Rural hospital remains entrenched in Covid ‘war’ even amid vaccine rollout

Editor's note: KHN wrote about St. James Parish Hospital in April, when it was experiencing its first surge of Covid-19 patients. Ten months later, we checked in to see how the hospital and its staff were faring. The "heroes work here" sign in front of St. James Parish Hospital has been long gone, along with […]

Ability to predict C-diff mortality nearly doubled with new guidelines

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is the most common health care-associated infection in the United States, causing an estimated 12,800 deaths each year. The deadly and notoriously stubborn superbug, C. diff has been hard to spot and harder to stop. In 2017, two organizations leading the war on C. diff updated their guidelines for assessing patients […]

Hot Spots ID’d for Higher CRC Mortality in Younger Women

MONDAY, Dec. 7, 2020 — Specific geographic areas in the United States are associated with higher rates of mortality from early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) in women, according to a study published in the December issue of Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology. Andreana N. Holowatyj, Ph.D., from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues […]

Baricitinib treatment linked to reduced mortality in COVID-19 patients

The rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib can block viral entry and reduce mortality in patients with moderate to severe COVID-19, according to translational research by an international team coordinated by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, support the continuation of ongoing randomized clinical trials. “We are pleased to […]

Even mild fatty liver disease is linked to increased mortality

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD, affects nearly one in four adults in Europe and the U.S. Earlier research has demonstrated an increased risk of death in patients with NAFLD and advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Massachusetts General Hospital in the U.S. show that mortality increases with disease severity, […]

Study: Death counts fail to capture full mortality effects of COVID-19

More than 200,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19. Some argue that statistic is inaccurate due to inconsistencies in how deaths are being reported. But researchers from the University of South Florida claim that even if those deaths have been correctly measured, the number doesn’t fully convey the true mortality effects of COVID-19. […]

Europe had 50% ‘excess mortality’ at outbreak peak: French data office

Europe experienced a 50-percent rise in excess mortality over a week in March and April due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to data released by France’s Insee statistics agency Wednesday. Excess mortality is the number of deaths in a given period over and above what one would have expected to see, and is a measure […]

Study finds zinc doesn’t reduce mortality, other health risks, for heavy alcohol users living with HIV/AIDS

Zinc supplementation did not reduce mortality, cardiovascular risk, levels of inflammation, or microbial translocation among people with heavy alcohol use living with HIV/AIDS, according to a Vanderbilt-led study. Although low adherence likely influenced the outcome in the trial, zinc significantly lowered mortality risk among those who were adherent, said the study’s lead author, Matthew Freiberg, […]

Right ventricular dilation linked to mortality in COVID-19

(HealthDay)—Right ventricular dilation is associated with in-hospital mortality among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a study published online May 15 in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging. Edgar Argulian, M.D., M.P.H., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues enrolled consecutive patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 who underwent clinically indicated […]