Study finds home healthcare agencies discontinuing telehealth post-pandemic
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-May-2025 09:09 ET (29-May-2025 13:09 GMT/UTC)
Prior COVID-19 vaccination did not stop the immune system from mounting a protective response to the Delta and Omicron strains, though new mutation-specific antibody production dipped slightly, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences and published in Nature Immunology.
A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine reveals a concerning decline in self-reported mental health among mothers in the United States between 2016 and 2023. Conducted by researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the study also found modest but measurable declines in self-reported physical health during the same period.
SARS-CoV-2 persists in the epipharyngeal (a region behind the nasal cavity) mucosa of patients with long COVID. However, the impact of these persistent viral antigens on the epipharyngeal immune response remains less explored. Researchers from Japan have now mapped the immune activation triggered by these SARS-CoV-2 remnants and demonstrated how a simple outpatient procedure—epipharyngeal abrasive therapy (EAT)—can help clear the viral RNA, restore tissue function, and alleviate long COVID symptoms.
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, precautionary measures were swiftly adopted. While the early pandemic effects were studied extensively, little is known about long-term impacts on vulnerable groups like the elderly. Researchers in Japan analyzed healthcare use and socioeconomic disparities among older adults during the prolonged pandemic. Their findings reveal both resilience and inequality—offering crucial insights into how healthcare systems can adapt to maintain access for aging populations during extended public health emergencies.
The findings, published in JAMA Health Forum, reveal a continuing and worrying trend in worsening US mortality compared to other wealthy nations over the last four decades. While excess deaths per year peaked at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, excess deaths in 2023 still far exceeded prepandemic levels in 2019 and closely matched the rising pre-pandemic trend. After rising steadily since 1980, excess US deaths reached 1,098,808 in 2021, before dropping to 820,396 in 2022 and 705,331 in 2023, after the acute phase of the pandemic. However, the 2023 figure was still tens of thousands of deaths higher than the 2019 total of 631,247 missing Americans.