Category: COVID
Differential personality change earlier and later in the coronavirus pandemic in a longitudinal sample of adults in the United States
PLoS – Five-factor model personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness) are thought to be relatively impervious to environmental demands in adulthood. The coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented opportunity to examine whether personality changed during a stressful global event. Surprisingly, two previous studies found that neuroticism decreased early in the pandemic, whereas there was less […]
Oct 5, 2022
Pandemic stress may have had a lasting impact on our personalities
NPR – The global coronavirus pandemic disrupted almost everything about our lives, from how we work and go to school, to how we socialize (Zoom happy hours, anyone?!), and ultimately strained trust in many of the overarching systems we depend on, from health care to government. New research suggests it may have changed Americans’ personalities, […]
Oct 5, 2022
Omicron BA.4.6 makes up nearly 13% of COVID variants circulating in U.S.
Reuters – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday estimated that nearly 13% of the circulating coronavirus variants in the United States were of the BA.4.6 subvariant of Omicron, as of the week ended Oct. 1. The latest data showed BA.4.6, which has been slowly rising in the last few weeks, […]
Oct 5, 2022
Warning Signs About the First Post-pandemic Winter
The Atlantic – It may not be as bad as last year’s … but it certainly won’t be good. This fall, unlike the one before it, and the one before that, America looks almost like its old self. Schools and universities are in session; malls, airports, and gyms are bustling with the pre-holiday rush; handwashing […]
Oct 5, 2022
Rising cases of variants BQ.1 and XBB could make COVID drugs all but useless, study finds
Salon – As colder weather sets in, public health experts are keeping a close eye on COVID-19 variants that could spell doom and gloom this winter, just like omicron did last year. Yet these nascent variants that are rapidly spreading abroad have an evil twist that omicron lacked: an ability to evade the drugs that […]
Oct 5, 2022
Long COVID: Scientists find 20 blood protein ‘signatures’ that may point to risk
Med News Today – Researchers published their findings comparing blood samples from healthcare workers who had contracted SARS-CoV-2 and healthcare workers who had not. They found that blood protein levels within six weeks of contracting SARS-CoV-2 could predict long COVID incidence. “These changes in the blood that we observe shortly after infection indicate how the […]
Oct 4, 2022
FDA releases important information about risk of COVID-19 due to certain variants not neutralized by Evusheld
FDA – FDA added important information to the authorized Fact Sheets for Evusheld (tixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab) to inform health care providers and individuals receiving Evusheld of the increased risk for developing COVID-19 when exposed to variants of SARS-CoV-2 that are not neutralized by Evusheld. Detailed neutralization data can be found in the revised authorized Fact […]
Oct 4, 2022
Characteristics of long COVID among older adults: a cross-sectional study
International Journal of Infectious Diseases – 2333 individuals were evaluated at an average of 5 months [146 days (95% CI 142-150)] following COVID-19 onset. Mean age was 51 and 20.5% were>65 years. Older adults were more likely to be symptomatic, with most common symptoms being fatigue (38%) and dyspnea (30%). They were more likely to […]
Oct 4, 2022
Older patients more likely to report long-COVID symptoms
CIDRAP – Among patients seen at long-COVID clinics in four countries, older people were the most likely to report symptoms and have abnormal chest imaging and lung function tests, finds a study published late last week in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Researchers in Israel, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland followed 2,333 COVID-19 survivors for an average of […]
Oct 4, 2022
A Public Health Success Story
NYT – The Covid mass vaccination program in the U.S. began on Dec. 14, 2020, when a nurse at a hospital in Queens, N.Y., received a shot on live television. But more than two months later, a major health clinic based in North Birmingham, Ala. — which focused on lower-income, Black and Latino residents — […]
Oct 4, 2022