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. Cloth Masks May Prevent Transmission of COVID-19: An Evidence-Based, Risk-Based Approach
As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed across the world, governments, international agencies, policymakers, and public health officials began recommending widespread use of nonmedical cloth masks to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The authors from McMaster University and St. Joseph's hospital suggest that there is convincing evidence to support this recommendation. Read the full text: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-2567.
Media contacts: A PDF for this article is not yet available. Please click the link to read full text. The lead author, Catherine M. Clase, MB BChir, MSc can be reached through Veronica McGuire at vmcguir@mcmaster.ca.
2. Ventilation Techniques and Risk for Transmission of Coronavirus Disease, Including COVID-19: A Living Systematic Review of Multiple Streams of Evidence
Researchers from McMaster University reviewed evidence about the benefits and harms of alternative noninvasive and invasive ventilation strategies in acute hypoxic respiratory failure in patients infected with COVID-19. Indirect evidence related to other coronaviruses and evidence related to virus transmission to health care workers was also examined. Based on the evidence, they conclude that use of noninvasive ventilation, similar to invasive mechanical ventilation, probably reduces mortality but may increase the risk for transmission of COVID-19 to health care workers. Read the full text: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-2306.
Media contacts: A PDF for this article is not yet available. Please click the link to read full text. The lead author, Holger J. Schünemann, MD, PhD, MSc, can be reached at schuneh@mcmaster.ca or through Veronica McGuire at vmcguir@mcmaster.ca.
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Journal
Annals of Internal Medicine