Articles related to COVID-19

Risks for ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, MI, and pulmonary embolism were all lower for older patients receiving a bivalent vaccine booster versus the monovalent vaccine. The results “provide reassurance regarding the continued use of this bivalent vaccine.”

Comparing outcomes for all available monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID, this study found the risk for hospitalization or death at 28 days was 4.6% in treated patients and 7.6% in nontreated control patients. Relative risk was somewhat lower for Alpha and Delta variants, and highest for Omicron variants.

“Moral distress occurs when an individual is required to act contrary to deeply held professional values.” Institutional response to the COVID pandemic certainly has generated moral distress among HCPs. What can be done to repair moral loss?

A chart review of 81 million individuals yielded two matched groups of more than 150,000 patients each: one with COVID and the other with influenza. In these populations, the risk of seizures and epilepsy was higher in the COVID group. The HR of epilepsy after COVID compared with influenza was highest in individuals who were not hospitalized and in those under the age of 16.

Twelve-hundred (1,200) patients admitted for 48 hours or more for COVID were randomized to 2.5mg of apixaban or placebo twice daily for 30 days. The incidence of death or thromboembolism was low and similar in the two arms of this study. The study was terminated early and the authors say the results are imprecise.

In a study population of nearly 3.25 million adults receiving COVID boosters from November 2021 through February 2022, the 20-week risk per 1,000 for contracting COVID was 164.2 for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 159.9 for the Moderna vaccine.