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Showing results for tags 'Virus'.
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Content ArticleWhen the history of the COVID-19 pandemic is written, it is likely to show that the mental models held by scientists sometimes facilitated their thinking, thereby leading to lives saved, and at other times constrained their thinking, thereby leading to lives lost. This paper from Trisha Greenhalgh explores some competing mental models of how infectious diseases spread and shows how these models influenced the scientific process and the kinds of facts that were generated, legitimised and used to support policy.
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Content ArticleA new report from two House of Commons committees highlights the UK’s failed pandemic response. Martin McKee, professor of European Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, unpicks the findings.
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Content ArticleA major report from a year-long joint inquiry by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology Committee has now been published and offers a forensic analysis of six aspects of the government’s response to covid. Chris Ham is chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System, Co-Chair of the NHS Assembly and non-executive director of the Royal Free London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and gave evidence to the inquiry. In this BMJ Opinion article, Chris discusses the report, the recommendations and the omissions.
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Content ArticleThe House of Commons Science and Technology Committee and Health and Social Care Committee have published their Report following a joint inquiry, which began in October 2020, examining six key areas of the UK's response to COVID-19: the country's preparedness for a pandemic; the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as border controls, social distancing and lockdowns to control the pandemic; the use of test, trace and isolate strategies; the impact of the pandemic on social care; the impact of the pandemic on specific communities; and the procurement and roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines. The 150-page Report contains 38 recommendations to the Government and public bodies, and draws on evidence from over 50 witnesses as well as over 400 written submissions. The inquiry concluded that some initiatives were examples of global best practice but others represented mistakes. Both must be reflected on to ensure that lessons are applied to better inform future responses to emergencies.
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Content ArticleThe World Health Organization IWHO) has developed a clinical case definition of post COVID-19 condition by Delphi methodology that includes 12 domains, available for use in all settings. This first version was developed by patients, researchers and others, representing all WHO regions, with the understanding that the definition may change as new evidence emerges and our understanding of the consequences of COVID-19 continues to evolve.
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Content ArticleA new analysis of the risks and benefits of offering two doses of COVID-19 vaccination to all 12-17 year olds in England shows that the benefits clearly outweigh the risks, given the current high case rates. In the UK currently a single dose of vaccine is recommended for all 12-17 year olds. The research, which is in press with the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, estimates hospital and ICU admissions, deaths and cases of long COVID averted over a 16-week period by vaccinating all 12-17 year olds in England. The analysis includes high and low case rate scenarios.
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Content ArticleThis study, published online by Cambridge University Press, looks at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on incidences of healthcare-associated infection in hospitals in the United States of America. The authors analyse events reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network for 2019 and 2020 by acute-care hospitals.
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Content ArticleOn 24 March 2021, an investigation into the death of Hazel Fleur Wiltshire was opened. The conclusion of the inquest was that Mrs Wiltshire died from pneumonia caused by a fall and by COVID-19 that she acquired in hospital. The fall was caused by her trying to relieve herself without assistance in the context of long delays in answering calls bells at the time.
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Content ArticleThe COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed the respiratory isolation capacity in hospitals; many wards lacking high-frequency air changes have been repurposed for managing patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 requiring either standard or intensive care. Hospital-acquired COVID-19 is a recognised problem amongst both patients and staff, with growing evidence for the relevance of airborne transmission. This study from Conway-Morris et al. examined the effect of air filtration and ultra-violet (UV) light sterilisation on detectable airborne SARS-CoV-2 and other microbial bioaerosols.
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Content ArticleUK prime minister Boris Johnson recently announced a fuzzy blueprint for his “winter plan”, in which further lockdowns and compulsory mask-wearing were not being introduced but could not be ruled out. In a blog to the Conversation, Trish Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, offers an alternative blueprint.
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Content ArticleThis article, published by WIRED, tells the story of Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech and one of the few in the world who also studies infectious diseases. When the new coronavirus was discovered, Linsey and colleagues were deeply concerned that it had been labelled as 'not airborne'.
