Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and a programme of physical and mental rehabilitation probably improve symptoms of long covid, but the effects are modest, finds a review of the latest evidence published by The BMJ today.

In this study, stopping universal masking and SARS-CoV-2 testing was associated with a significant increase in hospital-onset respiratory viral infections relative to community infections. Restarting the masking of health care workers was associated with a significant decrease. 

https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.15212/ZOONOSES-2024-0028

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. Zoonotic transmission of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been found to result in infections in more than 30 mammalian species.

Exposure to air pollutants (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) is associated with an increased risk of persistent long-COVID symptoms, partly due to its impact on the severity of the acute infection. This is the main conclusion of a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by “la Caixa” Foundation, in collaboration with the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), and published in Environmental Health Perspectives. 

Despite a heavy infusion of public and private support during the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries in Oregon reported that housing and food insecurity shot up during the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020 — and their basic needs remained in doubt through at least the end of the following year. The survey data were reported in a study led by Oregon Health & Science University and published today in the Annals of Family Medicine.

About The Study: No unexpected reactions were identified in this analysis of reactions to COVID-19 vaccines among children. Similar to this study, data from clinical trials and V-safe found that irritability was the most common systemic reaction among children ages 6 months to younger than 2 years, followed by fever and fatigue or sleepiness. In contrast to other studies observing a higher prevalence of reactions after the second COVID-19 vaccine dose, this study observed a higher prevalence after the first dose. This difference may reflect maternal vaccination; the first COVID-19 vaccination in this cohort may be some children’s second immunological encounter with a COVID-19 vaccine.

About The Study: This serial cross-sectional study observed a significant decrease in positive reviews for health care facilities post-COVID. These findings underscore a disparity in patient experience, particularly in rural areas and areas with the highest proportions of Black and white residents.