Kevin Kavanagh, MD

Today we finally had some good news in our fight against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Eli Lilly announced preliminary results to their SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody product, LY-CoV555, which was reported to have 

. In an investor news release they stated that in a Phase 2 randomized double-blind controlled trial they observed a 72% decrease in hospitalizations or ER visits with LY-CoV555.

This is excellent news after the mediocre findings of the recent randomized trial of remdesivir which found outcome differences of “

Eli Lilly stated LY-CoV555 was “well tolerated” without the observation of any drug-related serious events. And that adverse events were similar to placebo. However, the exact incidence of milder drug reactions which could affect patient acceptance were not given in the news release.

Eli Lilly also observed that most hospitalizations occurred in patients who had an increased age or BMI. Underscoring the importance of the co-morbidities of age and obesity in COVID-19 disease.

A related product, convalescent serum, was found to have clinical efficacy when it was given within 3 days of diagnosis and in high concentration. And although given an FDA emergency authorization, its overall benefit has since been panned in the news media.

One may ask, why are the Eli Lilly results different from the positive, but somewhat disappointing, results of convalescent serum? The short answer is, they are not. LY-CoV555 targets the same clinical sweet spot where convalescent serum was found to be most effective.

In the Eli Lilly trial, LY-CoV555 was given to patients with mild to moderate symptoms and within 3 days of their diagnosis. In other words, similar to convalescent serum, initial results demonstrate that LY-CoV555 is effective if given in the early stages of the disease, soon after diagnosis. In addition, Eli Lilly’s product is designed to be composed of highly effective neutralizing antibodies.

Meeting these patient administration requirements on a mass scale is almost an impossible task with convalescent serum. There just is not enough to have it in everyone’s urgent treatment center. But the Eli Lilly product is composed of a high concentration of highly effective neutralizing antibodies, which hopefully can be manufactured in great enough quantities to become a bridge to a vaccine.

One cautionary note was a statement: “Viral RNA sequencing revealed putative LY-CoV555-resistance variants in placebo and all treatment arms. The rate of resistance variants was numerically higher in treated patients (8 percent) versus placebo (6 percent).”

Thus, as with any anti-viral agent, viral resistance might possibly develop. This is to be expected. Nature adapts and RNA viruses are known to have a proclivity to mutate. This is often observed in phage therapy where there is described a dance of mutations between the bacteria and 

. However, in this instance, the viral mutations are beneficial when you are wanting to kill an evolving bacteria, but are detrimental when targeting the virus itself.

LY-CoV555 targets an “epitope in the SARS-CoV-2 spike region”. This is the same region many vaccines are targeting. So far, SARS-CoV-2 has not appeared to mutate at a very fast rate regarding its spike protein region. However, the development of resistance to LY-CoV555 will still need to be carefully monitored, since the emergence of a new resistant viral strain could impact the efficacy of not only monoclonal antibodies but also of future vaccines.

There would be less of a concern if LY-CoV555 was targeted and effective in the few who were severely sick, but it appears its application is most beneficial when given early and possibly to the masses. But, it is probably not realistic that LY-CoV555 can be produced in high enough volume to be available to all. No SARS-CoV-2 product to date has been able to even approach this goal. As observed in the Eli Lilly study, those newly diagnosed patients who are obese or have advanced age are the most likely to become hospitalized, and I feel initially this innovative product should be targeted toward these high-risk patients.

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Eli Lilly stated LY-CoV555 was “well tolerated” without the observation of any drug-related serious events. And that adverse events were similar to placebo. However, the exact incidence of milder drug reactions which could affect patient acceptance were not given.

Eli Lilly Neutralizing Antibodies: Breakthrough for COVID-19 Treatment?

Even in the midst of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we should not forget that about 500 people in the United States die each day from antibiotic-resistant organisms. That was one of the points stressed by Admiral Brett Giroir, the nation’s Assistant Secretary of Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) duringthe 2020 Fall Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. The public portion of the meeting was held online September 9 and 10.

One difference between COVID-19 and multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) is that the MDRO is a silent epidemic, comparatively. However, headway is being made.Amanda Cash, DrPH, MPH, a senior health policy analyst at HHS pointed out that from 2012 to 2017, overall deaths from MDROs dropped 18%, and in hospitals they dropped 30%.

