Articles related to COVID-19

The year 2020 has been long and trying, and MDLinx conducted a COVID-19 survey of US physicians and found that nearly half of doctors are rethinking their careers. Still, it is important to consider that many physicians still find joy and fulfillment in practicing medicine. But who are the happiest? Here is what the Medscape Physician Lifestyle & Happiness Report 2020 had to say.

The British Medical Journal’s executive editor, Kamran Abbasi, pens a commentary about DANMASK-19, the first trial of mask use during COVID-19 and its controversial “negative” results. Abbasi claims that disagreement among experts, especially about interpretation of a study, is a common occurrence and “the usual business of science,” but the influence of social media has created a major challenge for science.

From MedPage Today comes this story about Cliff Willmeng, a registered nurse who was fired from United Hospital in St. Paul, MN, in May 2020. Willmeng believes the hospital board is investigating his conduct due to his standing up for his own safety and that of other nurses when he pressed for hospital scrubs over using and reusing his own, fearing he may bring the virus home.

This randomized controlled trial was to assess whether recommending surgical mask use outside the home reduces wearers’ risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in a setting where masks were uncommon and not among recommended public health measures. The results from the study were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) stated goal for deploying a COVID-19 vaccine is “to decrease death and serious disease as much as possible.” According to José Romero, MD, Chair of the ACIP, the decision to vaccinate health care workers first is based on the actions that will help control the pandemic fastest.

According to a new study in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, weakness, poor blood sugar control, and gastrointestinal complaints can now be added to the known symptoms of COVID-19, which included fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. Researchers analyzed 12,000 adult patients in New York City emergency departments to compile the data.