Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on January 29, issued a federal Public Health Order requiring all individuals to wear masks on nearly all forms of public transportation, and made refusal to wear a mask a violation of federal law. The Order mandates the use of…

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Editor's Note In this study, US and Canadian researchers find that healthcare workers (HCWs) hospitalized with COVID-19 do not have poorer outcomes than non-HCWs, even though they are at higher risk of acquiring the disease. Included in the analysis were 1,790 patients (127 HCWs and 1,663 non-HCWs). After 3:1 propensity…

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Editor's Note ECRI , on January 28, issued its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2021. First on the list is the complexity of managing devices that have Food & Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorization (EUA) because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ECRI experts caution that hospitals need to watch…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California, finds that T cells fight SARS-CoV-2 by targeting a broad range of sites on the virus, beyond the key sites on the spike protein. By attacking the virus from many angles, the T cells can…

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Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA), on January 22, lowered the number of times an N95 mask can be cleaned and reused to 4, down from a previous maximum of 20 reuses, the January 25 Fierce Biotec reports. The FDA reissued emergency use authorizations for 10 N95 decontamination…

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Editor's Note This survey of members of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia finds that COVID-19 has affected the personal and professional lives of pediatric anesthesiologists, with women and non-whites disproportionately affected. Of 561 respondents: 21.7% planned to change their clinical responsibilities, and 10.6% planned to decrease their professional working time…

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Editor's Note A Welltok survey of 1,000 adults across the US finds that 71% of employees are worried about COVID-19 vaccine side effects, 60% of Americans have a vaccine brand preference, and 52% are worried about the vaccine supply, the January 25 Human Resource Executive reports. Employers, who are seen…

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Editor's Note This study, led by researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, analyzed survey responses from 7,705 participants between April 1 and November 24, 2020, on their attitudes and resistance toward COVID-19 mitigation efforts. All US regions experienced decreases in COVID-19 mitigation efforts during this time period,…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on January 21 reissued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for 10 systems used to decontaminate N95 respirators used by healthcare personnel . The 10 systems are: Michigan State University Decontamination System Technical Safety Services VHP Decontamination System Stryker Sustainability Solutions VHP Decontamination System STERIS…

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Editor's Note From December 14 to 23, 2020, after administration of 1,893,360 first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified 21 case reports of anaphylaxis. Of those, 4 (19%) were hospitalized (including 3 in intensive care), and 17 (81%) were treated in…

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