Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Amid warnings of a new surge, COVID-19 deaths in the United States topped 1 million today, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, a chilling and tragic milestone for a still bringing of waves and disrupting pandemic lives into … Read more
Almost 1 year into the pandemic, the day finally came when I could welcome patients back to meet in person. For a little over a decade, I have cared for the mental health of healthcare professionals. After nearly a year of telehealth, one by one I welcomed nurses, physicians, physical therapists, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, social … Read more
The neuropsychiatric ramifications of severe COVID-19 infection appear to be no different than for other severe acute respiratory infections (SARI). Results of a large study showed risks of new neuropsychiatric illness were significantly and similarly in adults surviving either severe COVID-19 infection or other SARI, compared with the general population. This suggests that disease severity, … Read more
Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Different psychotropic medications are associated with different risks of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients with serious mental illness, a new study suggests. Investigators found that second-generation antipsychotics were associated with a 48% lower risk of COVID-19, while valproic acid was associated with … Read more
We have been dealing with the COVID pandemic since 2020. And due to that, there is a lot of discussion about related physician burnout. I had my own share of challenges with the pandemic, and for the most part I can relate to a majority of the people I interact with. I shared a similar … Read more
Approximately one third of critical care workers reported some degree of depression, anxiety, or somatic symptoms in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on survey results from 939 healthcare professionals. The emotional response of professionals in a critical care setting in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been well-studied, write … Read more
Psychiatric disorders are tied to an increased risk of COVID-19 breakthrough infection, particularly among older adults, new research shows. “Psychiatric disorders remained significantly associated with incident breakthrough infections above and beyond sociodemographic and medical factors, suggesting that mental health is important to consider in conjunction with other risk factors,” the investigators, led by Aoife O’Donovan, … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated vaccination efforts have brought the issue of vaccine hesitancy to the forefront of media and public attention. From 2019 to 2021, the prevalence of the term “hesitancy” in titles of scientific literature has risen from 3.3% to 8.3%, and continued skepticism around the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines remains a significant barrier in … Read more
Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Patients with COVID-19, especially those with an altered sense of smell, have significantly more axon and microvasculopathy damage in the brain’s olfactory tissue versus non-COVID patients. These new findings from a post-mortem study may explain long-term loss of smell in some … Read more
Patients with persistent cognitive impairment months after illness with mild COVID-19 have higher levels of inflammatory markers in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Researchers found elevated levels of CSF immune activation and immunovascular markers in individuals with cognitive post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Patients whose cognitive symptoms developed during the acute phase of COVID-19 had … Read more