It was evident to me that all of this may have changed with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arjun Srinvasan, MD, the associate director for healthcare-associated infection prevention programs for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pointed out that there are bacterial coinfections that occur with COVID-19 along with antibiotic usage patterns. Preliminary CDC analysis indicates that, COVID-19 leads to a much longer hospital length-of-stay than influenza-like illnesses, 8.44 days compared with 5.88 days, respectively, a finding which was echoed by a number of presenters. Patients with COVID-19 experience a similar number of positive bacterial cultures as they do influenza-like illnesses, 12% in each group. However, during the pandemic, preliminary data reviled that, patients with COVID-19 were more likely to contract healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs), possibly due to longer hospital stays. The most common MDRO infecting patients with COVID-19 was methicillin-resistant 

(MRSA), followed closely by extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL)-producing organisms. MRSA caused just under half of the COVID-19 hospital-acquired antibiotic resistant infections.

CDC preliminary data also found that during the pandemic, total hospitalizations in the United States decreased by approximately 25%. However, inpatient antibiotic usage did not markedly change. The most common types of antibiotics prescribed were ceftriaxone for presumptive community acquired pneumonia, which increased by 22% in April and then fell during the summer, and azithromycin, possibly used in conjunction with hydroxychloroquine, the rate of which increased by 55% in April and then also fell. It was evident to me that in both cases the usage pattern represents changes in both diagnostic ability and treatment recommendations.

Outpatient visits fell by 60%, with antibiotic prescriptions falling by 40%. Azithromycin has been the most commonly prescribed outpatient antibiotic and, with the exception of the COVID-19 hotspots New York or New Jersey, its use also decreased.

From this presentation and others, I concluded that the fall in outpatient visits may have been due to not only a reluctance to seek care, but also to fewer respiratory infections as a result of implementing public health preventive measures.

Emily Heil, PharmD, a board member of the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists, reported similar findings with only 3.5% of patients with COVID-19 having a bacterial coinfection on admission and overall, 14.3% of patients developing a coinfection. However nearly three quarters of all patients were prescribed an antibiotic, usually broad spectrum. Seventy-four percent of the time a fluoroquinolone or cephalosporin was prescribed, which are often the targets of stewardship programs.

Kalvin Yu, MD, the medical director at Becton Dickinson & Co., also reported that COVID-19 hospitalized patients have a higher death rate, higher intensive care unit (ICU) utilization, and longer length-of-stay than COVID-19–negative patients. Mortality for those in the ICU was 38.2% for COVID positive vs. 13% for COVID-19–negative patients and even more pronounced mortality differences were observed for non-ICU admissions, with mortality rates of 10.9% and 1.8%, respectively. Twenty-four percent of COVID-19–positive patients were admitted to the ICU compared with 17% of COVID-19–negative patients. Length-of-stay was 8.7 days and 5.1 days, respectively.

Antibiotics were used in 68% of COVID-19–positive patients, compared to 46% of COVID-19–negative patients. Antibiotics used in COVID-19–positive patients were already those with antibiotic resistance problems including, Ceftriaxone, macrolides, and vancomycin. Finally, Yu presented data regarding COVID positive patients havinga high rate of 

 occur more frequently in COVID-19–positive than COVID-19–negative patients.

Multiple presenters, including Hana Balkhy, MD, the executive director for infection prevention and control atthe World Health Organization, and Andrew Singer, PhD, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, also stressed that less than 10% of COVID-19–hospitalized patients had or developed a bacterial coinfection, but approximately 70% were on 

However, of the patients who die, the incidence of coinfections may be higher. Cornelius Clancy, MD, the chief of the infectious diseases section at VA Pittsburgh Health Care System, reviewed nearly 500 published autopsy reports and concluded that between 35% to 40% of patients who die with COVID-19 have histopathological findings consistent with a pulmonary coinfection.

