(2021-05-14). Mayo Clinic again receives top honors for high-quality patient care. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn. — Eleven? hospitals across?Mayo Clinic?received star ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for Overall Hospital Quality. Six of the 11 hospitals earned five stars — the best score possible. The national average is 3 of 5 stars. The star rating provides patients with information about multiple dimensions of quality …
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Long-term effects of COVID-19 on kidney function. thelancet.com Chaolin Huang and colleagues1 have highlighted the putative renal consequences of COVID-19 at 6 months from discharge. A decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was defined as less than 90 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2 and was observed in 35% of participants during follow-up. The term decreased eGFR is ambiguous. According to the mean age of the cohort, chronic kidney disease should be defined as an eGFR of less than 60 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2.2 The usual prevalence of eGFR less than 90 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2 in the Chinese general population of similar ages to those in Huang and colleagues' cohort range…
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Venezuela is collapsing without COVID-19 vaccines. thelancet.com Once considered a rich oil-producing country, Venezuela is confronting a rapidly increasing COVID-19 epidemic that adds to a complex humanitarian crisis that has been affecting the country since 2016.1 The health-care system has collapsed and is incapable of responding to the ever-increasing number of patients who require hospitalisation. Health-care personnel, including doctors, nurses, and other first-line health staff, have been substantially affected by the epidemic, leading to the highest lethality reported in the Americas.
(2021-05-15). [Department of Error] Department of Error. thelancet.com Greenhalgh T, Jimenez JL, Prather KA, Tufekci Z, Fisman D, Schooley R. Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Lancet 2021; 397: 1603—05—In this Comment, the conflict of interest statement for David Fisman has been corrected according to what was declared on his ICMJE form to read: "DF is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (2019 COVID-19 rapid researching funding OV4-170360), received consulting fees as a legal expert for Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario in August and September, 2020, related to COVID-19 transmission in schools, including t…
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Global COVID-19 vaccine roll-out: time to randomise vaccine allocation? thelancet.com The global COVID-19 vaccine roll-out might be the largest public health exercise ever done. COVAX, the vaccines access pillar of the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, supported by WHO, UNICEF, and others, expects to deliver two billion doses to 190 countries in 1 year. At present, 13 vaccines have received approval in various jurisdictions. The roll-out provides an opportunity, unparalleled in human history, to learn about vaccines.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Canada is no global health leader on COVID-19 vaccine equity. thelancet.com In the 2018 Lancet Series on Canada's global leadership on health, the authors reported on measures such as the Feminist International Assistance Policy and concluded that "the world, more than ever, needs Canada's leadership on health".1 Unfortunately, Canadian leadership on vaccine equity was an early casualty of COVID-19. A year into the pandemic, Canada's international image is that of a country who secured over ten doses of scarce vaccine per capita.2…
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Working upstream. thelancet.com Health-care workers often conceptualise addressing the social and structural determinants of health as working upstream.1 In response to the racial disparities of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Movement for Black Lives, health systems are acknowledging systemic racism, promoting implicit bias training, and screening for the social determinants of health. Although welcome, these changes will not achieve the social transformation necessary to eliminate health inequities. We must move even further upstream.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Vaccine scarcity in LMICs is a failure of global solidarity and multilateral instruments. thelancet.com To address COVID-19 vaccine scarcity, Ivan Sisa and colleagues1 justify placebo-controlled trials in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), arguing that these countries have "less capacity to negotiate and purchase vaccines than do high-income countries" and that the global shortage can be overcome with more vaccine producers coming from such trials. We are concerned that this reasoning sets the wrong precedent because approving such a trial should show that evidence can only be reached with this design.
(2021-05-15). [World Report] Serbia begins paying citizens to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. thelancet.com The decision to pay €25 per person is raising ethical questions and concerns that the scheme could backfire. Ed Holt reports.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Long-term effects of COVID-19 on kidney function — Authors' reply. thelancet.com In our study,1 we observed a considerable number of patients presenting with low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over time without acute kidney injury and an eGFR of 90 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2 or more during hospitalisation. Another study has shown that the use of creatinine to diagnose acute kidney injury might underestimate the patients with acute kidney injury at acute phase.2 We found that reduced eGFR at follow-up is possibly associated with kidney injury at acute phase, which was not recognised on the basis of serum creatinine values.
(2021-05-15). [World Report] COVID-19 in Turkey: a nation on edge. thelancet.com Turkey has the fifth most COVID-19 cases in the world and has now entered a nationwide lockdown. How did it get here? Kaya Genàß reports from Istanbul.
