Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) COVID-19 Literature Reports 

Prepared by: Tracy C. Shields, MSIS, AHIP (Ms.; she/her) 
Naval Medical Center Portsmouth; Library Services, Reference Medical Librarian

Purpose: These reports, published every other week on Fridays, are curated collections of current research, evidence reviews, special reports, grey literature, and news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic that may be of interest to medical providers, leadership, and decision makers.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. This information is current as of the date noted. While I make every effort to find and summarize available data, I cannot cover everything in the literature on COVID-19. Please feel free to reach out with questions, suggestions for future topics, or any other feedback.

The Big Picture

News in Brief

Grim Milestones

"1 in 500 Americans have died of Covid-19" (WP).

COVID-19 has overtaken the 1918 Spanish flu as deadliest disease in American history (STAT).

"American Samoa, one of the last places without coronavirus, has first infection" (WP).

Heads Up

BLUF from DHS: "Here's what we've learned about COVID-19—an update" (DHS; see also: Master Question List [pdf]).

"Six things to understand about the pandemic now — The rules of the pandemic keep changing, but these principles can guide your thinking through the seasons to come" (Atlantic).

"Winter is coming, again: What to expect from Covid-19 as the season looms" (STAT). 

The current surge combined with supply chain stress is causing widespread shortages of medical equipment such as exam tables, defibrillators, and crutches (Reuters).

Research Concerns

"Preprint advocates must also fight for research integrity — Efforts to share research with the public must include mechanisms to prevent harm resulting from low-quality work" (Nature).

"Swedish research misconduct agency swamped with cases in first year. The newly formed government organization tackled 46 research-fraud investigations in 2020 — three times as many as expected" (Nature). Ed note: If you like podcasts, check out Dr. Death season 3 — this agency was created after the events covered in that series.

Long read: "How the pandemic is changing the norms of science — Imperatives like skepticism and disinterestedness are being junked to fuel political warfare that has nothing in common with scientific methodology" (Tablet).

Journal Articles

PNAS: Excess mortality from COVID and non-COVID causes in minority populations (28 September 2021; online 21 September 2021)

"The 2020 US mortality totaled 2.8 million after early March, which is 17.3% higher than age-population–weighted mortality over the same time interval in 2017 to 2019, for a total excess death count of 413,592. We use data on weekly death counts by cause, as well as life tables, to quantify excess mortality and life years lost from both COVID-19 and non–COVID-19 causes by race/ethnicity, age, and gender/sex. Excess mortality from non–COVID-19 causes is substantial and much more heavily concentrated among males and minorities, especially Black, non-Hispanic males, than COVID-19 deaths. Thirty-four percent of the excess life years lost for males is from non–COVID-19 causes. While minorities represent 36% of COVID-19 deaths, they represent 70% of non–COVID-19 related excess deaths and 58% of non–COVID-19 excess life years lost. Black, non-Hispanic males represent only 6.9% of the population, but they are responsible for 8.9% of COVID-19 deaths and 28% of 2020 excess deaths from non–COVID-19 causes. For this group, nearly half of the excess life years lost in 2020 are due to non–COVID-19 causes."

Clin Infect Dis: Is COVID-19 Less Deadly Now? -- Trends of In-Hospital Mortality Among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in the United States (17 September 2021)

"After an initial decline from April through June 2020 (from 22.2% to 11.9%), adjusted in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 inpatients peaked twice and was significantly higher than June 2020 for subsequent months except in July and October 2020. Adjusted mortality trends differed across age groups between November 2020 and February 2021."