(HealthDay)—More than 500,000 U.S. children had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of early September, with a sizable uptick seen in recent weeks, a new report reveals. There were 70,630 new child cases reported between Aug. 20 and Sept. 3, 2020. That brings the total to 513,415 cases—a 16% increase over two weeks, according to state-by-state […]
Even 80% empty stadiums linked to higher COVID-19 cases and deaths
Professional football matches played before lockdown, even those in near-empty stadiums, were linked to higher COVID-19 cases and deaths in the local area, a study has found. The findings suggest that reopening stadiums with reduced capacities is unlikely to reduce rates of transmission on its own, without effective social distancing measures for fans before, during […]
COVID-19 precautions extend to car seats, seat belts
Face masks and hand-washing are a good start, but to protect your kids from the coronavirus you’ll need to up your game on the road, too, a leading pediatricians’ group says. There are a number of things parents should do to protect children from COVID-19 infection when they’re traveling in cars or using other types […]
Combining tests at point of care dramatically increases COVID-19 detection in hospitalised patients
A Cambridge hospital has piloted the use of combined rapid point-of-care nucleic acid and antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection after researchers at the University of Cambridge showed that this approach was superior to virus detection alone for diagnosing COVID-19 disease. Point-of-care testing—in other words, testing patients as soon as they arrive at the hospital—is essential […]
Sweden uncovers 3,700 false positives from COVID-19 test kit
Sweden’s Public Health Agency said Tuesday a faulty test kit had returned some 3,700 false positive results, an error discovered by two laboratories during routine quality controls. The agency said the PCR kits, which test for an ongoing COVID-19 infection, were made in China by the company BGI Genomics and had been distributed worldwide. In […]
Global trial to test whether MMR vaccine protects front-line health-care workers against COVID-19
An international research network of physicians and scientists is launching a clinical trial to evaluate whether the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) can protect front-line health-care workers against infection from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The trial aims to enroll up to 30,000 health-care workers globally. Washington University School of Medicine in […]
Q&A: Talking to friends, family, kids, and coworkers about COVID-19 safety
For the most part, physical distancing guidelines for interacting with others during the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t changed: Remain six feet or more apart, wear a mask, practice good hand hygiene, and avoid prolonged interactions indoors. But navigating the interpersonal side of these recommendations can be trickier. Physical distancing runs counter to many of our social […]
Too many COVID-19 patients get unneeded ‘just in case’ antibiotics
More than half of patients hospitalized with suspected COVID-19 in Michigan during the state’s peak months received antibiotics soon after they arrive, just in case they had a bacterial infection in addition to the virus, a new study shows. But testing soon showed that 96.5% of them only had the coronavirus, which antibiotics don’t affect. […]
Mental health has long been a challenge for grad students. COVID-19 has made it harder
When Lauren Langbein became a doctoral student in cell biology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia in 2014, she was used to being a stellar student—she had always excelled in classrooms and labs. But by the end of 2016, her research project was falling apart, and Langbein, a native of Monmouth County, N.J., and a […]
COVID-19 information continues to evolve: What’s new and what has changed?
In early August, a handful of national media stories reported on a study from Duke University about face masks and COVID-19. The stories appeared to report something new, but they got it wrong. The stories said people wearing neck gaiters—the thin, stretchy material that looks like an oversized turtleneck—were more likely to spread the coronavirus […]