Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on August 27 (updated September 2) issued a warning about alcohol-based hand sanitizers packaged in containers that may appear as food or drinks and could put consumers at risk of serious injury or death if ingested.( https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/covid-19-update-fda-warns-consumers-about-hand-sanitizer-packaged-food-and-drink-containers ) Some hand sanitizers are…

Read More

Editor's Note Preliminary findings in Moderna’s (Cambridge, Massachusetts) COVID-19 trial show the vaccine elicits strong immune system responses in older adults similar to responses in younger recipients, and adverse events associated with the vaccine are mainly mild or moderate. In its expansion to include older adults, the trial enrolled 40…

Read More

Editor's Note This study presented September 24 at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Conference on Coronavirus Disease finds that the initial SARS-CoV-2 viral load (VL) in nasopharyngeal samples has been decreasing as the pandemic progresses. The researchers from Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, Michigan, also…

Read More

Editor's Note In this Letter to the Editor, physicians from the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India, address the problem of treating a healthcare worker (HCW) who passes out in the OR during a surgical procedure on a COVID-19 patient. The…

Read More

Editor's Note The American Hospital Association (AHA) announced September 26 that it has launched a new webpage that comprises AHA-developed tools and resources from the federal government and others related to COVID-19 vaccines. The AHA will update the webpage often as new developments occur to keep the healthcare field informed…

Read More

Editor's Note This meta-analysis by researchers in Switzerland and Columbia finds that healthcare workers (HCWs) exhibit a high prevalence of COVID-19 infection, with a significant proportion of them being asymptomatic carriers. This favors silent transmission in clinical and community settings. The meta-analysis comprised 97 studies published in 2020, and 230,398…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 23 announced that it is seeking feedback on proposed requirements for its Advanced Certification in Spine Surgery. In collaboration with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Joint Commission developed the proposed spine surgery related requirements to include: program structure delivery of care…

Read More

Editor's Note Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 incidence was highest in older adults, but there has been a shift toward younger ages over the summer, this study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds. Nationwide, the median age of COVID-19 patients declined from 46 years in May,…

Read More

Editor's Note The Joint Commission on September 23 announced that it is seeking comments on newly developed medication order requirements for the Office-Based Surgery (OBS) Accreditation Program. The proposed requirements align with clinical guidelines to prevent medication errors. Comments will be accepted through October 26, 2020.

Read More

Editor's Note In this study from Germany, researchers found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is highly susceptible to irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) light. High viral loads (5x106TCID50/mL) were inactivated in 9 minutes with UVC (254 nm) irradiation. The UVC dose required for complete inactivation was 1,048 mJ/cm2. Exposure to UVA (365…

Read More