Search Tag: COVID-19

IT Management

Ai-based-voice-screening-app-delivers-fast-and-accurate-results-for-parkinsons-and-severe-covid

2022 20 Oct

A research team of engineers and neurologists from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) developed a voice screening app that could support the early detection of Parkinson’s disease and severe COVID-19.   Although common symptoms of Parkinson’s include slow movement, tremors, rigidity and imbalance, diagnosing Parkinson’s...Read more

ICU Management

Does-antimicrobial-resistance-affect-clinical-outcomes-in-the-icu

2022 14 Oct

An overview of antimicrobial resistance and its impact on clinical outcomes in the ICU.  Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been defined as a major threat to healthcare and to humanity by the World Health Organization (WHO 2015). The level of evidence for the association between AMR and hospital deaths, hospital length of stay and healthcare-associated...Read more

IT Management

Consumer-and-professional-ratings-differ-for-mental-health-apps

2022 04 Oct

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of mental health apps has vastly increased. Recent efforts have been focused on collecting the views of clinicians and academics to learn what is needed from them to improve the apps.  However, understanding the views of those with mental health issues is equally important and required to ensure high quality...Read more

Executive Health Management

Newly-funded-project-aims-to-monitor-impact-of-covid-19-variants

2022 04 Oct

A three-year project, known as END-VOC, will analyse data from 28 established cohort studies in 23 countries, collaborating with 19 partners across the world. This large-scale study, funded by the European Commission, and led by UCL, aims to collect this data to better detect and improve understanding of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.   The purpose is...Read more

Cardiology Management

Covid-19-increases-type-1-diabetes-diagnosis-in-youth

2022 27 Sep

According to a study that analysed electronic health records (EHRs) of more than 1 million patients ages 18 and younger, children infected with COVID-19 show a higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes. The study is published in  JAMA Network Open.  Researchers report that children and adolescents who contracted COVID-19 were more prone to developing...Read more

ICU Management

Dexamethasone-and-oxygen-support-strategies-for-covid-19-hypoxaemic-respiratory-failure

2022 20 Sep

Acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF) is one of the main manifestations of severe COVID-19. The RECOVERY trial showed that dexamethasone 6 mg/d for ten days reduced 28-day mortality in patients with the most severe COVID-19. Another study described the benefit of high-dose dexamethasone in ARDS. However, Munch et al. found no difference between...Read more

ICU Management

Vitamin-d-supplements-and-risk-of-covid-19

2022 13 Sep

Findings from two large clinical trials show that increasing vitamin D levels in adults during the COVID-19 pandemic was not associated with protection against coronavirus or other respiratory tract infections.  Vitamin D has long been recognised to support innate immune responses to respiratory viruses and bacteria. Some studies show that vitamin...Read more

Health Management

Transforming-outpatient-services-is-key-to-delivering-and-sustaining-elective-care-recovery

2022 13 Sep

Redesigning outpatient services will be key to recover elective services. To be sustainable, the transformation needs to break down traditional barriers and focus on optimising the patients’ experience and outcomes. This needs a system-wide approach to reimagine operating and delivery models. Key Points Balancing the competing priorities...Read more

Health Management

Pivoting-to-manage-a-pandemic-flexibility-and-creativity-in-teams

2022 13 Sep

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a frequently changing situation for health systems, and successful management required a flexible and creative approach within a team. Key Points Lessons from Stanley McChrystal’s “Team of Teams” were very helpful in adapting to COVID-19 as a health system. Flexibility was a key tenet in our...Read more

Executive Health Management

Schadenfreude-is-not-acceptable-how-german-journalism-gets-me

2022 26 Aug

My dear readers,   It is time for thoughts from the island again. Before I share more, I hope you are all okay – despite the heat waves. As I said in my previous articles, what will be next? What else do we have to overcome, or is this our future - living and dealing with extreme situations, i.e. pandemics, war, climate chaos etc.?   This...Read more

ICU Management

Surge-mechanical-ventilation-during-covid-19

2022 09 Aug

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals in the U.S. exceeded their mechanical ventilation capability. As COVID-19 spread to communities with limited immunity, challenges associated with providing surge mechanical ventilation were reported. Hospitals, healthcare systems, and jurisdictional authorities purchased more ventilators. But the fear that the...Read more

Executive Health Management

Impact-of-covid-on-violence-against-healthcare-report-published-by-icn-icrc-ihf-and-wma

2022 19 Jul

Survey results show that the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened violence against healthcare, with a documented increase of incidents in many countries. Health personnel and their patients, as well as healthcare facilities and ambulances, are subject to persistent acts of violence in all regions of the world. The results of a global survey conducted...Read more

IMAGING Management

Association-of-covid-19-pandemic-measures-and-cancer-screening

2022 19 Jul

According to GLOBOCAN estimates, 19.3 million new cancer cases and 10 million cancer deaths occurred in 2020 due to breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer, the first, third, and seventh-most prevalent cancers worldwide.  Cancer screening programmes help detect cancer at early stages and can lead to decreased mortality. In the past few years, cancer...Read more

ICU Management

Neurologic-manifestations-of-covid-19

2022 19 Jul

Approximately 10-15% of patients with COVID-19 require ICU treatment. Respiratory failure and multi-organ dysfunction are the most common indications for ICU admission. However, nearly 1/3 of COVID-19 patients also present with neurologic manifestations. Neurologic manifestations are believed to predict mortality and functional outcome. While there...Read more

