A new study published in the journal Preventive Medicine explores food insufficiency and financial challenges among families after multiple states stopped providing emergency allotments of SNAP benefits provided during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. SNAP benefit reductions were associated with increased difficulty affording both food and household expenses among SNAP-participant families, particularly among those with children. The risk of food insufficiency—a narrow measure that indicates that a household has not had enough food to eat within the past seven days—increased by five percentage points after several states ended their emergency allotments in 2021, compared to states that ended this assistance later. Similarly, the risk of difficulty affording household expenses increased by eight percentage points after the emergency allotments ended.

Despite the expansion of virtual care in Ontario prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, specialist physicians did not expand reach to patients living at great distances from where they provided care, found new research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250166

A new study from the University of Oklahoma reveals how a little-understood protein, CD82, contributes to blood vessel leakage, a process that initiates inflammation but becomes dangerous when it occurs during severe inflammatory diseases such as sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome and COVID-19. The findings, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, could open the door to new therapies aimed at protecting patients from multi-organ failure and death in severe and systemic inflammation.

About The Study: In this decision analytical modeling study of COVID-19 burden in the U.S. in 2024 to 2025, ensemble projections suggested that although vaccinating high-risk groups had substantial benefits in reducing disease burden, maintaining the vaccine recommendation for all individuals had the potential to save thousands more lives. Despite divergence of projections from observed disease trends in 2024 to 2025—possibly driven by variant emergence patterns and immune escape—averted COVID-19 burden due to vaccination was robust across immune escape scenarios, emphasizing the substantial benefit of broader vaccine availability for all individuals.

Women suffering from long COVID have a greater risk of experiencing abnormal uterine bleeding. The symptoms of the illness intensify during the perimenstrual and proliferative phases of the menstrual cycle, notably fatigue, headaches, and muscle pain. This bidirectional relationship between long COVID and menstrual disorders has been revealed by a French-British research team co-led by a CNRS researcher.

A major report recommends regular Covid vaccinations to reduce cardiac risks associated with the virus. Millions of people around the world are suffering with serious cardiovascular problems caused by Covid infection and long Covid. The report, to be published later this week, sets out ways of tackling the ‘profound and lasting impact’ of Covid and long Covid on cardiovascular health.

It makes recommendations for diagnosing, treating and preventing serious heart and blood vessel complications linked to the virus.

As well as continuing vaccination programmes, the report recommends structured cardiac rehabilitation - to prevent long-term problems after infection and boost long Covid recovery.

Covid infection and long Covid have serious effects on the heart and blood vessels, and the pandemic has had a widespread and lasting impact on cardiovascular health. 

A set of expert recommendations explain how these conditions should be diagnosed, treated and prevented. 

Cardiac rehabilitation is vital for Covid and long Covid patients, but many do not have access to rehabilitation programmes. 

Vaccination reduces the cardiac risks of Covid, so vaccination programmes must continue. 

In an analysis by race, sex, age, and geography, alcohol-induced death rates in 2024 are nearly double those in 1999, with a sharp increase at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although rates are higher for men, the largest increase in alcohol-induced deaths over the full 25-year period occurred in females aged 25-34, according to a study published on September 17 by Dr. Tony Wong and colleagues at UCLA in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health.

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, social isolation was found to have increased globally after the COVID-19 pandemic, with the initial increase disproportionately seen in lower-income populations and subsequent increases broadening across socioeconomic strata. Targeted interventions for vulnerable groups and research examining country-level policies are urgently needed to mitigate high isolation levels and reduce inequities.

Research calculates £1.6 trillion ($2 trillion) learning debt from closures while masks and testing proved highly efficient in pre-vaccine period.

The percentage of women who went without a Pap smear for cervical cancer screening increased following the COVID-19 pandemic, from 19% in 2019 to 26% in 2022, shows survey of almost 2000 US women--and this increase was even more marked in African American women.