH study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 02, 2021
A “highly anticipated” study now shows that both testing approaches can give 98% sensitivity when used at least twice weekly in a screening program.
Wearers of medical masks and respirators have same infection rates in healthcare settings: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 24, 2021
The risk of receiving a positive COVID-19 test result was the same among healthcare workers who wore either type of mask, investigators say. In contrast, their non-mask-wearing colleagues had significantly...
Off-season RSV infections hit the South; CDC urges testing in long-term care
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 16, 2021
Long-term care providers should keep a lookout — and potentially test for — a common respiratory virus that is spreading off-season in the southern United States, according to a CDC health alert. Staff...
Reach for N95s when community COVID rates spike, Harvard scientists urge healthcare workers
By
Alicia Lasek
Jun 16, 2021
The CDC has relaxed rules for wearing respirators in healthcare settings, but a team of Harvard doctors is encouraging workers to keep an eye on local COVID-19 rates. The superior fit and filtration of...