(2021-05-14). U.S. Customs to Indian travellers: Don't carry cow dung in your luggage. mronline.org 
In India, doctors recently had to issue a warning against the practice of using cow dung in the belief it will ward off COVID-19, saying there is no scientific evidence for its effectiveness and that it risks spreading other diseases. | May 14, 2021…
(2021-05-14). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Ramping up COVID-19 vaccination rate in race against virus. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org COVID-19 cases are falling in the U.S. because 245 million doses of one of the available COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, according to Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "But at the same time, there are still people who need more information about the safety and the value …
(2021-05-14). COVID-19: Wealthy nations urged to delay youth vaccines, donate to solidarity scheme. news.un.org The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday appealed for wealthier countries to delay vaccinating younger people against COVID-19 and instead donate doses to the COVAX global vaccine solidarity initiative.
(2021-05-14). Preventive screening during COVID-19 pandemic leads to early diagnosis of treatable breast cancer. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, health care providers have been concerned about a growing number of patients delaying or skipping preventive screenings because they have been hesitant to see their health care provider. Experts have stressed that it's not only safe to come in for preventive screenings, but also it's important to avoid future health problems …
(2021-05-14). Iran coronavirus update: 10k new cases. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 14 (MNA) — According to the Iranian Health Ministry, 10,145 new COVID-19 infections have been detected across the country in the past 24 hours.
(2021-05-14). Dozens of corpses found floating in Ganges as India's humanitarian crisis deepens. wsws.org According to the World Health Organization, India currently accounts for half of new COVID-19 cases and 30 percent of deaths worldwide.
(2021-05-14). The Covidian Cult and The Higher Breeders. indybay.org Back in October 2020, the author wrote an essay entitled "The Covidian Cult" (1), in which he described the so-called "New Normal" as a global totalitarian ideological movement. Developments over the past six months have proven the accuracy of this analogy. Health preservation takes the place of human dignity!
(2021-05-14). Talking to your children about vaccines. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expanding its emergency use authorization of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 12-15 years. So parents and caregivers may be getting even more questions from children about whether vaccines are safe and how vaccines can help end the COVID-19 pandemic. Information in this article was contributed by Jennifer …
(2021-05-14). Mayo Clinic Q and A: Mammograms and COVID-19 vaccine. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org DEAR MAYO CLINIC: A friend of mine shared that she went for her annual mammogram last week. At the appointment, she was asked whether she had been vaccinated for COVID-19 and had experienced any changes in her breasts. I recently received my first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Although I feel fine, I'm wondering if there …
(2021-05-14). Mayo Clinic to offer more walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Rochester. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Mayo Clinic held a walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Rochester on Wednesday, May 5. At this clinic, one patient shared why he came in to get the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Watch: Patient discusses why he chose to get the COVID-19 vaccine. youtu.be/ORLLLOOJ7eg Journalists: Broadcast-quality soundbites and b-roll of the Mayo Clinic walk-in COVID-19 …
(2021-05-14). Inflation Myths and the US Economic Rebound 2021. counterpunch.org On May 12, 2021, the US Labor Department released its report on businesses now raising prices, as the US economy reopens in the wake of Covid vaccinations and moderating Covid infections. The CPI, or Consumer Price Index, rose 0.8% in April, after a 0.6% in March, and 4.2% for the twelve months ending last month,
(2021-05-14). Two funerals in one week at Sterling Stamping Plant. wsws.org The deaths last month of Terry Garr and Mark Bruce, one in an industrial accident and the other from COVID, resulted from the insatiable drive for corporate profits.
(2021-05-14). The Economic Recovery Is Mostly Benefitting White Families. truthout.org 
The United States is slowly emerging from the COVID-19 economic recession. The unemployment rate Yet these milestones mask an uncomfortable truth: The economic rec…
(2021-05-14). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Strikes across Italy to protest high death rates in work accidents; Intensive care nurses protest in France as Covid overwhelms hospitals as lockdown is lifted; After series of union sellouts at bus companies London bus workers strike vote against remote sign on; Teachers in UK oppose victimisations, attacks on jobs, pay and conditions including privatisation…
(2021-05-14). Mujeres esencialmente heroicas. peoplesworld.org 
La próxima vez que comas fruta o verdura, da las gracias a las campesinas que se parten el espinazo recolectándolas en condiciones inhumanas. Calor extremo, exposición a pesticidas, abusos sexuales y vulnerabilidad a COVID-19 contribuyen a que el trabajo de estas mujeres sea de los más arriesgados del país. En el caso de los graves …
(2021-05-14). The media is causing harm by reporting official COVID-19 figures from poorer countries. greenleft.org.au The media needs to stop misreporting COVID-19 numbers and minimising the hardships in those countries facing the worst of the global pandemic, writes Tamara Pearson.
(2021-05-14). 'Where Are the Moderate Hindus?'. thenation.com 'Where Are the Moderate Hindus?'
