Editor's Note The World Health Organization on March 30 reported that although there is an overall downward trend in COVID-19 cases and deaths, 21 countries are reporting increases in cases of Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, particularly India. XBB.1.16 has a similar profile to XBB.1.5, which is the dominant strain in the…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 31 identified the recall by Datascope/Getinge of certain Cardiosave Hybrid and Rescue Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumps (IABPs) for risk of unexpected shutdown after PCBA communication loss as Class I, the most serious. On March 17, the FDA also identified Datascope/Getinge’s recall…

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Editor's Note The state of Missouri is the most recent state—out of 11—to propose legislation and/or regulations to curb or cap “price gouging” on travel nursing from healthcare staffing agencies, USA Today March 16 reports. The proposed legislation out of Missouri would reportedly allow for felony charges to be brought…

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Editor's Note This investigation by the Kentucky Department for Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of eight cases of rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) infections in a Kentucky hospital after total joint replacement procedures found that the presence of a particular OR nurse was significantly associated with the…

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Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), on March 29, issued a news report urging the public to learn to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose, now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved naloxone for sale over the counter. Naloxone, which is commonly sold as a…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that federal actions taken to expand telehealth use for Medicare patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) and to facilitate provision of medications for OUD (MOUD) were associated…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on March 29, updated its COVID-19 vaccination guidelines to say that one dose of the bivalent booster is all that is recommended at this time, even for those who were last vaccinated more than 6 months ago. The CDC notes…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Kyoto University, Japan, found that the number of days per week US adults took 8,000 steps or more was linked to a lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality at 10 years. Of 3,101 study participants,…

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Editor's Note The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), School of Nursing, on March 20, announced that it has been selected as a recipient of the UC Hispanic Serving Institutions Doctoral Diversity Initiative. The initiative is designed to attract underrepresented minorities to doctoral programs with the long-term goal of developing…

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Editor's Note The World Health Organization, on March 28, announced the revision of it’s guidance for prioritizing the use of COVID-19 vaccines after the meeting of its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE). The guidance was revised to reflect that much of the population has either been vaccinated…

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