Pre-endoscopy coronavirus disease 2019 screening and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 nucleic acid amplification testing in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system: clinical practice patterns, outcomes, and relationship to procedure volume.

Background And Aims: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had profound impacts worldwide, including on the performance of GI endoscopy. We aimed to describe the performance and outcomes of pre-endoscopy COVID-19 symptom and exposure screening and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) across the national Veterans Affairs healthcare system and describe the relationship of SARS-CoV-2 NAAT use and resumption of endoscopy services.

Methods: COVID-19 screening and NAAT results from March 2020 to April 2021 were analyzed to determine use, performance characteristics of screening, and association between testing and endoscopic volume trends.

Physician support of HPV vaccination school-entry requirements.

School-entry requirements in the US have led to high coverage for several vaccines, but few states and jurisdictions have adopted these policies for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Because physicians play a key role in advocating for vaccination policies, we assessed physician support of requiring HPV vaccine for school entry and correlates of this support. Participants were a national sample of 775 physicians who provide primary care, including vaccines, to adolescents.

Left ventricular assist device-associated infections.

The left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a mechanical pump that supplements or replaces the function of a damaged left ventricle. Although LVAD support is associated with improved survival and quality of life, infectious complications remain a major limitation. The authors examine the epidemiology of LVAD-associated infections and review current diagnostic, treatment, and management strategies.