Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 28th Nov 2022
View this newsletter in fullBivalent Covid Boosters Give Some Protection in CDC Study, But Not Much
Covid-19 boosters from Moderna Inc. and the partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE that fight the latest omicron variants provide only modest short-term protection against mild infections, and experts say it’s still unclear whether the updated shots are any better than earlier versions at preventing hospitalization and severe illness. The bivalent boosters were just 43% effective at preventing mild illness compared to receiving no vaccine in adults 49 and under, according to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published Tuesday. In those aged 50 to 64 years, comparative protection against symptomatic Covid was 28%, while the booster was just 22% protective in adults 65 and older, the study showed.
25th Nov 2022 - Bloomberg
Blood clot drug totally ineffective as post-Covid treatment, research finds
A drug to reduce blood clots, widely prescribed to Covid-19 patients after discharge from hospital, does not lessen their chances of readmission or improve survival, according to groundbreaking research which is set to change treatment protocols around the world. The results of the UK-wide trial, led by Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the University of Cambridge, were shared with the Financial Times. They found that prescribing the anticoagulant Apixaban did not help patients recovering from moderate and severe Covid and in a small number of cases caused serious harm.
27th Nov 2022 - Financial Times
New coronavirus at 'particular risk' of jumping to humans discovered in Chinese bats
A new virus with similarities to Coronavirus has been identified in bats with the potential to jump to humans and livestock, according to new research. Chinese and Australian scientists took samples from 149 bats across Yunnan province in China, bordering Laos and Myanmar, and identified five viruses “likely to be pathogenic to humans or livestock”. One virus, known as BtSY2, is closely related to SARS-CoV-2 (which causes Covid-19) and is "at particular risk for emergence." Professor Eddie Holmes, an evolutionary biologist and virologist at the University of Sydney and co-author of the report said: “This means that Sars-Cov-2-like viruses are still circulating in Chinese bats and continue to pose an emergence risk."
27th Nov 2022 - The Mirror
Study says as Covid evolves in long-term infections it may become more harmful
A South African laboratory study using Covid-19 samples from an immunosupressed individual over six months showed that the virus evolved to become more pathogenic, indicating that a new variant could cause more illness than the current predominant omicron strain. The study, conducted by the same laboratory that was to first test the omicron strain against vaccines last year, used samples from a person infected with HIV. Over the six months the virus initially caused the same level of cell fusion and death as the omicron BA.1 strain, but as it evolved those levels rose to become similar to the first version of Covid-19 identified in Wuhan in China.
26th Nov 2022 - Bloomberg
COVID-19 SeroHub, an online repository of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence studies in the United States | Scientific Data
Seroprevalence studies provide useful information about the proportion of the population either vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, previously infected with the virus, or both. Numerous studies have been conducted in the United States, but differ substantially by dates of enrollment, target population, geographic location, age distribution, and assays used. This can make it challenging to identify and synthesize available seroprevalence data by geographic region or to compare infection-induced versus combined infection- and vaccination-induced seroprevalence. To facilitate public access and understanding, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the COVID-19 Seroprevalence Studies Hub (COVID-19 SeroHub, https://covid19serohub.nih.gov/), a data repository in which seroprevalence studies are systematically identified, extracted using a standard format, and summarized through an interactive interface.
26th Nov 2022 - Nature.com
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 21st Nov 2022
View this newsletter in fullSafety of the fourth COVID-19 BNT162b2 mRNA (second booster) vaccine: a prospective and retrospective cohort study
The effectiveness of the second BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) mRNA COVID-19 booster vaccine dose (ie, fourth inoculation) is well established, but its safety has yet to be fully understood. The absence of sufficient vaccine safety information is one of the key contributors to vaccine hesitancy. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the safety profile of the second BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 booster vaccine using data from a retrospective cohort and a prospective cohort.
20th Nov 2022 - The Lancet
Who Is Dying from COVID Now, and Why
Older people were always especially vulnerable and now make up a higher proportion of COVID fatalities than ever before in the pandemic. While the total number of COVID deaths has fallen, the burden of mortality is shifting even more to people older than age 64. And deaths in nursing homes are ticking back up, even as COVID remains one of the top causes of death for all ages. COVID deaths among people age 65 and older more than doubled between April and July this year, rising by 125 percent, according to a recent analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation. This trend increased with age: more than a quarter of all COVID fatalities were among those age 85 and older throughout the pandemic, but that share has risen to at least 38 percent since May.
20th Nov 2022 - Scientific American
Stanford researchers launch first study on long-COVID treatment with Pfizer's Paxlovid
Researchers at Stanford University are launching a new study to see whether Pfizer's anti-viral drug Paxlovid, which is approved to treat COVID-19, might also be an effective cure for so-called "long COVID" that causes suffering in patients long after their initial SARS-CoV2 infection. More than 98 million Americans have had COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates as many as 1 in 5 adults who have had COVID-19 later experience long COVID symptoms. "Fatigue, cognitive issues, shortness of breath, the list really goes on," said Dr. Linda Geng, who is Co-Director of Stanford's Post-COVID clinic. Dr. Geng says the study is the first in the nation to test Paxlovid on people with long COVID symptoms.
19th Nov 2022 - KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco
Pfizer/BioNTech's updated COVID shot shows strong response against BQ.1.1
Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Friday their Omicron-tailored shot produced higher virus-neutralizing antibodies in older adults against the emerging subvariant BQ.1.1 than its original vaccine. Antibody levels against the subvariant rose nearly nine-fold in older adults, aged 55 and above, who received the Omicron shot compared to a roughly two-fold increase in participants with the original shot, according to data posted on online archive bioRxiv.
18th Nov 2022 - Reuters
Moderna's Omicron shots shows better immune response than original COVID vaccine
Moderna Inc said on Monday its Omicron-tailored vaccines produced a better immune response against the BA.4/5 subvariants in a mid-to-late stage study, when given as a booster dose, compared with its original shot. Data shows that both of Moderna's Omicron-tailored shots, mRNA-1273.214 and mRNA-1273.222, produced a higher antibody response against BA.4/5 subvariants than its original shot in vaccinated and boosted adults, the company said.
15th Nov 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 14th Nov 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID-19 and diabetes — where are we now?
At the same time, evidence for a connection of COVID-19 with new-onset T2D appears more robust. Surveys of electronic patient records suggest an overall increased risk of new-onset DM up to 12 weeks post infection3, an increased likelihood of being prescribed insulin within 91 days of COVID-19 diagnosis3 and an excess burden of incident diabetes and hyperglycaemia (where > 77% were stratified as T2D) at 12-month follow up4. If and when glycaemic control is re-established after recovery from COVID-19 in those patients remains unclear. In some cohorts, glucose control had improved in 63–79% of patients 6 months after recovery5,8 and improved in 41–79% of patients 10 months after recovery5,6. Up to 56% of patients remained hyperglycaemic6. A separate cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with dysglycaemia during acute infection displayed reversion to physiological glycaemic control in the post-acute phase in a 7 month follow-up9.
13th Nov 2022 - Nature.com
Novavax says Omicron shot shows strong immune response as second booster
Vaccine maker Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) said on Tuesday its COVID-19 shot retooled against the Omicron BA.1 variant showed a strong immune response as the fourth dose and met the main goal of strain change in a late-stage study. Data showed the shot, NVX-CoV2515, produced 1.6 times the amount of neutralizing antibodies in people who had previously not been exposed to COVID-19 compared to Novavax's original coronavirus vaccine.
9th Nov 2022 - Reuters
Repeat COVID is riskier than first infection, study finds
The risk of death, hospitalization and serious health issues from COVID-19 jumps significantly with reinfection compared with a first bout with the virus, regardless of vaccination status, a study published on Thursday suggests. "Reinfection with COVID-19 increases the risk of both acute outcomes and long COVID," said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "This was evident in unvaccinated, vaccinated and boosted people."
10th Nov 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 7th Nov 2022
View this newsletter in fullCould a nose spray a day keep COVID away?
During the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anne Moscona didn’t feel safe going to a restaurant or catching a flight. And she wished she could feel confident that she could see her immunocompromised relatives without inadvertently spreading the novel coronavirus to them. All this made her work personal: for the past decade, Moscona, a molecular virologist, had been hunting for compounds that could stop viruses in their tracks, before the pathogens infect even a single cell in a person’s body. Now Moscona, at Columbia University in New York City, and her colleagues have homed in on a compound that might foil SARS-CoV-2. Even better, it’s simply sprayed up the nose — no needle required1.
2nd Nov 2022 - Nature.com
'A silent killer' -- COVID-19 shown to trigger inflammation in the brain
Research led by The University of Queensland has found COVID-19 activates the same inflammatory response in the brain as Parkinson's disease. The discovery identified a potential future risk for neurodegenerative conditions in people who've had COVID-19, but also a possible treatment. The UQ team was led by Professor Trent Woodruff and Dr Eduardo Albornoz Balmaceda from UQ's School of Biomedical Sciences, and virologists from the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences. "We studied the effect of the virus on the brain's immune cells, 'microglia' which are the key cells involved in the progression of brain diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's," Professor Woodruff said.
2nd Nov 2022 - Science Daily
China rolls out first inhalable COVID vaccine
In what is believed to be a world first, China's commerical capital of Shanghai this week introduced a new type of COVID-19 vaccine that is inhaled rather than administered via injection. Chinese regulators approved the vaccine, produced by Chinese pharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics, for use as a booster in September.
And now the first people are starting to receive the vaccine, which is inhaled via the mouth from a vessel that looks like a take-out coffee cup with a short mouthpiece.
30th Oct 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 31st Oct 2022
View this newsletter in fullScientists identify in humans neutralising antibody to Omicron variants
Researchers have identified in humans a pan-variant neutralising antibody, named S2X324, whose neutralizing potency was largely unaffected by any of the Omicron strains of the coronavirus, according to a study. The scientists show that this monoclonal antibody prevents binding to the receptor on host cells that the pandemic coronavirus usually commandeers. They also suggested that combining this antibody with others in a cocktail might reduce the chances of the virus becoming antibody treatment resistant. The international team from University of Washington and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Humabs BioMed SA of Vir Biotechnology in Switzerland looked at several aspects of the effects of exposure to earlier forms of the SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen or immune-provoking protein -- on the immune system's reaction to the Omicron variants.
30th Oct 2022 - Business Standard
Covid’s Heart Effects: Infections Raise Clotting, Death Risks in Large Study
Covid-19 at any level of severity is linked to an increased risk of dangerous blood clots that start in patients’ veins and travel to the heart, lungs and other parts of the body, according to a UK study that highlights the pandemic’s role in driving up rates of cardiovascular disease. Non-hospitalized Covid patients were 2.7 times more likely to develop dangerous clots called venous thromboembolisms and were more than 10 times more likely to die than individuals who avoided the disease, scientists at Queen Mary University of London found in a study of almost 54,000 people followed for an average of about 4 1/2 months. The increase in risk was highest in the first 30 days after the disease began, but could remain elevated even longer, the researchers said.
26th Oct 2022 - Bloomberg
New Covid Boosters Aren't Better Than Old Ones, Study Finds
Bivalent booster shots from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. failed to raise levels of protective proteins called neutralizing antibodies against the dominant omicron strains any more than four doses of the original Covid vaccine, according to an early independent study on a small group of people. Researchers at Columbia University and the University of Michigan compared levels of neutralizing antibodies in blood samples from 21 people who got a fourth shot of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech SE bivalent boosters against antibody levels in 19 people who got four shots of the original vaccines. Three to five weeks after a fourth shot, those people who received the new boosters aimed at BA.4 and BA.5 variants “had similar neutralizing antibody titers as those receiving a fourth monovalent mRNA vaccine,” the authors conclude in a manuscript posted on the preprint server bioRxiv.org.
26th Oct 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 24th Oct 2022
View this newsletter in fullOmicron subvariants reflect a 'viral evolution on steroids'
An omicron subvariant is once again demonstrating immune-dodging abilities, posing a threat to both vaccinated and previously infected individuals. A report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the subvariant, called BA.4.6, could drive reinfections. As of Friday, BA.4.6 accounted for just over 12% of new Covid cases in the U.S. BA.5, meanwhile, has been detected in nearly 68% of new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
20th Oct 2022 - NBC News
Addiction drug shows promise lifting long COVID brain fog, fatigue
Lauren Nichols, a 34-year-old logistics expert for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Boston, has been suffering from impaired thinking and focus, fatigue, seizures, headache and pain since her COVID-19 infection in the spring of 2020. Last June, her doctor suggested low doses of naltrexone, a generic drug typically used to treat alcohol and opioid addiction. After more than two years of living in "a thick, foggy cloud," she said, "I can actually think clearly."
18th Oct 2022 - Reuters
Long Covid Disables Millions Worldwide, Even as Rates Ease, Study Shows
Long Covid eases with time, according to a study that found about 1% of coronavirus patients had persistent symptoms for a year or more. In the first rigorous assessment of the magnitude of long Covid on a global scale, researchers found 6.2% of people who had Covid-19 in the pandemic’s first two years experienced at least one of three main groups of symptoms three months later. Of those patients, 15% were still afflicted after a year, they found. Although the probability of having chronic health problems from Covid is relatively low, the vast number of cases -- at least 670 million worldwide -- leaves a substantial burden of disability, said Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, where the study was conducted.
16th Oct 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 17th Oct 2022
View this newsletter in fullScientists identify gene that may generate a higher immune response to Covid vaccine
Scientists have identified an immunity gene variant in people with strong responses to Covid-19 vaccines who were less likely to get breakthrough infections, a finding that could improve future shot design. Individuals carrying the specific gene version generated more antibodies against the coronavirus after receiving vaccines from AstraZeneca Plc or the alliance of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, according to the study published Thursday in the Nature Medicine journal. The same people were less likely than those with different versions of the same gene to get infected with Covid months later, the research found. .
14th Oct 2022 - Bloomberg
AstraZeneca Nasal Spray Vaccine for Covid Fizzles in Small, Early Trial
AstraZeneca Plc’s ambitions for developing an easier formulation of its Covid-19 vaccine -- one that might help curb contagion as well -- suffered a setback Monday as the nasal spray failed in an early test. The spray vaccine didn’t elicit a strong immune response in the nasal mucosa tissue or in the rest of the body of volunteers, according to researchers at the University of Oxford. Astra shares fell less than 1% in London.
