EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has recommended authorising Ronapreve (casirivimab/imdevimab) and Regkirona (regdanvimab) for COVID-19. The Committee recommended authorising Ronapreve for treating COVID-19 in adults and adolescents (from 12 years of age and weighing at least 40 kilograms) who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of their disease becoming severe.

CPAP and high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) don’t produce more air/surface viral contamination than simple oxygen therapy. Coughing, rather than CPAP or HFNO, produces the most aerosol. Time to reassess CPAP and HFNO as ‘aerosol generating procedures’, urge researchers.

An automated, online triage tool developed by Penn Medicine categorized nearly every one of the patients who used it into a safe severity level, a new study shows. Published today in Applied Clinical Informatics, the study analyzing the COVID-19 Triage Tool found that just six patients of the 782 analyzed had symptoms that were more severe than what the system assessed. But even in those cases, clinicians working alongside the system were able to upgrade the patients’ assessment to the proper level of severity and attention.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Among the populations most significantly affected by COVID-19 are the elderly and patients with preexisting medical conditions including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and chronic lung diseases like COPD and asthma.

Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastics such as face masks, gloves, and face shields. The resulting waste, some of which ends up in rivers and oceans, is intensifying pressure on an already out-of-control global plastic problem. While many researchers suspect there will be a massive influx of COVID-related mismanaged plastic waste, a new study is the first to project the magnitude and fate of the waste in the oceans.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced its investigational novel COVID-19 oral antiviral candidate,PAXLOVID™, significantly reduced hospitalization and death, based on an interim analysis of the Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR (Evaluation of Protease Inhibition for COVID-19 in High-Risk Patients) randomized, double-blind study of non-hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19, who are at high risk of progressing to severe illness. The scheduled interim analysis showed an 89% reduction in risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death from any cause compared to placebo in patients treated within three days of symptom onset (primary endpoint); 0.8% of patients who received PAXLOVID™ were hospitalized through Day 28 following randomization (3/389 hospitalized with no deaths), compared to 7.0% of patients who received placebo and were hospitalized or died (27/385 hospitalized with 7 subsequent deaths).

The antiviral was found to be safe and effective following a stringent review of the available evidence. The antiviral Lagevrio (molnupiravir) is safe and effective at reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at increased risk of developing severe disease, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced today.