11/19/2021

Coronavirus

Studies have demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infection, need for emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalization were uncommon in fully vaccinated persons before the widespread circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant. Among persons aged =12 years enrolled in a Pacific Northwest health plan, unvaccinated persons with SARS-CoV-2 infection were approximately twice as likely to receive ED care or to be hospitalized than were vaccinated persons with COVID-19.

North Carolina implemented an automated digital notification system on December 24, 2020, to reach persons with diagnosed COVID-19 in a timely manner. Overall, 56% of patients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result were notified by telephone call or digital notification within 24 hours of report in January 2021, compared with 15% during November 23–December 23, 2020. Differences in text notification by age, race, and ethnicity were observed.

Although it is true that most children experience asymptomatic or mild disease, some will get quite sick, and a small number will die. It’s why children are vaccinated against influenza, meningitis, chickenpox, and hepatitis—none of which, even before vaccines were available, killed as many as SARS-CoV-2 per year. Some parents are understandably hesitant to vaccinate their young children. However, a choice not to get a vaccine is not a risk-free choice; rather, it’s a choice to take a different and more serious risk. The biomedical community must strive to make this clear to the public. It could be one of the most important health decisions a parent will make.

Analysis of large-scale genome sequences demonstrates the mutation of SARS-CoV-2 has been undergoing significant sweeps. Driven by emerging variants, global sweeps are accelerated and purified over time. This may prolong the pandemic with repeating epidemics, presenting challenges to the control and prevention of SARS-CoV-2.

Newborn Screening

The UK is set to pilot genetic sequencing in healthy babies. Genomic screening at appropriate ages could help reduce the burden of genetic disorders, say Leslie Biesecker and colleagues, but David Curtis argues that newborns cannot consent and that our most personal data might be misused.

Breast Cancer

One area that has attracted great attention for the use of deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) in health care is medical imaging, especially mammography. Many initial AI studies proclaimed remarkable improvement in accuracy over the performance of radiologists, but a recent systematic review highlighted there is insufficient scientific evidence to support such findings.