11th Oct 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 10th Oct 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID rebound after Pfizer treatment likely due to robust immune response, study finds
A rebound of COVID-19 symptoms in some patients after taking Pfizer's antiviral Paxlovid may be related to a robust immune response rather than a weak one, U.S. government researchers reported on Thursday. They concluded that taking a longer course of the drug - beyond the recommended five days - was not required to reduce the risk of a recurrence of symptoms as some have suggested, based on an intensive investigation of rebound in eight patients at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center.
8th Oct 2022 - Reuters
Effectiveness and durability of BNT162b2 vaccine against hospital and emergency department admissions due to SARS-CoV-2 omicron sub-lineages BA.1 and BA.2 in a large health system in the USA: a test-negative, case-control study
Two doses of BNT162b2 provided only partial protection against BA.1-related and BA.2-related hospital and emergency department admission, which underscores the need for booster doses against omicron. Although three doses offered high levels of protection (≥70%) against hospitalisation, variant-adapted vaccines are probably needed to improve protection against less severe endpoints, like emergency department admission, especially for BA.2.
7th Oct 2022 - The Lancet
Pfizer COVID vaccine clears Japan panel for use with young children
A Japanese health ministry panel on Wednesday recommended approving Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine for children as young as six months old. Japan in January expanded use of the vaccine to those as young as five years old. Last month, health authorities started to dispensing Pfizer and Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) booster shots that target the Omicron variant of the virus. The panel also recommended approval of a version of the Pfizer vaccine that protects against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron. Moderna said earlier on Wednesday it was seeking Japanese approval of its own subvariant shot.
5th Oct 2022 - Reuters.com
Immune reactions to severe Covid may trigger brain problems, study finds
Severe Covid infections can cause immune reactions that damage nerve cells in the brain, causing memory problems and confusion, and potentially raising the risk of long-term health issues, research suggests. Scientists at King’s College London found that a wayward immune response to the virus increased the death rate of neurons and had a “profound” impact on regeneration in the hippocampus region of the brain, which is crucial for learning and memory. The findings are preliminary but suggest Covid can trigger neurological problems in patients without the virus having to infect the brain itself. The process is believed to underpin delirium in Covid patients, but may also contribute to brain fog and other problems experienced by people with long Covid.
5th Oct 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 3rd Oct 2022
View this newsletter in full‘Large disruptor’: Moderna’s promise of vaccine ‘cocktail’ could be headache for CSL
Moderna’s promise of a combined coronavirus-influenza shot throws down a challenge to Australian biotech giant CSL as the next heat of the vaccine race threatens to be a “disruptor”.
The chief of US pharmaceutical Moderna, Stephane Bancel, says CSL is at risk of losing its competitive edge in the influenza vaccine market once Messenger-RNA technology takes hold in the industry and a “cocktail of mRNAs” becomes available.
Bancel, who was in Melbourne this week to visit the site of his company’s planned vaccine manufacturing plant at Monash University, said Moderna’s vision for the Australian market went well beyond its current coronavirus vaccines.
2nd Oct 2022 - Sydney Morning Herald
Spike-antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccination by demographic and clinical factors in a prospective community cohort study
We evaluate Spike-antibody responses following BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1-S vaccination amongst SARS-CoV2-naive adults across England and Wales enrolled in a prospective cohort study (Virus Watch). Here we show BNT162b2 recipients achieved higher peak antibody levels after two doses; however, both groups experience substantial antibody waning over time. In 8356 individuals submitting a sample ≥28 days after Dose 2, we observe significantly reduced Spike-antibody levels following two doses amongst individuals reporting conditions and therapies that cause immunosuppression. After adjusting for these, several common chronic conditions also appear to attenuate the antibody response. These findings suggest the need to continue prioritising vulnerable groups, who have been vaccinated earliest and have the most attenuated antibody responses, for future boosters.
2nd Oct 2022 - Nature.com
Moderna rejects request from China for Covid-19 vaccine technology
Moderna has reportedly refused a request from China to reveal the technology behind its Covid-19 vaccine. The rejection prompted negotiations for its sale there to fall apart, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The US pharmaceutical company remains “eager” to sell its product in China after negotiations between 2020 and 2021 dissolved. China has relied on domestically developed vaccines since the beginning of the outbreak in late 2019, and currently procures none of its jabs with foreign companies.
2nd Oct 2022 - City A.M.
Children with COVID-19 more likely to develop type 1 diabetes, study finds
A small team of researchers with members from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the MetroHealth System has found a link between children who contract COVID-19 and an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes. In their paper published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the group describes their analysis of health records of children and adolescents during the pandemic.
30th Sep 2022 - Medical Xpress
Lingering cardiac involvement in previously well people after mild COVID-19
Serial heart MRI scans conducted in previously well people with mild initial COVID-19 illness suggest that lingering cardiac symptoms may be explained, at least in part, by ongoing mild cardiac inflammation.
30th Sep 2022 - Nature.com
Unlike flu, COVID-19 attacks DNA in the heart: new research
Direct research on the hearts of COVID-19 patients who have died from the disease has revealed they sustained DNA damage in a way completely unlike how influenza affects the body. The finding gives researchers clues about exactly how severe COVID-19 is affecting the body, and also a potential way to detect who will be seriously affected by the disease in the future.
30th Sep 2022 - Brisbane Times
Myocarditis Risk in Young People Following COVID-19 Infection
Risk of myocarditis is higher following a SARS-CoV-2 infection than it is following a COVID-19 vaccination and increases significantly in men under 40 years, particularly following a second dose of mRNA-1273 vaccine. The risk is still modest following sequential doses or a booster of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. These are among the study findings published in Circulation. Researchers sought to evaluate risk for myocarditis in younger people following sequential doses of COVID-19 vaccine vs risks of myocarditis in all individuals who develop SARS-CoV-2 infection.
27th Sep 2022 - The Cardiology Advisor
Long COVID Has Forced the U.S. to Take Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Seriously
ME/CFS involves a panoply of debilitating symptoms that affect many organ systems and that get worse with exertion. The Institute of Medicine estimates that it affects 836,000 to 2.5 million people in the U.S. alone, but is so misunderstood and stigmatized that about 90 percent of people who have it have never been diagnosed. At best, most medical professionals know nothing about ME/CFS; at worst, they tell patients that their symptoms are psychosomatic, anxiety-induced, or simply signs of laziness. While ME/CFS patients, their caregivers, and the few doctors who treat them have spent years fighting for medical legitimacy, the coronavirus pandemic has now forced the issue.
26th Sep 2022 - The Atlantic
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 26th Sep 2022
View this newsletter in fullAsia to Roll Out First Inhaled and Nasal-Spray Covid Vaccines
A new generation of Covid-19 vaccines that can be inhaled or sprayed up the nose—instead of taken by injection—will begin rolling out in Asia, though just how effective they are remains to be seen. Regulators in China and India have greenlighted distribution of vaccines delivered through the mouth or nose, a delivery that scientists say holds the promise of more potent protection against Covid-19 by better reducing infections and preventing the disease’s spread among vaccinated people because they work in the nose and lungs where transmission first happens. Existing vaccines have succeeded in reducing symptomatic disease and severe illness, but have fallen short when it comes to preventing mild infections or transmission.
21st Sep 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 18th Sep 2022
View this newsletter in fullGSK, Regeneron Covid Antibody Drugs Unlikely to Work for Omicron, WHO Says
The antibody drugs GSK Plc and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. developed against Covid don’t appear to work for omicron and its subvariants, a panel of experts advising the World Health Organization said, recommending against the use of the medicines. The group’s decision comes amid “evidence from laboratory studies that these drugs are not likely to work against currently circulating variants,” the panel said in the medical journal BMJ Friday.
18th Sep 2022 - Bloomberg
WHO 'strongly advises against' use of two COVID treatments
Two COVID-19 antibody therapies are no longer recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), on the basis that Omicron and the variant's latest offshoots have likely rendered them obsolete. The two therapies - which are designed to work by binding to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralise the virus' ability to infect cells - were some of the first medicines developed early in the pandemic.
The virus has since evolved, and mounting evidence from lab tests suggests the two therapies - sotrovimab as well as casirivimab-imdevimab - have limited clinical activity against the latest iterations of the virus. As a result, they have also fallen out of favour with the U.S. health regulator. On Thursday, WHO experts said they strongly advised against the use of the two therapies in patients with COVID-19, reversing previous conditional recommendations endorsing them, as part of a suite of recommendations published in the British Medical Journal.
17th Sep 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 12th Sep 2022
View this newsletter in fullScientists Found a New Antibody That Neutralizes All COVID Variants
COVID-19 vaccines have been effective at keeping people from getting severely ill and dying from the virus, but they’ve required different boosters to try to keep on top of all of the coronavirus variants that have popped up. Now, researchers have discovered an antibody that neutralizes all known COVID-19 variants. The antibody, called SP1-77, is the result of a collaborative effort from researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Duke University. Results from mouse studies they’ve conducted were recently published in the journal Science Immunology, and they look promising.
9th Sep 2022 - Prevention Magazine
Top scientists join forces to study leading theory behind long COVID
Top scientists from leading academic centers are banding together to answer a key question about the root cause of long COVID - whether fragments of the coronavirus persist in the tissues of some individuals. The effort, known as the Long Covid Research Initiative, aims to streamline research and quickly pivot to clinical trials of potential treatments. By sharing diverse skill sets and resources, the group hopes to uncover the scientific underpinnings of the disease and use that to design evidence-based trials.
8th Sep 2022 - Reuters
Long COVID's link to suicide: scientists warn of hidden crisis
The 56-year-old, who caught the disease in spring 2020, still had not recovered about 18 months later when he killed himself at his home near Dallas, having lost his health, memory and money. "No one cares. No one wants to take the time to listen," Taylor wrote in a final text to a friend, speaking of the plight of millions of sufferers of long COVID, a disabling condition that can last for months and years after the initial infection.
8th Sep 2022 - Reuters
What scientists have learnt from COVID lockdowns
Most scientists agree that lockdowns did curb COVID-19 deaths and that governments had little option but to restrict people’s social contacts in early 2020, to stem SARS-CoV-2’s spread and avert the collapse of health-care systems. “We needed to buy ourselves some time,” says Lauren Meyers, a biological data scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. The pandemic’s true health cost: how much of our lives has COVID stolen? At the same time, it’s clear that lockdowns had huge costs, and there is debate about the utility of any subsequent lockdown measures. School and university closures disrupted education. Closing businesses contributed to financial and social hardship, mental ill health and economic downturns. “There’s costs and benefits,” says Samir Bhatt, a public-health statistician at Imperial College London and the University of Copenhagen.
Scientists have been studying the effects of lockdowns during the pandemic in the hope that their findings could inform the response to future crises. They have reached some conclusions: countries that acted quickly to bring in stringent measures did best at preserving both lives and their economies, for instance. But researchers have also encountered difficulties. Analysing competing harms and benefits often comes down not to scientific calculations, but to value judgements, such as how to weigh costs that fall on some sections of society more than others.
7th Sep 2022 - Nature.com
COVID app that detects virus in your voice 'more accurate than lateral flow tests'
Users will be required to give information about their medical history, smoking status and demographics and record some respiratory sounds, such as coughing and reading a short sentence.
5th Sep 2022 - Sky News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 5th Sep 2022
View this newsletter in fullOmicron-Targeting Covid Booster Shots Offer Only Slight Advantage
How much better will an omicron-specific Covid-19 booster be? Research that models the protective effect of variant-modified shots found they’ll probably offer a slight advantage over existing immunizations. Antibodies that neutralize the virus jump about 11-fold after a booster targeting the original “Wuhan” strain of the coronavirus, and are increased a further 1.5-fold when a variant-modified shot is used, researchers at the University of New South Wales’ Kirby Institute found. “A variant-modified booster does provide at least a marginal improvement,” said Deborah Cromer, head of the institute’s infection epidemiology and policy analytics group in Sydney, who led the study.
30th Aug 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 2nd Sep 2022
View this newsletter in fullLarge Study Confirms COVID Vaccines Safe for Pregnant Women
Pregnant women should feel confident that Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines against COVID-19 are safe, according to a large new study. In fact, pregnant vaccinated women had lower odds of a significant health event, compared with nonpregnant vaccinated women, after both doses of either mRNA vaccination, the researchers reported in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. This study, done by the Canadian National Vaccine Safety Network, looked at data from patients in seven Canadian provinces and territories between December 2020 and November 2021.
11th Aug 2022 - Medscape
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 1st Sep 2022
View this newsletter in fullThere’s some good news in the battle against long Covid
There is also some indication we may be getting closer to more precisely defining and treating long Covid. Many studies around the world have been set up to recruit groups with long Covid to compare them with “rapid recovery” cases – people who recovered quickly and fully from Covid – to try to find differences in levels of antibodies, hormones, immune cells or other things that can be measured with a blood test. These so-called “defining biomarkers” can be gamechangers. They can help health services define and refer cases, provide more extensive evidence for employers and tribunals, and also point towards identification of therapies and treatments. One of the first such studies was reported this month in a preprint from Akiko Iwasaki, David Putrino and colleagues at Yale. They report a clear biomarker delineating differences in the long Covid group, with signals including low serum cortisol (a hormone involved in control of the stress response) and evidence of reactivation of latent Epstein-Barr virus.
31st Aug 2022 - The Guardian
Study explores differences in the efficiency of COVID-19 vaccine boosters
In the present study, researchers performed a meta-analysis using currently available data on neutralization titers obtained from clinical studies that compared the booster COVID-19 vaccination with the currently available SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain- or variant-based vaccines. The team compared the average extent of boosting between vaccines based on the ancestral strain and those modified as per the variant by comparing the increase in neutralization titers noted before and after booster dose administration. Furthermore, the study compared the magnitude of boosting against the homologous strains, wherein the variants used in the vaccine and the neutralization assay are the same, versus non-homologous strains, wherein the variants used in the vaccine and the neutralization assay are different.
31st Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Scientists Boost Immune Response to COVID-19 Vaccine by 25 Times
Ironically, some vaccines need their own “boosters.” An ingredient called an adjuvant can be added to vaccines to help elicit a more robust immune response, better training the body to fight a pathogen. Scientists report a substance that boosted the immune response to an experimental COVID-19 shot in mice by 25 times, compared to injection with the vaccine alone. Details of the research are described in a new paper published today (August 31, 2022) in the journal ACS Infectious Diseases.
31st Aug 2022 - SciTechDaily
What you need to know about fall booster shots of coronavirus vaccine
New coronavirus boosters are just around the corner following authorization Wednesday by federal regulators. The updated shots are designed to provide a stronger shield against the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants still causing tens of thousands of infections and hundreds of deaths every day in the United States. The boosters will be part of a campaign by the federal government, to be kicked off within days, to persuade Americans to bolster their immune defenses before a potential surge in covid-19 cases as cooler weather arrives in the fall.
