Infectious Disease

Burnout has been an issue for those in health care long before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the increased stress and anxiety we face now have caused a host of new problems.  The current environment health care professionals (HCPs) find themselves in has brought issues of physical and emotional exhaustion, compassion fatigue, and moral injury, not to mention more instances of second victim syndrome (the effect of an unanticipated, adverse medical ...

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On March 13, 2020, almost exactly one year ago, hospitals in New York City shared an uneasy feeling that the enemy was all around us, growing in force and stealthily approaching, but still invisible. Then, over the next three weeks, the COVID tidal wave washed over us in full fury, as desperately ill patients flooded our emergency rooms. So as not to drown in that wave, Bellevue Hospital needed to ...

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"As we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic causing spiking numbers of cases, the scientific and medical communities continue to search for effective treatments and preventive measures. We have clearly established the importance of wearing masks, physical distancing, and frequent handwashing. As of this article’s writing, there are over two hundred fifty articles ...

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Since last March, every day has been filled with news of COVID-19 statistics: surges, declines, the myriad of symptoms, and the staggering number of deaths. As a 23-year-old pre-med post-bacc student, I was suddenly moving home -- with my apartment’s meager supply of toilet paper and Clorox wipes -- to spend the unforeseeable future with my parents. Like many, the first few weeks were filled with uncertainty, worry, and a naïve ...

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I recently returned from Northwest Territories, where I’d been working as a physician for six months. Now, back in Nova Scotia, I’m reflecting on what it’s been like to have worked in areas of Canada with relatively few cases of COVID-19.

A large part of my work is hospital medicine. As the name implies, a hospitalist is a doctor who cares for patients admitted to the hospital. Often, we work ...

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The “model minority” is a term that denotes Asians in the U.S.  East Asians, in particular, have been the target of xenophobic hate crimes and microaggressions since the outset of COVID-19. When a former presidential administration used hate and fear to garner power, it does not surprise me, that Sinophobia runs rampant during these times. The NYPD reported a 1,900 percent increase in Asian-American hate crimes in 2020. As an ...

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There is light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic tunnel, but public trust in national and global public health institutions is at an all-time low. What happens if folks don’t want to travel to the light? As the pandemic drags on, the banality of persistent distancing measures and continued calls for social distancing are falling on deaf ears. Cases and fatalities continue to set records. In an attempt to regain ...

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As the challenges to get an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine get harder and not easier, and as the pressure for schools to open their doors for in-person learning, as long as teachers will get vaccinated, rises, the question remains: What about those who choose not to? In the midst of so many individuals clamoring to get vaccinated, there remain many who will not get vaccinated. Not this week, not next ...

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As a Latina physician on the frontlines of COVID-19, it feels like a race against time to get as many vaccines as possible to the communities of color that are more likely to be infected, hospitalized, and die from the virus. A lot of effort right now is focused on the logistics of managing vaccines that need to be manufactured, stored, allocated, ...

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I opened the exam room door and hit something. Peeking around the door, I saw an elderly woman wearing a pink sequined hat who was perched in a motorized scooter parked awkwardly in front of the door.  I slinked around her to my stool and sat down as I introduced myself. I was running behind, but for some reason, I simply said, “tell me about yourself.” The woman looked directly at ...

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Coronavirus vaccines are crucial to taming the pandemic. Everyone should get one. Please, please, get vaccinated. Now, that’s out of the way—I’m no anti-vaxxer. I am a huge supporter of vaccines and believe vaccination will help bring an early end to the worst global health disaster in modern history. But there is something strange happening. Media and scientific articles on vaccine effectiveness are increasingly unhinged. Reports are drifting away from science on ...

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This article is sponsored by HERO-TOGETHER, a paid, prospective, observational study of 20,000 adult U.S. health care workers who received a COVID-19 vaccine within the past 60 days.  With over 27 million cases and 470,000 deaths reported to the ...

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"As the COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the globe, companies are working hard to develop innovative solutions to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Chinese companies such as Alibaba have led the way using artificial intelligence, data science, and technology. Startups are teaming up with clinicians, engineers, and government entities to reduce ...

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Health workers in Canada experience endemic levels of burnout directly related to understaffing and work overload. Leaves of absence from work for mental health and stress-related issues are 1.5 times higher among health workers than the rest of the population. Increasingly, health workers are significantly reducing their hours worked, just to cope, or leaving their jobs altogether.

That was before the pandemic.  With COVID-19, we are witnessing levels ...

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“Please don’t go just yet. Promise you will come to see me again?” she asked, with a frail quiver in her voice. “But of course, see you on my rounds tomorrow!” I replied, trying to sound cheery, as I turned to leave her negative pressure ICU room. I was doubtful if she would even remember my masked-gowned presence by the next day or even the next moment. For COVID with its ...

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I am sitting at my desk, scribbling down notes as my pre-recorded lecture races ahead of me at two times speed. My phone buzzes with another New York Times notification about the spread of coronavirus variants. I regret turning on push notifications about breaking news, but I can’t look away now. When I consider changing the setting, I am reminded that I shouldn’t look away. I have a ...

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"COVID-19 has propelled the nation into widespread telehealth services to provide consumer-based care, especially for those who access this technology. Equity issues arise when using digital communication because many underserved populations lack access to digital and/or mobile services. Inevitably, this brings up the greater concern of an unintentional exacerbation of disparities because low-income ...

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly around the world since the first reports from China in 2019, and the outbreak was characterized as a pandemic. COVID-19 does not affect everyone equally. COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted LGBTQ Americans and may continue to. Prior studies have noted significant health disadvantages experienced by LGBTQ populations in the U.S. Some of the biggest health care ...

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As the number of people infected with and dying from COVID-19 continues to climb, many Americans may be wondering what steps they can take to mitigate the potential for infection or, if infected, what modifications can keep them healthy and lower the likelihood of severe symptoms and worse while they wait to be vaccinated.

For those who do contract the disease, 99.5 percent will ...

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