Children & coronavirus infection (COVID-19): How to avoid post-traumatic stress disorder

COVID-19 is a pandemic that has forced many states to declare restrictive measures in order to prevent their wider spread. These measures are necessary to protect the health of adults, children and people with disabilities. Long quarantine periods could cause an increase in anxiety crisis, fear of contagion and post-traumatic stress disorder (frustration, boredom, isolation,…

Cost-benefit analysis of funding a smoking cessation program before surgery

For patients undergoing surgery, smoking is linked with a higher risk of experiencing complications following their procedure, and quitting smoking before surgery may help reduce this risk. A new BJS (formerly British Journal of Surgery) study examined whether a smoking cessation intervention before surgery is economically worthwhile when funded by the National Health System (NHS)…

Interleukin-12 electroporation may sensitize ‘cold’ melanomas to immunotherapies

Bottom Line: Combining intratumoral electroporation of interleukin-12 (IL-12) DNA (tavokinogene telseplasmid, or TAVO) with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) led to clinical responses in patients with immunologically quiescent advanced melanoma, according to results from a phase II trial. Journal in Which the Study was Published: Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association…

Study reveals most critically ill patients with COVID-19 survive with standard treatment

Clinicians from two hospitals in Boston report that the majority of even the sickest patients with COVID-19–those who require ventilators in intensive care units–get better when they receive existing guideline-supported treatment for respiratory failure. The clinicians, who are from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, published their findings in the American…

Work-related PTSD in nurses

A recent analysis of published studies examined the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among nurses and identified factors associated with work-related PTSD among nurses. The findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing. For the analysis, investigators identified 24 relevant studies. The researchers found that PTSD is a world-wide issue affecting nurses and…