Articles Tagged With: vaccines
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Vaccine Expert: SARS-CoV-2 Is Becoming Endemic
Make of it what you will in an unpredictable pandemic, but one of the nation’s leading vaccine and immunology experts sees COVID-19 fading to a somewhat undefined endemic level and then returning as a seasonal virus next winter. -
Omicron: Get Your Booster Dose!
While vaccination provides protection against the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, high-level protection from a need for hospitalization requires receipt of a booster dose.
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An Epidemic of Long COVID May Be the Legacy of Omicron
The loosening of COVID-19 policies and shortening duration of precautions signal the emergence of what some call the “inevitability camp”: those who believe everyone will contract the rapidly spreading omicron variant, thereby generating herd immunity. There is one major problem with this view. It is becoming increasingly apparent that 14% (estimated range 2%-30%) of those infected with omicron will develop long COVID, a prolonged set of neurological and physical maladies that have haunted some people since the pandemic began in 2020. -
Infection Prevention Tips for Omicron Variant
As omicron swept through the nation, creating chaos at hospitals, the Infectious Diseases Society of America made four major suggestions for how organizations and individuals can prevent infection and serious illness. -
Study Results Reveal How Hospitals Handled COVID-19’s First Wave
Healthcare systems’ responses to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic varied, but most canceled elective procedures to preserve ICU capacity and adapted staffing and physical space to prepare for patient surges, according to the results of a recent study. -
Omicron Created Problems of Too Few Staff, Too Many Patients, Too Much Distress
After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare leaders know how to react and prepare. But with omicron, the earlier lessons learned were not enough to prevent patient surges and staffing shortages. -
Infectious Disease Alert Updates
Mandating COVID-19 Vaccination for Healthcare Workers — Revisited; SARS-CoV-2 as a North American Zoonosis; VIRSTA vs. PREDICT in Predicting Endocarditis
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COVID-19 Vaccination Is Life-Saving
This study confirms the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in preventing severe outcomes between the end of 2020 and October 2021 (i.e., pre-omicron). Age, immunosuppression, and chronic disease were independent risk factors. In contrast to previous studies largely involving unvaccinated individuals, male sex and race/ethnicity were not.
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Winter of Our Discontent: Omicron Variant Pushes Healthcare to Brink
With omicron causing much higher breakthrough infection rates than previous COVID-19 variants, there is concern infected healthcare workers must isolate amid an ongoing nursing shortage. The previous recommendation for 10 days has been changed to seven, and shorter than that under certain conditions. -
The Latest on COVID-19 Vaccination
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an infodemic of misinformation affecting the ability of the general public to make good decisions about vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy is a byproduct of this infodemic. After reviewing the current available data, the vaccines have an excellent risk/benefit ratio.