Five questions for … Dr. Michael Aragones
Kaiser Permanente Southern California has 2 Regional Reference Laboratories, which make up a sophisticated clinical laboratory management system that interfaces with medical centers and medical offices throughout the region. Michael Aragones, MD, is a Research & Evaluation research lab project ...
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Increasing vaccine equity in Southern California
In addition to bringing isolation and illness to the world, the COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the health disparities between Southern California communities. Getting COVID-19 vaccines to the neighborhoods ...
Atrial fibrillation may increase risk for dementia
People who have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation are known to have an increased risk of developing other heart problems. A new Kaiser Permanente study suggests they may also be at increased risk ...
Paxlovid associated with lower risk of hospital admission
A Kaiser Permanente study confirms the benefit of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, also known as Paxlovid, as an early-stage treatment to prevent hospitalization for people with mild to moderate COVID-19, regardless ...
Omicron variant infections less severe than delta
June 13, 2022A study of patients at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California showed that when both the delta and omicron variants were circulating in December 2021, patients who had SARS-CoV-2 infections with the omicron variant had substantially less risk of severe illness and shorter hospital stays than those infected with the delta variant. The study was published ...Read more...New approach reduces colon cancer deaths
June 13, 2022A study published June 6, 2022, in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety showed that a comprehensive approach to improving colon cancer care at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California resulted in a 24% decrease in mortality over 7 years. “If a new drug or surgical procedure reduced deaths this dramatically, it would be ...Read more...Clinical research center opens at Los Angeles Medical Center
May 31, 2022A new dedicated clinical research space at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center provides researchers and staff with expanded opportunities to bring groundbreaking clinical research to Kaiser Permanente Southern California members. Located on the first floor of 1505 N. Edgemont on the medical center campus, the 1,400-square-foot Kaiser Permanente Clinical Research Center at Los Angeles ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. William Towner
May 19, 2022William Towner, MD, FACP, FIDSA, is the regional physician director for the Division of Clinical Trials and leads the Clinician Investigator Program for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. He also serves in a leadership role for HIV services at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. He was extensively involved in research on infectious diseases since 2000 ...Read more...COVID-19 vaccine protection against hospitalization wanes for the most vulnerable
April 25, 2022Research released in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine shows that a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine provides strong protection, roughly 80% in the first few months against hospital admissions and emergency department visits caused by the delta and omicron variants. However, against omicron, this protection wanes over time for immunocompromised individuals — even after ...Read more...Heart attacks increased in days after 2020 election
April 20, 2022A Kaiser Permanente study conducted in Southern and Northern California found hospitalizations for heart attack, stroke, and heart failure were 17% higher in the 5 days after the 2020 election than in the same 5 days 2 weeks before the election. The study was published April 20, 2022, in JAMA Network Open. “This study of the ...Read more...Five questions for … Dr. “Charlie” Huang
March 25, 2022Cheng-Wei “Charlie” Huang, MD, is a hospitalist at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center who has spent recent years also focused on research that can improve care for patients. In addition to his research and clinical duties, Dr. Huang is the assistant program director of the Los Angeles Medical Center’s internal medicine residency, where ...Read more...Shoulder pain rare after vaccination
March 21, 2022Shoulder pain and injury are extremely rare after any type of vaccination in the upper arm, according to pre-pandemic Kaiser Permanente research published March 22, 2022, in Annals of Internal Medicine. Conducted from April 2016 through December 2017, the study found fewer than 1 in 10,000 people reported shoulder injuries in the more than 2.2 million ...Read more...3 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine highly effective against hospitalization from omicron or delta.
February 21, 2022Kaiser Permanente research published Feb. 21, 2022, in Nature Medicine shows that while Moderna COVID-19 vaccine protection is strong against coronavirus infection by the delta variant, it is not as strong against infection from the omicron variant. Three doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine were highly effective against hospitalization caused by infection from either the omicron ...Read more...Vaccine study looks to prevent E. coli sepsis
February 21, 2022Kaiser Permanente Southern California is participating in a clinical trial of a novel vaccine against invasive E. coli infections in older adults. William Towner, MD, the principal investigator for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, said, “I’m enthusiastic about this cutting-edge research because it has the potential, if successful, to reduce morbidity and mortality from a very common ...Read more...