Intel from an outpatient COVID-19 clinic

At a glance: New report offers insights on differentiating COVID-19 from other infections that can present with similar symptoms Early differentiation remains critical in the absence of universal and reliable point-of-care diagnostic testing Analysis based on data from patient visits to an outpatient COVID-19 clinic in Greater Boston during the month of March …

Fatty liver disease is underdiagnosed in the US

A condition involving excess fat buildup in the liver is grossly underdiagnosed in the United States, according to an analysis of Medicare claims data. The condition, called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is often associated with obesity and is not related to alcohol consumption. In the Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics analysis of information on 10,826,456…

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…