Here is what the editors at Physician's Briefing chose as the most important COVID-19 developments for you and your practice for the week of Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, 2020. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal studies and other trusted sources that is most likely to affect clinical practice.
Chief of U.S. Vaccine Initiative Says October Timeline 'Extremely Unlikely'
FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The chief adviser for the White House vaccine program said Thursday it was "extremely unlikely, but not impossible" that a COVID-19 vaccine could be available by the end of October.
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Likely Deficient Vitamin D Status Linked to COVID-19 Risk
FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Likely deficient vitamin D status is associated with an increased risk for COVID-19, according to a study published online Sept. 3 in JAMA Network Open.
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COVID-19 During Pregnancy May Pose Risks for Mother, Baby
FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women with COVID-19 are less likely to report symptoms but are more likely to require intensive care unit admission compared with nonpregnant women of reproductive age, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published online Sept. 1 in The BMJ.
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Fauci Warns Colleges Not to Send Students With COVID-19 Home
THURSDAY, Sept. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Colleges across America struggle to control COVID-19 outbreaks on campus, even as Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned on Wednesday that sending students home after an outbreak is "the worst thing you could do."
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John Wagner No Longer Heading FDA Office of External Affairs
THURSDAY, Sept. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- For the second time in days, a Trump appointee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been let go.
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In-Person Visits to Resume at U.S. Prisons in October
THURSDAY, Sept. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- In-person visits for inmates are scheduled to resume on Oct. 3, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Wednesday.
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CDC Refutes Social Media Rumors That COVID-19 Death Data Are Inaccurate
THURSDAY, Sept. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Rumors suggesting that COVID-19 deaths in the United States are much lower than reported are due to people misinterpreting standard death certificate language, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official says.
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Poll: Americans Now More Likely to Get COVID-19 Vaccine
THURSDAY, Sept. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Just over 54 percent of Americans now say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine in the first 12 months after it is introduced, a significant increase from 42 percent in July, a new WebMD poll finds.
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Higher Prevalence of Asthma Not Seen Among COVID-19 Patients
THURSDAY, Sept. 3, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The prevalence of asthma among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 seems to be similar to population prevalence and significantly lower than asthma prevalence among patients hospitalized with influenza, according to a letter to the editor published online Aug. 31 in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
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CDC Alerts Nation to Prepare for COVID-19 Vaccine by Early November
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 2, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling the nation to prepare for distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine this fall.
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U.S. Will Not Join International COVID-19 Vaccine Effort
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 2, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The United States will not join an international effort to create and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine, the Trump administration said Tuesday.
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No Proof Convalescent Plasma Effective Against COVID-19
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 2, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- There is no evidence to support the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 patients, and doctors should not consider it a standard of care until more research is completed, a U.S. National Institutes of Health expert panel said Tuesday.
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Pandemic Changed Asthma Care Delivery for Children
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 2, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The COVID-19 pandemic in Philadelphia has brought changes in pediatric asthma care delivery patterns, according to a study published online Aug. 19 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
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GM, Ford Finish Making 80,000 Ventilators
TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- General Motors and Ford have completed U.S. government contracts to make 80,000 medical breathing machines for the U.S. government to help treat COVID-19 patients.
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California Chicken Plant Closes After 8 Employees Die From COVID-19
TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A Foster Farms chicken processing plant in Livingston, California, where eight workers died of COVID-19 and 392 tested positive, will be closed for a week of cleaning.
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Flexible School Meals Program Extended by USDA
TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The flexible free school meals program that provided food to children during the summer will be extended at least through the fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday.
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More Than 20 Percent of Children With COVID-19 Are Asymptomatic
TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A considerable proportion of children with confirmed COVID-19 remain asymptomatic, according to a study published online Aug. 28 in JAMA Pediatrics.
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SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies for 6 Percent of Frontline Health Care Personnel
TUESDAY, Sept. 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Six percent of health care personnel caring for patients with COVID-19 have positive test results for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antibodies, according to research published in the Aug. 31 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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FDA Could Green-Light COVID-19 Vaccines Before Clinical Trials Completed
MONDAY, Aug. 31, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Emergency use authorization or approval for a COVID-19 vaccine before phase 3 clinical trials are complete could be considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to the agency's commissioner, Stephen Hahn, M.D.
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Community-Level Factors Explain Some Racial Disparities in COVID-19
MONDAY, Aug. 31, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Community-level factors explain some, but not all, racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 rates in Massachusetts, according to a report published online Aug. 27 in Health Affairs.
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Pandemic May Have Delayed Type 1 Diabetes Diagnoses
MONDAY, Aug. 31, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Many children may have delayed diagnosis of type 1 diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online Aug. 10 in Diabetes Care.
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