31st Aug 2022 - The Washington Post
Vitamin D mediates crosstalk between COVID-19 and osteoporosis
The global outbreak of the highly infectious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS–COV-2) resulted in the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has claimed over 6.4 million lives worldwide to date. Several types of COVID-19 vaccines have been developed, many of which have received approval from global regulatory bodies. However, genomic mutations have led to the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, which have reduced the effectiveness of these vaccines.
31st Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 31st Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullRisk factors among pregnant and postpartum women with COVID-19
In a recent study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers investigated the clinical risk factors associated with adverse outcomes among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-infected women during pregnancy and postpartum.
30th Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 30th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullBooster Shots Protect Against Severe Covid for at Least Six Months, Study Finds
A Covid-19 vaccine booster shot protects people from becoming severely ill or dying and its efficacy lasts for six months, according a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, underscoring the importance of additional jabs as the world moves to coexist with the virus. The mRNA booster vaccines -- made by drugmakers Pfizer Inc. and BionTech SE, or Moderna Inc. -- were most effective in cutting the rate of people with severe Covid, scoring an estimated 87%, and there was no evidence of their effect waning within six months, the study found. Inactivated booster vaccines by Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and Sinopharm Group Co. also cut the chance of severe illness by about 70%. Severe Covid was defined in the research as requiring oxygen supplementation, intensive care or death.
26th Aug 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 26th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullPaxlovid reduces risk of COVID-19 death by 81%, Clalit study shows
A study by Clalit Health Services on the success of treating at-risk COVID-19 patients with the anti-viral drug Paxlovid has shown an impressive 81% reduction in the risk of death from complications of the virus and a 73% decrease in hospitalizations among those aged 65 and older, compared to a control group who did not want to take the medication. Generically known as nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, the oral protease inhibitor was granted emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2021. It was authorized for treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in people aged 12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kilograms with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death. It should be taken within five days of the onset of symptoms.
25th Aug 2022 - The Jerusalem Post
Nirmatrelvir Use and Severe Covid-19 Outcomes during the Omicron Surge | NEJM
A total of 109,254 patients met the eligibility criteria, of whom 3902 (4%) received nirmatrelvir during the study period. Among patients 65 years of age or older, the rate of hospitalization due to Covid-19 was 14.7 cases per 100,000 person-days among treated patients as compared with 58.9 cases per 100,000 person-days among untreated patients (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15 to 0.49). The adjusted hazard ratio for death due to Covid-19 was 0.21 (95% CI, 0.05 to 0.82). Among patients 40 to 64 years of age, the rate of hospitalization due to Covid-19 was 15.2 cases per 100,000 person-days among treated patients and 15.8 cases per 100,000 person-days among untreated patients (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.35 to 1.58). The adjusted hazard ratio for death due to Covid-19 was 1.32 (95% CI, 0.16 to 10.75).
25th Aug 2022 - The New England Journal of Medicine
Severe COVID-19 increases risk of future cardiovascular events
To date, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has infected over 603 million individuals and claimed more than 6.4 million lives worldwide. About 30% of COVID-19 survivors continue to experience a wide range of persistent symptoms for several weeks since their initial diagnosis. This condition is commonly referred to as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) or “long COVID.”
25th Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 25th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullPfizer-BioNTech COVID shot 73.2% effective in kids under 5 - new data
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's vaccine was 73.2% effective in preventing COVID-19 among children aged 6 months through 4 years, new data from the companies showed on Tuesday, two months after the U.S. rollout of the shots began for that age group. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorized for children under 5 years of age in June, based on data that showed the vaccine generated a similar immune response as in older age groups. An early analysis based on 10 symptomatic COVID-19 cases in the study had suggested a vaccine efficacy of 80.3%. But experts had warned that the data was preliminary due to a low number of symptomatic cases.
24th Aug 2022 - Yahoo News UK
Covid Incubation Gets Shorter With Each New Variant, Study Shows
The longer a virus can replicate inside a person before causing symptoms, the harder it can be to stop because of the greater potential for the infected to unknowingly spread it far and wide. Among Covid-19’s pernicious features, its incubation period is longer than many other respiratory viral infections, including influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus. The good news is the interval between exposure and the development of symptoms appears to be narrowing.
Scientists from Peking University and Tsinghua University in Beijing analyzed data from more than 140 studies to estimate the incubation period of Covid caused by different strains of SARS-CoV-2. It fell from an average of five days with an alpha infection to 3.42 days with omicron, according to a study published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open
24th Aug 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 24th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudy reveals safety of COVID mRNA vaccines for patients with heart failure
COVID mRNA vaccines are associated with a decreased risk of death in patients with heart failure, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2022. The study also found that the vaccines were not associated with an increased risk of worsening heart failure, venous thromboembolism or myocarditis in heart failure patients.
23rd Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Incidence of type 2 diabetes in youth increased during COVID-19 pandemic
The onset of type 2 diabetes (T2D) among the youth is rising globally. In fact, a 5% increase in its incidence was reported by the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study from 2002 to 2012 in the United States, while its incidence nearly doubled between 2001 and 2017. The Treatment Options for T2D in Youth (TODAY) study has shown that such an increase can lead to rapid β-cell failure, along with the early onset of numerous complications in approximately half of the youth with T2D in the U.S.
23rd Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Pfizer's COVID vaccine 73.2% effective in kids under 5, new data shows
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's vaccine was 73.2% effective in preventing COVID-19 among children aged 6 months through 4 years, new data from the companies showed on Tuesday, two months after the U.S. rollout of the shots began for that age group. The Pfizer-BioNTech, vaccine was authorized for children under 5 years of age in June, based on data that showed the vaccine generated a similar immune response as in older age groups
23rd Aug 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 23rd Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullSerious health events rare in children after COVID-19 vaccine booster, says CDC study
In the present study, researchers used data from the vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) and v-safe, a voluntary smartphone-based safety surveillance system, to analyze the effect of booster doses of BNT162b2 in US children aged five to 11 years between May 17 and July 31, 2022. The v-safe platform allows parents and guardians of all children under 15 years to report receipt of all doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and all other relevant information. The CDC staff at v-safe call centers encourage parents/guardians seeking medical care after COVID-19 vaccination to complete a VAERS report. VAERS, a passive vaccine safety surveillance system in the US, is co-managed by the CDC and FDA. VAERS documents all adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination reported by health care providers, vaccine manufacturers, and the public.
22nd Aug 2022 - News Medical
The impact of the Covid vaccine on periods, from increased cramps to pattern disturbances
The UK has become the first country to approve a dual vaccine, which will tackle both the Omicron variant and the original Covid-19 virus, for use in the autumn.
Described as “a sharpened tool in our armoury as the virus continues to evolve” by Dr June Raine, chief executive of the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the jab will be offered to the over-50s, health workers, carers over 16, those at clinical risk from the age of five upwards, and those who live with someone with a low immune system. Currently, there has been no announcement of when or if the dual roll-out will be expanded, but if it were, would everyone take another jab? Although we know immunity wanes over time, after 33 million people have had three vaccinations, and millions already had a likely Covid infection (there have been a recorded total of 19 million positive tests), should we anticipate greater apathy, or even hesitancy for those who experienced short-term side effects and think they can avoid them? The NHS says side effects can include a sore arm, feeling tired, headaches, feeling achy, feeling or being sick. You may also get a high temperature. Although these do not impact everyone, and should not last longer than a week. There have also been reports of changes to women’s menstrual cycles: heavy bleeding, increased cramps and disturbance to patterns.
22nd Aug 2022 - iNews
Long COVID-19 study identifies novel blood markers as potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets
World first study utilizing Somalogic SomaScan® assay# to assess up to 7,000 plasma proteins in Long COVID-19 patients has elucidated novel blood markers as potential diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Provisional patent applications have been filed in the United States (US) to seek protection for these new inventions
A potential therapeutic marker known to be modulated by ATL1102 in DMD patients has been identified as suggestive of its therapeutic potential as a treatment for Long COVID-19. Collaboration with global leader in the clinical research of neurological aspects of Long COVID-19 Dr Koralnik to continue with application for grant funding
22nd Aug 2022 - The Associated Press
Pfizer told by FDA to test additional Paxlovid course in patients with COVID-19 rebound
Pfizer has been told by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test the effects of an additional course of Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir tablets) among individuals who experience a rebound in COVID-19 after the first course of treatment. The company must produce the initial results of a randomised controlled trial of a second course of the antiviral by 30 September next year, according to a letter from the regulator. The order follows reports of rebounding COVID-19 symptoms after the first course of treatment, which Pfizer said were rare. The FDA said a protocol for the study is expected to be finalised this month.
22nd Aug 2022 - PMLiVE
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 22nd Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullCureVac announces start of phase 1 trial of modified COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate
German-based mRNA company CureVac has announced the start of a phase 1 study of its modified COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate – CV0501 – administered as a booster dose to previous vaccination. Developed in collaboration with GSK, CV0501 is based on CureVac’s ‘second-generation mRNA backbone’ specifically designed to protect against the Omicron variant. Set to be conducted at clinical sites in the UK, the US, Australia and the Philippines, the dose-escalation study will enrol up to 180 healthy, COVID-19-vaccinated adults to evaluate the safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity of a single booster dose of CV0501 in the dose range of 12μg to 50μg.
19th Aug 2022 - PMLiVE
Serious adverse events rare after COVID-19 boosters in young kids
Data collected from two vaccine safety surveillance programs in the first 10 weeks of administration of third doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 to US children aged 5 to 11 years show that serious adverse events were rare. A related study in South Korea shows waning vaccine effectiveness (VE) in adolescents after two and three Pfizer doses but sufficient protection against critical illness.
Most side effects mild. In the first study, published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed adverse-event data from the agency's voluntary smart phone-based v-safe vaccine-monitoring program and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from May 17 to Jul 31, 2022. VAERS is a passive vaccine surveillance system managed by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
19th Aug 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 19th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid's Harmful Effects on the Brain Reverberate Years Later
Covid-19 survivors remain at higher risk of psychotic disorders, dementia and similar conditions for at least two years, according to a large study that highlights the mounting burden of chronic illness left in the pandemic’s wake. While anxiety and depression occur more frequently after Covid than other respiratory infections, the risk typically subsides within two months, researchers at the University of Oxford found. In contrast, cognitive deficits known colloquially as “brain fog,” epilepsy, seizures and other longer-term mental and brain health disorders remained elevated 24 months later, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.
18th Aug 2022 - Bloomberg
Study links reduced myocardial blood flow and COVID-19
Patients with prior COVID may be twice as likely to have unhealthy endothelial cells that line the inside of the heart and blood vessels, according to newly published research from Houston Methodist. This finding offers a new clue in understanding covid-19's impact on cardiovascular health. In a new study published today in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, Houston Methodist researchers examined the coronary microvasculature health of 393 patients with prior covid-19 infection who had lingering symptoms. This is the first published study linking reduced blood flow in the body and COVID-19. Using a widely available imaging tool, called positron emission tomography (PET), researchers found a 20% decrease in the ability of coronary arteries to dilate, a condition known as microvascular dysfunction.
18th Aug 2022 - News Medical
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 18th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullBCG vaccine can protect against Covid, new report finds
The world may have another tool with which to fight the effects of the Covid-19 virus. A new study published in Cell Medicine Reports has found that the Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, developed to help fight tuberculosis in the early 1900s, may offer a measure of protection against Covid and a range of other infectious diseases and bacteria by strengthening the immune system. The study in question began before the first Covid outbreak in the United States, back in January 2020. It was designed to see whether BCG vaccinations could help people with Type 1 diabetes resist infections – including, ultimately, Covid.
17th Aug 2022 - The Independent
Hypertension remains a significant risk factor for severe COVID-19 in fully vaccinated
The presence of hypertension still poses a significant risk factor for more severe disease in COVID-19, even among those fully vaccinated. Patients with hypertension even after receipt of three COVID-19 vaccination doses, remain at an elevated risk of severe breakthrough infections with the Omicron variant according to researchers from the Department of Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, US. Although full vaccination against COVID-19 initially required individuals to have two doses, the fact that immunity appears to wane over time has led to a recommendation for a third dose. In fact, a third dose appears to provide greater protection with data showing how a third dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine administered a median of 10.8 months after the second dose provided 95.3% efficacy against COVID-19 compared with two doses.
17th Aug 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
Higher risk of vein blood clots in COVID vs flu patients
Hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients before and after SARS-CoV-2 vaccine availability had significantly higher odds of venous—but not arterial—thromboembolism than those hospitalized for influenza before the pandemic, finds a study published today in JAMA. A team led by University of Pennsylvania researchers retrospectively studied rates of venous thromboembolism (blood clot in a vein) and arterial thromboembolism (blood clot in an artery) in 41,443 COVID-19 patients hospitalized before the vaccine rollout (April to November 2020), 44,194 COVID-19 patients admitted after vaccines became available (December 2020 to May 2021), and 8,269 patients hospitalized with the flu from October 2018 to April 2019. Thromboembolism can cause blockage of a blood vessel and thus can be severe.
16th Aug 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 17th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullWhat Is Bivalent Vaccine? New Moderna Omicron Covid Booster Explained
The new shot targets two separate strains of Covid-19 — the original version of the virus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan along with the BA.1 subvariant, the earliest version of omicron. Other versions of omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, are now more prevalent, but the virus is evolving faster than new vaccines can be formulated and tested, and this is the closest match available that has received clearance. Moderna has another shot available that targets the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which has been ordered by the US, but not yet cleared.
17th Aug 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 16th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullHow to Assess Covid-19 Risks After Easing of CDC Guidelines
The easing of federal Covid-19 guidelines places responsibility ever more squarely on individuals to determine their own risk tolerance and behaviors. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has dropped a recommendation to quarantine after Covid exposure regardless of vaccination status and de-emphasized social distancing. The new guidelines largely mirror what much of the U.S. population has already been doing as vaccines, prior infection and treatments have reduced the risk of severe disease even as the virus continues to circulate at high levels in much of the country. Many employers hope the move will boost their return-to-work pushes. Many U.S. schools and colleges had already been eliminating Covid protocols as they prepare for students to return in the fall.