Heil stressed that the above observations underscore the need for antibiotic stewardship programs. But stewardship activities decreased as pharmacists were shifted to COVID-19–related activities such as writing new therapeutic guidelines and updates, overseeing clinical trials, emergency use authorizations, and the administration of novel medications. To compound matters, in many institutions, staff were also laid off for budgetary considerations. “This loss of personnel may have long-term consequences,” Heil warned.

The impact of telehealth on antibiotic stewardship was discussed by Gail Golab, the chief veterinary officer, scientific affairs and public policy at the American Veterinary Medical Association. Several peer-reviewed reports have found that antibiotics for respiratory and ear infections are prescribed at a higher rate in human telemedicine than in-person visits. This appears to be a consequence of not being able to perform a physical exam or laboratory evaluation, making antibiotic prescription clinical guidelines more difficult to follow. However, it has also been shown that telehealth can help implement antibiotic stewardship programs which have led to lower antimicrobial use.

All of this points to the need for an effective COVID-19 vaccine and innovative strategies to expand testing.

Sean O’Leary, MD, a professor specializing in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Colorado, stressed that vaccines that sit in refrigerators do not save lives, vaccinations given to suspectable patients do. And all is dependent upon public vaccination acceptance. Childhood vaccines are well accepted with 94.7% of children receiving the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccinations. However, influenza vaccination has only a 45% compliance rate. O’Leary reviewed 

 from Yale, which examined acceptance of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine: More respondents reported they would receive a COVID-19 vaccine compared with a flu vaccine.The one exception was the Black population who had the lowest acceptance, even though their communities are severely impacted by COVID-19.

O’Leary reviewed an August 25 to 27, 2020 

found that the majority of the respondents (78%) from both political parties feel the COVID-19 vaccine is driven more by politics than science. Both the CDC and US Food and Drug Administration setting possible goals before the election fueled this paranoia along with the initiative’s name of Warp Speed. O’Leary stressed that messaging regarding the safety of vaccines needs to be done carefully so as not to create a “backfire effect,” where the message, although accurate, further entrenches the antivaccination beliefs of the recipient.

It is exceedingly difficult to remove misinformation from the minds of those who are not willing to be vaccinated. You may actually reinforce the myth by making it more familiar, by providing too many arguments, or threatening the holder’s world view.

O’Leary described 3 components of a message designed to debunk a myth: Focus on core facts, explicitly say the myth is false, and offer an explanation as to why the misinformation has occurred.

The most important way to encourage vaccination is to have the vaccine recommended by the provider.

An important advance in monitoring the spread of COVID-19 is the pool testing of multiple samples using a single test. This technique conserves resources and efficiently identifies carriers.

This concept was elevated to a new level by Sean Norman, MSc, PhD, the director of the molecular microbial ecology lab at the University of South Carolina, who described the utility of pool testing sewage. This innovative approach allows an unbiased testing of SARS-CoV-2 levels in the community, which includes both symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers. Results from such testing can guide community decisions on how to reopen activities in our society. In addition, a more targeted application is the monitoring of individual office buildings or university dorms. A positive test can then be used to identify carriers with targeted case tracking.

COVID-19 is a severe illness and stressor on our healthcare system that is rapidly changing the practice of medicine. Patients afflicted with COVID-19 have an increased susceptibility to antibiotic-resistant infections both from prolonged hospitalizations and the use of immunocompromising agents such as dexamethasone. MRSA was found to be the most common antibiotic-resistant organism in these patients. A finding arguably produced by a culmination of ineffective past strategies to control MDROs let alone prepare for a pandemic.

The United States has endured both supply shortages and disruptions in the antibiotic supply chain, affecting availability of antibiotics for tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections, a result of ineffective preparation and a slow and anemic response at the beginning of the pandemic.

As aptly stated by Srinvasan: “The pandemic laid bare the fact that our healthcare-associated infections and antibiotic use and resistance programs at both the state and facility level are both significantly underfunded and understaffed, in too many instances where one meets in this area a challenge set up for failure.”

The most important consensus which was echoed throughout the conference was that social distancing and wearing a mask cannot only help with COVID-19, but may also profoundly decrease the flu season.

Patients afflicted with COVID-19 have an increased susceptibility to antibiotic resistant infections both from prolonged hospitalizations and the use of immunocompromising agents such as dexamethasone.

