Editor's Note This multisite US study, led by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, supports the safety of administering a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in patients who experience allergic reactions to the first dose. Of 189 patients who participated in the study, 130 (69%)…

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Editor's Note Cigna and New York City-based Oscar Health will offer a virtual-first primary care plan next year in Georgia and Tennessee for small businesses, the July 22 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. The model, which will be available on some of the insurers’ joint plans, offers unlimited primary care provider…

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Editor's Note In this study by Mayo Clinic researchers, two monoclonal antibodies administered separately helped prevent hospitalization in high-risk COVID-19 patients. Included in the analysis were 2,747 patients who received bamlanivimab and 849 patients who received casirivimab-imdevimab from November 19, 2020, to February 11, 2021. After 28 days, all cause…

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Editor's Note In this study from the Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, age was significantly, negatively correlated with the neutralizing antibody response to COVID-19 and the P.1 (Gamma-Brazil) variant. Of 50 individuals enrolled in the study, robust neutralizing responses were observed after 2 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers from the UK finds that insertion and removal of supraglottic airway devices for general anesthesia do not generate aerosols and should not be designated as aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). Working in an ultraclean environment, the researchers used a highly sensitive aerosol detector to measure…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern and Children’s Health, Dallas, finds that children with nonsevere COVID-19 had higher rates of respiratory complications during and after general anesthesia than controls, but severe morbidity was rare and there were no deaths. A total of 99 patients…

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Part 1 of this two-part series discussed the splashes and the potential for exposure to pathogens that personnel face daily in sterile processing and endoscopy departments, as well as the current guidelines and strategies for reducing exposures (OR Manager, July 2021, pp 1, 9-11, 15). These risks were derived from…

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Increased tensions during the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to a spate of violent incidents, many of them directed at healthcare workers (HCWs). About 20% of respondents to a National Nurses United survey in late 2020 of more than 15,000 US registered nurses reported an increase in on-the-job violence caused by…

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Cancellations of some surgical procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic and case rescheduling have been a major focus for perioperative leaders. But changes are also occurring in anesthesia practices. For many surgical procedures, the use of regional anesthesia or nerve blocks, coupled with light sedation, is reported to double if the…

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What exactly is required to prepare instruments for transport to the decontamination room after a surgical procedure? Point-of-use cleaning, which may also be referred to as precleaning, has been used to describe instrument preparation at the point of use after a surgical procedure. But both point-of-use cleaning and precleaning have…

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