15th Aug 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 15th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullONS data reveals significant decrease in COVID-19 antibodies
New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the percentage of the UK population estimated to have COVID-19 antibodies is declining rapidly, prompting calls for the government to start its autumn booster vaccination campaigns as soon as possible. The latest ONS data revealed the estimated percentage of the population in England with an antibody level of at least 800ng/ml dropped from a peak of 82.4% in March 2022 to 71.9% by mid-July, a decline of 12.7%. The data was similar throughout the UK, with high antibody levels also declining in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Dr Quinton Fivelman, chief scientific officer at private testing company London Medical Laboratory, said: “This dramatic 12.7% decrease in the number of people in England with a significant number of antibodies to COVID-19 is obviously concerning.
12th Aug 2022 - PMLiVE
Covid-19: Study provides further evidence that mRNA vaccines are safe in pregnancy
Pregnant women experienced lower rates of significant adverse events after vaccination with a covid-19 mRNA vaccine than a group of similarly aged women who were not pregnant, a Canadian study has concluded. The researchers found that 7.3% of pregnant women experienced health events requiring time off work or school or needing medical attention within a week of the second dose of an mRNA vaccine, which compared with 11.3% of vaccinated non-pregnant women. The study, published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, adds to the growing body of evidence that mRNA covid vaccines are safe during pregnancy. In January a US study of 46 079 pregnancies found that vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 was safe and did not increase the risk of preterm birth or of babies who were small for their gestational age. Vaccine uptake during pregnancy has increased over the course of the pandemic but rates are still below those in the general population
12th Aug 2022 - The BMJ
COVID-19 neuro complications, long-term symptoms in kids
In a large, multicenter study published today in Pediatrics, a team led by Vanderbilt University researchers followed 15,137 COVID-19 patients aged 2 months to 17 years released from 52 US children's hospitals participating in the Pediatric Health Information System database from March 2020 to March 2022. Of the 15,137 patients, 82.1% had a primary COVID-19 diagnosis, and 17.9% had a secondary diagnosis of COVID-19 and a related complication. A total of 37.1% of children had a complex chronic condition (CCC), and 9.8% had at least one previously diagnosed neurologic CCC. Seven percent of patients developed a neurologic complication, the most common of which were fever-triggered seizures (3.9%), non–fever-related seizures (2.3%), and encephalopathy (brain damage or disease) (2.2%).
11th Aug 2022 - CIDRAP
Striking Drop in Stress Hormone Predicts Long Covid in Study
Striking decreases in the stress hormone cortisol were the strongest predictor for who develops long Covid in new research that identified several potential drivers of the lingering symptoms afflicting millions of survivors. Levels of cortisol in the blood of those with the so-called post Covid-19 condition were roughly half those found in healthy, uninfected people or individuals who fully recovered from the pandemic disease, researchers at Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York found.
11th Aug 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 12th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullLong Covid Symptoms: Big Drop in Stress Hormone Cortisol Shown in Study
Striking decreases in the stress hormone cortisol were the strongest predictor for who develops long Covid in new research that identified several potential drivers of the lingering symptoms afflicting millions of survivors. Levels of cortisol in the blood of those with the so-called post Covid-19 condition were roughly half those found in healthy, uninfected people or individuals who fully recovered from the pandemic disease, researchers at Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York found. No one knows yet what causes the constellation of symptoms, often termed long Covid, that afflict some 10% to 20% of people after the acute phase of infection from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The US government is spending more than $1 billion to learn why it occurs and to devise strategies to treat and prevent the condition.
11th Aug 2022 - Bloomberg
Ensovibep no better than placebo for hospitalised COVID-19 patients
A trial of a novel designed ankyrin repeat protein, ensovibep, for the treatment of patients hospitalised with COVID-19 proved no better than placebo. Ensovibep treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19 was no better than placebo and, in fact, the trial was terminated early because of futility, according to the findings of randomised trial by researchers from the ACTIV-3/TICO group. The early treatment of patients infected with COVID-19 using anti-virals such as molnupiravir reduces the risk of hospitalisation or death in at-risk, unvaccinated adults. However, to date, there are no effective anti-viral agents for those who have been hospitalised due to virus. One new class of treatment is designed ankyrin repeat proteins (DARPins), which represent a novel class of specific binding molecules, that can recognise targets with specificities and affinities that equal or surpass those of antibodies.
11th Aug 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
COVID-19 infection in pregnant women linked to increased risk of adverse outcomes
COVID-19 infection in pregnant women is associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes compared to women who are not pregnant, according to a review published in JACC: Advances from the American College of Cardiology Cardiovascular Disease in Women Committee. Cardiovascular complications include heart attack, arrythmias, heart failure and long-haul symptoms that may be difficult to distinguish from other cardiac complications of pregnancy and require the cardiovascular care team to be vigilant when assessing pregnant women with COVID-19. As COVID-19 cases increased globally, awareness of cardiovascular complications also increased, especially in certain high-risk populations. Heart attacks is estimated in up to 12% of patients.
11th Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Key blood clotting protein could be 'warning light' for COVID-19 cases
University of Aberdeen team suggest results indicate that protein PAI-1 could be an early indicator of severe COVID-19 A protein that could be an early indicator of severe COVID-19 has been identified by scientists at the University of Aberdeen.
Patients who get seriously ill following a COVID-19 infection frequently show evidence of a severe form of lung disease and in around 30% of patients blood clots are evident. Blood clots arise due to deposits of fibrin within the lung contributing to pneumonia and respiratory distress. These fibrin deposits restrict the amount of oxygen absorbed into the lung.
11th Aug 2022 - PharmaTimes
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 11th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid symptoms sufferers still have four months after catching virus revealed
Covid sufferers are still reporting common symptoms an average of four months after having caught the virus, a new study has found. Two hundred patients enrolled in the Covid-19 Neurological and Molecular Prospective Cohort Study in Georgia, or CONGA, to investigate the longer term impacts of the illness. Fatigue and headache were the two symptoms most participants reported having some four months after first testing positive. Muscle aches, cough, changes in smell and taste, fever, chills and nasal congestion were the next most frequently cited symptoms.
10th Aug 2022 - The Independent
Study: Pfizer COVID vaccine efficacy wanes 27 days after dose 2 in teens
Article reports that a new study finds waning Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine protection against symptomatic infection in Brazilian and Scottish teens starting 27 days after the second dose amid the Delta and Omicron variant waves, but protection against severe illness was still strong at 98 days in Brazil. The study, published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, analyzed nationwide data from 503,776 COVID-19 tests of 2,948,538 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years from Sep 2, 2021, to Apr 19, 2022, in Brazil, and 127,168 tests of 404,673 adolescents from Aug 6, 2021, to Apr 19, 2022, in Scotland. Protection against severe illness, defined as hospitalization or death within 28 days, was estimated only in Brazil owing to the small number of such cases in Scotland.
9th Aug 2022 - CIDRAP
Immunity for common cold coronaviruses may ward off severe covid-19
People with a stronger immune response to the coronaviruses that cause common cold-like symptoms may be better protected against covid-19, raising hopes that a pan-coronavirus vaccine could be achieved. Ricardo da Silva Antunes at La Jolla Institute for Immunology in California and his colleagues analysed blood samples collected from 32 people between 2016 and 2019, before covid-19 emerged. Multiple samples were taken from each person over six months to three years. The team wanted to see how the immune cells in these samples responded to four coronaviruses that cause common cold-like symptoms as well as the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, which emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.
10th Aug 2022 - New Scientists
Bat coronaviruses silently infect tens of thousands of people each year, posing pandemic risk, study warns
There may be an average of over 65,000 cases of bat coronaviruses silently infecting people every year in Southeast Asia, according to a new study that could lead to new tools for improving preparedness against future pandemics. The flying mammals are known to host coronaviruses that may be transmitted to people, including SARS-related coronaviruses. Previous studies have suggested that transmission of these viruses to humans may be relatively common in some parts of the world. However, human-bat interactions are also known to vary across regions, influenced by a variety of social, ecological, and economic factors at individual and community scales. The research, published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, used a new framework to estimate and map the risk of potential SARS-related coronaviruses spreading from bats to humans in Southeast Asia.
10th Aug 2022 - The Independent
Queensland researchers find overlap in pathology of long COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome
Griffith University researchers say their findings could help to treat those suffering from long COVID. A woman with chronic fatigue syndrome says she suffered a relapse in symptoms after contracting COVID earlier this year. AMA Queensland says the findings should be independently verified and that more funding for such research should be made available
11th Aug 2022 - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
MIT researchers develop an easy-to-use test to predict Covid-19 immunity
Most people in the United States have some degree of immune protection against Covid-19, either from vaccination, infection, or a combination of the two. But, just how much protection does any individual person have? MIT researchers have now developed an easy-to-use test that may be able to answer that question. Their test, which uses the same type of "lateral flow" technology as most rapid antigen tests for Covid-19, measures the level of neutralizing antibodies that target the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a blood sample. Easy access to this kind of test could help people determine what kind of precautions they should take against Covid infection, such as getting an additional booster shot, the researchers say. They have filed for a patent on the technology and are now hoping to partner with a diagnostic company that could manufacture the devices and seek FDA approval.
10th Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 10th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudy details post-COVID-19 symptoms and conditions among children and adolescents in the US
In a recent article published as part of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), researchers assessed the incidence of post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms and conditions among children and adolescents. The researchers found some previously unreported post-COVID conditions and symptoms, including acute pulmonary embolism, blood coagulation, hemorrhagic disorders, acute renal failure, venous thromboembolic event, and cardiac dysrhythmias, in the study participants.
9th Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
COVID-19 vaccination reduces infection-related myocardial infarction and stroke risk
COVID-19 vaccination significantly reduces the risk of both an acute myocardial infarction and stroke among those infected with the virus. COVID-19 vaccination provides individuals with a reduced risk of experiencing an acute myocardial infarction or ischaemic stroke after becoming infected with the virus according to the findings of a study by Korean researchers. It has now become recognised that following an acute infection with COVID-19, beyond the first 30 days, individuals with COVID-19 have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and which includes cerebrovascular disorders, dysrhythmias, ischaemic and non-ischaemic heart disease, pericarditis, myocarditis, heart failure and thromboembolic disease. While it is clear that a COVID-19 vaccination is safe and offers protection against severe COVID-19, hospitalisation and death against all current variants of concern, what is less clear is whether vaccination is able to reduce the post-infection cardiovascular sequelae.
9th Aug 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
Covid-19: What we know about the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variants
When and where were these subvariants detected? - BA.4 and BA.5 were first detected in South Africa in January and February 2022, respectively.1 They are offshoots of the omicron variant BA.2, though their additional mutations seem to have given them a transmission advantage. - What’s the difference between BA.4 and BA.5? - The World Health Organization has said that BA.5 now accounts for more than half of the world’s cases, while BA.4 accounts for just over one in 10.3
Why BA.5 has overtaken BA.4 is a mystery, because they’re so similar. Speaking at a Royal Society of Medicine event, Thomas Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, said, “They have identical spikes, more or less. So that means it has to be something outside the spike. And really our understanding of that from a virological perspective is very poor.”
9th Aug 2022 - The BMJ
Loss Of Smell Linked To Long Term Covid Cognitive Impairment
The Argentinian research team investigated the long term Covid-19 cognitive impairment in older adults through a one-year prospective study design. All 766 participants were randomly invited from the health registry in Jujuy, Argentina, which holds all Covid-19 testing information for its region. Investigators split the group by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing status: 88.4% who had Covid-19 and 11.6% without—in other words, the control group.
9th Aug 2022 - Forbes
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 9th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullImmunity for common cold coronaviruses may ward off severe covid-19
People with a stronger immune response to the coronaviruses that cause common cold-like symptoms may be better protected against covid-19, raising hopes that a pan-coronavirus vaccine could be achieved. Ricardo da Silva Antunes at La Jolla Institute for Immunology in California and his colleagues analysed blood samples collected from 32 people between 2016 and 2019, before covid-19 emerged.
Multiple samples were taken from each person over six months to three years. The team wanted to see how the immune cells in these samples responded to four coronaviruses that cause common cold-like symptoms as well as the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, which emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.
9th Aug 2022 - New Scientist
Sperm not affected nine months after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are effective in reducing deaths due to infection with the causative severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Furthermore, widespread vaccination against COVID-19 has successfully reduced infection rates and severe COVID-19 outcomes. SARS-CoV-2 infection has previously been reported to adversely affect male fertility, as demonstrated by a temporary reduction in sperm production. Although current COVID-19 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines have been associated with minimal or no effect on male fertility, concerns regarding their potential reproductive toxicity remain a major cause of vaccine hesitancy.
9th Aug 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 8th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid-19: One in eight adults develops long covid symptoms, study suggests
One in eight covid-19 patients (12.7%) is likely to experience long term symptoms, a study from the Netherlands has reported. Using digital questionnaires, researchers collected data on the frequency of 23 symptoms commonly associated with covid in an uninfected population and in people who had had a covid diagnosis. The findings, published in the Lancet,1 found that 21.4% (381/1782) of adults who had had covid experienced at least one new or severely increased symptom three to five months after infection when compared with before. This compared with only 8.7% (361/4130) of uninfected people followed over the same period. The core long covid symptoms highlighted by the researchers include chest pain, difficulties breathing, pain when breathing, painful muscles, loss of taste and smell, tingling extremities, lump in throat, feeling hot and cold, heavy arms or legs, and general tiredness.
5th Aug 2022 - The BMJ
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 5th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudies: 3 or 4 COVID vaccine doses protective against Omicron
In the first study, published yesterday in JAMA Network Open, researchers in Israel studied the effectiveness of a fourth dose of Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine against infection in 29,611 healthcare workers (HCWs) at 11 general hospitals who had received three vaccine doses in August or September 2021. The Omicron surge in Israel began in December 2021. The researchers tested workers for COVID-19 using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) only after symptoms emerged or they were exposed to the virus. Of all participants, 5,331 (18%) received a fourth dose in January 2022, the start of a fourth-dose vaccination campaign for Israeli HCWs, and were not infected in the first week after vaccination. Average participant age was 44 years, and 65% were women. Participants were followed until Jan 31, 2022.
4th Aug 2022 - CIDRAP
A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a major public health threat, especially in countries with low vaccination rates. To better understand the biological underpinnings of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity, we formed the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative1. Here we present a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of up to 125,584 cases and over 2.5 million control individuals across 60 studies from 25 countries, adding 11 genome-wide significant loci compared with those previously identified2. Genes at new loci, including SFTPD, MUC5B and ACE2, reveal compelling insights regarding disease susceptibility and severity.