Taking Aim at Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria During COVID

Recently, there has been a lot of misinformation being disseminated over the internet whose source has been mixed messaging sometimes spurred by federal agencies. Some of the information has been contradictory but some has also been ill advised.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently posted information which has been used to cast doubt regarding the number of individuals who have died of COVID-19 and even 

While there is still much to learn about COVID-19, at this time, it does seem as if COVID-19 is more deadly than seasonal influenza; however, it is too early to draw any conclusions from the current data.”

“For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause 

. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.”

This comes on the heels of no longer recommending that one test for asymptomatic carriage of the virus.

The messaging is then amplified on the internet by what often seems to be a perverse and coordinated effort. A study from Carnegie Mellon University found that over half of the accounts tweeting about the coronavirus are likely bots and appear to have similar playbooks to those of Russian and Chinese 

. Reuters has reported that a European Union document which outlines a Russian campaign of fake news; which is both confusing and malicious, making governmental communications regarding the coronavirus 

Unfortunately, the CDC’s mixed messaging may be used against infection preventionists, and for the most part infection preventionists need to assume the role as the top messenger of reliable information.

But it is imperative that infection preventionists engage and combat this messaging on social media and wherever it occurs. To not do so, allows misinformation to fan the pandemic, placing all of our lives at risk.

First, they have a playbook. Infection preventionists also need to develop one. Keep a list of the common themes you are seeing and make a corresponding list of retorts, with references, that you can cut and paste into social media. Also, I would use the term “COVID-19 virus” not “SARS-CoV-2” since the latter is not in common use by the public.

I like to respond to comments in either my own posts or posts that I agree with. If you do not like a comment, it is best to start a new post. The reason, the more comments a post has the higher the ranking it achieves with a search engine. Thus, I seldom argue with a post I disagree with. I will instead start a new post with a train of comments.

Here are some major misinformation themes and examples of a few retorts to be used in responses:

#1. The young rarely die from COVID-19, so they do not need to follow precautions and we do not need to implement new strategies to open schools.

“It is just not “death.” With advances in medical care, President Trump has stated, the mortality rate has fallen by 85%. I’m not sure it is that low, but it is lower. But to “survive” is not the same as “recovered.” The reason why the Big 10 and Pac 12 football season was postponed was because 15% of their athletes who tested positive for COVID-19, including those with mild or no symptoms, developed inflammation of the heart, according to school officials. This can be very serious, and we do not know the long-term effects. Eighty percent of children who contract the COVID-19 virus are asymptomatic. Even though they do not show symptoms, they are still highly infectious which places their teachers, parents, and grandparents at grave risk.

 (Note that many will likely believe Sport Team Physicians, over trained Epidemiologists.)


A) Remarks by President Trump in Press Briefing on COVID-19. White House. July 27, 2020. 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-press-briefing-covid-19/

B) Upadhyaya P. PSU football doctor clarifies comments on percentage of COVID-positive athletes with myocarditis. 

https://www.centredaily.com/sports/college/penn-state-university/psu-football/article245448050.html

C) Davies NG. et al. Age-dependent effects in the transmission and control of COVID-19 epidemics. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0962-9

#2. You cannot believe the elite scientists.

Retort: It is not that the scientists are smarter than anyone else, but they have more experience. This is not their first rodeo. Many have obtained a PhD in studying the various methods of measuring how and why diseases spread and have dealt with epidemics throughout the world for decades. They have been there and done that. Their advice is not just coming from recent events in the United States, but from what has happened with COVID-19 in Europe and with numerous pandemics which have occurred over the last century. An excellent historical review of epidemiology and pandemics is 

(Be sure to stay away from “expertise,” or “smarter.” Stress experience instead.)

#3. COVID-19 is not as deadly as the flu, it is all overblown.

We have already lost far too many souls. Over 180,000 in the United States. This figure is confirmed by the over 200,000 excess deaths (as of August 1, 2020) we have seen this year as compared to historical data. And we must not forget that unlike the flu, COVID-19 affects every organ of the body. Approximately one third of college football players have inflammation of their heart which may manifest symptoms years later.

