More attention must be paid to improving perceptions of emerging technologies like AI-powered symptom checkers, which could ease the strain on health-care systems, according to a recent study.

New data published today suggest that personnel who process reusable medical instruments and equipment may be frequently exposed to tissue, blood, and patient fluids even when wearing recommended personal protective equipment (PPE). The findings, which appear in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), the journal of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), detail the results of a pilot project evaluating splash generation during processing activities in equipment decontamination areas.

A new interactive graphic developed by UK researchers and published by The BMJ today will help people decide what to do in everyday situations to protect themselves, and others, from covid-19.

In the first head-to-head comparison of the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, researchers examined the electronic health records of veterans who had received each vaccine. Both vaccines were highly effective in preventing COVID-19 outcomes such as documented infection, hospitalization, and death. However, the Moderna vaccine was found to offer an increased level of protection, including a 21% lower risk of documented infection and 41% lower risk of hospitalization, according to the research team, whose findings were published on December 1, 2021, in the New England Journal of Medicine.