4th Aug 2022 - Nature.com
Covid Study Gives 'Powerful' Clues to Pandemic's Lasting Impact
One in eight people recovering from Covid-19 had lingering symptoms due to the illness at least three months later in a study that provides greater clarity on the ailments triggered by the pandemic disease. Scientists used data from the Netherlands’ largest population-based cohort study to track long Covid problems, such as a loss of smell and chest pain. The proportion of participants who had one or more hallmark symptoms was 21% among those who caught Covid, compared with almost 9% in people who didn’t, leaving about 13% of patients with symptoms that can be attributed to the coronavirus, according to researchers at the University of Groningen.
4th Aug 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 4th Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullPfizer, BioNTech Initiate Phase 2 Study of Enhanced COVID-19 mRNA-Based Vaccine
Pfizer and BioNTech have initiated an active-controlled, observer-blind, phase 2, randomized study to evaluate the immune response, safety, and tolerability of an enhanced COVID-19 mRNA-based vaccine candidate at a 30-µg dose level, Pfizer said in a statement. The enhanced vaccine, BNT162b5, will consist of RNAs encoding enhanced prefusion spike proteins for the SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain and an Omicron variant. The enhanced spike protein encoded from the mRNAs in the vaccine has been modified with the aim of increasing the breadth and magnitude of the immune response that could better protect against COVID-19.
This is the first of multiple vaccine candidates with an enhanced design that the companies plan to evaluate, according to the statement.
3rd Aug 2022 - Pharmacy Times
Omicron better at invading young noses than other variants; smell loss may predict memory issues
The Omicron variant may be more efficient at infecting children through the nose than previous versions of the coronavirus, a small study suggests. Earlier in the pandemic, children's noses had been less welcoming to the virus that causes COVID-19 than adults' noses. Studies of the original SARS-CoV-2 and some of its variants found the virus was met with stronger immune responses in the cells lining young noses than in adults' nasal-lining cells, and it was less efficient at making copies of itself in children's noses. But recent test-tube experiments mixing the virus with nasal cells from 23 healthy children and 15 healthy adults found the antiviral defenses in kids' noses "was markedly less pronounced in the case of Omicron," researchers reported on Monday in PLOS Biology.
3rd Aug 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 3rd Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullFewer pregnant women had severe COVID amid Omicron, after vaccination
Fewer pregnant women had severe COVID-19 in the Omicron variant-era than during periods dominated by previous strains, and vaccinated patients were better protected than their unvaccinated peers, according to research published yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control. Investigators from South Korea retrospectively examined the electronic medical records of 224 pregnant women who tested positive for COVID-19 and 82 quarantine deliveries from Nov 1, 2020, to Mar 7, 2022, at a single hospital. Average maternal age was 32 years.
Pregnant women admitted to the hospital before Jan 17, 2022 were considered to be infected with the Delta variant, while those after that date were considered infected with Omicron. Of the 224 women, 39 (17%) were vaccinated, and 185 (83%) were unvaccinated against COVID-19.
2nd Aug 2022 - CIDRAP
Vaccine patch offers more robust protection against omicron, delta COVID-19 variants
A COVID-19 vaccine patch is more effective at fighting variants such as delta and omicron than a traditional needle shot, a new study has found. The research, conducted by Australia’s University of Queensland and in partnership with Brisbane-based biotech company Vaxxas, deduced that the needle-free COVID-19 vaccine patch could offer more robust protection against the virus, which has so far claimed over 6.4 million lives since the outbreak in December 2019. The researchers analyzed the Hexapro SARS-CoV-2 spike vaccine using Vaxxas high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) technology. “The high-density microarray patch is a vaccine delivery platform that precisely delivers the vaccine into the layers of the skin which are rich in immune cells,” said Christopher McMillan of Queensland University in a statement.
2nd Aug 2022 - Al Arabiya English
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 2nd Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudies investigate impact of COVID-19 pandemic on memory and thinking changes
Researchers present findings at world’s largest dementia research conference
Persistent loss of smell after COVID-19 linked to memory and thinking changes associated with diseases like Alzheimer’s. Links between life changes during pandemic, and memory, investigated. Intensive care admissions (not necessarily COVID-19) associated with dementia risk
1st Aug 2022 - Alzheimer's Research UK
Three types of long COVID identified with different symptoms
There appear to be three different types of long COVID, each with their own symptoms, researchers have discovered. One group experiences neurological symptoms including fatigue, brain fog and headache, which most often affect those who contracted the virus when the Alpha and Delta variants were most prevalent, according to experts at King's College London. A second group suffers from respiratory issues, including chest pain and severe shortness of breath, which could point to lung damage. These symptoms were common among those infected during the first wave of the pandemic.
1st Aug 2022 - Sky News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 1st Aug 2022
View this newsletter in fullReinfection, severe outcome more common with BA.5 variant; virus spike protein toxic to heart cells
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Reinfections, severe outcomes may be more common with BA.5. Compared with the earlier Omicron BA.2 subvariant, currently dominant Omicron BA.5 is linked with higher odds of causing a second SARS-COV-2 infection regardless of vaccination status, a study from Portugal suggests.
30th Jul 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 29th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullMillions still without sense of smell or taste after Covid-19
Still struggling with your sense of smell after a bout with Covid-19? You’re far from alone. About 5% of patients with confirmed cases of Covid-19 — some 27 million people worldwide — are estimated to have suffered a long-lasting loss of smell or taste, a new analysis suggests. In the analysis published Wednesday in The BMJ (the peer-reviewed medical journal of the British Medical Association), researchers evaluated 18 previous studies of smell and taste loss across several continents and in varying demographic groups. About three quarters of those affected by loss of taste or smell regained those senses within 30 days. Rates of recovery improved over time, but about 5% of people reported “persistent dysfunction” six months after their infection with Covid-19.
28th Jul 2022 - CNBC
Persistent brain fog, hair loss highlighted in long-COVID studies
The first study, by University of Oslo researchers in Norway, was published yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. The team used four computer-based cognitive tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery to assess 75 adult COVID-19 patients' cognitive function 13 months after release from a single hospital. Included patients were, on average, 55.7 years old and were admitted to the hospital up to June 2020. The four tests were delayed matching to sample (DMS) (testing short-term memory, visuospatial processing, learning, and attention), the One-touch Stockings of Cambridge (OTS) test (executive function), rapid visual-information processing (RVP) (sustained attention), and spatial working memory and strategy (SWM).
27th Jul 2022 - CIDRAP
COVID-19: People living in poverty more likely to get long COVID, study suggests
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), people with coronavirus symptoms lasting more than four weeks are more likely to have been living in social housing or claiming benefits before they got ill. Previous studies have shown that long COVID patients are more likely to be women, middle-aged and have an underlying health condition.
27th Jul 2022 - Sky News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 28th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullPfizer and BioNTech Advance COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy With Study Start of Next-Generation Vaccine Candidate Based on Enhanced Spike Protein Design
This is the first of multiple vaccine candidates with an enhanced design which the companies plan to evaluate as part of a long-term scientific COVID-19 vaccine strategy to potentially generate more robust,
27th Jul 2022 - The Associated Press
New studies bolster theory coronavirus emerged from the wild
Two new studies provide more evidence that the coronavirus pandemic originated in a Wuhan, China market where live animals were sold – further bolstering the theory that the virus emerged in the wild rather than escaping from a Chinese lab.
The research, published online Tuesday by the journal Science, shows that the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market was likely the early epicenter of the scourge that has now killed nearly 6.4 million people around the world. Scientists conclude that the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, likely spilled from animals into people two separate times. “All this evidence tells us the same thing: It points right to this particular market in the middle of Wuhan,” said Kristian Andersen a professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research and coauthor of one of the studies.
27th Jul 2022 - The Independent
Does the Covid vaccine really affect your period? Here’s what our study found
In January 2021, my colleagues at the hospital were among the first to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Comparing the side-effects afterwards, most of us had a sore arm, some of us felt feverish and generally under the weather, but one comment stood out. “My period was heavier than usual,” said one of the midwives. “But that happens to me every year after we get our flu vaccines, too. It’s just another of those vaccine side-effects, isn’t it?” Was it? I’m an immunologist working in female reproduction and this was the first time I had heard of such an effect, but it didn’t strike me as implausible. We know that various stressors, physical and psychological, can influence the menstrual cycle and vaccination is certainly a physical stressor; those of us who were complaining of feeling under the weather could attest to that. And yet I wondered why, if this effect was as run of the mill as my colleague seemed to think, it wasn’t something I had heard before.
27th Jul 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 27th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID-19 antivirals may cut risk of hospitalization, death
McMaster University researchers in Ontario led the systematic review and network meta-analysis of 40 randomized clinical trials that included 17,563 patients comparing the effectiveness of 16 different antiviral drugs or drug combinations, including molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid), and remdesivir, with standard care or a placebo in adults with non-severe COVID-19 up to Apr 25, 2022. The researchers noted that most antiviral trials to date have included hospitalized patients with severe or critical disease rather than those with milder illnesses. "Furthermore, although efficacy data from trials of molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir–ritonavir and remdesivir are promising, no head-to-head trials have compared these drugs," they wrote. "This is particularly important as health care systems attempt to prioritize access to effective COVID-19 treatments in the early stages of the disease."
26th Jul 2022 - CIDRAP
Studies find more clues to potential cause of severe hepatitis cases in children
The recent rise in cases of acute hepatitis among children is likely linked to a common childhood virus, two independent studies from British researchers have suggested.
Countries across the world began reporting cases of severe liver inflammation, or hepatitis of unknown origin, in children in April 2022. At least 1,010 cases have now been found in 35 countries, according to the World Health Organization. In total, 46 children have required a liver transplant and 22 have died.
26th Jul 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 26th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullAre We Getting Closer to a Potential Universal Coronavirus Monoclonal Therapeutic?
A research team reports discovering a neutralizing monoclonal antibody that it says has the potential to become a universal coronavirus therapy against SARS-CoV-2 and all its variants of concern, including Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Omicron.
In multiple animal models, the mAb shows effectiveness against the SARS-CoV, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that emerged in China in 2002, and MERS-CoV, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012, according to the scientists, who had that it also shows effectiveness against several common cold coronaviruses.
25th Jul 2022 - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
New RT-PCR platform gives results faster than other COVID-19 tests on the market
Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Rover Diagnostics announced today that they have built an RT-PCR platform that gives results in 23 minutes that match the longer laboratory-based tests--faster than other PCR tests on the market. It can be adapted to test for a broad range of infectious diseases including not just COVID-19 but also flu, strep, and other viruses that require fast diagnosis. Its targeted sensitivity is higher than other types of tests such as isothermal, antigen, and CRISPR. And, at just two pounds, the Rover PCR is easy to carry around and can be used by anyone.
25th Jul 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Scientists identify how the coronavirus spike protein causes heart damage
The new research has found that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spike protein is capable of causing heart muscle injury through the inflammatory process, setting it apart from previously known coronaviruses. The good news is that the preliminary research suggests the damage caused by the process, which is part of the heart muscle cells' "own natural immune machinery" can be reduced by vaccination. Research published in 2020 discovered abnormal changes to the way the heart was pumping in 55% of hospitalised patients, with around one in seven showing evidence of severe dysfunction.
25th Jul 2022 - Sky News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 25th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullChildren who suffer four symptoms could develop Long Covid, study finds
Children who show at least four symptoms are most at risk of suffering from Long Covid, according to new research. The international study found the most common symptoms to be fatigue or weakness, cough, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Researchers also found hospitalisations for 48 or more hours and being aged 14 or older are other aggravating factors. These findings could help identify vulnerable individuals who are more susceptible to Long Covid. Lead author Professor Stephen Freedman of the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, explained: "We found in some children, illness with Covid-19 is associated with reporting persistent symptoms after three months. Our results suggest appropriate guidance and follow-up are needed, especially for children at high risk for Long Covid."
23rd Jul 2022 - Daily Record
New study estimates how many children will get long Covid
An international study estimates the prevalence of long Covid in children to be anywhere from 5% to 10% — a figure that's far lower than estimates of long Covid in more than a third of adults. The findings, published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open, also suggested that several factors could predict which children with Covid may have ongoing symptoms or develop new ones in the 90 days following infection. Those include having seven or more symptoms during the initial phase of illness and hospitalization for more than two days. Age was also a factor: Long-term symptoms were more prevalent in children 14 years and older.
22nd Jul 2022 - NBC News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 22nd Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID-19 Vaccine Linked to Short-Term Changes in Menstrual Cycle Length, Study Suggests
A new study shows that women may experience short-term changes in their menstrual cycles after COVID-19 vaccination. The researchers found that these changes were associated with all COVID-19 vaccine types.
21st Jul 2022 - Prevention
COVID-19 tied to new-onset, short-term heart disease, diabetes
COVID-19 patients are six times more likely than uninfected people to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) and nearly twice as likely to receive a new diabetes diagnosis, but the risk begins to recede at 5 weeks and 12 weeks, respectively, concludes a UK study published yesterday in PLOS Medicine.
20th Jul 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 21st Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid-19 Complication Among Children Fades in Latest Wave of Virus
A serious inflammatory complication that strikes some children in the weeks following a Covid-19 infection has almost disappeared. A buildup of immunity and changes to the virus both likely play a part, pediatric infectious-disease doctors and researchers said. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome is afflicting far fewer children as a proportion of known Covid-19 cases than during earlier waves of the pandemic, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The condition, also known as MIS-C, is similar to Kawasaki disease, another rare pediatric inflammatory condition. Early in the pandemic, doctors believed they were seeing Kawasaki disease but soon recognized MIS-C as a distinct condition associated with an earlier Covid-19 infection.
20th Jul 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 18th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullMore (mostly mild) side effects when flu vaccine given with COVID booster
Self-reported data from nearly 1 million Americans show an 8% to 11% higher rate of mostly mild systemic adverse events after simultaneous seasonal flu vaccine and mRNA COVID-19 booster (third) doses than with the COVID-19 booster alone.
In the study, published today in JAMA Network Open, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 Response Team and Emory University analyzed rates of systemic adverse events among 981,099 Americans aged 12 years and older in the week after either simultaneous flu and COVID-19 booster doses or the booster alone from Sep 22, 2021, to May 1, 2022. Volunteers responded to at least one health survey through the CDC's smartphone-based v-safe monitoring system during the study period.
17th Jul 2022 - Cidrap.umn.edu
High-pressure oxygen shows promise in long COVID; earlier Omicron infection may protect against subvariants
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. High-pressure oxygen treatment may help long COVID. Patients with long COVID may see some improvement after breathing pure oxygen in a high-air-pressure environment, according to data from a small Israeli trial.