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Content ArticleIn this comment piece, published by the Lancet, authors propose that it is a scientific error to use lack of direct evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in some air samples to cast doubt on airborne transmission while overlooking the quality and strength of the overall evidence base. There is consistent, strong evidence that SARS-CoV-2 spreads by airborne transmission. Although other routes can contribute, they believe that the airborne route is likely to be dominant.
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Content ArticleThis pre-print study looks at the impact of using FFP3 Personal Protective Equipment on a Covid-19 ward. Authors estimated a 37% reduction in staff sick days when immunity (infection and vaccination) were factored in.
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Content ArticleThe coronavirus has a high incidence of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Many patients infected with COVID-19 need to be admitted to the ICU for invasive ventilation. They are also at a high risk of developing secondary, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
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Content ArticleThe primary objective of this multicenter, observational, retrospective study from Giacobbe et al. was to assess the incidence rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in intensive care units (ICU). The secondary objective was to assess predictors of 30-day case-fatality of VAP.
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Content ArticleTwo new factsheets from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are intended to help healthcare workers, managers and purchase agents ensure the safe handling and disposal of sharps during the US's COVID-19 mass vaccination effort.
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Content ArticleREACT-1 is the largest population surveillance study being undertaken in England that examines the prevalence of the virus causing COVID-19 in the general population. It uses test results and feedback from over 150,000 participants each month. The findings will provide the government with a better understanding of the virus’s transmission and the risks associated with different population subgroups throughout England. This will inform government policies to protect health and save lives.
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Content ArticleIn the Patients Association 2020 survey, patients told us about their experiences of living with health and care needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their testimony painted a bleak picture in many ways. This follow-up survey finds that many aspects of their experiences are not much better, and some are worse.
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Content ArticleIn the United States many areas have returned to a 'new normal,' as the COVID-19 pandemic has come under control. In this blog, Dr Michael Ramsay, Chairman of the Board, Patient Safety Movement Foundation looks at what we learned and where we failed.
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Content ArticleThe United States has been the site of significant social and economic fallout during the course of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The last year has been marked by high rates of unemployment, stress, economic insecurity, and uncertainty. And for people with mental health and substance use disorders, the consequences of the pandemic have been felt deeply. As vaccines for people in the United States become more widely available, understanding the impact of the pandemic on substance abuse and treatment remains important for determining the next steps and helping those in need of care. In this blog, AddictionResource.net describe some of the ways that the coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of people with substance use disorders over the past year.
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CIEHF: COVID-19 human factor response
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Guidance
The pandemic has brought human factors issues to prominence. The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) and its members are responding rapidly to current challenges by providing expert guidance and help wherever it’s needed most. This site gives details and links to new guidance documents developed and published by us and matches human factors expertise to those needing assistance.- Posted
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Content ArticleDuring the UK’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHS witnessed drastic and rapid changes to the way work was done. Not only were changes implemented at an organisational level, but at a more local level, staff across the service adapted and developed methods of coping to keep the healthcare system functioning. As a result of this, ideas and innovations that emerged during the initial response may be helpful not only in the immediate future but also in the longer term. This study from Miles et al. applied a systems approach to explore the changes and adaptations to work in the physiotherapy department of a large acute trust in the UK during the initial response to COVID-19 (April 2020).
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Content ArticleInfection preventionist, JoAnn Adkins, psychologist, Dr Lily Brown, and mother of a son with autism, Susan Senator, share their insights into how vaccines work, how to recognise when anxiety may be clouding our judgment, and how both sides of the vaccine debate can finally have a real and productive debate.
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Content ArticleThe COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the country’s health systems and diminished its capability to provide safe and effective healthcare. This article from Sharda Narwal and Susmit Jain attempts to review patients safety issues during COVID-19 pandemic in India, and derive lessons from national and international experiences to inform policy actions for building a ‘resilient health system’