Dexamethasone Underused for Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19

For adults hospitalized with COVID-19, dexamethasone and remdesivir use increased over time, although dexamethasone is still somewhat underused, according to a study published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine. “Mehta and colleagues clearly showed how rapidly clinicians can navigate a cacophony of data and incorporate important and meaningful results of clinical research into practice during an infectious disease pandemic,” write the authors of an accompanying editorial.

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Study Shows an Increasing Trend of At-Home Drinking During COVID-19 Pandemic

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a new study indicates that home drinking has increased in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, with alcohol retail store sales increasing during the months of March 2020 to September 2020 compared to its usual trend. The findings were published in the journal Alcohol. To conduct this study, researchers analyzed alcohol retail store sales data of beer, wine, and liquor store (BWLS) purchases from January 1992 to September 2020 from the Monthly Retail Trade Survey; a survey which provides sales estimates at retail and food locations.

Faster, More Effective, Less Costly COVID-19 Test Developed by the NIH

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed a quicker, more effective, and less costly method to detect SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The method was developed in collaboration with with the National Eye Institute (NEI), the NIH Clinical Center (CC), and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). The report of the new technique was published in iScience.

COVID-19 Outcomes in Critically Ill No Better With Full-Dose Heparin

Therapeutic-dose anticoagulation with heparin does not improve outcomes for critically ill patients with severe COVID-19, but it is beneficial for patients who are not critically ill, according to two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine.