Early steroid use for severe COVID-19 tied to fewer deaths CIDRAP

JAMA Network Open has published a new US national cohort study demonstrating that early administration of the steroid dexamethasone was associated with significantly reduced odds of mortality or discharge to hospice in those requiring supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

The effect was not seen, however, in patients who did not require supplemental oxygen or noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation.

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes Changes to Simplify Use of Bivalent mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines The FDA amended the EUAs of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccines to simplify the vaccination schedule for most individuals. Office of the Commissioner U.S. Food and Drug Administration

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Study: COVID disturbed sleep patterns, leading to breathlessness post-infection CIDRAP

New research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine and presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) suggests the altered sleep patterns in British residents hospitalized with COVID-19 likely contributed to developing breathlessness, or dyspnea following recovery from the initial illness.

As gun violence reaches record levels in the US, an underlying trauma may be building up | CNN As more communities reel from deadly mass shootings -- including Dadeville, Alabama, where four people were killed and 28 injured at a Sweet 16 birthday party over the weekend -- there's evidence that the trauma of gun violence in the United States is taking a collective toll on the nation's mental health. Deidre McPhillips CNN

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In-person school reopenings tied to modest rise in community COVID spread CIDRAP

A study of US counties suggests that communities with schools that switched from remote to in-person instruction in fall 2020 had slightly higher COVID-19 case rates 4 to 8 weeks later than those that remained virtual.

The research was published today in JAMA Network Open.

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As the COVID emergency ends, monoclonal antibodies remain essential With the FDA not currently approving mAbs and the federal government no longer buying them, monoclonals seem to have been expunged from America’s COVID-fighting strategy. dtodd The Hill

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