Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

A cruise operator that failed to cancel a voyage from Sydney that led to a major COVID-19 outbreak was ruled negligent in its duty of care to passengers in an Australian class-action case Wednesday.Related video above: Cancer patient fights for cruise refundThe Ruby Princess ocean liner left Sydney on March 8, 2020, with 2,671 passengers aboard for a 13-day cruise to New Zealand but returned in 11 days as Australias borders were closing. COVID-19 spread to 663 passengers and claimed 28 lives.Passenger Susan Karpik was the lead plaintiff in the case against British-American cruise operator Carnival and its subsidiary Princess Cruises, the ship's owner.Federal Court Justice Angus Stewart ruled that Carnival had been negligent as defined by Australian consumer law by allowing the cruise to depart in the early months of the pandemic. He said Carnival had a duty to take reasonable care of her health and safety in regard to COVID-19.I have found that before the embarkation of passengers on the Ruby Princess for the cruise in question, the respondents knew or ought to have known about the heightened risk of coronavirus infection on the vessel and its potentially lethal consequences and that their procedures for screening passengers and crew members for the virus were unlikely to screen out all infectious individuals, Stewart said.Carnival had already experienced outbreaks on its cruises in the previous month aboard the Grand Princess off California and the Diamond Princess off Japan, the judge said.Carnival had failed to explain why it offered free cancellation for all cruises worldwide leaving from March 9 the day after the Ruby Princess departed and suspended all cruises on March 13, he said.To the respondents knowledge, to proceed with the cruise carried significant risk of a coronavirus outbreak with possible disastrous consequences, yet they proceeded regardless, Stewart said.Susan Karpik had sued Carnival for more than 360,000 Australian dollars ($230,000).However, she was only awarded her out-of-pocket medical expenses of AU$4,423.48 ($2,823.28) for reasons including that the judge did not accept she suffered from long COVID and that Carnival had refunded all the passengers fares.But she said she was happy with the outcome.I was very pleased with that finding. And I hope the other passengers are pleased with that finding too, she told reporters outside court.I hope the finding brings some comfort to them because theyve all been through the mill and back, she added.Her lawyer Vicky Antzoulatos said other passengers who suffered worse consequences from their sickness could expect larger payouts.While Susan Karpik's symptoms were relatively mild, her husband Henry Karpik spent two months in hospital and almost died from his infection.Susans husband was very catastrophically injured, so we expect that he will have a substantial claim, and that will be the same for a number of the passengers on the ship, Antzoulatos said.Each passenger will have to prove their claims unless Carnival agrees to settle, she said.Its been a long time coming and a very comprehensive victory for the passengers on the Ruby Princess, Antzoulatos said.Carnival Australia said in a statement it was considering the judgment in detail.The pandemic was a difficult time in Australias history, and we understand how heartbreaking it was for those affected, Carnival said.

A cruise operator that failed to cancel a voyage from Sydney that led to a major COVID-19 outbreak was ruled negligent in its duty of care to passengers in an Australian class-action case Wednesday.

Related video above: Cancer patient fights for cruise refund

The Ruby Princess ocean liner left Sydney on March 8, 2020, with 2,671 passengers aboard for a 13-day cruise to New Zealand but returned in 11 days as Australias borders were closing. COVID-19 spread to 663 passengers and claimed 28 lives.

Passenger Susan Karpik was the lead plaintiff in the case against British-American cruise operator Carnival and its subsidiary Princess Cruises, the ship's owner.

Federal Court Justice Angus Stewart ruled that Carnival had been negligent as defined by Australian consumer law by allowing the cruise to depart in the early months of the pandemic. He said Carnival had a duty to take reasonable care of her health and safety in regard to COVID-19.

I have found that before the embarkation of passengers on the Ruby Princess for the cruise in question, the respondents knew or ought to have known about the heightened risk of coronavirus infection on the vessel and its potentially lethal consequences and that their procedures for screening passengers and crew members for the virus were unlikely to screen out all infectious individuals, Stewart said.

Carnival had already experienced outbreaks on its cruises in the previous month aboard the Grand Princess off California and the Diamond Princess off Japan, the judge said.

Carnival had failed to explain why it offered free cancellation for all cruises worldwide leaving from March 9 the day after the Ruby Princess departed and suspended all cruises on March 13, he said.

To the respondents knowledge, to proceed with the cruise carried significant risk of a coronavirus outbreak with possible disastrous consequences, yet they proceeded regardless, Stewart said.

