Editor's Note In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, report that the three Omicron subvariants (BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5) currently dominant in the US substantially escape neutralizing antibodies induced by both vaccination and previous COVID-19 infection. The researchers…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on June 22 announced a new “R3 Report—Issue 36: New Requirements to Reduce Health Care Disparities,” which examines the rationale and references behind new and revised requirements to reduce healthcare disparities in accredited organizations, effective January 1, 2023. Among the new and revised requirements: A…

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Editor's Note This survey study, led by researchers at Harvard Medical School, Boston, finds that clinically significant anxiety and depression increased only modestly overall in US adults in 2020. In this study of more than 1.4 million respondents in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers from Cornell University finds that nasopharyngeal swabs taken from back inside the nostril were more effective at detecting COVID-10 than saliva tests or swabs just inside the nostril or under the tongue. Comparing different samples from 77 patients, the researchers found that: Nasopharyngeal samples…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 9 updated the Class I recall by Woodside Acquisitions Inc of its Oral Rapid SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test Kits and Joysbio SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test Kits (Colloidal Gold) that are not authorized, cleared, or approved by the FDA. The FDA…

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Editor's Note This study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill finds that childcare-related employment disruptions increased by nearly one-third in 2020 and was higher in caregivers for children with special healthcare needs, low-income families, and children from racial and ethnic minority groups. Included in the study were…

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Editor's Note For the ninth year in a row, Boston Children’s Hospital is ranked the best children’s hospital in the country, the June 14 US News reports. The publication looked at 119 children’s hospitals across the country and ranked them in 10 specialties, incorporating data on patient outcomes, health equity,…

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  Editor's Note In this study, researchers from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, find that the use of eye protection by health care workers (HCWs) is important in preventing patient-to-HCW transmission of COVID-19. Of 345 HCWs who had a significant occupational exposure to patients with COVID-19, nurses accounted for 55.8%,…

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Editor's Note This simulation study, led by researchers at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Cleveland, finds that reuse of N95 masks can result in contamination of those wearing the masks and the environment, even when correct technique is used. A total of 12 healthcare workers (HCWs) performed 3…

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Editor's Note This study from Spring Health, New York City, and Yale University, New Haven Connecticut, finds that an employer-sponsored mental health benefit was associated with reduced symptoms for employees and positive financial return on investment (ROI) for employers. This cohort study included 1,132 employees participating in a workplace mental…

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