IMAGING Management

Ecr2022-impact-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-radiology

2022 14 Jul

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2020. Radiologists have played a critical role in patient management and COVID-19 diagnosis since the beginning of this pandemic. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) remains the standard of reference for COVID-19 detection....Read more

ICU Management

Extended-prone-positioning-for-covid-19-ards

2022 12 Jul

COVID-19 has resulted in an estimated 270,000 hospitalisations in ICUs in Europe between May 2020 and March 2022. Nearly 80% of these patients have required tracheal intubation and invasive mechanical ventilation. While there is still an ongoing debate whether acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) physiopathology is the same in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19...Read more

Health Management

Hospitals-on-fhir-preparing-hospitals-for-european-health-data-space

2022 08 Jul

Hospitals and other healthcare organisations are where health data is predominantly created. If the European Health Data Space (EHDS) is to become a reality for citizens, both via supporting primary use as well as secondary use of health data, data located in these organisations needs to be able to be shared. Experts, industry, and EU-funded projects...Read more

Health Management

Artificial-intelligence-and-radiomics-at-the-university-of-florence

2022 08 Jul

This paper provides an overview of current research at the Department of Radiology  of the University of Florence. It concerns radiomics along with Artificial Intelligence   (AI) applied to various medical fields. The need for personalised medicine and the transition from qualitative to quantitative imaging are at the heart of the projects...Read more

Health Management

Network-modernisation-the-key-to-the-future-of-healthcare

2022 08 Jul

In the post-COVID era, network modernisation will be key for healthcare organisations as they continue to introduce Internet of Things devices to their operations- in fact, it must underpin every institution’s roadmap towards digital transformation. Key Points Outdated networks can act as roadblocks and trying to adapt them to modern demand...Read more

ICU Management

Response-to-peep-in-covid-19-ards-with-without-ecmo

2022 05 Jul

There have been conflicting results concerning lung recruitability of COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and the use of techniques derived from changes in respiratory mechanics and/or gas exchange in response to positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) increase. Various factors may explain the heterogeneity of reports regarding recruitability...Read more

ICU Management

Covid-19-vaccines-prevented-20-million-deaths-worldwide

2022 28 Jun

Findings from the first modelling study to quantify the impact of COVID-19 vaccines show that nearly 19.9 million out of a potential 31.4 million deaths were prevented in the first year (December 2020-December 2021) after the introduction of the vaccine. The findings are based on data from 185 countries using COVID-19 death records and total excess...Read more

Executive Health Management

Omicron-has-half-the-risk-of-long-covid-compared-to-delta

2022 21 Jun

New research shows that the Omicron variant is less likely to cause Long-COVID compared to the Delta variant. The findings are published in The Lancet.  This is the first peer-reviewed study to report the risk of Long-COVID associated with the Omicron variant. As per the NICE guidelines, Long-COVID is defined as new or ongoing symptoms four weeks...Read more

Cardiology Management

Covid-19-lockdown-and-weight-changes

2022 21 Jun

It has been speculated that the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and shutdown of public places may have resulted in weight gain and increased rates of obesity. A recent survey reported that 60% of adults had gained a mean of 5.6 kg in body weight. However, another meta-analysis suggested much smaller gains at about 1.57 kg. The findings are hence quite...Read more

ICU Management

Early-deep-sedation-in-mechanically-ventilated-covid-19-patients

2022 20 Jun

Sedation management is a critical component when managing mechanically ventilated patients. It is important to use a protocol-driven approach, which favours paired spontaneous awakening (SAT) and breathing (SBT) trials, along with light levels of sedation. The initial period of respiratory failure in the emergency department and the first 48 hours...Read more

Executive Health Management

Fda-approves-covid-19-vaccine-for-children-under-five

2022 19 Jun

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given emergency use authorisation to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for children under five. Vaccine advisors at the CDC have voted unanimously in support of the measure. As a result, the COVID-19 vaccine can now be given to children as young as six months old.  The Pfizer vaccine is good for...Read more

ICU Management

Ea22-long-term-exposure-to-air-pollution-increases-risk-of-severe-covid-19

2022 07 Jun

New research presented at Euroanaesthesia 2022 finds that long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to a greater risk of severe COVID-19. Findings from the study show that people living in counties with higher levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) were more likely to need ICU care and mechanical ventilation if they had COVID-19. Long-term exposure...Read more

ICU Management

Clinical-organisational-factors-and-covid-19-mortality

2022 31 May

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the most significant challenges faced by critical care workers worldwide. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of patients with COVID-19 associated pneumonia were admitted to the ICU. As a result, most healthcare facilities faced capacity issues and had to designate clinical areas to accommodate...Read more

Executive Health Management

The-nursing-workforce-needs-greater-investment

2022 13 May

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) released its International Nurses Day (IND) toolkit on 12 May 2022, a report that provides multisectoral guidance to nursing stakeholders globally. In releasing this document, ICN’s goal is to support the implementation of the WHO Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery: 2021-2025 (SDNM) . The...Read more

IT Management

Telehealth-follow-up-compares-well-to-in-person-care-for-chronic-conditions

2022 10 May

A Johns Hopkins University study compared in-person and telehealth ambulatory encounter outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first year. They found that telehealth follow-ups compared equally well to in-person visits outcomes for chronic conditions.   Telehealth services in the U.S. have expanded since the beginning of the pandemic to provide...Read more