Susan Karpik had sued Carnival for more than 360,000 Australian dollars ($230,000).

However, she was only awarded her out-of-pocket medical expenses of AU$4,423.48 ($2,823.28) for reasons including that the judge did not accept she suffered from long COVID and that Carnival had refunded all the passengers fares.

But she said she was happy with the outcome.

I was very pleased with that finding. And I hope the other passengers are pleased with that finding too, she told reporters outside court.

I hope the finding brings some comfort to them because theyve all been through the mill and back, she added.

Her lawyer Vicky Antzoulatos said other passengers who suffered worse consequences from their sickness could expect larger payouts.

While Susan Karpik's symptoms were relatively mild, her husband Henry Karpik spent two months in hospital and almost died from his infection.

Susans husband was very catastrophically injured, so we expect that he will have a substantial claim, and that will be the same for a number of the passengers on the ship, Antzoulatos said.

Each passenger will have to prove their claims unless Carnival agrees to settle, she said.

Its been a long time coming and a very comprehensive victory for the passengers on the Ruby Princess, Antzoulatos said.

Carnival Australia said in a statement it was considering the judgment in detail.

The pandemic was a difficult time in Australias history, and we understand how heartbreaking it was for those affected, Carnival said.

Excerpt from:

Carnival ruled negligent over cruise where 662 passengers got COVID-19 early in pandemic - KCRA Sacramento

A study of three hospitals in Chicago found that increased use of antibiotics at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic was limited to COVID-19 patients, researchers reported yesterday in Infection Control & Epidemiology.

To determine differences in antibiotic use between COVID-19 and nonCOVID-19 patients, a team led by researchers from Rush University Medical Center analyzed electronic health record data from three tertiary acute-care hospitals covering the preCOVID-19 period (March to December 2019) and the COVID-19 period (March to December 2020). They stratified patients by COVID-19 status, calculated relative percentage differences in antibiotic use in COVID-19 versus nonCOVID-19 patients during the two periods, and also compared antibiotic use in nonCOVID-19 patients during the two periods.

Facility-wide antibiotic use for all antibiotics was significantly greater in COVID-19 patients compared with nonCOVID-19 patients in two of three hospitals during the COVID-19 period, and use of broad-spectrum agents for hospital-onset infections was significantly greater in COVID-19 patients versus nonCOVID-19 patients in all three hospitals during both the COVID-19 period (with relative increases of 73%, 66%, and 91% for hospitals A, B, and C, respectively) and the preCOVID-19 period (with relative increases of 52%, 64%, and 66% for hospitals A, B, and C, respectively).

In contrast, facility-wide antibiotic use for all antibacterial agents was significantly lower in nonCOVID-19 patients during the COVID-19 period versus the preCOVID-19 period (with relative decreases of 8%, 7%, and 8% in hospitals A, B, and C, respectively).

The study authors say the increased use of broad-spectrum antibiotics at the beginning of the pandemic "likely resulted from the diagnostic and therapeutic uncertainty in the context of high mortality rates," while reduced antibiotic use in nonCOVID-19 patients during that period could reflect both the durability of antimicrobial stewardship efforts and changes in inpatient populations.

"Elective procedures were deferred, admissions for less critical illnesses were reduced, and the most chronically ill patients who ordinarily would have been admitted for nonCOVID-19 indications may instead have been admitted with COVID-19," they wrote.

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Increased antibiotic use at Chicago hospitals limited to COVID-19 ... - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Certain gut-dwelling fungi flourish in severe cases of COVID-19, amplifying the excessive inflammation that drives this disease while also causing long-lasting changes in the immune system, according to a new study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. This discovery identifies a group of patients who may benefit from specialized but yet-to-be-determined treatments.

Utilizing patient samples and preclinical models, the research team determined that the growth of fungi in the intestinal tract, particularly strains of Candida albicans yeast, trigger an upsurge in immune cells whose actions can exacerbate lung damage. Their findings, published Oct. 23 in Nature Immunology, also elucidate that patients retain a heightened immune response and immune memory against these fungi for up to a year after the resolution of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The research reveals a new dimension of the complex pathology unleashed by severe COVID-19, according to senior author Iliyan Iliev, associate professor of immunology in medicine in the Department of Medicine, co-director of the Microbiome Core Lab and a member of the Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Severe and long COVID-19 were not thought to involve fungal blooms in the intestines that, in addition to the virus, can impact patients immunity, he said.

