5 things to know about the Delta variant

“Breakthrough cases,” where people who are fully vaccinated get COVID-19, are still considered rare, even with Delta, according to the CDC, but if a vaccinated person is infected, they can transmit the virus. (The CDC is continuing to assess data on whether people with breakthrough cases who don’t have symptoms can spread the virus.) Here are five things you need to know about the Delta variant.

1. Delta is more contagious than the other virus strains
2. Unvaccinated people are at risk
3. Delta could lead to 'hyperlocal outbreaks'
4. There is still more to learn about Delta
5. Vaccination is the best protection against Delta

Read here (Yale Medicine, Sept 8, 2021)

What is herd immunity?

‘In this short video, Yale’s Dr. Howard Forman, physician and professor, discusses herd immunity — what it is and how to achieve it for maximum benefit in the age of COVID-19.’

View here (Yale News, Jan 6, 2021)

Sex differences in COVID-19 immune responses affect patient outcomes

‘Yale researchers have identified significant differences in how the immune systems of women and men respond to the virus that causes COVID-19. In a study launched by Women’s Health Research at Yale and published Aug. 28 in Nature, the authors revealed possible biological explanations for why men are more likely than women to suffer severe cases of COVID-19 and die of the disease.

“We now have clear data suggesting that the immune landscape in COVID-19 patients is considerably different between the sexes and that these differences may underlie heightened disease susceptibility in men,” said senior author Akiko Iwasaki, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellar and Development Biology, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “Collectively, these data suggest we need different strategies to ensure that treatments and vaccines are equally effective for both women and men.”

Read here (Yale News, August 26, 2020)

Quick and affordable saliva-based COVID-19 test developed by Yale scientists receives FDA Emergency Use Authorisation

‘A saliva-based laboratory diagnostic test developed by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health to determine whether someone is infected with the novel coronavirus has been granted an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With the FDA’s emergency use authorization, the testing method is immediately available to other diagnostic laboratories that want to start using the new test, which can be scaled up quickly for use across the nation — and, perhaps, beyond — in the coming weeks, the researchers said. A key component of SalivaDirect, they note, is that the method has been validated with reagents and instruments from multiple vendors. This flexibility enables continued testing if some vendors encounter supply chain issues, as experienced early in the pandemic.‘

Read here (Yale News, August 15, 2020)

Seniors with Covid-19 taking ACE inhibitors have lower hospitalisation risk

‘A Yale-led study suggests that older COVID-19 patients taking ACE inhibitors for hypertension have a lower risk of hospitalization for the novel coronavirus... The use of ACE inhibitors was associated with an almost 40% lower risk of COVID-19 hospitalization for the older, Medicare Advantage patients — but there was no significant difference in risk for the younger, commercially insured patients.’

Read here (Yale, May 27, 2020)

Read original Medrxiv pre-print paper here

What does recovery from Covid-19 look like?

“Eighty to 85% of our patients who are infected do not need to be hospitalized, but they do require monitoring and medical care, most of which is now taking place with telehealth,” Dr. Ellman says. He says it’s typical for these patients to have a telehealth appointment, either on phone or video, at least every other day for 10 to 14 days from the onset of symptoms...

“Generally speaking, most patients can be managed outside of the hospital,” Dr. Sofair says. “But if you start to get sicker, early treatment can prevent complications. If you do need to be admitted to the hospital, that does not mean you will get really sick. Only a minority of patients end up in the ICU. We have had many good outcomes, and our doctors and nurses now have experience treating this.”

Read here (Yale Medicine, May 18, 2020)

US deaths soared in early weeks of pandemic, far exceeding number attributed to covid-19

‘In the early weeks of the coronavirus epidemic, the United States recorded an estimated 15,400 excess deaths, nearly two times as many as were publicly attributed to covid-19 at the time, according to an analysis of federal data conducted for The Washington Post by a research team led by the Yale School of Public Health.

‘The excess deaths are not necessarily attributable directly to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. They could include people who died because of the epidemic but not from the disease, such as those who were afraid to seek medical treatment for unrelated illnesses, as well as some number of deaths that are part of the ordinary variation in the death rate. The count is also affected by increases or decreases in other categories of deaths, such as suicides, homicides and motor vehicle accidents.’

Read here (Washington Post April 27, 2020)