Tag: Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

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CORONAVIRUS NOT LIKELY TO BE SEASONAL

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the staff of the Ridgewod blog

Ridgewood NJ,   from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security,  Preliminary analysis by experts at the US National Academy of Sciences suggests that COVID-19 may not exhibit strong seasonality. The study evaluated available observational epidemiological data as well as laboratory experimental data, including studies both in China and other countries. The researchers did not find strong evidence that the pandemic will wane in summer months as due temperature and humidity increase; however, they note that their findings are based on limited preliminary data—some of which is of questionable quality—and that further study is required to better characterize the virus’ transmission patterns. While some data, particularly from laboratory studies, provide evidence supporting seasonality, the researchers note that these are not necessarily representative of the natural environment and that multiple countries currently in their summer season are experiencing significant volume of transmission. Additionally, the researchers cite the global susceptibility to the virus as another major driver of continued global transmission over the coming months.

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To Mask or Not to Mask that is the Question ?

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security following recent announcements that the US CDC is considering recommendations for the general public to wear masks or face coverings, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) published a commentary written by two doctors from the University of Illinois at Chicago that discourages universal mask use for the general public. The authors identify several potential pitfalls for such a policy without sufficient benefit. They argue that there is insufficient evidence these masks reduce transmission among the general public, that such recommendations could reduce healthcare worker access to surgical masks, and that wider use of masks could lead the general public to relax social distancing measures unnecessarily due to a false sense of security from the masks. The article comes amid media reports that some hospitals are discouraging or prohibiting personnel from wearing masks and other PPE when not treating patients, due in part to ongoing supply shortages. These policies have received pushback from some clinicians who feel they require the additional protection while at work, and other hospitals have implemented mandatory universal mask policies.

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Obamacare Medical Device Tax Sent Domestic Production Overseas Leaving US Vulnerable

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 the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ,  according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security the US government officials, including representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and US President Donald Trump, have confirmed that the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) is running low on supplies and equipment. The SNS maintains inventory of a myriad of supplies and equipment—including pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment (PPE), and ventilators—for rapid deployment during emergencies; however, it “was never…designed to fight a 50-state pandemic.” While products are being shipped to states and health systems directly from manufacturers and distributors in the commercial market, states are still struggling to obtain necessary supplies and equipment. There are numerous reports that states are bidding against each other, as well as foreign competitors, to secure materiel to support their response activities, and multiple governors have called on the federal government to provide additional support. The US government has reportedly shipped millions of pieces of equipment and other supplies nationwide, but it appears that the available inventory has been insufficient, and domestic production has not scaled up quickly enough to meet the existing demand. As the US epidemic continues to grow, so too, will the demand, which will inevitably place even more strain on existing resources.

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Trump Administration Closing Gap on Ventilators

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MIT Researchers Publish Design for $100 Ventilator

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Ridgewood NJ, according Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security , hospitals across the United States, and around the world, face the prospect of a shortage of life-saving ventilators in the coming days or weeks, if they are not already affected. The US government recently invoked the Defense Production Act in an effort to speed production and delivery of ventilator units by General Motors, but a number of other companies and organizations are actively pursuing alternative sources and products to mitigate the shortfall. Elon Musk announced yesterday that his company Tesla purchased 1,200 surplus ventilators from China, which will be distributed free of charge to hospitals in need. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology revived a project from several years ago to develop a makeshift ventilator using “ambu” resuscitation bags, widely available at hospitals around the world. The team intends to share its design instructions free of charge, which will allow others to construct their own unit, using US$400-500 in supplies. The units are not currently FDA-approved, but the team hopes to obtain approval in the future. Employees at 2 General Electric facilities in Massachusetts reportedly staged protests to demand that they be able to manufacture ventilators. The facilities, originally designed to produce aircraft jet engines, are currently sitting idle, and the workers want those facilities to be converted to manufacture ventilators. The protests follow an announcement by GE that it will lay off 10% of its “domestic aviation workforce” as well as “temporary” layoffs for maintenance personnel in an attempt to save the company money. Additionally, several other companies announced that they would begin producing a “simplified version of GE Healthcare’s” ventilators.

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New Study Points to Underlying Health Conditions Making up the Majority of all Hospital Admissions Due to Coronavirus

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security ,a new study published in the US CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report describes the prevalence of certain underlying health conditions among COVID-19 patients in the United States and associations with severe disease. The US CDC COVID-19 Response Team evaluated data on 122,653 US COVID-19 patients identified between February 12 and March 28.

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US FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System, which is designed to decontaminate N95 respirators allowing healthcare workers to safely reuse them

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security the US FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System, which is designed to decontaminate N95 respirators in order to allow healthcare workers to safely reuse them (as many as 20 times) and extend existing inventory in health systems across the country. The system utilizes hydrogen peroxide vapor to “destroy bacteria, viruses and other contaminants, including…SARS-CoV-2,” and it can process up to 80,000 masks per day. The FDA initially limited the throughput to 10,000 masks per day, but the system is now permitted to operate at full capacity. The system is currently in use in Ohio, and Battelle intends to deploy units to New York, Washington state, and Washington, DC.

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A loss of Taste and smell phenomenon is consistent with case reports of individuals infected with other coronaviruses

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security a loss of taste and smell—hypogeusia and hyposmia, respectively—has been reported as a potential early symptom of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This phenomenon is consistent with case reports of individuals infected with other coronaviruses. While it has not been widely documented in the scientific literature, there have been reports of patients exhibiting neurological symptoms, including hyposmia and hypogeusia, in Wuhan, China. A more complete understanding of how and why this phenomenon takes place could potentially enable its use in interpreting clinical progression of COVID-19. A study conducted at the Harvard Medical School (preprint) identified a pathway that could potentially explain these symptoms. Two genes required for SARS-CoV-2 cell entry are expressed by olfactory epithelial and stem cells but not olfactory sensory neurons, which could challenge the hypothesis that there is a neurological basis for the phenomenon.

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Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security : The United States was ranked the best-prepared country in the world to handle a pandemic

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 the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The United States was ranked the best-prepared country in the world to handle a pandemic in late 2019 by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (JHCHS) — an assessment seemingly at odds with claims by Democrats that the Trump administration left the country vulnerable to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

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