15th Jul 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 15th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullWHO Panel Advises Against Generic Antidepressant to Treat Covid
A generic antidepressant and a gout medicine that garnered some popularity as Covid-19 treatments shouldn’t be used for mild infection because there’s no evidence they help, according to a panel of experts advising the World Health Organization. The drugs, fluvoxamine and colchicine, could potentially cause harm, the group of experts said in the BMJ medical journal Thursday. The panel didn’t give advice for severe illness, saying there was a lack of data.
14th Jul 2022 - Bloomberg
Study: Kids have stronger COVID-19 antibody response than adults
A new prospective study of 252 families with members diagnosed as having mild COVID-19 in Italy finds that, while all age-groups had detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies up to 1 year after infection, children—especially those younger than 3 years—had higher antibody levels than adults at all intervals tested. In the study, published today in JAMA Network Open, a team led by University of Padua researchers enrolled 902 unvaccinated patients at a COVID follow-up clinic from Apr 1, 2020, to Aug 31, 2021. Families were included in the study if they had children younger than 15 years and at least one member who had tested positive for COVID-19 at least 4 weeks earlier.
13th Jul 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 14th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullExpert review shows AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is ‘equally effective’ as mRNA vaccines
AstraZeneca’s (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria, and the available mRNA COVID-19 vaccines provide ‘equally effective’ protection against hospitalisation and death, an expert review of data from 79 real-world studies has revealed. Infectious disease experts from Asia reviewed data from the VIEW-hub database on vaccine use and impact, developed by John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the International Vaccine Access Center. The findings from the study were reported by Expert Review of Vaccines. The findings shows that Vaxzevria and the BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 mRNA COVID-19 vaccines offer an ‘equivalent degree’ of protection against hospitalisation (91-93%) and death (91-93%) following two doses, regardless of age.
13th Jul 2022 - PMLiVE
Covid vaccine 66 per cent less effective at preventing infection than it was just two months ago, expert says
Covid cases have hit record levels in the UK, yet the vaccine is less effective at preventing infection than at any time since it was introduced, according to a leading virus modeller. The degree of protection a jab gives against getting a Covid infection has tumbled from about 30 per cent two months ago to about 10 per cent today, according to Professor Karl Friston, of University College London. This is largely because the new dominant Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, are much better at evading immunity built up by vaccinations than their predecessor, BA.2, he says.
13th Jul 2022 - iNews
How long after catching Covid can you become reinfected and when should you get your booster?
People may become reinfected with Covid-19 as early as 28 days after recovering from the virus, according to the latest advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee. Previously, reinfection was defined as a case occurring more than 12 weeks after an initial infection. The committee said the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 “are associated with increased immune escape and we are likely to see rates of reinfection rise among those who have previously been infected with an earlier Covid-19 variant, and those who are up to date with their vaccinations”.
13th Jul 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 13th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullAustralia's CSIRO develops machine learning tool that spots emerging COVID-19 variants
CSIRO did not mention how they developed the AI tool called VariantSpark but it was used to analyse around 10,000 COVID-19 samples in a new study, whose findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. The researchers worked with both Intel and ACT-based cloud system provider RONIN on the said study. According to a media release, VariantSpark can provide hourly updates, enabling the quick sharing of information with public health decision-makers and helping hospitals prepare for potential increases in admissions.
12th Jul 2022 - Healthcare IT News
Nitric oxide boosts oxygen in pregnant women with COVID-19 pneumonia
Inhaled high-dose nitric oxide (INO200) safely shortened time on supplemental oxygen and hospital stays among pregnant women diagnosed as having severe bilateral COVID-19 pneumonia, suggests a new study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers. COVID-19 pneumonia is an especially dire diagnosis for pregnant women because it can rapidly lower oxygen in the blood and body tissues, requiring hospital admission and cardiopulmonary support, first author Carlo Valsecchi, MD, said in an MGH news release. "Pregnant women are three times more likely to need intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, or advanced life support, and four times more likely to die," he said. "They also face a greater risk of obstetric complications such as preeclampsia, preterm delivery, and stillbirth."
12th Jul 2022 - CIDRAP
Development of a multiomics model for identification of predictive biomarkers for COVID-19 severity: a retrospective cohort study
COVID-19 is a multi-system disorder with high variability in clinical outcomes among patients who are admitted to hospital. Although some cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6 are believed to be associated with severity, there are no early biomarkers that can reliably predict patients who are more likely to have adverse outcomes. Thus, it is crucial to discover predictive markers of serious complications.
12th Jul 2022 - The Lancet
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 12th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullModerna to advance two Omicron vaccine candidates against newer variants
Moderna Inc said on Monday it was advancing two Omicron vaccine candidates for the fall, one designed against the BA.1 variant and another against the BA.4 and BA.5. Vaccine makers including Moderna and rival Pfizer Inc are developing updated vaccines to target the fast-spreading Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which have gained a foothold in the United States over recent weeks. Moderna said its decision to develop the bivalent vaccines was based on different market preferences for shots against the subvariants.
11th Jul 2022 - Reuters
Scared of needles? Inhalable COVID-19 vaccine shows promise in new study
An inhalable COVID-19 vaccine has shown great promise in protecting the lungs against the coronavirus in a new study. Researchers from the US’ North Carolina State University created the inhalable vaccine that is shelf-stable at room temperature for up to three months and specifically works to target the lungs and can be self-administrated through an inhaler.
11th Jul 2022 - Al Arabiya English
4th COVID-19 vaccine effectively protects elderly against Omicron -study
The fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine is effective in protecting the elderly against the Omicron variant and lowers their risk of death by 72% compared to those who received only three doses, according to a new study conducted by Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in collaboration with the Health Ministry. The study, published in the peer-reviewed JAMA Internal Medicine journal, found that elderly recipients of the fourth dose were 34% more protected against infection than those who received only the third dose at four months previously. Recipients of the fourth dose were also 64-67% less likely to be hospitalized for mild to moderate and severe illness.
11th Jul 2022 - The Jerusalem Post
Study reveals sex-based differences in the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in the US
In a recent study posted to the Research Square* preprint server, researchers investigated sex-based differences among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in the United States (US). Studies have reported greater severity and fatality associated with COVID-19 among men compared to women across the globe; however, the mechanisms for sex-based differences in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections are not clear. Previous research observations indicate that researchers must consider the patients’ sex as an important variable for COVID-19 data interpretation.
11th Jul 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 11th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullLong Covid Is an Elusive Target for Big Pharma
Pharma companies do hold many assets worth testing. One example is Pfizer’s antiviral pill, Paxlovid. A growing body of research suggests that reservoirs of the virus remain in some people’s bodies beyond the acute phase, possibly leading to long Covid. A recent Harvard study showed that the spike protein from the virus lingered in the blood of 65% of the long Covid patients they tested for as long as 12 months after they were first diagnosed. “It’s a total game-changer. If we can measure this stuff, then we can test antiviral approaches to see if it helps,” says Steven Deeks, an HIV expert who is studying long Covid at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Deeks, like other researchers, has been calling on Pfizer to undertake a Paxlovid clinical trial for long Covid patients; yet a spokeswoman says the company is still “considering what a study may entail.”
10th Jul 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Shanghai identifies new COVID Omicron subvariant
The city of Shanghai has discovered a COVID-19 case involving a new subvariant Omicron BA.5.2.1, an official told a briefing on Sunday, signalling the complications China faces to keep up with new mutations as it pursues its "zero-COVID" policy.
The case, found in the financial district of Pudong on July 8, was linked with a case from overseas, said Zhao Dandan, vice-director of the city's health commission.
10th Jul 2022 - Reuters
South Africa’s Afrigen to collaborate with US researchers on mRNA vaccines
South African biotech company Afrigen will collaborate with researchers from the US National Institutes of Health on the development of the next generation of mRNA vaccines and drugs as part of an attempt to expand global access to innovative medicines.
8th Jul 2022 - The Financial Times
BA.4 and BA.5 power a surge of known infections in Europe, officials say.
The rapidly spreading Omicron subvariants known as BA.4 and BA.5 are driving a summertime surge of the coronavirus in Europe, health officials say, after most Covid policies were removed in spring and a more relaxed approach to the pandemic has become the norm during the warmer months. Known cases in Europe rose to 57 cases per 100,000 as of Wednesday from 33 cases per day per 100,000 just two weeks earlier, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. That is the sharpest increase — a rise of about 70 percent — of any region of the world over the same period. It comes as the summer travel season in European countries is in full swing, with warmer weather and easing coronavirus policies prompting a surge of movement in the region.
8th Jul 2022 - The New York Times
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 8th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID-19 vaccination with bacterial peptide conjugated to receptor-binding domain elicits potent immune response
In a recent study published in the iScience journal, researchers assessed the efficiency of immunization with a bacterial peptide conjugated to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) receptor-binding domain against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overall, the study findings showed that the CPD-RBD vaccination elicited a potent immune response and also protected against the severe symptoms associated with COVID-19.
7th Jul 2022 - News-Medical.Net
COVID-19 and brain damage explained
The authors suggested that antibody-triggered cytotoxicity targeting the endothelial cells probably led to neuroinflammation, vascular leakage, platelet aggregation, and neuronal damage. Overall, the study findings illustrated that immune complexes accompanying complement activation damaging the microvasculature were the primary cause of blood-brain barrier collapse, microthromboses, perivascular inflammation, and neuronal damage in SARS-CoV-2 patients. The authors proposed that these events largely influenced the neurological symptoms found in acute COVID-19 and probably in long-COVID. Importantly, the current findings indicated the need for therapeutic modalities targeting the development of the immune complex.
7th Jul 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Wastewater study technique finds virus variants sooner; many patients are using meds affected by Paxlovid
With just a very small amount of raw sewage and a new analysis technique, researchers can determine the genetic mixture of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the community and detect new variants up to 14 days before they start showing up on patients' nasal swabs, according to a new report. Tests of a new method for wastewater genomic surveillance at the University of California, San Diego campus from November 2020 to September 2021 detected the Epsilon, Alpha and Delta variants "earlier and more consistently than clinical samples, and identified multiple instances of virus spread" that were not detected with traditional monitoring, researchers reported on Thursday in Nature.
7th Jul 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 7th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID in California: Reinfection heightens risk of other health problems, study finds
A new type of vaccine protects against a variety of betacoronaviruses including the one that caused the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID’s variants, in mice and monkeys, a Caltech study found. Betacoronaviruses are a subset of coronaviruses that infect humans and animals. The study, published in the journal Science on Tuesday, from researchers in the laboratory of Caltech’s Pamela Bjorkman, professor of biology and bioengineering, found that the new vaccine is broadly protective. It works by presenting the immune system with spike protein pieces from SARS-CoV-2 and seven other SARS-like betacoronaviruses, attached to a protein nanoparticle structure, to induce production of cross-reactive antibodies, Caltech said.
6th Jul 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle
COVID-19 vaccination activates antibodies targeting parts of virus spike protein shared between coronaviruses
"Our theory is that there is actually memory from previous common cold coronavirus encounters, and when you get the vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the vaccine reawakens some of those memories. Then you see this early response which is basically just a rapid memory response to what you've already seen," Altin said. "With time, the immune system can reshape those responses more in the direction of the pandemic virus."
6th Jul 2022 - Medical Xpress
Research highlights importance of designing effective COVID vaccine allocation strategies
In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* pre-print server, researchers at the University of Melbourne used a modified Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious, and Recovered (SEIR) mathematical model to examine the impact of different vaccine mechanisms and disease characteristics on a population comprised of individuals at high and low risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The study highlighted the significance of devising effective coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine allocation strategies before the onset of the pandemic or the beginning of viral transmission at the community level.
6th Jul 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Two or 3 vaccine doses may cut risk of long COVID
An observational study of Italian healthcare workers infected with SARS-CoV-2 who didn't require hospitalization suggests a link between two or three doses of vaccine and a lower prevalence of long COVID. In the modeling study, published late last week in JAMA, researchers in Milan studied 2,560 workers at nine healthcare facilities from March 2020 to April 2022. All healthcare workers were mandated to receive three doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. And all were screened for COVID-19 once a week or every 2 weeks and when they developed symptoms or were exposed to the virus.
6th Jul 2022 - CIDRAP
BA.4/5 COVID-19 variants now dominant in all US regions
Combined, the two subvariants make up more than 70% of recently sequenced samples, up sharply from 52.3% the previous week. Of the variants CDC is tracking, BA.5 now makes up 53.6%, and BA.4 makes up 16.5%. The proportion of BA.2.12.1—first detected in New York—continues to decline. South-central states were the first to see BA.4 and BA.5 become dominant. The two subvariants are more transmissible and have mutations linked to immune escape.
6th Jul 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 6th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullSpectacular success of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines just a glimpse of their full potential
The "spectacular" success of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccine technology against SARS-CoV-2 provides "just a glimpse of their full potential", according to the authors of a Perspective published by the Medical Journal of Australia today. Asymptomatic individuals constitute 16–38% of the SARS-CoV-2 infected population which increases the difficulty of identifying infected individuals. The lack of convenient and sensitive tests to detect the virus in all individuals is continuing to limit global response to the pandemic. Predominantly, SARS-CoV-2 is detected through RT-PCR (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) on swab samples collected from the nose and throat. However, these tests require long detection times, high costs, specialized equipment and medical personnel, and are not feasible in areas where resources are limited.
5th Jul 2022 - Medical Xpress
BA.5 Subvariant Drives Majority of Recent Covid-19 Cases
The highly contagious Omicron BA.5 subvariant has taken over as the dominant version of the virus causing new Covid-19 cases in the U.S., the latest federal data show. BA.5 represented nearly 54% of U.S. cases in the week ended July 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Tuesday. It surpassed BA.2.12.1, the version of Omicron partly responsible for a persistent springtime surge in cases, which is now estimated to represent closer to one in four cases.
Another version known as BA.4, which is closely related to BA.5, and also ramped up recently, represents nearly 17% of cases, the CDC estimates.
5th Jul 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 5th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullLong COVID: 'Viral reservoir' of spike protein may explain long-term symptoms
Researchers investigated the antigens of SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—present in blood plasma samples collected from individuals with long COVID and typical COVID-19 infection. They found that one particular SARS-CoV-2 antigen—the spike protein—was present in the blood of a majority of long COVID patients, up to a year after they were first diagnosed with COVID-19. In patients with typical COVID-19 infection, however, the spike protein was not detected. This finding provides evidence for the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 can persist in the body through viral reservoirs, where it continues to release spike protein and trigger inflammation.
