News Release

COVID-19 news from Annals of Internal Medicine

All coronavirus-related content published in Annals is free

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American College of Physicians

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. Type O and Rh negative blood groups associated with slightly lower risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection

A person's blood type may affect their risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and for developing severe COVID-19-related illness. A population-based retrospective cohort study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from ICES in Toronto studied 225,556 persons who had an ABO blood group test from January 2007 to December 2019, and had a SARS-CoV-2 lab test subsequently to determine whether ABO and Rh blood groups are associated with risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 illness. The population-based study was conducted in Ontario Canada, which has universal health care and widespread SARS-CoV-2 testing. The authors found that O and Rh? blood groups were associated with a slightly lower risk for SARSCoV-2 infection as well as severe COVID-19 illness or death. The authors wonder whether similar differences will be seen within ongoing clinical trials studying the therapeutic efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 immunotherapy or vaccination.
Read the full text: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-4511.

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A PDF for this article is not yet available. Please click the link to read full text. The lead author, Joel Ray, MD, MSc, can be reached through Deborah Creatura at deborah.creatura@ices.on.ca.

2. If licensed soon, a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine would be an unprecedented achievement

The development of a safe and effective vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 is a crucial global health goal, but anticipated success rates and timelines for COVID-19 vaccine development vary.

Researchers from McGill University reviewed trials testing viral vaccines that had not advanced to phase 2 between January 2005 and March 2020 on ClinicalTrials.gov, and tracked the progress of each vaccine from phase 1 through to FDA licensure to estimate timelines and probabilities of success for recent vaccine candidates. Ultimately, they found success probabilities and timelines varied widely across different vaccine types and diseases. If a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is licensed within 18 months of the start of the pandemic, it will mark an unprecedented achievement for noninfluenza viral vaccine development. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Read the full text: xhttps://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-5350.

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A PDF for this article is not yet available. Please click the link to read full text. The lead author, Jonathan Kimmelman, PhD, can be reached at jonathan.kimmelman@mcgill.ca.

3. Surviving COVID-19 patients may benefit from home health care after hospital discharge

Survivors of COVID-19 are a vulnerable population and may require further hospitalization, but little is known about recovery after hospital discharge. Authors from the University of Pennsylvania Schools of Nursing and Medicine, Villanova University Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York describe the home health recovery of patients with COVID-19 and risk factors associated with rehospitalization or death.

The researchers studied 1,409 patients with COVID-19 admitted to home health care (HHC) after hospitalization. After an average of 32 days in HHC, 94 percent of patients were discharged and most achieved statistically significant improvements in symptoms and function. These findings suggest that acute care providers might carefully consider which COVID-19 survivors would benefit from HHC after hospitalization. They call for further research to determine longer-term outcomes of CO VID-19 and to target extra attention to patients with risk factors. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Read the full text: xhttps://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-5206.

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A PDF for this article is not yet available. Please click the link to read full text.
To speak with the lead author, Kathryn H. Bowles, BSN, MSN, PhD, please contact Ed Frederico at efed@nursing.upenn.edu.
To speak with someone from the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, please contact Caren Browning at caren.browning@kingcompr.com.
To speak with someone at Penn Medicine, please contact Holly Auer at Holly.Auer@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
To reach someone at Villanova, please email Ann McKenzie at ann.mckenzie@villanova.edu or Carita Geib at carita.geib@villanova.edu.

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