Many are now using complex misleading statistics to lower the case fatality rate by counting the large numbers of those who may have asymptomatic disease. However, in doing so, the infectivity of the virus is then also greatly increased which produces the same number of societal deaths. And there is mounting evidence that asymptomatic individuals may not have lasting immunity.

A) Lu D. The True Coronavirus Toll in the U.S. Has Already Surpassed 200,000. New York Times. Aug. 13, 2020. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/12/us/covid-deaths-us.html

B) Robbiani DF. Et al. Convergent antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in convalescent individuals. Nature. 584, pages437–442(2020). 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2456-9

C) Long QZ, Tang XJ, Sit QL, et al. Clinical and immunological assessment of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. Nature Medicine. June 18, 2020. 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0965-6

D) Ibarrondo FJ., Fulcher JA, Goodman-Meza D. Rapid Decay of Anti–SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Persons with Mild Covid-19. NEJM. July 21, 2020. 

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2025179

E) Upadhyaya P. PSU football doctor clarifies comments on percentage of COVID-positive athletes with myocarditis. 

#4. Hydroxychloroquine can cure COVID-19.

 This is a difficult issue since there is a highly organized effort with nearly 100 low-quality papers (some of which are erroneously described as trials) on the internet. There are even complex websites supporting this effort. The most successful retorts are:

There have now been 5 randomized controlled trials with three being double blinded which have found Hydroxychloroquine to not be effective. These studies include those who are without symptoms having been recently exposed, and patients who are mildly and severely sick. In addition, there is a new laboratory study which has found that HCQ works on the monkey not the human enzyme which allows the coronavirus to enter cells. And why not focus on the drugs (Camostat mesilate or nafamostat mesylate) which are currently in human trials which block the enzyme found in humans? All of the effort spent on HCQ would be better placed on other more promising compounds. This is really inhibiting our efforts to find a cure.


A) Kavanagh KT. Hydroxychloroquine Works in Monkeys, Not Humans. Infection Control Today®. August 3, 2020. 

https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/new-study-hydroxychloroquine-works-in-monkeys-not-humans

 Yes, but these studies did not use zinc for azithromycin and did not follow the Zalinski Protocol. Thus, they were set up to fail.

“Vladimir Zalinski has claimed his protocol to have a 99% success rate, which I find hard to believe. There is no scientific evidence that excess zinc will help a viral infection (although one certainly does not want to be zinc deficient). And adding the antibiotic azithromycin is a toxic mix. Both hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin prolong the heart’s QT interval which will have additive effects on causing life-threatening heart arrhythmias. COVID-19 virus positive patients often have inflammation of their heart and I feel giving them this cocktail is both dangerous and has little if any benefit.”


A) Zev Zelenko. Newly Published Outpatient Study Finds that Early Use of Zinc, Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin Is Associated with Less Hospitalizations and Death. CISION PR Newswire. July 15, 2020. 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newly-published-outpatient-study-finds-that-early-use-of-zinc-hydroxychloroquine-and-azithromycin-is-associated-with-less-hospitalizations-and-death-301094237.html

B) Upadhyaya P. PSU football doctor clarifies comments on percentage of COVID-positive athletes with myocarditis. Centre Daily Times. September 4, 2020. 

Finally, as you become successful, trolls will try to redirect your conversation by baiting you into highly controversial, but unrelated topics. Do not take the bait, just respond to the answer at hand. If they do not wish to engage in this, then you have prevailed and just reinforce your position.

Trolls will also try to bait you by leaving disparaging and insulting comments. Your efforts will be successful, then the trolls finally accuse you of “genocide.” This is common, even guests on news programs have talked about this accusation. Do not fall for this, just ignore it. Remember, if you both get banned, you have an account which has taken years to develop, the trolls almost always have a sham account which they can repost in minutes. Just politely respond and report them to the page moderator.

After you have done all of this, you will notice that you have numerous exchanges with one individual. That this individual has left a junkyard full of highly complex and intwined web of misinformation. Yet for all of this work, when you go to the troll’s home page, it will most likely be blank. This tells you may be dealing with a professional. If the troll responded to you throughout the entire day, he may well be on a payroll.

