Tag: COVID-19

Ontario Hospitals May Have to Withhold Care as COVID-19 Fills ICUs

TORONTO (Reuters) – Doctors in the Canadian province of Ontario may soon have to decide who can and cannot receive treatment in intensive care as the number of coronavirus infections sets records and patients are packed into hospitals still stretched from a December wave. Canada’s most populous province is canceling elective surgeries, admitting adults to

Did catching Covid-19 help these patients fight cancer?

Did catching Covid-19 help these patients fight cancer? One saw his tumours vanish, another went into remission. Now doctors are asking if their immune response was key – and if it could also be triggered by the vaccine When doctors at a hospital in Cornwall carried out a follow-up check last summer on a 61-year-old

Sunlight linked with lower COVID-19 deaths, study shows

Sunnier areas are associated with fewer deaths from Covid-19, an observational study suggests. Increased exposure to the sun’s rays—specifically UVA—could act as a simple public health intervention if further research establishes it causes a reduction in mortality rates, experts say. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh compared all recorded deaths from Covid-19 in the continental

Valneva’s COVID-19 Shot Set for Phase Three Trial This Month

PARIS (Reuters) – Valneva on Tuesday reported positive results for its COVID-19 vaccine in early stage clinical trials and said it planned to launch a Phase Three trial this month. The French drugmaker, whose shot uses the technology behind its licensed Japanese encephalitis vaccine, tested its vaccine in 153 adults with three dose levels based

WHO says not to use ivermectin on COVID-19 patients

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that ivermectin—touted by some on social media as a COVID-19 “miracle cure”—should not be used to treat coronavirus patients. In response to the swirl of claims around the cheap anti-parasite drug, the WHO issued guidelines saying ivermectin should only be used on COVID-19 patients in clinical trial settings. The

WHO says not to use ivermectin on COVID-19 patients

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that ivermectin—touted by some on social media as a COVID-19 “miracle cure”—should not be used to treat coronavirus patients. In response to the swirl of claims around the cheap anti-parasite drug, the WHO issued guidelines saying ivermectin should only be used on COVID-19 patients in clinical trial settings. The

Untangling COVID-19 and tuberculosis

As the UK marks one year since the country went into lockdown, we’ve also been looking further afield to countries disproportionately burdened by infectious diseases, including COVID-19. To mark this year’s World TB Day, we spoke to Robert Wilkinson, head of the Crick’s Tuberculosis Laboratory, about his team’s work in Africa, understanding the links between

COVID-19 Vaccination Strategies Suggested for Patients on Antirheumatic Immunosuppressive Therapy

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – UK experts propose evidence-based management strategies for rheumatology patients on immunosuppressive therapy, including delaying/postponing rituximab, as appropriate. “The aim of this viewpoint article is to outline the existing data on the effect of antirheumatic therapy on vaccine responses in patients with inflammatory arthritis, and to formulate a possible pragmatic strategy

Toxic Metabolic Encephalopathy a Risk Factor for Death in Severe COVID-19

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Toxic metabolic encephalopathy (TME) not due to the effects of sedative medications occurred in one in eight patients hospitalized for COVID-19 at NYU Langone Health hospitals last spring, neurologists report. TME was multifactorial in these patients and most often due to hypoxemia, sepsis and uremia. After adjusting for confounding factors,

How does COVID-19 affect the heart?

A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and researchers are beginning to understand how the disease affects patients beyond initial respiratory symptoms. Mariam Bonyadi Camacho, a student in the medical scholars program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, co-wrote a recent report on the coronavirus’ cardiac effects, both short- and long-term. In an interview with