As U.S. deaths from COVID-19 continue to rise, the research community is beginning to focus some attention on the psychological impact of the pandemic on healthcare workers who cared for patients on the frontlines. Given that previous pandemics have led to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as other forms of anxiety and depression, there … [Read more...]
Protecting the Psychological Health of Nurses During Pandemics
New Information on the Neurological Manifestations of COVID-19
While most of the symptomatic focus of COVID-19 has been on the respiratory effects of the virus, other manifestations of the disease are beginning to come to light as more data are collected and people who were previously infected with COVID-19 survive their infection and continue to be monitored. A new review in JAMA Neurology provides … [Read more...]
The Latest on COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing
When the SARS-CoV-2 virus began spreading, and COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, much of the physician services healthcare community was focused on diagnostic test availability so that we could identify those who had been infected with the virus and use that information to slow the spread of the disease. Now, however, attention has shifted from … [Read more...]
COVID-19 and Ibuprofen: What is the Relationship?
There has been a lot of confusion in recent weeks about how ibuprofen may increase risks for contracting the novel coronavirus or impact the severity of the illness resulting from COVID-19 infection. Questions began after the publication of a paper in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine that pointed to the possibility that ibuprofen can increase … [Read more...]
Coronavirus Can Be Detected in Patient Saliva
A new study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases has found that the coronavirus strain that is spreading globally – COVID-19 – can be detected in patients’ saliva. If saliva can in fact be used to diagnose COVID-19, this approach could be valuable not only for patients but also for emergency physicians, hospital physicians, and … [Read more...]