Masks work. Especially respirator-style N95 masks.
Amid an ongoing pandemic and outbreaks of influenza and RSV caused by airborne viruses, arguing over the virus-blocking power of masks remains one of the COVID era’s signature follies. Disconcertingly, despite decades of evidence of their efficacy, some of the disagreement comes from a few in the medical field itself, misusing science and endangering lives.
Comments closedIn a new study, researchers examined the cognitive impacts of COVID-19 on people with dementia. They found that having COVID-19 rapidly accelerated the structural and functional brain deterioration of patients with dementia, regardless of the type of dementia being experienced.
Comments closed“People with repeat infections were twice as likely to die and three times as likely to be hospitalized, have heart problems or experience blood clots than were people who were infected only once. In a surprising twist, vaccination status didn’t seem to have an impact — although other studies show vaccines to be protective. Whether these results hold true for the general population is up for debate. The Veterans Affairs cohort was made up mostly of older white men, which is not representative of the wider population.”
Comments closedA new study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Reports, has discovered that infection with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid) has a significant impact on cognitive function in patients with pre-existing dementia.
Comments closedMore than 10% of children in Japan who developed acute brain syndrome after infection with COVID-19 have died, results of a nationwide survey recently announced by a health ministry research team has shown.
The survey identified 34 cases of acute encephalopathy associated with COVID-19 infection among those under 18 between January 2020 and May 2022. The team analyzed 31 patients who did not have any underlying illnesses that could be responsible for causing the brain disease.
Comments closedComments closed[I]t appears that, regardless of gender and other demographic factors, COVID-19 infection at baseline is correlated with increased problems with emotion regulation six months later: depression, anxiety and agitation.
Comments closedWe now know that an infection can trigger several heart diseases. There is a clear expectation in the coming years that consultations for various cardiovascular conditions will increase
March 11 marks 3 years since WHO declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic. While the world is determined to move on from the acute phase, at least 65 million people are estimated to struggle with long COVID, a debilitating post-infection multisystem condition with common symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction, impairing their ability to perform daily activities for several months or years. Although the majority of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 recover within a few weeks, long COVID is estimated to occur in 10–20% of cases and affects people of all ages, including children, with most cases occurring in patients with mild acute illness. The consequence is widespread global harm to people’s health, wellbeing, and livelihoods—an estimated one in ten people who develop long COVID stop working, resulting in extensive economic losses.
Comments closedComments closedWe are the first to show reduced oxygen uptake in the brain during a cognitive task in the months following a symptomatic COVID-19 infection. This is important because a lack of sufficient oxygen supply is thought to be one of the mechanisms by which COVID-19 may cause cognitive impairment.
More than half of patients with long Covid suffer from organ damage a year after the initial symptoms, new research suggests.
Even those who were not seriously ill when diagnosed with the virus report problems, with extreme difficulty breathing and cognitive impairment among the persistent symptoms.
The study, the results of which were published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, involved 536 people.
Six months after their initial diagnosis with coronavirus, the patients underwent an MRI scan which revealed ongoing health problems, with 62% of participants suffering from organ damage.
Comments closedMany repeat infections are mild, but some studies suggest people who have been infected with COVID more than once are at a greater risk of severe disease or long COVID.
Comments closedThere is strong and consistent evidence for the effectiveness of masks and (even more so) respirators in protecting against respiratory infections. Masks are an important protection against serious infections.
Comments closedFor the one-year period August 1, 2021, to July 31, 2022, COVID-19 was a leading cause of death in children and young people in the United States, ranking eighth overall.
The researchers believe that vaccines and nonpharmaceutical interventions are needed to limit transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and mitigate severe disease.
Comments closedWomen are more likely to die in pregnancy if they catch Covid, according to researchers, who found the infection raised the risk of a swath of serious illnesses for mothers and their newborns.
Reports throughout the pandemic have highlighted how pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the virus, with doctors urging women to take up the offer of Covid vaccination to reduce the risk to themselves and their children.
Comments closedEven mild COVID-19 cases can have major and long-lasting effects on people’s health. That is one of the key findings from our recent multicountry study on long COVID-19—or long COVID—recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Comments closedEmergency wards remain busy two years after the first COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Ontario in part because the virus depletes the body’s supply of T-cells, leaving young and old alike vulnerable to secondary infections, says a University of Waterloo immunologist.
T-cells are the front-line soldiers of the immune system, and the number of T-cells typically increases when the body is fighting off an infection, said Barb Katzenback, who studies viruses.
“Individuals who are infected with COVID have many fewer T-cells,” said Katzenback. “That’s a problem for us because T-cells are a really important part of our immune system that helps defend us against infection.”
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