Rural America in Trouble; Remdesivir Evidence

• “This year, as the coronavirus outbreak has made its way from major cities to rural America, threats to the rural health care infrastructure have only increased,” Will Stone writes. In fact, 25% of rural households who responded to a recent poll said they could not access care for a serious condition ~ Getting Health Care Was Already Tough In Rural Areas. The Pandemic Has Made It Worse (NPR)
• As part of his treatment after testing positive for coronavirus, President Trump received a 5-day course of remdesivir. In this review, Timothy J. Wilt, MD, MPH, and colleagues evaluate the evidence to date on whether remdesivir reduces mortality and improves recovery in adults hospitalized with COVID ~ Remdesivir for Adults With COVID-19 (Annals of Internal Medicine)
• How will COVID continue to affect our health over the long-term? Carlos del Rio, MD, Lauren F. Collins, MD, and Preeti Malani, MD, MSJ, discuss the prolonged physical symptoms associated with COVID infection and touch on the lasting toll the pandemic may have on our mental well-being ~ Long-term Health Consequences of COVID-19 (JAMA)
• Most colleges and universities doing in-person classes are not testing their students for coronavirus in a comprehensive way. Sean McMinn and Elissa Nadworny analyze recent data showing two-thirds of these institutions “have no clear testing plan or are testing only students who are at risk” ~ Even In COVID-19 Hot Spots, Many Colleges Aren’t Aggressively Testing Students (NPR)
• Should women put off getting pregnant until the pandemic subsides? Sonja A. Rasmussen, MD, Anne Drapkin Lyerly, MD, and Denise J. Jamieson, MD, MPH, tackle this controversial question, exploring the ethical concerns surrounding constraining a woman’s reproductive freedom ~ Delaying Pregnancy during a Public Health Crisis — Examining Public Health Recommendations for Covid-19 and Beyond (New England Journal of Medicine)
• “While racist sticks and stones are still breaking bones, do racist words really matter?” asks Lisa Caulley, MD, MPH, who reflects on the impact of racialized language and behaviors on black Americans ~ Sticks and Stones — Confronting the Full Spectrum of Racism (New England Journal of Medicine)
• Where are we with a coronavirus vaccine? Gregory A. Poland, MD, and colleagues review the key approaches being pursued and the challenges of developing a safe and effective vaccine ~ SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Development: Current Status (Mayo Clinic Proceedings)

Fred N. Pelzman, MD, of Weill Cornell Internal Medicine Associates and weekly blogger for MedPage Today, follows what’s going on in the world of primary care medicine. Pelzman’s Picks is a compilation of links to blogs, articles, tweets, journal studies, opinion pieces, and news briefs related to primary care that caught his eye.