In a story about various treatments that are currently available or under development for the blindness-causing condition Leber congenital amaurosis, Mark Pennesi, M.D., Ph.D., notes patients with the condition usually have symptoms within the first decade of life.

In a story that explains how and why COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness wanes over time, Mark Slifka, Ph.D. says: “It’s been a challenge because some people will say, ‘Well the vaccines aren’t working.’ And that’s a misconception. Vaccines are still providing 90% protection against mortality and hospitalization."

An op-ed by Alessandra Colaianni, M.D., M.Phil., calls for changing bias against women in surgery: “A life in surgery is a difficult one -- full of long days, weighty decisions, and serious implications for mistakes. It's hard enough for anyone to do without worrying that, by virtue of their sex, they have something additional to prove. It's time to change the status quo.”

In a story about various ways under development to treat aortic regurgitation through transcatheter aortic valve implantation, Firas Zahr, M.D., say this of high surgical risk patients with this condition: “Unfortunately, many of these patients remain symptomatic despite being on optimal medical therapy, and there is a big knowledge and technology gap in treating these patients."

Deborah Meyers, M.D., says 31-year-old heart transplant recipient Vanessa Trotter is “one of these rare spirts that has … always taken lemons and made them into lemonade for herself. ... She really, to me, is a hero that way, even in her young age (she) was able to deal with things in such a sophisticated, thoughtful and mature way."

Eric Herman, M.D., describes how the OHSU Long COVID Program helps patients gradually recover from chronic COVID: “We train [patients] to see when their breath is telling them they are going too far. Once they understand where that is, they can maintain that level of activity safely and get stronger.”

OHSU’s Nov. 18 forecast predicts statewide hospitalizations will be below 200 in February 2022, while the Nov. 24 forecast indicates a winter surge is unlikely in Oregon. Peter Graven, Ph.D., says: “We are still in a precarious situation. We can’t really afford to take off our masks -- especially people who aren’t vaccinated."

Respiratory therapist Merrick Barker says: “We’re all burned out and exhausted, and money isn’t something that’s going to get us in the door anymore when we’ve been so burned out and traumatized by what we’ve been made to see and do during that time."

Julianna Desmarais, M.D., warns of the potential cardiac toxicity of the drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which are sometimes prescribed by rheumatologists.

OHSU Health Hillsboro Medical Center’s ¡Salud! health care program for Willamette Valley vineyard workers raises $850,000 at a virtual auction