The New York Times (10/7, Victor) reports, “Over a 15-month period of the pandemic, more than 120,000 children in the United States had a parent or caregiver die from Covid-19, a loss that more severely affected racial minorities, according to a modeling study.” Researchers “estimated that for every four Covid-19 deaths between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, one child lost a parent or caregiver.” Additionally, “22,007 lost a secondary caregiver, or a grandparent providing housing but not most basic needs, the study projected.” The findings were published in the journal Pediatrics on Thursday.

The Washington Post (10/7, Cha) reports, “Losing a parent or other primary caregiver is one of the most stressful things that can happen in a child’s life – putting them at risk of a trajectory of depression and post-traumatic stress, as well as physical manifestations of grief, such as heart problems.” The estimated “numbers take into account both official covid deaths and deaths from other causes, such as homicides and drug overdoses, beyond those expected in a typical year without the pandemic.” According to the Post, “The data reveals vast disparities by race and ethnicity – even more skewed toward an overrepresentation of minority communities than covid deaths.”

Among other sources covering the story is HealthDay (10/7, Preidt).

Related Links:

— “Over 120,000 American Children Have Lost a Parent or Caregiver to Covid-19, Study Says “Daniel Victor, The New York Times, October 7, 2021

HealthIT Security (10/6, McKeon) reports, “Physician burnout was a growing problem prior to the pandemic, but other health care professionals are reporting significant levels of burnout as well, according to” a Spok survey, which found more than 50% “of IT staff and contact center staff reported feeling a considerable level of burnout.” In addition, more than 60% “of clinical executives reported feeling ‘a great deal’ of burnout since the pandemic.” The article adds, “Health care professionals overwhelmingly agreed that the risk of clinician burnout is a public health crisis.”

Related Links:

— “Workers Report Burnout Due to Healthcare Cybersecurity Concerns ” Jill McKeon, HealthIT Security, October 6, 2021

Healio (10/6, Gramigna) reports, “Individuals with psychological distress before the COVID-19 pandemic had increased risk for experiencing disruptions related to healthcare and economics,” investigators concluded in a study that sought to “elucidate mental health inequalities in life disruptions among 59,482 participants of 12 U.K. longitudinal studies.” The study team collected data “prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The study revealed that “the wider health and economic impacts of the pandemic have been disproportionately experienced by those with mental health difficulties, potentially leading to worsening longer term outcomes, even post-pandemic, for those already experiencing poor mental health.” The findings were published online Sept. 30 in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Pre-pandemic distress levels predict risk for health care, economic disruptions “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 6, 2021

Psychiatric News (10/6) reports, “People who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have a substance use disorder (SUD) appear to be at higher risk for breakthrough infections than people without an SUD,” investigators concluded after analyzing “de-identified data from electronic health records for 30,183 fully vaccinated patients with history of SUD and 549,189 patients without SUD between December 2020 and August 2021 – a period that included the Delta variant outbreak.” The study revealed that “the risk of breakthrough infection for people with SUDs ranged from 6.8% for tobacco use disorder to 7.8% for cannabis use disorder,” while “the risk of breakthrough infections in vaccinated people without an SUD was 3.6%.” The findings were published online Oct. 5 in the journal World Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Patients With SUDs Have Higher Risk of Breakthrough COVID-19 Infection, Psychiatric News, October 6, 2021

Healio (10/5, Weldon) reports, “Teen girls who experienced sexual abuse were more likely than their peers to be cyberbullied,” and also appeared to log “higher usage of pornography and social media, which led to being sexually solicited online and engaging in more sexual activity two years later,” researchers concluded in an “observational study” that “assessed two years of URL activity and offline psychosocial factors of 460 consenting girls aged 12 to 16 years.” The findings were published online Sept. 27 in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

Related Links:

— “Teen girls who suffered sexual abuse may face more online victimization, exploitation “Rose Weldon, Healio, October 5, 2021