Vaccines have been proven to provide a high degree of protection for healthcare professionals.Unreliable rapid test in asymptomatic cases

(Reuters)-The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific research on the new coronavirus and efforts to find cures and vaccines for the virus-induced disease COVID-19.

Vaccines that provide a high degree of protection for healthcare professionals

Data from healthcare professionals at medical centers in the United States and Israel confirm the efficacy of both Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines against COVID-19, according to a report by the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday. According to employee data from the University of California, San Diego and the University of California, Los Angeles, the number of cases of COVID-19 surged in the general population, but the number of newly detected infections among staff decreased dramatically. And the first vaccination. Separately, in Texas, where hospital workers were vaccinated during the region’s largest COVID-19 surge, researchers found that 2.61% of unvaccinated employees were positive. In contrast, we found that 0.05% of fully vaccinated employees were positive. Texas researchers said the number of quarantine or quarantine employees fell by more than 90% and “maintained the workforce when needed” during the surge. In Jerusalem, the incidence of COVID-19 is high in the community, including many cases caused by the first identified viral mutation in the UK, and researchers have found that the Pfizer vaccine among healthcare professionals is “COVID-19. Those who have been vaccinated twice have found that they have achieved a significant reduction in new cases. (((; ; )

Unreliable point of care antigen test in asymptomatic cases

According to data pooled from 64 studies, the COVID-19 “waiting” test for detecting proteins on the virus is better at diagnosing illness in symptomatic patients than in asymptomatic patients. On average, an “antigen test” correctly identified 72% of symptomatological COVID-19 cases, but only 58% of asymptomatic individuals, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the Cochrane Library. It was. The best performing test, SD Biosensor STANDARD Q, correctly identified the virus in 88% of symptomatic and 69% of asymptomatic patients. Of the 10,000 asymptomatic patients who had COVID-19 in 50 for screening purposes, the test correctly identified 35, missed 15 cases, and mistakenly in 90 uninfected. The authors estimated that it would give a positive result. “Verifying a positive rapid test with an RT-PCR test may help avoid unnecessary quarantine, especially when the number of cases of COVID-19 is low,” co-author of the University of Birmingham, UK. Jac Dinnes said in a statement. “All antigen tests miss infected people, so it’s important to let people with negative test results know that they may still be infected,” said co-author and Dinnes colleague Jon Deeks. He said rapid antigen testing was repeated to screen school students, teachers, and healthcare professionals. “These test policies were implemented without any real evidence,” he said. ((()

Sleep Disorders, Burnout May Increase COVID-19 Risk

New studies suggest that people with sleep disorders and daily burnout may be at increased risk for COVID-19. Healthcare workers who reported sleep disorders the year before the pandemic were 88% more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than health care workers who slept well, according to a study published in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health on Monday. People with daily burnout were more than twice as likely to be infected with the coronavirus and about three times more likely to be infected than workers without burnout. Researchers surveyed 2,884 health care workers who were heavily exposed to the coronavirus in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Of these, 568 experienced COVID-19 symptoms or were virus-positive. They were more likely to have problems sleeping at night than those who were not infected (24% vs. 21%). In addition, many of them (5% vs. 3%) reported at least three sleep disorders, including sleep onset disorders, sleep maintenance, or the need for regular sleeping pills. More COVID-19 survivors also reported suffering from burnout daily (5.5% vs. 3%) the previous year. Participants averaged 6-7 hours of sleep each night. After considering other risk factors, the researchers reported that the odds of COVID-19 decreased by 12% for every hour of sleep at night the previous year. ((()

Open tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl In an external browser with Reuters graphics on vaccines under development.