December 2, 2020

In today's episode we discuss: —Climate: A review by pediatric specialists with The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Israel discusses the phenomenon known as “vaccine hesitancy” (continued deferment of vaccines despite proven effectiveness and extremely rare adverse effects), and the barrier it could create for eventual adoption of a COVID-19 vaccine, and suggest patient education on vaccine contraindications and lack of evidence supporting adverse reactions or autoimmune disease associations may reduce vaccine hesitancy. Additionally, they suggest thorough vaccine research and multimedia educational campaigning will be needed for the coming COVID-19 vaccines. —Epidemiology: Physician scientists from Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina created a Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovered (SEIR) model to explore COVID-19 management policies and found detection and isolation of just 50% of asymptomatic patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 could significantly reduce hospital bed usage and deaths, suggesting that massive screening initiatives including asymptomatic people will facilitate detection and isolation of all SARS-CoV-2 infected people, allowing for pandemic control in lieu of a complete regional shutdown. · Computer scientists from Greece and Scotland analyzed the ability of Google Trends (COVID-19 related search terms) to predict the trajectory of the COVID-19 outbreak at the state and national level and found a statistically significant correlation between Google Trends data and COVID-19 cases and deaths by Pearson and Kendall correlation analysis, while prediction analysis by quantile regression predicted the early spread of COVID-19 in several regions. The authors suggest Google Trends can aid epidemic forecasting and allow health care systems to prepare for local outbreaks. —Transmission & Prevention: Italian immunologists review the challenges of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development in the elderly populations at high risk for COVID-19: elderly populations have relatively poor immune responses due to immunosenescence, comorbidities, and pharmacologic treatments; and increased pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, 8, TNF-alpha) worsen both SARS-CoV-2 prognosis and vaccine efficacy. A systems biology approach considering clinical, socio-economic, immunological factors alongside advanced technologies, adjuvants, and vectors are necessary to develop an effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for the elderly. —Mental Health & Resilience Needs: An international group of psychiatrists summarized guidelines provided by the International Academy of Suicide Research (IASR) on the reported increase in mental health concerns and suicide attempts after pandemics and they hypothesize that the COVID-19 pandemic might also be followed by similar issues due to several factors, with at-risk populations including the elderly, socially isolated individuals, healthcare professionals, and young children. Recommendations include: videoconferencing for suicide risk assessment rather than teleconferencing, careful attention toward elderly patients in isolation, and increased awareness of mental health concerns during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.