geoffrey modest medical blogs

  The formal study on safety and efficacy data were released for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Covid-19 vaccine (see   covid vaccine J&J nejm2021  in dropbox, or DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2101544 )   Details:  -- international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 19,630 SARS-CoV-2 negative participants who received the J&J vaccine and 19,691 placebo recipients, from September 21, 2020 to January 22, 2021      -- this vaccine is a recombinant, replication-incompetent human adenovirus type 26 vector encoding full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike protein -- median age 52 (67% 18-59yo, 34% >60yo), 45% female, BMI 27,   41%  at least one coexisting condition, 59% white/20% Black/ indigenous South American/ Hispanic -- 41% from Latin America (Brazil 17%, Colombia 10%, rest from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru); 15% South Africa; 44% US -- primary endpoints: vaccine efficacy against moderate to severe-critical...

Following on the last blog on colistin-resistant E coli, Paul Susman sent me the link  http://www.coha.org/super-bacteria-in-rio-de-janeiros-olympic-arenas/   on the increasing spread of   Klebsiella pneumoniae  carbapenemase (KPC)-producing bacteria ​, which has been around for many years. A 2011 article (Arnold RS, South Med J 2011; 104: 45) noted at that time that  this difficult-to-treat  organism, associated with significant morbidity and mortality, had already spread from the northeastern US to most of the world.  The CDC commented that 50% of patients infected with this organism will die from it. The current link references the upcoming Olympics in Brazil, noting:​ --KPC is found off the beaches in Rio, where rowing, canoeing and swimming events will take place (ie, the swimmers, sailors and rowers will be exposed). The source is likely sewage contamination of the waterways --10 samples were taken from five different beaches (Copacab...