The Washington Post (4/7, Wan, Johnson) reports “a leading forecasting model used by the White House to chart the coronavirus pandemic predicted Monday that the United States may need fewer hospital beds, ventilators and other equipment than previously projected and that some states may reach their peak of covid-19 deaths sooner than expected.” Still, state leaders and experts “continued to steel themselves for grim weeks ahead, noting that the revised model created by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington conflicts with many other models showing higher equipment shortages, deaths and projected peaks.”

CNN (4/7, Azad) reports the influential model “now predicts that fewer people will die and fewer hospital beds will be needed compared to its estimates from last week.” According to CNN, “as of Monday, the model predicted the virus will kill 81,766 people in the United States over the next four months, with just under 141,000 hospital beds being needed. That’s about 12,000 fewer deaths – and 121,000 fewer hospital beds – than the model estimated on Thursday.”

The Hill (4/7, Coleman) reports CDC Director Robert Redfield said that if people continue to follow social distancing guidance then there will be far fewer deaths than previously predicted. During a radio interview, Dr. Redfield said, “What we’re seeing is a large majority of the American public are taking the social distancing recommendations to heart. And I think that’s the direct consequence of why you’re seeing the numbers are going to be much, much, much, much lower than would have been predicted by the models.”

Related Links:

— “America’s most influential coronavirus model just revised its estimates downward. But not every model agrees., “William Wan and Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Washington Post , April 7, 2020

Medscape (4/7, Melville, Subscription Publication) reports, “Worry and anxiety are strongly linked to fluctuations in levels of inflammatory markers, which can compromise the immune system, potentially leaving individuals at increased risk for physical illness, new research suggests.” The researchers “found that increases in levels of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) corresponded to increased levels of worrying.” The results “were scheduled to be presented at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) 2020 in March, but the meeting was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Healio (4/6, Gramigna) reports, “Recurrent aggressive behavior with clinically significant consequences to those who demonstrate it and those around them is common among both adolescents and adults, according to results of a survey study published in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.” The study’s authors “noted that most aggressive individuals do not receive treatment for their behavior.”

Related Links:

— “Significant proportion of adolescents, adults report pattern of recurrent aggressive behavior, ” Joe Gramigna, Healio, April 6, 2020

Medscape (4/6, Melville, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found that “patients who experience a rapid response to cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a greater likelihood of sustained improvement.” The study involved “136 veterans with PTSD” and the researchers found “that those who responded quickly to a 3-week CPT program were significantly more likely to report lower symptom scores 3 months post treatment compared with those participants who responded more slowly.” The findings were scheduled to be presented at this year’s Anxiety and Depression Association of America Conference, but “that conference was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

CNBC (4/6, Braverman) reports that as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, “more and more employees are dealing with stress, anxiety and isolation, and in the weeks or months ahead this may take a toll.” According to CNBC, “mental health experts agree that even after the immediate coronavirus crisis has passed, the impact on employees’ psyche could be lasting.” Darcy Gruttadaro, director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundations’ Center for Workplace Mental Health, said, “There is a real concern that we will see widespread anxiety, PTSD, depression, high suicide rates and a high incidence of substance abuse. We need to be ready for that, and we already have a fragile health-care system in this country.”

Related Links:

— “The coronavirus is taking a huge toll on workers’ mental health across America, “Beth Braverman, CNBC, April 6, 2020

Healio (4/3, Michael) reported, “Mothers who experienced symptoms of depression near the end of their pregnancy were more likely to have children with lowered immunity than mothers without depressive symptoms, according to a study recently published in Clinical & Experimental Allergy.” Specifically, the researchers “found that women who had elevated depressive symptoms in their third trimester that later declined had infants with significantly lower mean fecal sIgA concentrations compared with women with few depressive symptoms.” Moreover, “these women were twice as likely to have infants with concentrations of sIgA in the lowest quartile.”

Women Less Likely To Have More Children If They Develop Mental Health Problems Following Delivery Of First Child, Research Indicates. HealthDay (4/3, Priedt) reported “women who develop mental health problems after delivering their first child are much less likely to have more, a Danish study finds.” The researchers found that among women who “developed problems such as depression, anxiety, mania and schizophrenia within six months after” their first live birth, “sixty-nine percent of these women went on to have a second child, compared to 82% of mothers who had no mental health issues after their first live birth.” The findings (3/29) were reported in the journal Human Reproduction.

Related Links:

— “Maternal depression could lead to lowered immunity in infants, “Erin Michael, Healio, April 3, 2020

The Hill (4/3, Chalfant) reported the Trump Administration announced “the federal government will reimburse hospitals treating uninsured patients for the novel coronavirus.” President Trump said the funding will be provided by the economic relief package passed by Congress last month.

Related Links:

— “Administration says it will reimburse hospitals for treating uninsured coronavirus patients, ” Morgan Chalfan, The Hill, April 3, 2020

Psych News Alert (4/3) reported “inpatient psychiatric units all over the country are grappling with the need to continue treating patients in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.” The “APA and the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare hosted a webinar” on Wednesday “with the leaders of three inpatient facilities so they could share their experiences so far.” The speakers emphasized “the importance of addressing COVID-19 in health systems in a way that does not limit people’s access to behavioral health care.”

Related Links:

— “Speakers Share Insights on Inpatient Psychiatric Care During COVID-19 Pandemic, Psych News Alert, April 3, 2020

USA Today (4/2, Stanglin) reports that as of Thursday, there are more than 1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the world. However, the number was probably reached earlier, because of untested cases including “asymptomatic individuals; people who may have died of complications of the virus without anyone knowing it; and those whose symptoms were not serious enough to qualify for testing.”

The Hill (4/2, Klar) reports that the US “has more than 235,000 cases and 5,600 deaths,” while “Italy and Spain follow with more than 115,000 and 110,000 cases, respectively, and over 24,000 deaths between them.” Meanwhile, China has “reported more than 82,000 cases and 3,300 deaths from the virus, though U.S. intelligence agencies have reportedly concluded that Beijing has underreported both the total number of cases and confirmed deaths.”

Newsweek (4/2, Kim) reports that in the US, “New York continues to report the country’s highest number of cases, with more than 83,700 confirmed infections to date, including 47,439 cases in New York City, the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed as of Wednesday.”

Related Links:

— “There are 1 million coronavirus cases worldwide. But there are probably many more people who have the disease., “Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY, April 2, 2020

Psychiatric News (3/25) reports that “In a letter…APA again urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to allow psychiatrists to provide psychiatric services to Medicare and Medicaid patients via the telephone without requiring a video component and to reimburse those services the same as an in-person visit.” In a news release about the letter, APA President Bruce Schwartz, M.D., said, “Even if we can’t physically see our patients, we can provide medication management and psychotherapy.”

Related Links:

— “Five Strategies to Protect Patients, Staff in Psychiatric Inpatient Units From COVID-19, Psychiatric News, March 25, 2020