1.21
Health Sciences
A how-to guide for COVID-19 testing at Penn
A how-to guide for COVID-19 testing at Penn
With the launch of Penn Cares, Penn Today provides additional details on the new testing program, how eligible members of the Penn community can enroll, and how the testing procedure works.
Commonly used blood pressure medications are safe for COVID-19 patients
Commonly used blood pressure medications are safe for COVID-19 patients
A Penn Medicine-led trial found medications to be neither beneficial or harmful in the treatment of hospitalized patients.
How can the world allocate COVID-19 vaccines fairly?
How can the world allocate COVID-19 vaccines fairly?
It’s an ethical question many Penn experts are contemplating. One fact is certain, they say: Distribution must not exacerbate disparities and inequities in health care.
Nearly half of young drivers resume driving just weeks after a concussion
Nearly half of young drivers resume driving just weeks after a concussion
New research finds that nearly half of adolescents who sought specialty care for a concussion were back to driving when asked approximately two weeks after the injury, even though few had returned to exercise and sports.
Monitoring patients remotely brings fourfold decline in rehospitalization after joint replacements
Monitoring patients remotely brings fourfold decline in rehospitalization after joint replacements
The rate of hospital readmissions for hip and knee replacement patients declined from roughly 12% to 3% when they were enrolled in a “hovering” program.
Community spread of COVID-19 tied to patient survival rates at area hospitals
Community spread of COVID-19 tied to patient survival rates at area hospitals
Discovering wide variation in hospitals’ COVID-19 survival rates, researchers found that the levels of COVID-19 in the surrounding community was likely the driving factor.
Gut cells sound the alarm when parasites invade
Gut cells sound the alarm when parasites invade
A chain reaction led by cells lining the intestines tips the immune system off to the presence of the parasite Cryptosporidium, according to a study led by researchers in the School of Veterinary Medicine.
Self-awareness can drive behavior change, reprogram the brain’s reward system
Self-awareness can drive behavior change, reprogram the brain’s reward system
Most people break New Year’s resolutions within a few weeks. Neuroscientist Vera Ludwig offers six tips to move mindfully through this process, leading to a greater chance for success.
Toward more optimal birth outcomes
Toward more optimal birth outcomes
A new study from Penn Nursing is the first to assess hospital vaginal birth rates rather than cesarean rates, which can further quality improvement initiatives that focus on encouraging vaginal birth rather than on decreasing the cesarean birth rate.
Quarantine or isolation? An updated glossary for the next phase of the pandemic
Penn Today revisits the lexicon of new definitions and phrases to help make sense of news headlines, public health measures, and everyday discussions about COVID-19.
In the News
NPR
Current, deadly U.S. coronavirus surge has peaked, researchers say
David Rubin of the Perelman School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said that while there’s been a decline in COVID-19 transmission rates in most parts of the country, it will take many weeks or months for the number of people getting sick and dying to fall. "It's going to take a while. There's going to be a long tail, unfortunately," he said.
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The Washington Post
Some COVID-19 mutations may dampen vaccine effectiveness
E. John Wherry and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about how new variants of the novel coronavirus might respond to the existing COVID-19 vaccines. “We don’t want people thinking that the current vaccine is already outdated. That’s absolutely not true,” said Wherry. However, he warned, the mutations “do in fact reduce how well our immune response is recognizing the virus.”
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The New York Times
Underselling the vaccine
Aaron Richterman of the Perelman School of Medicine said overemphasizing the COVID-19 vaccine’s imperfections and unknowns may do more harm than good. “Not being completely open because you want to achieve some sort of behavioral public health goal—people will see through that eventually,” he said.
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The New York Times
Need a new knee or hip? A robot may help install it
Matthew Sloan of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the increase in hip and knee replacement surgeries in the past 20 years. “Among the older patients, the big driver is the desire to stay active,” he said.
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CBS Philadelphia
Drug being tested at University of Pennsylvania to treat COVID-19 shows promise
Carl June of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about cyclosporin, an inexpensive drug that may help prevent severe inflammation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. “Hopefully, [FDA approval of the drug] would decrease the burden of patients in our hospitals,” June said.
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