Although more than 189,300,000 eligible Americans are fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 as of Oct. 18, 2021, vaccine hesitancy persists.1 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey collected between May 26 and June 7, 2021, reports that in some U.S. counties—particularly in the Southeast…
On Sept. 11, 2001, I was at work. I had accepted a position as an assistant chief of service (ACS) for the Department of Medicine, which is Hopkins-speak for a hybrid position that involves all the administrative duties of a chief resident, plus the responsibility of an attending. For a year, I admitted patients to…
On Dec. 8, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for AstraZeneca’s Evusheld (tixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab and administered together) for the pre-exposure prophylaxis (prevention) of COVID-19 in certain adults and pediatric individuals (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kilograms [about 88 pounds]). The product…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2021—Rheumatology patients who test positive for COVID-19 would benefit from early use of monoclonal antibodies, said Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth), Houston, in a session about effective treatment options for COVID-19. Acknowledging that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has already…
Updated Dec. 16, 2021: In response to advocacy from the ACR and other provider and patient groups, Congress passed legislation to avoid the nearly 10% “Medicare cliff” scheduled to take effect Jan 1. The ACR thanks all ACR/ARP members and patients who took the time to engage in this critical effort with us to protect…
Experts shined a spotlight on select abstracts of the latest rheumatology research, addressing such topics as racial disparities in the management of children with SLE, vitamin D or fish oil supplementation to prevent autoimmune disease & more.
ACR Convergence 2021—The field of pediatric rheumatology has benefited from significant developments in the basic and translational sciences over the past year, and it can be challenging to keep up with the latest discoveries. In the Basic Science section of the Pediatric Rheumatology Year in Review at ACR Convergence, Tiphanie Vogel, MD, PhD, assistant professor…
Researchers shared findings on the immune response to COVID-19 vaccination in immunocompromised patients, insights into cognitive impairment in SLE & more.
ACR Convergence 2021—The Pediatric Rheumatology Year in Review began with a fascinating talk by Mara Becker, MD, MSCE, a professor of Pediatrics and vice chair of faculty at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N.C. Dr. Becker began by describing her search strategy to select high-yield clinical science publications in pediatric rheumatology from the past…
New concepts in autoimmunity & immunology are being discovered daily in research being conducted to understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its implications for rheumatology & all fields of medicine. Here are some insights shared by experts during day 1 of the Basic and Clinical Research Conference.