Coronavirus Perspective

• Ukrainian Refugee Health Needs to be Central to UK Home Office Response to Crisis, Say Doctors The UK has issued more than 25,000 Ukranian refugee visas to-date but with no information of when and in what numbers they will arrive, medics are concerned that refugee health needs will be unmanageable.
  Medscape UK, April 05, 2022
• Influence of Hypertension and Antihypertensive Treatment on COVID-19 Mortality Risk Pre-existing hypertension and treatment for hypertension did not independently increase the risk of in-hospital mortality in hospitalised patients with COVID-19.
  Medscape UK, April 05, 2022
• Pre-existing Antithrombotic Use and Risk of COVID-19 Outcomes in AF Patients In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and a CHA2DS2-VASc score of ≥2, pre-existing antithrombotic (AT) use was associated with a lower risk of COVID-19-related mortality but a higher risk of hospitalisation.
  Medscape UK, March 29, 2022
• Influence of Smoking on Risk of Hospitalisation for COVID-19 Vs Other Respiratory Viral Infections Patients hospitalised with COVID-19 during the first phase of the pandemic were less likely to be current smokers than those hospitalised with other respiratory viral infections in the previous year.
  Medscape UK, March 09, 2022
• COVID-19: Why Are We Ignoring Infection-Acquired Immunity? Recent studies focus renewed attention on the ongoing debate about the importance of infection-acquired immunity and the extent to which it should be taken into account in public health policy.
  Medscape UK, February 28, 2022
• Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on In-hospital Cardiac Arrest in the UK The first wave of COVID-19 in 2020 was associated with a higher rate of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) and lower rates of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) ≥20 minutes and survival to hospital discharge compared with the same period in 2016-2019.
  Medscape UK, February 23, 2022
• Gout Is a Risk Factor for COVID-19-related Mortality Gout is a risk factor for COVID-19-related mortality, irrespective of metabolic comorbidities.
  Medscape UK, February 21, 2022
• Significant Worsening of Mental Health During the First COVID-19 Lockdown in the UK The prevalence of anxiety and depression was significantly higher in the general population during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK compared with pre-pandemic prevalence rates.
  Medscape UK, February 17, 2022
• A New Era: The Pros and Cons of ePMA Systems in Practice in the NHS The last 5 years have seen a rapid rise in the use of electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (ePMA) systems across NHS trusts. But how safe are they?
  Medscape UK, February 15, 2022
• Asthma and Risk of Serious COVID-19 Outcomes in Scottish Adults Scottish adults with asthma requiring 2 or more courses of oral corticosteroids or asthma-related hospitalisation in the preceding 2 years had an increased risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation and a composite outcome of intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death.
  Medscape UK, January 31, 2022
• Five Common Objections to Mandatory Vaccination for Healthcare Workers: A Medical Ethicist's View With only days until the deadline (Wednesday February 3, 2022) for unvaccinated NHS workers to have their first COVID-19 vaccine, ethicist Daniel Sokol looks at common objections to mandatory vaccination.
  Medscape UK, January 27, 2022
• Neurodegenerative Disease and Risk of COVID-19 Outcomes A pre-existing diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease was associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 outcomes, including any COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 requiring inpatient care, and COVID-19-related death.
  Medscape UK, January 14, 2022
• RAAS Inhibitor Use Tied to a Lower Risk of COVID-19 Hospitalisation In patients with COVID-19 treated for hypertension, the use of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors was associated with a lower risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation and all-cause mortality.
  Medscape UK, December 31, 2021
• Why Isn't the UK Vaccinating Young Children for COVID? Shamez Ladhani, paediatric infectious diseases specialist, speaks to Medscape UK about the UK's vaccination strategy for the 5- to 11-year-olds, and how vaccination resources are better used for the vulnerable.
  Medscape UK, December 17, 2021
• Early-onset Asthma Tied to Lower Risk of COVID-19 Patients with early-onset asthma had a lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection than those without early-onset asthma.
  Medscape UK, December 16, 2021
• COVID-19-related Physical Interventions Linked to Reduced Hospitalisations for ENT Infections A study showed a substantial reduction in adult admissions for ear, nose, and throat (ENT) infections following the introduction of COVID-19-related physical interventions (PIs; hand washing, mask wearing, and social distancing).
  Medscape UK, December 03, 2021
• COVID-19 and Subsequent Life-threatening Secondary Infections Patients with COVID-19 may have an increased risk of subsequent life-threatening secondary infections (sepsis, endocarditis and central nervous system infections), to an equal extent or even beyond risk elevations seen with seasonal influenza.
  Medscape UK, November 28, 2021
• Aspirin Not Beneficial in Hospitalised COVID-19 Patients, Finds RECOVERY Trial Aspirin plus usual care vs usual care alone had no significant effect on all-cause mortality and the risk of progressing to invasive mechanical ventilation or death among patients hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
  Medscape UK, November 23, 2021
• Impact of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma on COVID-19 Allergic rhinitis (AR; in all ages) and allergic or non-allergic asthma (in those aged <65 years) were associated with a lower risk of COVID-19 infection, but not with the severity and mortality of COVID-19.
  Medscape UK, November 11, 2021
• COVID-19-related Outcomes in Warfarin and DOAC Users In patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF), the use of warfarin was associated with a lower risk of developing SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospital admission or death from COVID-19 compared with the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs).
  Medscape UK, November 07, 2021