University of Sydney – The Week That Wasn’t: Humidity, Children’ Viral Load, Face Shields

Editor’s uncover: Decide up the most recent COVID-19 news and steering in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Heart.

This week in COVID-19 news, scientists mentioned they had confirmed a link between humidity and SARS-CoV-2 transmission and that the usage of face shields perceived to keep away with infections among neighborhood health workers in India. Nevertheless you did now not glimpse these headlines on Medscape Clinical News. Right here is why.

Humidity

Ambient humidity could well perchance additionally influence the unfold of SARS-CoV-2, in step with original evaluate. Examining files from 1200 conditions of COVID-19 in the Australian verbalize of Fresh South Wales, researchers from the College of Sydney and Fudan College in Shanghai chanced on that a 1% decrease in relative humidity became once linked to a 7% to 8% boost in day-to-day COVID-19 conditions. “Knowledge generated on this gaze confirms humidity as a driver of SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission,” they wrote.

Perchance, nonetheless if that is so, there could be little clinicians can must manipulate the weather. Plus, the researchers did now not know what humidity levels americans had been experiencing when they grew to change into contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 ― they extinct files from meteorologic recording stations in the postal codes the place aside patients lived and assumed the americans grew to change into contaminated when exterior or that stipulations had been identical adequate indoors. This plan is fashioned in environmental effectively being evaluate, nonetheless it certainly requires some big assumptions which will or could well perchance additionally no longer be actual.

Face Shields

A neighborhood of neighborhood health workers in Chennai, India, who visited the properties of americans in which a family member had examined definite for COVID-19 to counsel them about quarantining unwittingly supplied an various to assess the efficacy of face shields as non-public protective tools (PPE). Within the muse, the staff’ PPE consisted of alcohol hand rub, three-layered surgical masks, gloves, and shoe covers. Workers began getting sick, and 12 of 62 examined definite for COVID-19. After the leisure 50 workers began utilizing face shields as effectively, none of them gotten smaller the virus.

It is correct news that these neighborhood health workers finally obtained the PPE they wished to be protected, and that it became once effective. Nevertheless this description of their journey would now not dramatically replace the verbalize of knowledge about PPE, including face shields ― when workers hang it, it works ― so we did now not highlight it for our readers.

Ellie Kincaid is Medscape’s partner managing editor. She has beforehand written about healthcare for Forbes, the Wall Avenue Journal, and Nature Treatment. She could well perchance additionally additionally be reached at ekincaid@medscape.gain or on Twitter @ellie_kincaid.

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