Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

10 INFECTION CONTROL Lingering COVID-19 symptoms stump physicians By Anuja Vaidya S ome COVID-19 patients continue to experience symptoms of the disease weeks and months aer being diag- nosed, particularly in cases where the disease does not become severe enough to require hospital admission, and physicians are trying to figure out why, NBC News reported. e World Health Organization and the CDC have acknowledged reports of patients experiencing symptoms well aer diagnosis and said they working to better understand why this happens. Physicians across the country are already closely monitoring these patients with lingering symptoms. Jessica Dine, MD, a lung physician and director of the advance consultative pulmonary division at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, is using COVID Watch, a hospital texting service that con- ducts check-ins with COVID-19 patients at home daily, NBC News reported. Dr. Dine and her team have two guesses about why some patients have lingering symptoms. One is that the virus is still in the patient's body, though undetectable by testing, and the other is that the body's im- mune system remains ready for action even when there is no virus, a condition known as post-viral inflammatory syndrome. "What we need is more research to explain where the symptoms are coming from," Dr. Dine told NBC News in June. One theory physicians have is that the inflammation caused by COVID-19 affects the autonomic nervous system, which affects unconscious bodily functions, such as digestion, sweating and sleep, according to NBC News. But long-term inflammation has no specific treatment, and there is no good therapy for extreme fatigue, one of the most debilitating symptoms, Dr. Dine said. At Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, clinicians are developing protocols for patients experiencing lingering symptoms. e plans are personalized to each patient, but many include regimens for exercise, sleep and nutrition, David Putrino, PhD, director of rehabilitation innovation at the Mount Sinai told NBC News. n For many black men, fear of wearing a mask outweighs COVID-19 risks By Mackenzie Bean M any black men are opting not to wear face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic for fear of facing increased harassment or violence from police, reported STAT. Black people are more likely to be stopped and frisked, pulled over or killed by police, according to STAT. It ap- pears they are also more likely to be targeted by police while wearing masks, the publication reported. Many black men say wearing a mask poses a bigger threat to them than COVID-19, even though the virus disproportionately affects black communities. "Which death do they choose? COVID-19 or police shooting?" Vickie Mays, PhD, and professor of health policy and management at the University of California Los Angeles' Fielding School of Public Health, told STAT. Dr. Mays has been tracking instances nationwide in which black men have been harassed while wearing masks. "We have African Americans who have been dragged out of stores, who have been ordered by police and store guards to pull their masks down or take their masks off," she said, adding that this is just one of several social injustices and care disparities affecting black people during the pandemic that must be addressed. n Nearly 40% of Americans misused cleaning products trying to kill COVID-19, CDC finds By Anuja Vaidya A bout 39 percent of Americans report misusing cleaning supplies to prevent coronavirus transmis- sion, including using bleach on food, according to a CDC survey. The online survey includes responses from 502 U.S. adults polled May 4. Thirty-nine percent of respondents reported intentionally engaging in at least one high-risk practice not recom- mended by CDC for preventing COVID-19 transmission, including applying bleach to food items to sanitize them (19 percent); using household cleaning and disinfectant products on hands or skin (18 percent); and misting the body with a cleaning or disinfectant spray (10 percent). About 4 percent reported drinking or gargling with dilut- ed bleach solutions, soapy water and other cleaning and disinfectant solutions. About 25 percent of respondents reported at least one adverse health effect that they believe resulted from using cleaners or disinfectants, including nose or sinus irritation (11 percent); skin irritation (8 percent); eye irritation (8 percent); or dizziness, lightheadedness or headaches (8 percent). n

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