Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1431416
16 PATIENT SAFETY & OUTCOMES Study: Lungs maintain long-term memory of COVID-19 infection By Cailey Gleeson A Columbia University study pub- lished Oct. 7 found the memory of COVID-19 infection is primarily stored in T and B cells in the lungs and sur- rounding lymph nodes. Researchers studied the tissues of four COVID-19 survivors between the ages of 11 and 74 who died of unrelated causes prior to the release of vaccines. ey compared these samples to the tissues of uninfected individuals. e study found "robust" immune memory of new pathogens was present in older adults, despite the fact that the immune system doesn't create many new T cells to memorize encoun- ters with new pathogens aer age 40. "We know the immune system declines with age," said lead author Donna Farber, PhD, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University in New York City. "But that someone in their 70s could create a robust and long-lasting immunological memory response shows that parts of the immune system that we associate with younger ages still persists." Researchers also found evidence that special- ized sites, called germinal centers, were pres- ent within the lung-associated lymph nodes for up to six months aer infection, even in older individuals. "Our study suggests that to improve pro- tection against the virus, vaccines should target the memory immune cells within the lung and its associated lymph nodes, which can be accomplished with nasal sprays of disabled viruses," Dr. Farber said. "We've found previously in mice with influenza that memory T cells in the lung are needed for optimal protection against respiratory infections, and this study strongly suggests that the same could be true in people." Researchers are currently looking at the tissues of vaccinated donors to see if vaccine-induced memory is similar to memory created by natural infection. n NYU Langone gets $470M to support national long COVID-19 research By Erica Carbajal N ew York City-based NYU Langone Health in September received nearly $470 million from the National Institutes of Health to build a national study cohort of tens of thousands of people to accelerate research on the long-term effects of COVID-19. The health system serves as the NIH's key center for its Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery Initiative, known as Recover, and will use the funding to issue sub-awards to more than 100 researchers across 30 institutions. "Normally it would take two or three or four years to set up something like this, given the scale," said Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the NIH. "But given the urgency, we have moved to put this together considerably fast but without sacrificing rigor," he said during a Sept. 15 news conference. The extensive study cohort will support studies involving adult, preg- nant and pediatric patients. It will include clinical information, laboratory tests and analyses of participants in various stages of recovery following COVID-19 infection. "Together, these studies are expected to provide insights over the coming months into many important questions including the incidence and preva- lence of long-term effects from SARS-CoV-2 infection, the range of symp- toms, underlying causes, risk factors, outcomes, and potential strategies for treatment and prevention," the NIH said. In February, the NIH announced plans for a major research program on long COVID-19, which is estimated to affect 10 percent to 30 percent of people who contract the virus. n Healthcare safety scores fell amid pandemic, analysis shows By Cailey Gleeson S afety performance declined across the entire healthcare industry in 2020, according to an analysis published Oct. 21 by Press Ganey. Researchers reviewed patient outcome data from its National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators submitted by 11,325 units from more than 1,575 U.S. hospitals. Four key findings: 1. Patient safety events increased in all seven types of units measured in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators: adult critical care, medical, step-down, high quality, moderate acuity, surgical and med-surg. 2. Inpatient falls increased across medical, stepdown, surgical and med- surg units throughout the duration of 2020. 3. Stage 2 hospital-acquired pressure injuries increased across all seven unit types in fourth quarter of 2020. 4. Central line-associated bloodstream infection rates increased across high quality and moderate acuity units between the second and fourth quarter of 2020. n