Iliev, an immunologist who studies the microbiome and the chronic inflammatory conditions targeting the gastrointestinal tract, pivoted to COVID-19 during the pandemic. As researchers gained a better handle on the new viral infections, it became clear that, in COVID-19 as in inflammatory bowel disease, the bodys own inflammatory immune response causes harm.

To investigate this errant immune response, Iliev and Takato Kusakabe, a postdoctoral fellow and a first author in the study, worked with numerous colleagues to acquire three large clinical cohorts of COVID-19 patients and develop a mouse model to study the disease. They collaborated with members of the Weill Department of Medicine and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine including Stephen Josefowitz, Dr. Mirella Salvatore, Dr. Melissa Cushing, Lars Westblade and Adolfo Garca-Sastre, a professor of microbiology and director of the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The team first made the connection when analysis of blood samples from patients at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center diagnosed with severe COVID-19 unveiled the presence of antibodies, tuned to attack fungi common to the gut. The researchers then found that populations of yeast, and one species in particular, Candida albicans, increased in the intestines of the patients during the course of severe COVID-19.

When they looked at the patients immune systems, the researchers found a parallel increase in immune cells called neutrophils. In severe COVID-19, excessive numbers of neutrophils appear in the lungs, where their activity worsens the inflammatory response already damaging these organs.

Turning to preclinical models, the investigators found that mice bearing fungi from patients with severe COVID-19 produced more neutrophils in their blood and lungs, and had signs of heightened inflammation when infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, giving them an antifungal drug reduced these effects.

From within patients blood samples, researchers also uncovered evidence of persistent changes to the immune system they believe are related to a condition known as long COVID-19, in which symptoms linger, or new ones develop, after an infection has cleared.

When the team examined patients blood up to a year afterward, they found it still contained anti-fungal antibodies. In addition, when they looked at the stem cells that give rise to neutrophils, the researchers found that these progenitors are primed to respond to fungi. They found that an immune protein called IL-6, which these fungi induce, appears to bolster both the neutrophils and the antibodies.

Further experiments showed that blocking IL-6 in the patients or in mice dampened this immunological memory, causing the presence of neutrophils and antibodies to wane.

While these results do not have immediate implications for treating severe or long COVID-19, they suggest new opportunities to tailor therapy, according to Iliev.For example, anti-fungal antibodies could potentially serve as a marker to identify patients who might benefit from a therapy that targets the fungi or the immunological changes they instigate.

Or, assuming further research supports it, the antibodies presence could indicate someone might be at risk for long COVID-19. The teams discoveries may also have relevance beyond COVID-19, said Iliev, who notes this research could open new avenues of exploration for the treatment of other infectious and inflammatory diseases.

This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Jill Roberts Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Irma T. Hirschl Career Scientist Award, Crohns and Colitis Foundation, and the Burrough Welcome Trust PATH Award.

Many Weill Cornell Medicine physicians and scientists maintain relationships and collaborate with external organizations to foster scientific innovation and provide expert guidance. The institution makes these disclosures public to ensure transparency. For this information, see the profile for Dr. Melissa Cushing.

Wynne Parry is a freelance writer for Weill Cornell Medicine.

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Gut fungi amplify inflammation in severe COVID-19 | Cornell Chronicle - Cornell Chronicle

Overview

This report and action plan summarize the proceedings and outcome of a 2-day Joint convening on COVID-19 vaccination in humanitarian settings and the contribution to broader pandemic preparedness held on 1415 February 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The goal of the joint convening was to address the challenges encountered in implementing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination for populations of concern (PoCs) and to prepare for future pandemics. The convening was organized by the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership (CoVDP) and key partners from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Health Cluster (GHC), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), INTERSOS, Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF), bilateral partners, and UN agencies.

It connected health and humanitarian agencies and other actors, and stakeholders discussed lessons learnt as well as concrete steps to enable equitable responses during pandemics in which those affected by humanitarian emergencies and in need of humanitarian assistance have access to public health and medical countermeasures (MCMs), such as vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics that can be used to diagnose, prevent or treat diseases in pandemic

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COVID-19 vaccination in humanitarian settings - World Health Organization

In a recent study published in the journalHypertension Research, researchers review the role of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-B) activation in the replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)and the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)medications on NF-B activation.

