Cleveland Clinic researchers see rise in stress cardiomyopathy during COVID-19 pandemic
Editor's Note Cleveland Clinic researchers have found a significant increase in patients with stress cardiomyopathy during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the study, cardiologists examined 1,914 patients coming to the Cleveland Clinic with heart symptoms between March 1 and April 30 and compared them with patients in four time periods before…
Joint Commission places hold on public reporting of perinatal care measures
Editor's Note The Joint Commission on July 8 announced that because of extended data submission timelines and optional reporting for fourth quarter 2019 data due to COVID-19, the planned July 2020 display of two ORYX Perinatal Care measures on Quality Check has been placed on hold. The measures are: PC-02…
Potential effect of contaminated bronchoscopes on COVID-19 patients
Editor's Note In this Letter to the Editor, epidemiologist and researcher Cori L. Ofstead, MSPH, and colleagues caution that because of high bronchoscope contamination rates found during routine use in previous studies, the possibility of bronchoscopy-associated transmission of COVID-19 or other pathogens must be considered. Though high-level disinfection should eliminate…
New COVID-19 test uses blood, saliva, urine samples
Editor's Note A new COVID-19 test that uses blood, saliva, and urine samples and can deliver results within 30 to 45 minutes without expensive lab equipment has been developed by researchers at Beaumont Research Institute, Royal Oak, Michigan. The test can be used at the point of risk, such as…
Investigation of COVID-19 nosocomial infections identifies close contact, not airborne transmission as cause
Editor's Note This investigation, by researchers at the University of California-Davis Medical Center, of the pattern of transmission of COVID-19 during two nosocomial outbreaks finds that close contact between patients and healthcare workers (HCWs) not airborne transmission was the cause of the outbreak. Two separate patients were admitted in February…
National COVID-19 survey finds significant mental health effects
Editor's Note In a nationwide survey that assessed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional wellbeing of adults, 90% of respondents reported experiencing emotional distress. The survey of 1,500 adults found that: 80% were frustrated with not being able to do what they normally enjoy doing 80% were…
Study: Hydroxychloroquine lowers COVID-19 death rate
Editor's Note In this study, researchers from Henry Ford Health System in Michigan found that hydroxychloroquine alone decreased the mortality hazard ratio of COVID-19 by 66%, and hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin decreased the ratio by 71%, compared to neither treatment. The vast majority of the 2,541 COVID-19 patients included in the…
Late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trials to start this summer
Editor's Note The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci says COVID-19 vaccine candidates will start moving into late-stage clinical trials by the end of July, continuing through the summer and into fall, the July 2 Reuters reports. The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr…
Cause of COVID-19 blood clotting identified
Editor's Note In this study, Yale researchers found that endotheliopathy and platelet activation might be important factors in the pathophysiology of COVID-19-associated coagulopathy. The researchers examined the blood of 68 COVID-19 patients, 48 of them in ICU and 20 receiving care in a hospital unit, along with 13 disease free…
AHA: COVID-19 to cost hospitals $323 billion
Editor's Note The American Hospital Association on June 30 released a report on the financial strain facing hospitals and health systems because of COVID-19, with total losses expected to be at least $323 billion in 2020. The total included $120.5 billion in financial losses that hospitals are predicted to see…