Below please find a summary and link(s) of new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. The summary below is not intended to substitute for the full article as a source of information. A collection of coronavirus-related content is free to the public at http://go.annals.org/coronavirus.
1. Saliva sampling could be a similarly sensitive, less costly alternative to nasal swabs for COVID-19 testing
Nasopharyngeal swabs are the primary sampling method used for detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but they require a trained health care professional and extensive personal protective equipment. Saliva-based sampling for detecting SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to address many barriers associated with nasopharyngeal swabs. Authors from McGill University summarize evidence comparing the sensitivities for detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection between nasopharyngeal swabs and saliva samples. They found that saliva sampling to be a similarly sensitive and less costly alternative that could replace nasopharyngeal swabs for collection of clinical samples for SARS-CoV-2 testing.
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https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6569.
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The lead corresponding author, Jonathon R. Campbell, PhD, can be reached through Fabienne Landry at 514-812-7722 or Fabienne.Landry@MUHC.MCGILL.CA.
2. High demand for PPE during pandemic reveals society's dependence on forced labor
As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, leaders in health care must also reflect upon how increases in supply and demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) have most likely exacerbated the prevalence of forced labor in global PPE supply chains. Authors from the Cleveland Clinic, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, SOAS University of London, and the University of Gothenburg discuss how the high demand for PPE during the pandemic can help draw attention to society's deep-seated reliance on forced labor.
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https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-7421.
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The lead corresponding author, Brian S. Barnett, MD, can be reached through Halle Bishop at bishoph@ccf.org.
3. Study finds no association between COVID-19 mitigation strategies and risk for preterm births or stillbirths
Researchers from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden studied data from the Swedish Pregnancy Register, which covers 92% of all births in Sweden, to investigate associations between being born during a period when many public health interventions aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID-19 were enforced and the risk for preterm birth and stillbirth. The researchers compared the risk for preterm birth and stillbirth among births from April 1 through May 31, 2020, a period when Swedish authorities had enforced a range of pandemic mitigation interventions, with births from all April through May periods in the years 2015 to 2019 combined. They found no association between being born during a period of strong COVID-19 mitigation strategies and risk for extremely preterm birth, very preterm birth, moderately preterm birth, or stillbirth.
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https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-6367.
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The lead corresponding author, Björn Pasternak, MD, PhD, please contact him directly at bjorn.pasternak@ki.se.
4. MuSK antibody-associated myasthenia gravis developed after SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Authors from the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the University of Oxford describe the first reported case of muscle-specific kinase antibody-associated myasthenia gravis (MuSK-MG) after SARS-CoV-2 infection. A 24-year-old previously healthy woman presented to their emergency department with COVID-19-like symptoms. Per United Kingdom guidelines at the time, she was not tested, but did self-isolate. Four weeks later, she developed diplopia, slurred speech, dysphagia, and global limb weakness and tests revealed SARS-CoV-2 and MuSK antibodies. According to the authors, these findings suggest a potential association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and MuSK-MG. However, the authors note that they cannot definitively conclude causality. This report of MuSK-MG associated with COVID-19, along with several previous reports of acetylcholine receptor (AchR)-MG associated with COVID-19, provide clues to possible mechanisms for the association.
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https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-1298.
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The lead corresponding author, Louwai Muhammed, BMBCh, MA, EdM, can be reached directly at louwai.muhammed@nhs.net.
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Journal
Annals of Internal Medicine