Editor's Note Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced July 30 that it has started its human safety trials to assess its COVID-19 vaccine, after reporting on details of its animal study. A single dose of the vaccine completely protected all six animals from lung disease and five of six from infection,…

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Editor's Note This study found a temporal association between school closures statewide and lower COVID-19 incidence and mortality, but some of the reductions may have been related to other concurrent interventions. At the time of school closure, the incidence of COVID-19 ranged from 0 to 14.75 cases per 100,000 population.…

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Editor's Note This study, led by researchers from King’s College London, analyzed data on 1,600 patients who reported their symptoms daily into an app. They differentiated the patients into six groups from least to most severe symptoms: Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever.…

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Editor's Note This survey on the “Impact of COVID-19 on healthcare associated infections” provides a snapshot of how resource diversion for the COVID-19 is affecting the infection prevention community. Of 220 respondents, 79.1% said they were spending more than 75% of their time on COVID-19 response efforts and another 13.2%…

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Editor's Note Differing immune system responses of patients with COVID-19 can predict who will experience moderate and severe outcomes of the disease, this study by Yale researchers finds. Of 113 patients analyzed, all shared common COVID-19 immune system activity early in the course of the disease. Patients with moderate symptoms had…

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Editor's Note US News & World Report on July 28 released its 2019-2020 Best Hospitals Honor Roll. The top five are: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota Cleveland Clinic Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York City, and UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles (tie) Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston…

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Editor's Note This study reinforces the high risk of COVID-19 transmission in households and is the first to show the effectiveness of precautionary mask use, social distancing, and regular disinfection before the development of symptoms in the index case. There was no association between mask use after illness onset in…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 24 reissued its emergency use authorization (EUA) for LabCorp’s COVID-19 RT-PCR Test to include two new indications for use: Testing for individuals who do not have COVID-19 symptoms or who have no reason to suspect COVID-19 infection. Allowing for pooled…

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Editor's Note The hormone, leptin, which links the body’s metabolism and immune response system, may be the link between obesity and its high prevalence as a comorbidity of COVID-19, this study finds. Leptin levels are always high in obese people because leptin is produced by fat cells. Elevated leptin levels…

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Editor's Note The protective value of masks depends on how they are used. If people are reckless about masking up or clumsy when handling or removing masks, they can put themselves and others at risk, the July 21 Livestrong reports. To get the most out of wearing face-coverings, it’s important…

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