News Release

COVID-19 news from Annals of Internal Medicine

All coronavirus-related content published in Annals is free

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American College of Physicians

Below please find a summary and link(s) of new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. The summary below is not intended to substitute for the full article as a source of information. A collection of coronavirus-related content is free to the public at http://go.annals.org/coronavirus.


1. Clinical Validity of COVID-19 Serum Antibodies

Researchers studied 11,066 patients tested at Johns Hopkins Hospital to examine the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and assess their clinical utility. Of those, 115 patients were hospitalized and investigated for COVID-19. Clinical record review was performed to classify the patient into a COVID-19 case group (n=60) or a non-COVID-19 control group (n=55). These groups were compared to a laboratory control group. The researchers surmised that antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 demonstrate infection when measured at least 14 days after symptom onset, associate with clinical severity, and provide valuable diagnostic support in patients who test negative by nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) on nasopharyngeal swabs but remain clinically suspicious for COVID-19. Besides epidemiologic and therapeutic applications, the study shows the potential contribution of serology to COVID-19 diagnosis, which currently relies on integrating symptom surveillance, radiographic findings, and NAAT results. Read the full text: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-2889.

Media contacts: PDFs for these articles is not yet available. Please click the link to read the full text. The lead author, Patrizio Caturegli, MD, MPH, can be contacted directly at pcat@jhmi.edu.


2. Qualitative Assessment of Rapid System Transformation to Primary Care Video Visits at an Academic Medical Center

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, primary care practices across the United States have transitioned from in-person visits to virtual visits. However, there is limited information regarding the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of such a transition. Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine evaluated the short-term implications of rapid transition to video visits at Stanford Primary Care through qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, and found critical issues to sustain video visits long-term. Read the full text: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1814.

Media contacts: PDFs for these articles is not yet available. Please click the link to read the full text. The lead author, Malathi Srinivasan, MD, can be contacted directly at malathis@stanford.edu.


3. Obesity and COVID-19 in New York City: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Authors from Weill Cornell Medicine set out to study the association between obesity and outcomes among a diverse cohort of 1,687 persons hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 at 2 New York City hospitals. The authors' findings support the need to consider the community-specific prevalence of obesity when planning a community's COVID-19 response and also suggest that risk conferred by obesity is similar across age, sex, and race. Read the full text: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-2730.

Media contacts: PDFs for these articles is not yet available. Please click the link to read the full text. The lead author, Parag Goyal, MD, MSc, can be contacted directly at pag9051@med.cornell.edu.


4. Regulatory T Cells for Treating Patients With COVID-19 and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Two Case Reports

Normally, regulatory T cells (also known as T regulatory cells or Tregs) migrate into inflamed tissues, dampening inflammatory responses. Patients with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have protracted hospitalizations characterized by excessive systemic inflammation (cytokine storm) and delayed lung repair, which is partly due to reduced or defective Tregs. Authors from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine describe outcomes in 2 patients with COVID-19 and ARDS who were treated with Tregs, and are planning a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of CB Tregs for ARDS associated with COVID-19. Read the full text: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-0681.

Media contacts: PDFs for these articles is not yet available. Please click the link to read the full text. The lead author, Douglas E. Gladstone, MD, can be contacted through Amy Mone at amone@jhmi.edu.

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