COVID-19: Low-Dose Aspirin / 3 Ft. in Schools / Fauci on B.1.1.7

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and André Sofair, MD, MPH

Catch up on some of the latest COVID-19 news:

Low-dose aspirin: Use of low-dose aspirin early in a patient's hospital stay for COVID-19 is associated with better outcomes, suggests a retrospective study in Anesthesia & Analgesia. Researchers studied roughly 400 U.S. patients admitted with COVID-19 between March and July 2020; about a quarter received aspirin (median dose, 81 mg) in the 7 days before admission or within 24 hours after admission. The primary outcome — need for mechanical ventilation — occurred in 36% of aspirin recipients versus 48% of those who didn't receive aspirin. After multivariable adjustment, aspirin use was associated with a 44% reduced risk for mechanical ventilation. It was also associated with significant, similarly reduced risks for ICU admission and in-hospital mortality. Aspirin users did not show increased risk for major bleeding. The researchers note that aspirin can "irreversibly inhibit platelet aggregation in the lungs, which could reduce pulmonary microthrombi and subsequent lung injury."

3 feet in schools: The CDC now recommends that students maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance from each other — rather than 6 feet — in most classroom settings where masks are worn universally. The recommendation applies to elementary schools, regardless of the level of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the community. It also applies to middle and high schools in communities with low, moderate, or substantial transmission. When community transmission is high, and middle and high schools can't keep students in consistent cohorts, at least 6 feet of distance should be maintained between students. The update follows publication of three MMWR studies that add to the evidence on safe school procedures. In one study, conducted across 20 elementary schools in a Utah county with high community SARS-CoV-2 transmission, in-school transmission was rare (secondary attack rate, 0.7%). Adherence to mask use was high, and classroom seats were a median of 3 feet apart. The CDC continues to recommend 6 feet of distance between adults and between adults and children in schools.

Fauci on B.1.1.7: At a White House briefing on Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the B.1.17 variant of SARS-CoV-2 , first detected in the U.K., now likely accounts for 20% to 30% of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the U.S. The variant is about 50% more transmissible than older strains of the virus, Dr. Fauci noted, and evidence suggests it's associated with roughly a 60% increase in COVID-19 mortality. On a more positive note: The current vaccines appear to protect against B.1.1.7., making it essential "to get as many people vaccinated as quickly and as expeditiously as possible," Dr. Fauci said. When asked whether the U.S. would consider focusing on giving just one dose of mRNA vaccine to get more people vaccinated, as some other countries are doing, he maintained that the U.S. has enough vaccine to give both doses and should continue that strategy.