(2021-05-14). Cold vs. allergies during COVID-19 pandemic. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org When it comes to the common cold, allergies and COVID-19, overlapping symptoms can be confusing. In this Q&A, Dr. Arveen Bhasin, a Mayo Clinic allergist and immunologist, provides some clarity by comparing and contrasting the signs and symptoms of these conditions: What are allergy symptoms?Allergy symptoms can affect the nose, sinuses and lungs. These symptoms …
(2021-05-14). The Missing Dead: How the Media Has Misreported COVID's Toll in Poorer Nations. counterpunch.org 
Here in Mexico, the majority of people who have died from Covid-19 did not get tested, and so they weren't counted in the official numbers. They do not exist in the numbers that the media repeats over and over, without ever contextualizing them, without ever explaining that they are almost meaningless because testing is so inaccessible here.
(2021-05-14). Colombia Has Lost Its Fear. popularresistance.org After decades of armed conflict and paramilitary violence, Colombia has seen protest movements return in strength over the past year and a half. The forceful demonstrations of the past week exceed even the high points of the nationwide uprising of November and December 2019. In response, the most heavily armed government in Latin America has carried out a brutal crackdown. | The COVID-19 pandemic and its social and economic consequences have hit Colombia hard. The country is reaching a breaking point as the ruling class attempts to squeeze the last drops of profit out of an already suffering populace kept in line…
(2021-05-14). Chile and Colombia to Move Money Out of Militaries. warisacrime.org 
By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, May 15, 2021 While the proposal for a global ceasefire during a disease pandemic has done the opposite of catching on, there are a few small signs of sanity and even of successful activism. While most big military spenders (including the super-mega-biggest one) have increased or kept their spending …
(2021-05-14). Floating Graveyards: Let's Not Revive the Cruise Industry. counterpunch.org 
Under the so-called leadership of governor Ron DeSantis, Florida is suing the federal government and CDC to allow cruises to resume sailing. As author Carl Hiaasen noted on twitter, this "stunt lawsuit by Ron DeSantis has zero chance in court," but it's aimed at "making DeSantis look tough for his right-wing base." It also fits
(2021-05-15). [Perspectives] Facts and values in the history of spina bifida. thelancet.com Over the past two decades, maternal—fetal surgery has become a clinical reality for some pregnant women carrying a fetus diagnosed with spina bifida. Since its conception, maternal—fetal surgery has been the focus of ethical deliberation, because expected health benefits for the fetus come at the cost of potential health risks for the pregnant woman. Somewhat less attention has, however, been given to the nature of the medical criteria used to determine patient eligibility for maternal—fetal surgery from a historical perspective.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Peruvian research: striving for the highest standards. thelancet.com For 60 years, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) in Lima, Peru, has contributed to world-class knowledge in tropical medicine, high-altitude medicine and physiology, public health, and basic sciences with the highest research standards and ethics. We therefore read with interest the World Report by Lucien Chauvin,1 in which we found some inaccuracies that we would like to clarify.
(2021-05-15). [Editorial] 20 years of precision medicine in oncology. thelancet.com In the 20 years since the publication of the first draft of the human genome project, the use of genotyping and genomics have become part of standard treatment for some cancers. The desire to go beyond blanket, and often difficult, treatments for patients to a more refined, efficient, and patient-centred approach is an ideal that is hard to oppose. But as precision medicine in oncology expands to include big data, proteomics, transcriptomics, molecular imaging, and more, there are serious challenges ahead to translate that ideal into meaningful and equitable health care for patients.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Long-term effects of COVID-19 on kidney function. thelancet.com Chaolin Huang and colleagues1 have highlighted the putative renal consequences of COVID-19 at 6 months from discharge. A decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was defined as less than 90 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2 and was observed in 35% of participants during follow-up. The term decreased eGFR is ambiguous. According to the mean age of the cohort, chronic kidney disease should be defined as an eGFR of less than 60 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2.2 The usual prevalence of eGFR less than 90 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2 in the Chinese general population of similar ages to those in Huang and colleagues' cohort range…
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Long-term effects of COVID-19 on kidney function. thelancet.com We read with interest the long-term follow-up data from hospitalised patients with COVID-19 study by Chaolin Huang and colleagues.1 The investigators report that 107 (13%) of 822 study participants with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; calculated with the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation2) of 90 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2 or more and no acute kidney injury during the acute phase had an eGFR of less than 90 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2 at follow-up. Huang and colleagues interpret this observation as persistent renal dysfunction.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Venezuela is collapsing without COVID-19 vaccines. thelancet.com Once considered a rich oil-producing country, Venezuela is confronting a rapidly increasing COVID-19 epidemic that adds to a complex humanitarian crisis that has been affecting the country since 2016.1 The health-care system has collapsed and is incapable of responding to the ever-increasing number of patients who require hospitalisation. Health-care personnel, including doctors, nurses, and other first-line health staff, have been substantially affected by the epidemic, leading to the highest lethality reported in the Americas.