4th Jul 2022 - Medical News Today
Paxlovid remains effective in those vaccinated against COVID-19
Israeli researchers have found that paxlovid use in those at risk of COVID-19 progression remains effective even in fully vaccinated patients. The effectiveness of the anti-viral drug paxlovid in preventing the progression of COVID-19 remains even in those who have been adequately vaccinated against the virus according to the results of a real-world study by Israeli researchers. Paxlovid consists of nirmatrelivir, a protease inhibitor against COVID-19 and ritonavir, which reduces the in vivo metabolism of nirmatrelivir. The published data for the drug (the EPIC-HR trial) suggested that treatment of symptomatic COVID-19 in patients at risk of progression to severe disease, results in an 89% lower risk compared to placebo. Nevertheless, the study was undertaken before omicron became the main circulating variant and therefore the generalisability of the study’s findings are potentially limited.
4th Jul 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 4th Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudy determines ideal COVID19 vaccine type, timing during pregnancy
Since the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, data has indicated that inoculation during pregnancy can help to protect both the mother and baby. New research collaboratively conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), published in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications, looked further into the extent of this protection by examining which vaccine is most effective, and when.
1st Jul 2022 - The Jerusalem Post
Two-week break from methotrexate may boost Covid-19 vaccine effect
A two-week break from taking methotrexate after a Covid-19 booster vaccine can help improve its effectiveness, a UK trial has suggested. Analysis of immune responses in 127 participants who were randomly allocated to suspend methotrexate use for two weeks and 127 to continue using it as usual, showed such a difference that researchers stopped the trial early. At four weeks and 12 weeks after the Covid-19 jab, participants’ spike-antibody levels were more than two-fold higher in the paused methotrexate group compared with those who continued to take the drug. Reporting in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, the researcher also found a worsening of disease control at week four in those who had stopped taking methotrexate but that it had normalised by week 12. Overall, there was no impact on quality of life or general health, suggesting the approach could be useful for more than a million people in the UK who take the immune-suppressing drug for inflammatory conditions.
1st Jul 2022 - Pulse Today
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 1st Jul 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid Shots Worked Better for Obese Than Underweight in UK Study
People who are underweight or obese are most at risk of severe Covid, but a UK study found that two doses of vaccine still protect both groups well. The researchers, who focused on patients at the two extremes of the body mass index scale, found that the shots worked slightly better for those at the high end of the measure in a study published in medical journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology on Friday. The scientists used health records of more than 9 million patients from generalist practices in England taking part in the database QResearch. “Our findings provide further evidence that Covid-19 vaccines save lives for people of all sizes,” said Carmen Piernas, the study’s lead author and a lecturer at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.
30th Jun 2022 - Bloomberg
Maternal deaths climbed 33% during COVID-19
Maternal deaths in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic increased 33%—and even higher in Black and Hispanic women—according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) published yesterday in a study in JAMA Network Open. That rate compares with an overall 22% COVID-related excess death rate during the study period, according to two researchers from the University of Maryland (UMD) and Boston University (BU), who conducted the study. They defined maternal mortality as deaths during pregnancy or just after birth.
29th Jun 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 30th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullBioNTech, Pfizer to start testing universal vaccine for coronaviruses
Germany's BioNTech, Pfizer's partner in COVID-19 vaccines, said the two companies would start tests on humans of next-generation shots that protect against a wide variety of coronaviruses in the second half of the year. Their experimental work on shots that go beyond the current approach include T-cell-enhancing shots, designed to primarily protect against severe disease if the virus becomes more dangerous, and pan-coronavirus shots that protect against the broader family of viruses and its mutations.
29th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 29th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID was twice as deadly in poorer countries
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of dying from the disease was roughly twice as high for people living in lower-income countries as for those in rich nations, a study reports. The research, published in BMJ Global Health in May1, is one of a growing number of studies to reveal COVID-19’s massive burden in lower-income countries. Data from early in the pandemic suggested that death and infection rates in poor countries were relatively low compared with those in rich ones. But recent evidence paints a very different picture, says Madhukar Pai, an infectious- disease epidemiologist at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. “This paper is one among many that illustrate that the biggest impact of this pandemic has been on low- and middle-income countries,” says Pai.
28th Jun 2022 - Nature.com
Rare heart-related side effects higher with Moderna COVID vaccine
Though both complications were rare, data from Ontario show higher rates of myocarditis and pericarditis with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine than with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but the rates were lower for both vaccines if the spacing between receiving two doses was extended, according to a study late last week in JAMA Network Open. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis involves swelling of the thin membrane around the heart.
28th Jun 2022 - CIDRAP
Indias first indigenous mRNA vaccine likely to be available soon
Soon India may have its first indigenous mRNA vaccine that is stable at 2-8 degrees Celsius as the expert panel advising the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) has green-signalled Gennova Biopharma's mRNA vaccine candidate for Covid19. The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) has recommended granting the Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) to the country's first mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine in a meeting held on Friday, according to reports. Now, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) will take a final call on granting the final approval.
28th Jun 2022 - Business Standard
Improving COVID-19 vaccine immunogenicity by interrupting methotrexate treatment
In summary, this important study shows that a 2-week interruption of methotrexate after booster COVID-19 vaccination results in increased immunogenicity compared with no interruption among patients with several immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Although this finding adds to the evidence base to support interruption of methotrexate after vaccination, a shared decision process is needed to weigh the possible benefit of optimising protection from COVID-19 and the possible risk of underlying disease flare.
28th Jun 2022 - The Lancet
Are pockets of Covid in the gut causing long-term symptoms?
Since the early days of the pandemic it has been clear some people shed genetic material from the virus in their stools for months after catching Covid-19. The findings were initially regarded as a curiosity, but there is mounting evidence to support the idea that persistent pockets of coronavirus – in the gut, or elsewhere – may be contributing to long Covid. Earlier this month, Prof David R Walt and colleagues at Harvard Medical School announced that they had detected Sars-CoV-2 proteins – most commonly the viral spike protein – in the blood of 65% of the long Covid patients they tested, up to 12 months after they were first diagnosed.
Though small and preliminary, the study provides some of the most compelling evidence yet for the idea that reservoirs of the virus could be contributing to people’s long-term ill health. “The half-life of spike protein in the body is pretty short, so its presence indicates that there must be some kind of active viral reservoir,” Walt said.
28th Jun 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 28th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullEpstein-Barr may play a role in some long COVID; coronavirus can impair blood sugar processing by organs
Among 280 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections, including 208 with long COVID, researchers found that at four months after diagnosis, fatigue and problems with thinking and reasoning were more common in study participants with immune cells in their blood showing signs of recent EBV reactivation. These signs of reactivation were not linked with other long COVID findings such as gastrointestinal or heart and lung problems, however. And EBV itself was not found in patients' blood, which suggests any reactivation likely is transient and happens during acute COVID-19, Dr. Timothy Henrich of the University of California, San Francisco and colleagues reported on medRxiv ahead of peer review.
28th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Pfizer and BioNTech share positive results for Omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccine
Pfizer and BioNTech have shared positive results from a phase 2/3 trial of two Omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccine candidates. The data shows that a booster dose of both Omicron-adapted vaccines gave a considerably higher immune response against Omicron BA.1, compared to Pfizer/BioNTech’s current COVID-19 vaccine. The phase 2/3 trial involved 1,234 participants aged 56 and older. One month after receiving a booster dose, the Omicron-adapted monovalent candidates significantly increased protection against Omicron BA.1, showing a 13.5 and 19.6-fold increase above pre-booster dose levels. One vaccine is monovalent and the other is bivalent, made up from a combination of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and a vaccine candidate designed to target the spike protein of the Omicron BA.1 variant.
27th Jun 2022 - PMLiVE
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 27th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullPfizer’s Omicron-Targeting Covid-19 Vaccines Generate Stronger Immune Response
Federal health authorities are trying to decide whether to stick with the current shots for a fall vaccination campaign or use a tweaked version. Studies have found that the current vaccines don’t work as well against Omicron as they did against earlier strains. “Based on these data, we believe we have two very strong Omicron-modified candidates that elicit a substantially higher immune response against Omicron than we’ve seen to date,” Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said. The study didn’t measure whether and how well the shots reduced the risk of Covid-19. Pfizer and BioNTech announced the results by news release. The findings haven’t been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Omicron is the most recent strain of the virus to come to predominate in the U.S. and many other countries.
26th Jun 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
GSK announces that COVID-19 vaccine candidate is effective at preventing Omicron infection
The Europen companies GSK and Sanofi have partnered for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate that is 72% effective at preventing infection from the Omicron variant. The companies are hoping their shot can join the Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax vaccines in becoming available for the long-term fight against Covid. It comes as U.S. regulators face widespread criticism after the controversial approval of jabs for children six months to four year old. It comes as Covid case figures have stabilized at 99,984 per day in the U.S., but deaths have jumped 20% over the past week to 385 daily
25th Jun 2022 - Daily Mail
The next COVID booster shots will likely be updated for Omicron
COVID-19 vaccines this fall are likely to be based on the Omicron variant of the coronavirus rather than the original strain, although some experts suggest they may only offer significant benefits for older and immunocompromised people. Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax have been testing vaccines based on the first BA.1 Omicron variant that became dominant last winter, driving a massive surge in infections. On Wednesday, Moderna said its updated vaccine worked well against more recent Omicron subvariants, and that it was moving forward with plans to ask regulators for approval. Vaccines that can bridge the gap between the original version of coronavirus and the Omicron variant would likely be “far, far better” for the fall, according to Trevor Bedford, a biologist at the University of Washington who has closely tracked mutations of the SARS-coV-2 virus.
25th Jun 2022 - Edmonton Journal
Global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination: a mathematical modelling study
COVID-19 vaccination has substantially altered the course of the pandemic, saving tens of millions of lives globally. However, inadequate access to vaccines in low-income countries has limited the impact in these settings, reinforcing the need for global vaccine equity and coverage.
25th Jun 2022 - The Lancet
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 24th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullNearly 1 in 5 adults who had COVID have lingering symptoms - U.S. study
Nearly 1 in 5 American adults who reported having COVID-19 in the past are still having symptoms of long COVID, according to survey data collected in the first two weeks of June, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday. Overall, 1 in 13 adults in the United States have long COVID symptoms lasting for three months or more after first contracting the disease, and which they did not have before the infection, the data showed.
23rd Jun 2022 - Reuters.com
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 23rd Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullAfrigen, Univercells partner to develop African-owned Covid-19 vaccine
Afrigen Biologics has signed an agreement with the Univercells Group to develop the first African-owned Covid-19 vaccine. The partnership will focus on developing a new messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine leveraging intellectual property (IP) from both parties, as well as a new IP and boosting access to the shot. mRNA specialist eTheRNA will extend support to Afrigen and Univercells in the partnership. The firms will jointly work to address two key challenges, the lack of domestic cost-efficient manufacturing and the requirement for cold- or super-cold chains.
22nd Jun 2022 - Pharmaceutical Technology
COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna 'provides good clinical protection' against Omicron subvariants
Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are becoming the dominant forms of COVID-19 in Australia and abroad. New data from Moderna shows an updated booster tailored to Omicron generates high levels of antibodies against BA.4 and BA.5. Moderna's chief medical officer says, pending approval, the new booster could be supplied to Australia in August
22nd Jun 2022 - ABC News
Scientists evaluate JNK inhibitors in treating moderate to severe COVID-19 patients
Janus kinase (JNK) inhibitors with antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties have shown promising outcomes in treating symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. In a systematic review article published in the journal Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, scientists have described the clinical outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients who have been treated with JNK inhibitors together with standard of care.
22nd Jun 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Moderna booster candidate shows strong response against Omicron subvariants
Moderna Inc said on Wednesday that an updated version of its COVID-19 vaccine designed to target the Omicron variant also generated a strong immune response against the fast-spreading Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which have gained a foothold in the U.S. in recent weeks. The updated vaccine, which Moderna is hoping will be approved for use as a booster shot for the fall, is a bivalent vaccine, meaning it contains vaccine designed to target two different coronavirus variants - the original variant from 2020 and the Omicron variant that was circulating widely last winter.
22nd Jun 2022 - Reuters
Moderna’s New Covid-19 Shot Shows Promise Against Omicron Subvariants
The shot targeting both Omicron and the original virus strain produced a strong immune response against subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, the company said
22nd Jun 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
UK Polio Spread Detected With Vaccine-Derived Virus Found in London Sewage
Britain’s polio-free status could be at risk for the first time in almost two decades after several samples of vaccine-derived poliovirus were found during routine London sewage testing. Several closely related viruses were found in samples taken in north and east London between February and May. The findings suggest some spread between closely linked individuals and the virus has continued to evolve and is now classified as a vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2, the UK Health Security Agency said Wednesday. Polio can on rare occasions cause serious illness, such as paralysis, in people are not fully vaccinated. No cases of polio or associated paralysis have been reported, according to the agency.
22nd Jun 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 22nd Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullAfter maternal COVID vaccination, infants have persistent anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies at 3 months
A recent article published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases assessed the kinetics of anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies derived from mothers among infants in association with the timing of prenatal SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.
21st Jun 2022 - News-Medical.Net
New Covid vaccine which protects against Omicron variant could be in the UK by autumn
Older British people and medical workers may be given a new version of the Covid-19 vaccine this year which is tailor-made to protect against the Omicron variant. Ministers hope that the next generation of jabs made both by Pfizer and Moderna will be ready in time for autumn, when a new round of vaccines will be administered to certain groups. Over-65s, vulnerable people below that age, and frontline health and care workers are due to be invited for another vaccination to top up their immunity levels.
21st Jun 2022 - iNews
Paxlovid of no benefit to low risk patients with COVID-19
Paxlovid is of no benefit to patients at a low risk of either being hospitalised or death after infection with COVID-19. According to the results of a press release from the manufacturer, Pfizer, paxlovid does not benefit patients who are either unvaccinated or vaccinated and who are deemed not at a high risk of severe complications such as hospitalisation or death if infected with COVID-19. Paxlovid is a protease inhibitor antiviral therapy against COVID-19 and was developed to be taken orally, at the first sign of infection or at first awareness of an exposure. The early use of the drug could therefore help patients avoid severe illness and which might lead to hospitalisation or death, or avoid disease development following contact with an infected individual.
