Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19
“We show that, beyond the first 30 d after infection, individuals with COVID-19 are at increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease spanning several categories, including cerebrovascular disorders, dysrhythmias, ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease, pericarditis, myocarditis, heart failure and thromboembolic disease. These risks and burdens were evident even among individuals who were not hospitalized during the acute phase of the infection and increased in a graded fashion according to the care setting during the acute phase (non-hospitalized, hospitalized and admitted to intensive care). Our results provide evidence that the risk and 1-year burden of cardiovascular disease in survivors of acute COVID-19 are substantial. Care pathways of those surviving the acute episode of COVID-19 should include attention to cardiovascular health and disease.”
(Nature Medicine – February 2022)
Opinion: After the pandemic, long covid may unleash a tidal wave of health troubles
“The pandemic will almost certainly leave in its wake millions of people with lasting symptoms and illness. Judging by the preliminary estimates, this poses an enormous future challenge for health care everywhere. There’s no time to waste. Research must find the causes and damage of long covid, and lay preparations to treat it in all its manifestations.”
(The Washington Post — February 2022)
Opinion: Building health systems for all
“The pandemic has not only wreaked a hurricane of suffering, but it has also disrupted almost every field of health care and medicine worldwide. It delayed immunization campaigns for other diseases, overwhelmed hospitals, sucked up scarce budget resources, exhausted medical personnel, and postponed treatments and surgeries. At the same time, a legacy of the response to the coronavirus pandemic may be innovations and new tools for combating future epidemics.”
(The Washington Post — February 2022)
Omicron, health care and what’s really going on in America’s hospitals
“The technology transfer that’s happened, the transformation that’s happened in every other industry, has yet to really take hold in health care. I mean, think about the way you bank today compared to how you might have banked 20 years ago, for example. You know, we never really have to go into a bank anymore. We can do everything at home. We can manage our financial health, deposit checks, figure out our balances, make our payments all automatically. Imagine if we could do that much, much more across health care. … So all we need to do is, in my view, create the economic incentives, the business models. Or continue to move forward, I shouldn’t say create, because we’re already down that path. But let’s accelerate that and let that innovation really drive us forward.”
(Dr. Vivian Lee on WBUR’s On Point — January 2022)
To get to a ‘new normal,’ public health must focus on all respiratory viruses
“The Covid-19 crisis has created a unique opportunity for the U.S. to build a stronger, more proactive, and more prepared public health system. While vaccines will continue to be a crucial tool to control illness and death from viral respiratory infections, they must be complemented by a strong public health infrastructure, real-time data, testing, treatment, air ventilation and filtration standards, and clearly guided non-pharmaceutical interventions. By investing in a broad public health response that is both strategic and coordinated, the U.S. has an opportunity to build a foundation for establishing and returning to a “new normal” with Covid-19 and stemming future health emergencies altogether.”
(STAT — January 2022)
The frustrating Covid-19 test reimbursement process is a microcosm of US health care
“Asking a patient in the year 2022 to send a fax in order to have their medical services paid for may sound laughable. But it’s a microcosm of the burdens the US health system puts on Americans in order to receive necessary health care. … The United States health system, more than any other in the developed world, forces patients to manage their health care on their own. They pay a lot of their own money for medical care. They have to make sure their specific doctor is covered by their specific insurer. And even if their doctor believes they need a certain treatment, patients must follow rules set by their health insurer, or risk delays in treatment or ultimately having their insurance claims denied.”
(Vox — January 2022)
