All COVID-19 News
Empowering Africa: Local Manufacturing of Diagnostic Tools
2023 06 Sep
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the global issue of insufficient access to diagnostic tools. In Africa, limited access to affordable and accessible diagnostic tools significantly hindered efforts to track and contain COVID-19. It's crucial to recognise that this issue is not specific to the pandemic; rather, it persists as an ongoing challenge in... Read more
Patient Experiences in Hospitals Change Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
2023 31 Aug
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic posed unparalleled challenges for acute-care hospitals. To control the spread of COVID-19 infection, hospitals adopted new protocols, including social distancing and restricted visitor access. A recent cohort study looked to describe differences in 2020 to 2021 patient experiences to assess whether the... Read more
Cost Savings Through Zero Preventable Deaths
2023 30 Aug
Instituting patient safety practices will save lives and healthcare dollars. We are proud of our healthcare experts; it is the system that needs to be fixed, and we can do that! We can create a system where safe, high-quality healthcare is delivered to every patient every time. Healthcare must become a high-reliability organisation, and this starts... Read more
Ultra-Low Tidal Volume Ventilation for COVID-19-ARDS
2023 18 Jul
A new study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ventilation with ultra-low tidal volume (ULTV) compared to low tidal volume (LTV) in patients suffering from COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). COVID-19-related ARDS is associated with a high mortality rate and extended mechanical ventilation duration. The study... Read more
Critical Care Staffing in Pandemics
2023 11 Jul
The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on healthcare, with millions of cases and deaths reported globally. Healthcare workers have been particularly affected, experiencing increased mental health issues, burnout, and moral distress. The pandemic has led to higher levels of anxiety, depression, stress reactions, sleep disturbances, and posttraumatic... Read more
Targeted Outreach Efforts Needed to Tackle Decline in Screening Mammogram Rates
2023 23 Jun
According to new data out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the overall volume of screening mammograms has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, even after more than two years since the COVID-19 shutdown. The team analysed screening mammogram volumes before and after a state-mandated COVID-19 shutdown. They observed screening trends in 2020 during... Read more
#EA23: Outcome in Patients With Postponed Elective Surgery During COVID-19
2023 06 Jun
The 30-day outcome findings in patients undergoing postponed elective surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic (TRACE II) were presented at a poster session at Euroanaesthesia 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the ability to perform elective surgeries worldwide. To understand the consequences of delayed surgery, the TRACE II study... Read more
Severe COVID-19 Increases Risk of Ventricular Tachycardia
2023 03 May
According to research presented at EHRA 2023, patients with severe COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation have an increased risk of developing ventricular tachycardia and other heart rhythm disorders within six months. The study found that these patients had a higher risk of developing ventricular tachycardia than those without a severe COVID-19... Read more
#ISICEM23: Time to Get Strategic About ICU Burnout
2023 22 Mar
In an interesting session at #ISICEM23, Michelle Chew, Professor of Anesthesiology, Intensive care, and Acute Medicine Care at Linköping University Hospital, Sweden, talked about stress, anxiety, and burnout. Prof Chew discussed a study conducted by her group on perceived and physiological stress, anxiety, and burnout among ICU staff in an area... Read more
#ISICEM23: Effects of Therapeutic-Dose Heparin in Hospitalised Patients With COVID-19
2023 21 Mar
At the #ISICEM23 this week in Brussels, the benefits and harms of therapeutic-dose heparin varied by hospitalised COVID-19 patient characteristics were discussed, and the importance of considering the heterogeneity of treatment effect (HTE) in the design and analysis of randomised clinical trials was highlighted. To date, RCTs that have tested... Read more
New German Law: Ex-post Triage Criminalised
2023 13 Mar
What will be the consequences of the new German law of criminalising ex-post triage? Will it result in more legal disputes, ethical dilemmas and preventable deaths? Or will it achieve its goal? As the COVID-19 pandemic hit mankind, many healthcare systems worldwide faced a widely unprecedented shortage of personnel, pharmaceuticals, equipment... Read more
COVID-19 Vaccines Do Not Increase Risk of Related Adverse Events
2023 15 Feb
According to a study published in the journal Vaccines, COVID-19 vaccines have not been linked to an increased risk of serious adverse events such as heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest, myocarditis, pericarditis, and deep vein thrombosis. The study, which was coordinated by Lamberto Manzoli, a medical epidemiologist and professor at the University... Read more
ECMO for COVID-19 ARDS
2023 15 Feb
There is increasing evidence supporting the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients that do not respond to maximal medical therapy. ARDS can occur in some COVID-19 patients who are hospitalised, and ECMO can be utilised as a treatment option in some cases. Using ECMO can help... Read more
COVID-19 Associated with Higher Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
2023 01 Feb
A study published in Cardiovascular Research found that COVID-19 is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death in both the short and long term. In the first three weeks of infection, the likelihood of COVID-19 patients dying was up to 81 times higher than uninfected individuals and remained five times higher up to 18 months later. ... Read more
What Do We Know About XBB.1.5?
2023 24 Jan
The XBB.1.5 variant is a new sub-variant of Omicron. It has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the most transmissible variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This is because it contains specific mutations which allow it to bind better to human cells and replicate more efficiently. This increases the likelihood of transmission. ... Read more
Major Healthcare Impacts of COVID-19
2022 21 Dec
“Health at a Glance: Europe 2022” outlines the impact of the pandemic on health services across Europe, from primary care to hospital treatment, and the disruptions this placed on the care delivered to non-COVID-19 patients. The pandemic and the measures implemented to prevent transmission of the virus led to an unprecedented decline in people’s... Read more
Ten High-Income Countries Report the Effects of COVID-19 Burnout on Primary Care Physicians
2022 02 Dec
According to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the workloads of many primary care physicians, which led to widespread burnout, and impacted the quality of care. This has been the case in all 10 surveyed high-income countries. The report compares changes in physician workload, stress, emotional distress,... Read more
New Study Shows Telemedicine Has Clear Benefits for Patients
2022 18 Nov
Telemedicine was the most cost-effective and safest solution to offering accessible and high-quality care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors working on a new study by WHO/Europe and the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, provided a general review of the status of telemedicine in Europe and Central Asia. They... Read more
Machine Learning Tool Helps Hospitals Reduce Risk of COVID-19
2022 18 Nov
A machine learning tool has been created to help predict patients at high risk of developing COVID-19. The technology has been developed by a team of researchers at Imperial College London and the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) unit at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. The tool has been trained to identify risk factors associated... Read more
Foetal Brain Development Impacted by Maternal Stress During COVID-19 Pandemic
2022 09 Nov
The COVID-19 pandemic created many disruptions to everyday life, including disruptions in essential health services. To reduce the rate of transmission, many medical policies around pre and postpartum care were changed. Such changes were reported to be the most common stressors among pregnant women. Unfortunately, increased maternal stress is known... Read more