Jan 29, 2021
COVID-19 symptoms such as cough, fatigue, sore throat and muscle pain seem to be more common for people who test positive for the new coronavirus variant that was first identified in the U.K., according to a new study from the UK’s Office for National Statistics. Loss of taste and smell seem to be less common with the variant, though only slightly. Headaches, shortness of breath, diarrhea and vomiting continue to remain common and are similar for both strains of the coronavirus. The study is based on positive tests from a random sample of 6,000 people in England who tested between mid-November and mid-January. The research team analyzed symptoms that were reported up to a week before a positive test for the new variant or the original strain of the coronavirus.
Jan 26, 2021
Anthony Fauci, MD, says wearing two masks is better than one when it comes to warding off the coronavirus. The purpose of a mask is to prevent droplets and the virus from reaching a person’s mouth and nose, he said on the Today show, so increasing the barriers naturally increases protection. “If you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on, it just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective,” said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “And that’s the reason why you see people either double masking or doing a version of an N95.” N95 masks are expensive, and the CDC recommends they be reserved for health care workers, but health experts say double masking is easy and something of a no-brainer. “Double layering is adding extra filtration, but a lot of the benefit also comes in making sure you are covering those gaps around the mask, because not every mask you put on fits equally,”
Jan 29, 2021
The Johnson & Johnson/Janssen single-dose coronavirus vaccine is 66% effective in preventing infection globally and 72% effective in the United States, according to the highly anticipated, interim phase III results announced this morning. The 44,000-participant study was conducted in the U.S., South America and South Africa. While those results are lower than the 94% to 95% effectiveness of the existing Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson results are reasons for optimism, officials from the National Institutes of Health told reporters. Specifically, they said the fact that the clinical trials showed the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 85% effective in preventing severe cases of COVID was very important. Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the focus should not just be on the overall numbers. "The most important thing from a public health standpoint domestically is to keep people out of the hospital and prevent them from getting severe illness," he said. "More important than preventing someone from getting some aches and a sore throat is to prevent people -- particularly people who have underlying conditions and the elderly, the ones most susceptible to a severe outcome – [from getting] severe disease," He said. Prevention of severe outcomes in a high percentage of individuals "will alleviate so much of the stress, human suffering and death." Fauci acknowledged that many people will naturally focus on the distinction among the vaccines’ different rate of effectiveness. "This could be a messaging challenge … [but] you have to make sure people understand the implications,” he said.