With a little effort and experience, you will have prevailed, which elevated the visibility of your original comment on search engines and have prevented a misinformation initiative whose genesis may have been from a foreign intelligence agency.

It is imperative that infection preventionists engage and combat this messaging on social media and wherever it occurs. To not do so, allows misinformation to fan the pandemic, placing all of our lives at risk.

Viewpoint: Infection Preventionist Guide to Dealing with COVID Misinformation

Several recent studies have supported the growing hypothesis that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily a cardiovascular, and not a pulmonary virus. The narrative that those affected are usually asymptomatic and have very mild or no disease may be false. Many of those who are asymptomatic may actually fall victim to myocarditis, a sinister, stealth-like disease, whose resulting disability may take decades to manifest.

Concerns for cardiovascular involvement of SARS-CoV-2 have been present since the early genesis of the pandemic. A research paper from China found that 20% of COVID-19 hospitalized patients developed 

 and thromboembolic events happened in 31% of those 

. Another from Germany reported ongoing myocardial inflammation in 60% of 100 recently recovered patients with 

However, cardiovascular disease has been assumed by many to be a manifestation of severe COVID-19; and not from direct infection of the virus but instead from small vessel disease caused by the hypercoagulation of the blood.

All of that changed last week with the publication of three reports. 

The first was from Penn State Health which reported that 15% of Penn State athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 had myocarditis

. These were young athletes and included both mildly symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. As a result of these findings, the Big 10 and Pac 12 postponed their 

Myocarditis does not have specific symptoms and most patients can be 

. Myocarditis can produce fibrosis of the heart which may present years later with heart failure from dilated cardiomyopathy. However, in 50% of cases the cause of dilated cardiomyopathy is unknown, but there is strong evidence that past viral infections 

The second was a study by Perez-Bermejo, et al. which provided evidence that COVID-19 heart disease was a direct effect on the heart by 

. This was suspected since cardiac myocytes express the ACE2 protein needed for viral entry into the cells. The authors described robust and specific change in cell cultured cardiomyocytes which corresponded to the changes they observed in autopsies of patients with COVID-19. Thus, the virus can also attack and destroy the heart directly, not just indirectly with hemodynamic stress, hypoxemia and small vessel thrombosis.

., and offered an explanation for the perplexing clinical finding that COVID-19 asymptomatic patients have no pulmonary symptoms but are still hypoxic, indicating something major may be taking place. This finding is so common, that there was even discussion in the news media regarding pulse oximeters and if they should be purchased to detect infections with SARS-CoV-2.

Reynolds, et al. noted that there is a “disconnect between gas exchange and lung mechanics in COVID-19 pneumonia.” In other words, the patient’s decreased oxygenation does not correspond to the patient’s ability to breathe. Much like what has been observed in asymptomatic patients. The authors drew similarities to what is observed in hepatopulmonary syndrome and using a contrast enhanced doppler they were able to postulate pulmonary vascular dilatation with resultant increased blood flow which could account for the “ventilation-perfusion mismatch and hypoxemia.”

Thus, the once thought asymptomatic patients who luckily dodged a bullet and were spared from the ravages of the disease, may indeed be truly sick. A significant portion of them may develop myocarditis along with vascular vasodilation with resultant hypoxemia. This pathological process could easily be more significant than the pulmonary effects of the virus, since it is present in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. And could explain the debilitating symptoms of fatigue and mental fog which “long-haulers” are experiencing, many of which had a mild 

These findings underscore the utmost importance for infection preventionists to advocate for the identification of asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers. Infection preventionists need to be able to articulate to those who feel that the young are safe just because their fatality rate is extremely low, that even in this age group there are major concerns regarding long-term consequences of this virus. We need to take this virus seriously.

Infection preventionists need to be able to articulate to those who feel that the young are safe just because their fatality rate is extremely low, that even in this age group there are major concerns regarding long-term consequences of this virus.

Author | Kevin Kavanagh, MD

Articles

Eli Lilly Neutralizing Antibodies: Breakthrough for COVID-19 Treatment?

Taking Aim at Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria During COVID

Viewpoint: Infection Preventionist Guide to Dealing with COVID Misinformation

Is COVID-19 Primarily a Heart and Vascular Disease?