(2021-05-15). [Department of Error] Department of Error. thelancet.com Greenhalgh T, Jimenez JL, Prather KA, Tufekci Z, Fisman D, Schooley R. Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Lancet 2021; 397: 1603—05—In this Comment, the conflict of interest statement for David Fisman has been corrected according to what was declared on his ICMJE form to read: "DF is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (2019 COVID-19 rapid researching funding OV4-170360), received consulting fees as a legal expert for Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario in August and September, 2020, related to COVID-19 transmission in schools, including t…
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Global COVID-19 vaccine roll-out: time to randomise vaccine allocation? thelancet.com The global COVID-19 vaccine roll-out might be the largest public health exercise ever done. COVAX, the vaccines access pillar of the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, supported by WHO, UNICEF, and others, expects to deliver two billion doses to 190 countries in 1 year. At present, 13 vaccines have received approval in various jurisdictions. The roll-out provides an opportunity, unparalleled in human history, to learn about vaccines.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Canada is no global health leader on COVID-19 vaccine equity. thelancet.com In the 2018 Lancet Series on Canada's global leadership on health, the authors reported on measures such as the Feminist International Assistance Policy and concluded that "the world, more than ever, needs Canada's leadership on health".1 Unfortunately, Canadian leadership on vaccine equity was an early casualty of COVID-19. A year into the pandemic, Canada's international image is that of a country who secured over ten doses of scarce vaccine per capita.2…
(2021-05-15). [Department of Error] Department of Error. thelancet.com Chauvin L. Peruvian COVID-19 vaccine scandal spreads. Lancet 2021; 397: 783—This World Report incorrectly stated that clinical trials had been halted at Cayetano Heredia University. The National Institute of Health suspended the unit at Cayetano Heredia University doing the Sinopharm trial, pending an investigation. It did not suspend other trials. This correction has been made to the online version as of May 13, 2021.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Working upstream. thelancet.com Health-care workers often conceptualise addressing the social and structural determinants of health as working upstream.1 In response to the racial disparities of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Movement for Black Lives, health systems are acknowledging systemic racism, promoting implicit bias training, and screening for the social determinants of health. Although welcome, these changes will not achieve the social transformation necessary to eliminate health inequities. We must move even further upstream.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Vaccine scarcity in LMICs is a failure of global solidarity and multilateral instruments. thelancet.com To address COVID-19 vaccine scarcity, Ivan Sisa and colleagues1 justify placebo-controlled trials in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), arguing that these countries have "less capacity to negotiate and purchase vaccines than do high-income countries" and that the global shortage can be overcome with more vaccine producers coming from such trials. We are concerned that this reasoning sets the wrong precedent because approving such a trial should show that evidence can only be reached with this design.
(2021-05-15). [World Report] Serbia begins paying citizens to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. thelancet.com The decision to pay €25 per person is raising ethical questions and concerns that the scheme could backfire. Ed Holt reports.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Long-term effects of COVID-19 on kidney function — Authors' reply. thelancet.com In our study,1 we observed a considerable number of patients presenting with low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over time without acute kidney injury and an eGFR of 90 mL/min per 1 ∑73 m2 or more during hospitalisation. Another study has shown that the use of creatinine to diagnose acute kidney injury might underestimate the patients with acute kidney injury at acute phase.2 We found that reduced eGFR at follow-up is possibly associated with kidney injury at acute phase, which was not recognised on the basis of serum creatinine values.
(2021-05-15). [World Report] COVID-19 in Turkey: a nation on edge. thelancet.com Turkey has the fifth most COVID-19 cases in the world and has now entered a nationwide lockdown. How did it get here? Kaya Genàß reports from Istanbul.
(2021-05-15). [Perspectives] Facts and values in the history of spina bifida. thelancet.com Over the past two decades, maternal—fetal surgery has become a clinical reality for some pregnant women carrying a fetus diagnosed with spina bifida. Since its conception, maternal—fetal surgery has been the focus of ethical deliberation, because expected health benefits for the fetus come at the cost of potential health risks for the pregnant woman. Somewhat less attention has, however, been given to the nature of the medical criteria used to determine patient eligibility for maternal—fetal surgery from a historical perspective.
(2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Peruvian research: striving for the highest standards. thelancet.com For 60 years, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) in Lima, Peru, has contributed to world-class knowledge in tropical medicine, high-altitude medicine and physiology, public health, and basic sciences with the highest research standards and ethics. We therefore read with interest the World Report by Lucien Chauvin,1 in which we found some inaccuracies that we would like to clarify.
