Editor's Note Moderna, Inc announced new clinical data on its “Omicron-containing bivalent” COVID-19 booster candidate and a vaccine candidate targeting the Omicron variant of concern, Healthcare Purchasing News (HPN) June 9 reports. The booster dose of the new mRNA vaccine reportedly had a “superior neutralizing antibody response…against the Omicron variant…

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Editor's Note In this French study, two human broadly neutralizing antibodies show promise in providing long-acting immunity against COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients. The antibodies were effective against all COVID-19 variants tested and could be used alone or in an antibody cocktail. Researchers examined 102 spike monoclonal antibodies cloned from IgA…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on June 15 that it is seeking comments on proposed Emergency Management (EM) chapter requirements related to surge management for its hospital and critical access hospital accreditation programs. Since approval of the new, revised EM standards, which are effective July 1, experts in the…

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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 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 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on June 10 announced that it will no longer require international travelers to have a negative COVID-19 test before flying to the US, effective June 12. The CDC continues to recommend that travelers flying to the US get tested as…

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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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