Pediatric cholecystectomy case volume increased during COVID-19 pandemic
Editor's Note: Cholecystectomy case volume significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to study results published in ScienceDirect December 30. While cholecystectomy is infrequently performed in children, the pandemic drove lifestyle changes, delays in healthcare access, and increases in childhood obesity. Further studies are needed to determine whether these braoder…
COVID-19 hospitalization costs outpaced medical inflation
Editor's Note The cost of COVID-19 hospital admissions increased at more than 5 times the rate of overall medical inflation as fewer patients died from the virus. The new study findings appeared in JAMA Network Open on January 3. The 26-percent increase in average costs to provide inpatient care occurred…
Social distancing outperforms closing borders in preventing virus spread
Editor’s Note Social distancing was more effective than closing borders in preventing the spread of COVID-19, according to a study published in Cell December 14. Conducted by Scripps Research, the study examined the efficacy of various mandates—including stay-at-home measures, social distancing, and travel restrictions— in preventing local and regional transmission…
Excess mortality at VHA facilities during COVID-19
Editor's Note This study, led by Boston University and VA Boston Healthcare System, finds a large variation in mortality across Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 11.4 million VHA enrollees during 2016 and 2020 were included in the analysis. Among the findings: VHA-enrolled veterans…
Development of a definition for long COVID
Editor's Note This multi-center study, which is part of the National Institutes of Health’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) initiative and led by the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, was conducted to develop a definition of long COVID using self-reported symptoms of 9,764 participants (8,646 infected; 1,118 uninfected) at 85…
WHO launches International Pathogen Surveillance Network
Editor's Note The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners, on May 20, launched the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) to prevent and detect infectious disease threats before they become epidemics or pandemics. The network provides a platform for helping countries and regions improve systems for collecting and analyzing samples,…
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