Want to Send a Clear Health Message? Don’t Involve Trump. And More Science Journal News

Compiled by veteran medical journalist Brian Owens, this roundup of some of the newest science on the COVID-19 pandemic, straight from the scientific journals, is presented by Hakai Magazine in partnership with The Tyee.

Health messages are less effective if Donald Trump is involved

If President Donald Trump’s name is associated with a public health message encouraging a safety measure such as physical distancing or wearing a mask, that message is less effective — not just compared to other sources, but even when there is no source at all. In a study in the United States, researchers found that even participants who said they trust Trump do not find messages from him more effective than those from other sources, and those who said they do not trust the president found the messages significantly less effective.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Aug. 27, 2020

Symptom screening fails to identify most infected children

Many schools are relying on symptom screening to spot children who may have COVID-19. But this approach to disease detection is hampered by the fact that many kids show no symptoms at all. A study in South Korea found that 22 per cent of infected children were asymptomatic, and just 8.5 per cent of children who did exhibit symptoms were diagnosed when the symptoms appeared, suggesting that symptom screening is an ineffective way to monitor infection levels in children.

Researchers in the United States, however, found that the number of asymptomatic kids has a roughly linear relationship to the number of confirmed cases in the general population. They have developed a simple equation to estimate the number of asymptomatic children in a given area, which public health authorities could use to help determine whether it is safe for students to return to school, and in what numbers.

JAMA Pediatrics, Aug. 28, 2020

JAMA Pediatrics, Aug. 25, 2020

Social media is full of fraudulent COVID-19 products

Researchers have used machine learning to spot thousands of fraudulent claims and counterfeit goods related to COVID-19 on two social media platforms, Twitter and Instagram. Between March and May they detected two waves of scams, mostly focused on counterfeit health products such as illegal or unapproved testing kits, untested treatments and purported cures. A third wave of fake pharmaceutical treatments is now materializing, and the researchers expect it will worsen when public health officials announce the development of an effective vaccine or other therapeutic treatments. Three ways to spot scams include looking for claims that are too good to be true, posts offering products from another country, and sellers using non-traditional contact methods like WhatsApp or Skype.

Journal of Medical Internet Research Public Health and Surveillance, Aug. 25, 2020

Raves go virtual, but drug use stays real

During lockdown in New York, people traded nightclubs and bars for virtual raves and Zoom happy hours. But many continued to use drugs in these physically distant settings. A survey of New Yorkers who have previously attended an electronic dance music or EDM party found that 55.5 per cent also attended virtual raves and 69.5 per cent attended virtual happy hours during COVID-19 social distancing. More than one-third reported using illegal drugs during these events. Marijuana was the most commonly used drug, with smaller numbers using ecstasy, LSD, or cocaine.

International Journal of Drug Policy, Aug. 26, 2020

Rigid physical distancing rules are outdated

Rules that stipulate a single “safe” physical distance of one to two metres to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are based on outdated science (they first originated in 1897) and experience with previous viruses. Newer research has found that droplets containing the virus can travel much further — or not as far — depending on whether someone is speaking, shouting, or coughing; indoor versus outdoor; the level of ventilation; and whether face coverings are being worn. Social distancing guidelines could be adjusted to reflect this variability, and to provide more protection in high-risk settings like bars or nightclubs, and looser restrictions in low-risk settings like parks.

British Medical Journal, Aug. 25, 2020

Drug for cat coronavirus to be tested in humans

Researchers at the University of Alberta are preparing to test whether a drug that was developed to treat a deadly coronavirus in cats could be used to treat COVID-19 in humans. The drug, which interferes with the virus’s ability to replicate, has already been shown to be effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in test tubes and in human cell lines.

Nature Communications, Aug. 27, 2020

Obesity a risk for COVID-19 complications

Obese people are at an increased risk of hospitalisation, more likely to be admitted to intensive care, and have a higher risk of death from COVID-19, according to a review of existing studies. Previous work by the same researchers had found that the influenza vaccine is less effective in obese people and warn that the same may be true for any future COVID-19 vaccine.

Obesity Reviews, Aug. 26, 2020

Why is COVID-19 more severe in men?

COVID-19 tends to be more severe in men than women, and two new studies may help explain why. In one, researchers found that women mounted a more robust and sustained immune response and had lower levels of inflammatory cytokines than men. In the second, researchers found that the sex hormone estrogen lowers a person’s number of ACE2 receptors — which the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses to enter cells — in the heart, potentially protecting against some of the cardiac complications often seen in severe cases.

Nature, Aug. 26, 2020

Current Hypertension Reports, Aug. 27, 2020

Pandemic could make antibiotic resistance worse

Many people hospitalised with COVID-19 are treated with antibiotics in case they have a secondary bacterial infection. But subsequent testing shows that very few patients actually do have a bacterial infection, meaning the antibiotic treatment was unnecessary. This overuse of antibiotics raises the risk that the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria will rise, both in hospitals and in the wider environment.

Clinical Infectious Diseases, Aug. 21, 2020

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Aug. 12, 2020

COVID-19 survivors will need long-term support

More than one-third of the people who have been severely ill with COVID-19 could have long-term symptoms, some of them debilitating. Although the disease starts as an acute lung infection, it can develop into a multi-system illness leaving people with symptoms that can last for months and years, including breathlessness, fatigue, weakness, pain, cardiac problems, and cognitive and psychological problems. This means health-care systems will need to develop ways of supporting people in the community who are recovering from the long-term effects of COVID-19.

Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, Aug. 26, 2020