Study:The role of SARS-CoV-2-mediated NF-B activation in COVID-19 patients. Image Credit: Avocado_studio / Shutterstock.com

SARS-CoV-2 infections exhibit substantial heterogeneity, with some infected individuals completely asymptomatic and others progressing to acute pneumonia that requires hospitalization and respiratory assistance. Severe SARS-CoV-2 infections have also resulted in various sequelae involving multiple organ systems.

However, the rapid development of various COVID-19 vaccines and subsequent global vaccination campaigns have been largely successful in reducing the spread and virulence of SARS-CoV-2. Currently, public health officials have transitioned from preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection to treating COVID-19 cases that arise following infection with new SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Various comorbidities, including hypertension, are known to increase the risk of severe COVID-19. Common hypertension medications include inhibitors of angiotensin-converting enzymes or angiotensin receptors; however, the role of the NF-B activation, particularly the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-mediated type, in the progression of COVID-19 has not been well-studied.

In the present review, researchers examine the changes associated with NF-B activation that occur during SARS-CoV-2 infections in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). Moreover, they discuss whether angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) used to treat hypertension can affect the severity of COVID-19.

The impact of COVID-19 medications on NF-B activation was also assessed to elucidate how these drugs regulate the uncontrolled inflammatory responses that are characteristic of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

NF-B is a major transcription factor that gets activated during inflammatory responses. NF-B is typically present in its inactivated form in the cytoplasm of cells, where it is bound to the inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B (IB) suppressor protein.

The degradation of IB activates NF-B through different signaling pathways. The canonical pathway of NF-B activation leads to further activation of other factors, such as interleukin 1 receptor, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors, and toll-like receptors, resulting in inflammatory and immune responses.

The non-canonical pathway does not require the degradation of IB. However, the phosphorylation of NF-B inducing kinase and the receptor activator of NF-B of B lymphocytes is essential for this process.

The abnormal activation of NF-B has been documented in various diseases, including diabetes, immune deficiency, atherosclerosis, and inflammatory diseases.

The ACE-2 receptor mediates the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the host cell. In fact, the high affinity of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein subunit 1 to the ACE-2 receptor is largely responsible for the high transmissibility of this virus.

However, ACE-2 also plays a pivotal role in the RAAS in regulating electrolyte balance and blood pressure. The binding of SARS-CoV-2 to ACE-2 could result in competitive inhibition of the catalytic activity of ACE-2, which could enhance the activation of NF-B.

The inflammatory imbalance that results from SARS-CoV-2 infection could lead to an increased susceptibility to inflammatory cytokine storm and inflammatory imbalance in hypertension patients with COVID-19. However, previous studies have reported that treatment with ARBs and ACEIs can inhibit the activation of NF-B and lower the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the alveolar cells in the lungs.

Treatment with ARBs and ACEIs may also reduce the number of critical cases and deaths among hypertensive COVID-19 patients. The therapeutic effects of tocilizumab, which is a monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19, have been enhanced when used in combination with ARBs and ACEIs in COVID-19 patients with hypertension.

Growing evidence suggests that the uncontrolled inflammatory response and cytokine storm that occurs during severe SARS-CoV-2 infection play a significant role in the development of severe post-COVID-19 sequelae. Thus, these hyper-inflammatory responses must be controlled to prevent the multi-organ dysfunction and respiratory distress that often occurs after COVID-19.

However, the administration of certain drugs used to suppress hyper-inflammatory responses, such as dexamethasone and metformin, is associated with some limitations. For example, dexamethasone has been primarily effective in patients receiving respiratory support, whereas metformin is unsuitable for patients with heart failure, renal impairments, or severe respiratory distress.

Treatment with ARBs and ACEIs has been shown to be beneficial in reducing the severity and mortality rates among COVID-19 patients with hypertension. Likewise, the effects of monoclonal antibody therapies have improved when combined with ARBs and ACEIs.

Further research is needed to determine the dosage, administration timings, potential contraindications, and side effects of using COVID-19 drugs that inhibit the activation of NF-B.

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NF-B activation during COVID-19 and its impact on patients with ... - News-Medical.Net

Urgent Need for Vaccination With the Newest COVID-19 Vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recently recommended vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccines that had been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Sept. 11. These EUAs were issued to Moderna and Pfizer for their new and updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to combat the increasingly prevalent new variant for which prior natural or acquired immunity does not confer protection.

In a commentary published in the American Journal of Medicine , researchers from Florida Atlantic Universitys Schmidt College of Medicine and collaborators provide the most updated guidance to health care providers.

