Clinical

Hydroxychloroquine has had its share of champions and naysayers since it was first proposed as a possible treatment for patients infected with COVID-19. Now a study presented at the Virtual Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis in Cepagatti, Italy indicates the pendulum is settling somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. If the conclusions of the study are correct, hydroxychloroquine really can offer a benefit to some patients—and the authors of …

Undoubtedly, you’ve seen people out in the world acting as if COVID-19 isn’t a problem. (First clue: They’re resistant to wearing a mask.) Some even say the pandemic is nothing but a hype, quoting the “low” death rate (anywhere from 0.3% to 1.5%) to support their argument. What they’re not appreciating—which you might be able to help them see—is the high transmission rate. An article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal quotes Eric Toner, …

While many conditions associated with or exacerbated by obesity (eg, diabetes, heart disease) have been tied to greater risk for patients who become infected with COVID-19, a study just published in the European Journal of Endocrinology suggests that obesity is an independent risk factor for severe disease and death with the virus. Researchers analyzed the outcomes of 482 patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized between March 1 and April 20, 2020. Of those patients, 58% …

Being “forced” to where a mask in a retail establishment has become a volatile subject lately, with the nightly news and social media recounting tales of sometimes violent confrontations between proprietors who insist on masks and prospective patrons who feel such a mandate infringes on their individual rights. Lost in this are the facts that such rules 1) are well within the rights of shopkeepers to establish and 2) are intended to save lives. Robert …

We told you recently about a pair of studies out of China that suggested elevated fasting blood glucose could be a risk factor for severe disease in patients with COVID-19. Now a third study using the same data pool paints an even darker picture, with the authors concluding that a fasting blood glucose level ≥7.0 mmol/L in patients without a previous diagnosis of diabetes is an independent predictor for higher 28-day mortality. The odds ratio …

Don’t be surprised if patients who have “recovered” from COVID-19 present with concerns that they might not be getting better after all. A research letter just published online by JAMA Network indicates that most patients have persistent symptoms of infection even 60+ days after diagnosis. Based on 143 confirmed cases in Italy, they report that 87.4 of patients complained of at least one symptoms of COVID-19 even after meeting World Health Organization criteria for discontinuing …

Two new studies have shown that elevated fasting blood glucose (FBG), whether a patient has been diagnosed with diabetes or not, could be a risk factor for severe illness in patients with COVID-19. Authors of the first study, based on patients at a hospital in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, found an FBG of ≥6.23 mmol/L to be an optimal cutoff for poor prognosis within 30 days of hospital admission, …

A clearer picture of the effects of COVID-19 on the eyes of infected patients is emerging in new data from Hubei province, China. Researchers there have found ocular manifestations including epiphora, conjunctival congestion, and other conditions occur commonly in patients with confirmed COVID-19. While the retrospective study was small (38 patients), it produced several results that could be helpful to urgent care providers who treat patients without other, more definitive signs of disease. Roughly one …

The World Health Organization has been at the forefront of proposing how COVID-19 is transmitted, with the main theory being that one person becomes infected by taking in relatively large droplets expelled when someone with the virus coughs, sneezes, speaks, etc. However, 239 scientists from 32 countries signed a letter claiming that even smaller particles can carry the virus—so small that they’re essentially wafting through the air from one side of a room to another, …

Some states have been accused of “reopening” their economies too soon, with the result being upsurges in COVID-19 cases—and renewed concerns that the healthcare system could be overwhelmed. This may not reflect a resurgence at all, however, but instead reveal the number of cases that had gone unrecognized previously. Robert Redfield, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggested recently that for every documented case of COVID-19, there are probably 10 more …