In practice, “standard” duration of antibiotic therapy is often based on archaic studies. Newer evidence shows that shorter durations are often a better choice and that antibiotic resistance is more likely to develop with longer durations of therapy. Here are the recommendations applied to four commonly treated infections.
Curious about the long-term impacts of COVID-19? A new study that involved 2,433 hospitalized patients found that the most common symptoms after one year were fatigue, sweating, chest tightness, anxiety, and myalgia. The study, conducted in Wuhan, China, one of the global epicenters of the pandemic, also found that patients with severe disease had more […]
Evidence is mounting that much of the concern about waning immunity to COVID-19 is overstated and that vaccines provide high levels of protection against the respiratory disease and its variants over the long-term. Immunologically, plasmablast and B-cell response after mRNA vaccination is long-lived and memory B cells increase over at least six months. And in […]
Antibodies against COVID-19 continue to perplex and confound physicians and research scientists. Although people who have gotten COVID-19 or been vaccinated against the respiratory disease develop a humoral immune response that protects them from reinfection, those antibodies decline over time, leaving people vulnerable to reinfection. Understanding why this happens is critically important to modeling how […]
Nearly a third of all Americans (100 million people) have now been infected with COVID-19. And scientific evidence shows that natural immunity from infection is durable and long-lasting. So why is it then that inoculations continue to be pushed for all people regardless of whether they have contracted COVID-19 or not? And why isn’t natural […]
As the influenza season will coincide with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s perfect timing for the release of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) influenza vaccination updated guidance. The comprehensive report indicates that COVID-19 vaccines can be co-administered with other vaccines, including influenza vaccines like egg-based flu vaccines and cell culture-based inactivated and […]
Shawna McCafferty, MD, a US Navy Veteran and a pediatrician in Charleston, South Carolina, provides a glimpse into her role as a “terrified and angry” doctor and mother seeing kids suffer from this latest wave and ultimately asking the question, “…exactly how much child death and devastation is acceptable?”
Publication: Blood AdvancesStudy Design: Prospective study with unmatched health care workforce control group, receiving either Moderna or Pfizer COVID vaccination.Study Population: 23 patients with CLL (61%), lymphoma (39%) (including DLBCL), MCL (13%) and 4% with less common lymphomas.Outcome: Lymphoma patients had significantly lower anti-S IgG titers 28 days post-vaccination compared with controls. Related Article: Efficacy […]
An OBGYN voices frustration — “silently cursing behind my mask” – with the patients who “recite a litany of scientifically illiterate reasons for not taking” the COVID-19 vaccine despite its 99%+ effectiveness in keeping them alive. Do you share this doctor’s sentiments?
Source: BMC Pulmonary MedicineFindings: IPF patients who switched from one antifibrotic therapy to the alternative — whether from pirfenidone (Esbriet) to nintedanib (Ofev, Vargatef) or the other way around – had improved survival. This observation held true whether the reason for switch was disease progress or tolerance issues.Design: Multi-center retrospective cohort study; 262 patients