The war on COVID-19 continues to be fought valiantly and selflessly by health care professionals in communities and hospitals across the nation., said Allison H. Ferris, M.D., senior author, chair of the Department of Medicine, and program director of the internal medicine residency program, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. As competent and compassionate physicians, we must redouble our efforts to promote evidence-based clinical and public health practices, including vaccination of all eligible U.S. adults and children with the new vaccine."

A large body of reliable randomized evidence indicates that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination on mortality and hospitalizations vastly outweigh the risk for all individuals aged 6 years and older. Moreover, vaccination of children eligible to receive the new COVID-19 vaccine will have major clinical and public health impacts by reducing their hospitalizations and deaths as well as those of their parents, grandparents, childcare providers and schoolteachers. While the absolute risks of severe COVID-19 are low in youths, the benefit to risk ratio is favorable toward vaccination.

In addition, COVID-19 vaccines are readily available and accessible with minimal out-of-pocket expenses. These favorable circumstances result from the collaborations between the pharmaceutical industry, the FDA, the CDC, as well as federal and private insurers. The updated COVID-19 vaccines are now readily available at most pharmacies, and sources can be accessed at Vaccines.gov. Health providers can reassure their patients that the Affordable Care Act mandates that insurance companies reimburse the cost for the updated vaccine for COVID-19 as well as all vaccines that are endorsed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Further, the CDCs Bridge Access Program for both underinsured and uninsured patients from participating providers, health centers and pharmacies. In addition, uninsured children are covered by the Vaccines for Children Program.

In the face of continuing opposition to masking, social distancing and crowd avoidance in the U.S., vaccination is the best defense against a new emerging strain, said Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., co-author, and the first Richard Doll Professor and senior academic advisor to the dean in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU. This approach coupled with a prescription of Paxlovid as needed during the first five days following infection will also further reduce hospitalizations and deaths.

Study co-authors are Sarah K. Wood, MD, FAAP, M.D., senior author, director of the Harvard Macy Institute at Harvard Medical School and former professor of pediatrics and vice dean for medical education, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. Dennis G. Maki , M.D., Ovid O. Meyer professor of medicine, director of the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit and an internationally renowned infectious disease clinician and epidemiologist from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and Mia Glickman, second year medical student, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine.

Maki and Hennekens served together for two years as lieutenant commanders in the U.S. Public Health Service as Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officers with the CDC. They served under Alexander D. Langmuir, M.D., who created the EIS and epidemiology program at the CDC, and Donald A. Henderson, M.D., chief of the virus disease surveillance program at the CDC. Langmuir and Henderson made significant contributions to the eradication of polio and smallpox using widespread vaccinations and public health strategies.

-FAU-

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FAU | FAU Experts Support Vaccination With the Newest COVID-19 ... - Florida Atlantic University

"In order to improve the care and quality of life for those who experience long-term neurological symptoms after COVID-19, we need to understand the underlying causes of post-COVID condition," senior author Magnus Gisslen, MD, PhD, of the University of Gothenburg, said in the release. "This study provides new insights into the condition, and can thus represent a valuable contribution to ongoing discussions and research."

In the second study, published yesterday in BMC Infectious Diseases, University of Bergen researchers in Norway parsed national registry data to assess the prevalence of and risk factors for long COVID at least 3 months after infection.

A total of 53,846 people who tested positive for COVID-19 from February 2020 to February 2021 were compared with 485,757 uninfected matched control participants. The average age was 41 years, 51.6% were men, and most were unvaccinated.

COVID-19 survivors had higher rates of most studied symptoms than controls, with the greatest risks for shortness of breath (hazard ratio [HR], 2.75), fatigue (HR, 2.08), memory loss (HR, 1.41), and headache (HR, 1.39).

Risk factors included outcome symptoms that began before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the associations were weaker among COVID-19 survivors. Underlying medical conditions weren't tied to fatigue or shortness of breath among the infected, but both the infected and uninfected groups had a slightly higher risk of memory loss, with higher comorbidity scores. Women were more at risk for fatigue and shortness of breath than men in both groups.

Hospitalization for COVID-19 moderately increased the risk for fatigue (relative risk [RR], 1.61) and memory loss (RR, 1.58) but was a marked risk factor for shortness of breath (RR, 2.32) after infection, compared with the nonhospitalized COVID-19 group.

"We found that the risk of fatigue or shortness of breath were more than doubled 3 to 12 months after COVID-19 compared to a control group of unexposed persons," the researchers wrote. "The likelihood for memory disturbance, other respiratory symptoms, pain in abdomen, chest and musculoskeletal system and headache were also significantly higher in the COVID-19 group."

