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By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) – The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccines can protect patients’ lungs
In vaccinated patients with “breakthrough” COVID-19 infections, the disease may not affect the lungs as much as in unvaccinated patients, new data from India suggests. Doctors there studied 205 adults with confirmed COVID-19, more than half of whom were under 50. Of those studied, 14% were fully vaccinated, 15% were partially vaccinated, and the rest were unvaccinated. All had a computed tomography (CT) scan of their lungs. The researchers rated each of the five lobes of each lung on a scale from 0 for no viral lobe involvement, to 5, meaning more than 75% of the lobe was affected. Out of a possible 25, the mean chest CT severity score was 0 in fully vaccinated patients, 4 in partially vaccinated patients, and 11 in the unvaccinated group, according to a report published on medRxiv Tuesday before l. peer review. Study co-author Dr Jaimin Trivedi of the University of Louisville in Kentucky said the results underscore “the fact that vaccination reduces the severity of COVID-19 disease even though it may not prevent infection in some patients “. (https://bit.ly/3Citpgk)
Depression among adolescents, young adults on the rise during pandemic
The number of American teens and young adults who tested positive for depression and suicide risk has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study suggests. Researchers examined the electronic health records of 68,699 people aged 12 to 21, who received primary care at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. The proportion of young people screened positive for depressive symptoms increased from 5% between June and December 2019 to 6.2% during the same months in 2020. The proportion of young people screened positive for the risk of suicide increased from 6.1 % to 7.1% during this same period. “School closures and disrupted routines, social isolation, concerns about the health of family members, financial strains, political turmoil and high-profile examples of racial injustice may all have played a role. “said co-author Stephanie Mayne of the University of Pennsylvania. The results of the study may underestimate the problem, his team noted in a pediatrics report released Wednesday, because young people with the most severe mental health symptoms may not have sought treatment in primary care. “As children return to school, some for the first time in a long time, it is important that we support our schools, teachers and guidance counselors in their work to help our students learn and cope. which has been an exceptionally difficult 18 month period. “said Dr Stephen Patrick of Vanderbilt University, who was not involved in the study. (https://bit.ly/3jgugFy)
A piece of duct tape improves adhesion when wearing the mask
Applying a piece of duct tape to a mask over the bridge of the nose is a simple and inexpensive way to make sure people wear it correctly, staff from an Indianapolis emergency department have found. In the emergency department of Eskenazi Hospital, where everyone was required to wear a mask, researchers recruited 123 patients who were not seriously ill and randomly assigned them to either wear their masks as usual or to have the mask attached to the bridge of the nose with a piece of surgical tape. Patients could either wear their own mask or a mask provided by the hospital. An hour later, all of the patients in the band group were still wearing their masks correctly. In the control group, 31% of patients had either removed their masks or wore them with their nose or nose and mouth exposed, researchers reported in Annals of Emergency Medicine on Monday. “Adhesive tape improves patient adhesion through the use of a universal mask,” they concluded. This “inexpensive, simple, low-risk procedure … can be applied to any patient mask by any member of the healthcare team to help reduce the unnecessary spread of the virus.” (https://bit.ly/3rUdKPs)
Click for a Reuters graphic https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl on vaccines in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Lisa Rapaport; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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