COVID
46 posts
The first RCT of remdesivir for COVID-19 was not encouraging, but even as it was being discussed, we knew that another trial existed, and we were told that the results were positive. The results of that trial (ACTT-1) are now out. The paper The ACTT-1 Trial: Beigel JH, Tomashek KM, […]
I hope to get back to normal emergency medicine literature sometime soon, but for now there is enough new COVID-19 research that I think another COVID specific research roundup is worthwhile. In this edition, I will tackle some more evidence that COVID can be spread by the airborne route, some […]
The last few months have been pretty stressful for all of us. Our lives have been defined by rapidly changing protocols, worldwide PPE shortages, significant uncertainty, and, or some of us, large numbers of critically ill patients. To make matters worse, we have largely been cut off from our family […]
The pressure cooker of COVID-19 has brought out examples of both the best and the worst in medicine. We need to spend more time focusing on the best – the incredible creativity, innovation, teamwork, compassion, and dedication demonstrated throughout this crisis. However, we also need to consider the lessons that […]
There was a bit of a social media fracas a few weeks ago when the first ‘trial’ of remdesivir for COVID-19 was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. (The journal being a red flag that you might be seeing advertising rather than real science). It was an uncontrolled […]
N95 masks are designed to be single use. In normal times, they shouldn’t be reworn. In normal times, they shouldn’t be decontaminated and reused. But these are not normal times. COVID-19 has resulted in drastic PPE shortages around the world, and has left many hospital systems considering options for reusing […]
One of the true values of evidence based medicine is that it provides you with a systematic approach to new questions; an approach that should provide the best possible answer. Just a few months ago, I had never even considered the difference between a droplet and an aerosol. Now, I […]
With good reason, we are all a lot more interested than usual in the mechanisms of transmission of infectious diseases. I have written at length about aerosols and droplets. I have also discussed the very limited evidence that we have when it comes to aerosol generating procedures. However, almost all […]