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Study finds no signs of ongoing infection, brain damage in long ... - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

A study of three hospitals in Chicago found that increased use of antibiotics at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic was limited to COVID-19 patients, researchers reported yesterday in Infection Control & Epidemiology.

To determine differences in antibiotic use between COVID-19 and nonCOVID-19 patients, a team led by researchers from Rush University Medical Center analyzed electronic health record data from three tertiary acute-care hospitals covering the preCOVID-19 period (March to December 2019) and the COVID-19 period (March to December 2020). They stratified patients by COVID-19 status, calculated relative percentage differences in antibiotic use in COVID-19 versus nonCOVID-19 patients during the two periods, and also compared antibiotic use in nonCOVID-19 patients during the two periods.

Facility-wide antibiotic use for all antibiotics was significantly greater in COVID-19 patients compared with nonCOVID-19 patients in two of three hospitals during the COVID-19 period, and use of broad-spectrum agents for hospital-onset infections was significantly greater in COVID-19 patients versus nonCOVID-19 patients in all three hospitals during both the COVID-19 period (with relative increases of 73%, 66%, and 91% for hospitals A, B, and C, respectively) and the preCOVID-19 period (with relative increases of 52%, 64%, and 66% for hospitals A, B, and C, respectively).

In contrast, facility-wide antibiotic use for all antibacterial agents was significantly lower in nonCOVID-19 patients during the COVID-19 period versus the preCOVID-19 period (with relative decreases of 8%, 7%, and 8% in hospitals A, B, and C, respectively).

The study authors say the increased use of broad-spectrum antibiotics at the beginning of the pandemic "likely resulted from the diagnostic and therapeutic uncertainty in the context of high mortality rates," while reduced antibiotic use in nonCOVID-19 patients during that period could reflect both the durability of antimicrobial stewardship efforts and changes in inpatient populations.

"Elective procedures were deferred, admissions for less critical illnesses were reduced, and the most chronically ill patients who ordinarily would have been admitted for nonCOVID-19 indications may instead have been admitted with COVID-19," they wrote.

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Bivalent boosters offer added protection for previously vaccinated ... - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Latin-American parents and caregivers in L.A. County say they need trusted sources of information before vaccinating their children against COVID-19, according to a new study led by a Cedars-Sinai investigator.

The findings are published in the peer-reviewed journal Vaccines.

The big message for primary care providers is that our words hold so much weight when it comes to helping patients make informed decisions, said lead author Yelba Castellon-Lopez, MD, a primary care provider and a research scientist in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Cedars-Sinai. Taking a moment to ask why can help you learn so much.

In October 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized two COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use in children ages 5-11, but many eligible children remain unvaccinated.

In L.A. County, less than half of children ages 5-11 are vaccinated against COVID-19. These rates are even lower for Latin-American children in the area: Only 27.7% of these children had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of August 2023.

In March and April 2022, investigators conducted six virtual focus groups with 47 parents and caregivers of children ages 5-11. The parents and caregivers were recruited because of their participation in another study that assessed the effectiveness of MiVacunaLA, a mobile-phone text-based program meant to educate parents and caregivers and improve vaccination rates. Half of the parents and caregivers had been exposed to the intervention and half had not.

Answers from parents and caregivers fit into the following general themes:

Parents also said doctors and scientific studies are trusted sources of COVID-19 vaccine information and that they appreciate text messages containing information about COVID-19 vaccines. The investigators found that digital content, such as videos featuring doctors, can help parents in their decision-making.

The investigators are continuing to study how the MiVacunaLA program improves parents likelihood of vaccinating their children.

Funding: The study was funded by the VaxUp Innovation Challenge Grant sponsored by Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health and CEAL/STOP COVID-19 CA.

Read more on the Cedars-Sinai Blog:Tips to Navigate a COVID-19 Infection in Your Household

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Latin-American Parents Express Need for Trusted Sources on ... - Cedars-Sinai

Alston & Bird is now one of the latestemployers to be sued for allegedly firing an employee for not complying with COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Alston, an Am Law 100 firm with about 1,600 employees worldwide, on Wednesday asked that a September lawsuitfiled by former legal assistant Joanne Halvorson in Gwinnett County Superior Court be moved to the Atlanta Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

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Alston & Bird Becomes the Latest Employer Sued Over COVID-19 ... - Law.com