21st Jun 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
Some Omicron sub-variants escaping antibodies from Sinopharm shot, Chinese study says
A small Chinese study detailed in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal showed neutralising antibodies against some Omicron sub-variants were largely undetectable after two doses of a Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, with a booster shot only partly restoring them. The study comes as China, which has approved only locally developed COVID shots including the Sinopharm vaccine, strives to improve vaccination rates, maintaining a "dynamic zero COVID" policy aimed at eradicate all outbreaks while many countries have adopted an approach of learning to live with the virus
21st Jun 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 21st Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullBharat Biotech's COVID-19 nasal vaccine phase III trials completed
The clinical phase III trials of the COVID-19 nasal vaccine have been completed and the Bharat Biotech will submit its data with Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) next month. Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech said, "We just completed a clinical trial, a data analysis is going on. Next month, we will submit the data to the regulatory agency. If everything is okay, then we will get permission to launch and it will be the world's first clinically proven nasal COVID-19 vaccine."
20th Jun 2022 - India TV News
Omicron less likely to cause long COVID, UK study says
The Omicron variant of coronavirus is less likely to cause long COVID than previous variants, according to the first peer-reviewed study of its kind from the United Kingdom. Researchers at King's College London, using data from the ZOE COVID Symptom study app, found the odds of developing long COVID after infection were 20% to 50% lower during the Omicron wave in the UK compared to Delta. The figure varied depending on the patient's age and the timing of their last vaccination.
20th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Comparing the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines for young children
You have a child under age 5. You’ve been waiting anxiously to get said child vaccinated against Covid. Now, finally, this is an option available to you. But there are two vaccines. Which do you choose? We can’t tell you which is best for your child. But we can tell you that in this age group, the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines probably differ more than they do in any other age group on the vaccination spectrum.
20th Jun 2022 - STAT News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 20th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid-19: Long covid risk is lower with omicron than delta, researchers find
The risk of developing long covid is lower among people with the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 than with delta, shows an analysis of self reported data to the UK ZOE covid app.Researchers from King’s College London looked at data logged by 56 003 adults who tested positive between 20 December 2021 and 9 March 2022, when the omicron variant was dominant. They compared these with 41 361 who tested positive between 1 June 2021 and 27 November 2021, when the delta variant was most common. Among the cases in the omicron period, 2501 people (4.5%) reported they had experienced long covid, defined as having new or ongoing symptoms four weeks or more after they had tested positive. This compared with 4469 (10.8%) of people in the delta period, according to the analysis, published as a letter in the Lancet.
18th Jun 2022 - The BMJ
Omicron less likely to cause long COVID, UK study says
The Omicron variant of coronavirus is less likely to cause long COVID than previous variants, according to the first peer-reviewed study of its kind from the United Kingdom. Researchers at King's College London, using data from the ZOE COVID Symptom study app, found the odds of developing long COVID after infection were 20% to 50% lower during the Omicron wave in the UK compared to Delta. The figure varied depending on the patient's age and the timing of their last vaccination.
18th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Early Omicron infection unlikely to protect against current variants
People infected with the earliest version of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, first identified in South Africa in November, may be vulnerable to reinfection with later versions of Omicron even if they have been vaccinated and boosted, new findings suggest. Vaccinated patients with Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infections developed antibodies that could neutralize that virus plus the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, but the Omicron sublineages circulating now have mutations that allow them to evade those antibodies, researchers from China reported on Friday in Nature.
18th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 17th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullPregnant Mothers in Mexico Saw Death Rates Surge During Height of Covid Pandemic
Vallejo is among the 2,240 mothers in Mexico who’ve died because of complications from their pregnancy since the pandemic began. When Covid-19 patients overwhelmed the health-care system, government leaders prioritized their care over that of expectant mothers, turning labor and delivery—and more broadly, women’s health—into an afterthought. Pregnancy-related death rates across the country spiked by more than 60% in the first year of the pandemic, an analysis published in the journal BMC Public Health shows. By the beginning of 2021, 81 women were dying for every 100,000 live births, based on government data, compared with 24 at the same time in 2019.
16th Jun 2022 - Bloomberg
Researchers evaluate artemisinin for COVID-19 management
A study observed that artesunate-mefloquine displayed high anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity with approximately 72.1 ± 18.3% inhibition. Additionally, other ACTs such as artesunate-amodiaquine, artesunate-pyronaridine, artemether-lumefantrine, and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine also inhibited SARS-CoV-2 by 27.1 to 34.1%. This indicated that ACT drugs could be effectively used for COVID-19 treatment. Artesunate was also found to inhibit the production of interleukin-1B (IL-1B), IL-6, and IL-8. Since high IL-6 levels in COVID-19 patients have been attributed to the cytokine release syndrome, controlling the levels of IL-6 could potentially reduce the severity of COVID-19. Overall, the study revealed that A. annua, and artemisinin and its derivatives such as artemether and artesunate could potentially inhibit SARS-CoV-2. The researchers believe that Artemisia-based treatment options could be used to boost immunity and improve tolerance against viral infections such as COVID-19.
16th Jun 2022 - News-Medical.Net
People who caught Covid in first wave get ‘no immune boost’ from Omicron
People who caught Covid during the first wave of the pandemic get no boost to their immune response if they subsequently catch Omicron, a study of triple vaccinated people reports. Experts say that while three doses of a Covid jab help to protect individuals against severe outcomes should they catch Omicron, previous infections can affect their immune response. “If you were infected during the first wave, then you can’t boost your immune response if you have an Omicron infection,” said Prof Rosemary Boyton, of Imperial College London, a co-author of the study. The team also found an Omicron infection offered little extra protection against catching the variant again. “When Omicron started flying around the country, people kept saying that’s OK, that will improve people’s immunity,” said Boyton. “What we’re saying is it’s not a good booster of immunity.”
15th Jun 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 16th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullModerna to Study Its Covid-19 Vaccine in Babies as Young as 3 Months
Moderna Inc. is planning to test its Covid-19 vaccine in babies 3 months to 6 months old, the youngest age group studied to date. The Cambridge, Mass., company said Wednesday it is in the final stages of planning the study, to be called BabyCove and expected to begin enrolling as many as 700 babies in September.
BabyCove would be the first study of Moderna’s vaccine in infants younger than 6 months. Moderna’s vaccine is authorized for use in adults 18 and older. The company has requested expanding the vaccine’s use to children ages 6 months through 17 years, and a decision by the Food and Drug Administration on that request could come within days.
15th Jun 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Covid-19: Omicron infection is poor booster to immunity, study finds
People infected with the omicron variant show poor immunity boosting against future covid-19 infection, researchers have found. This may explain why breakthrough and repeat infections have been a common feature of the omicron wave of the pandemic, even among people who have been triple vaccinated, said the research team. Omicron is “an especially stealthy immune evader” said Danny Altmann, study coauthor from Imperial College London. “Not only can it break through vaccine defences, it looks to leave very few of the hallmarks we’d expect on the immune system,” he said. “It’s more stealthy than previous variants and flies under the radar, so the immune system is unable to remember it.”
15th Jun 2022 - The BMJ
Severe covid-19 symptoms linked to more than 1300 genetic variants
More than 1000 genes may contribute to a person’s risk of developing severe covid-19, on top of life circumstances such as their age, ethnicity and any health conditions. Most of the genes, discovered in a study of more than 1 million people, affect the functioning of two kinds of immune cell. If the results are confirmed, they could inform a test that assesses a person’s risk of getting badly ill with covid-19, says Johnathan Cooper-Knock at the University of Sheffield, UK. “We know there are young people who are otherwise fit that get severe covid,” he says. “We are trying to get at the genetic determinants that put people at risk irrespective of the more obvious things.” Cooper-Knock’s team used artificial intelligence to analyse results from a global data set called the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, a genetics project run by a group of researchers and companies.
14th Jun 2022 - New Scientist
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 15th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid vaccine protection wanes more quickly for cancer patients, finds study
The level of protection offered by Covid vaccination is lower for cancer patients than those in the general population, according to the UK Coronavirus Cancer Evaluation Project. The study, co-led by the Universities of Oxford, Birmingham and Southampton and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), published in The Lancet Oncology, represents the first time that Covid vaccine effectiveness had been examined in people with cancer on this scale. It found that Covid vaccination was effective in most cancer patients, but the level of protection against Covid infection, hospitalisation and death was reduced over time. Three to six months after a second vaccination, protection was found to be reduced by nearly a third in cancer patients compared to people with no active or recent cancer.
14th Jun 2022 - Pulse Today
Study finds vitamin D status and COVID-19 diagnosis shows inconsistent associations
A large study revealed no consistent associations between vitamin D status and COVID-19 outcomes such as infection, hospitalisation and death. There are inconsistent associations between vitamin D status and the diagnosis of COVID-19, hospitalisations and mortality according to the findings of a large cohort study by researchers from Faculty of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
14th Jun 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
The severity of COVID-19 compared to seasonal influenza
In a recent study under review at the Archives of Virology journal and currently posted to the Research Square* preprint server, investigators in Israel assessed the disparities and similarities between seasonal influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections.
14th Jun 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Moderna COVID vaccine may pose higher heart inflammation risk - U.S. CDC
Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine may have a higher risk of heart inflammation in young men than the Pfizer/BioNTech shot, according to data presented on Tuesday to U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers weighing its use for those aged 6 to 17. An FDA official told the expert panel that while the data showed a higher risk for the Moderna shot, the findings were not consistent across various safety databases and were not statistically significant, meaning they might be due to chance.
14th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Pfizer stops enrollment in Paxlovid trial in standard-risk population
Pfizer Inc said it would halt enrollment in a trial for its COVID-19 antiviral drug, Paxlovid, in standard-risk patients after a study revealed the treatment was not effective in reducing symptoms in that group. The drug has emergency use authorization for high-risk groups in which it has been effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths. The new data, however, showed a 51% relative risk reduction in standard-risk groups, which the company said was not statistically significant.
14th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Covid-19 Variant Shot From Sanofi, GSK Shows Strong Response to Omicron in Studies
A Covid-19 vaccine developed by Sanofi SA and GSK PLC to target the Beta strain of the virus produced a stronger antibody response against variants of Omicron when given as a booster compared with certain first-generation shots, two studies have found. The results are the latest indication that tweaking vaccines can nudge antibody responses in the direction of new variants, possibly helping to shore up immunity as the virus mutates. The study results may also provide an opportunity for Sanofi and GSK, two vaccine giants that were late to develop Covid-19 immunizations, to play a role in providing booster shots. In the studies, the Beta-targeted vaccine induced a stronger antibody response to certain Omicron variants than first-generation vaccines, according to Sanofi. One study compared the Beta-targeted vaccine to the original vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE. Neither study has yet been peer-reviewed.
13th Jun 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 14th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullEMA’s PRAC finds no link between mRNA Covid-19 vaccines and menstruation
The Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has found no link between messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) Covid-19 vaccines and the absence of menstruation (amenorrhea). The development comes after the committee analysed all the available findings, including cases reported during clinical trials, those reported spontaneously in Eudravigilance and data from the literature. Data also comprise the literature and cases of amenorrhea reported to EudraVigilance following dosing with the Covid-19 vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, Comirnaty and Spikevax, respectively.
13th Jun 2022 - Pharmaceutical Technology
Ivermectin Has Little Effect on Recovery Time From Covid, Study Finds
The antiparasite drug ivermectin does not meaningfully reduce the time needed to recover from Covid, according to a large study posted online Sunday. It is the largest of several clinical trials to show that the drug, popular since the early pandemic as an alternative treatment, is not effective against the virus. The new trial, conducted by researchers at Duke University and Vanderbilt University, tested more than 1,500 people with Covid, about half getting the drug and the others a placebo. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal. “Given these results, there does not appear to be a role for ivermectin outside of a clinical trial setting, especially considering other available options with proven reduction in hospitalizations and death,” Dr. Adrian Hernandez, the executive director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute who led the trial, said in a statement on Sunday night.
13th Jun 2022 - The New York Times
Vaccinated people who recovered from Omicron found to be best protected against BA.5
People vaccinated against COVID-19 and who recovered from an Omicron infection are best protected against the BA.5 subvariant that has been spreading, according to new findings by an Israeli hospital. Initial results of research by Sheba Medical Center showed those who were vaccinated and had been sick with Omicron developed the most antibodies against BA.5, the Kan public broadcaster reported Sunday. The report added that those who were either vaccinated and did not contract Omicron or vice versa had significantly fewer antibodies than people who were both inoculated and previously infected with the coronavirus variant.
13th Jun 2022 - The Times of Israel
Risk of severe COVID-19 in adults with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and those on immune-modifying therapies
A total of 17,672,065 subjects, of which 1,163,438 subjects (55% females and 45% males, and 71% Whites) had inflammatory disorders, and 16,508,627 subjects (49.8% females and 50.2% males, and 64% of Whites) were included from the general public. Out of 1,163,438 subjects with immunological inflammatory disorders, 1.6% (n=19,119) were administered immunomodulatory therapeutic agents, whereas 15.6% (n=181,694) were administered standard systemic therapies. Compared to the general public, individuals with inflammatory disorders showed a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection-associated mortality after data adjustments for confounding variables (HR 1.2) and mediators (HR = 1.2). In addition, individuals with inflammatory disorders showed a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection-associated admissions in critical care settings or mortality (confounder-adjusted HR and mediator-adjusted HRs were 1.2 and 1.2, respectively) and hospitalization (confounder-adjusted HR 1.3, and mediator-adjusted HR 1.2).
13th Jun 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 13th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullEU drug regulator: mRNA COVID vaccines do not cause absence of menstruation
Available data suggest that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines do not cause an absence of menstruation, the European Union's health regulator concluded on Friday. The assessment was prompted by reports of menstrual disorders after receiving one or two shots of either the Moderna (MRNA.O) or the Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N)(22UAy.DE) vaccines. Menstrual disorders can occur due to a range of reasons, including underlying medical conditions as well as stress and tiredness. Health authorities have highlighted that cases have also been reported following COVID-19 infection.
12th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Risk of myocarditis and pericarditis after the COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in the USA: a cohort study in claims databases
An increased risk of myocarditis or pericarditis was observed after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination and was highest in men aged 18–25 years after a second dose of the vaccine. However, the incidence was rare. These results do not indicate a statistically significant risk difference between mRNA-1273 and BNT162b2, but it should not be ruled out that a difference might exist. Our study results, along with the benefit–risk profile, continue to support vaccination using either of the two mRNA vaccines.
10th Jun 2022 - The Lancet
'More work' to be done': Key takeaways from the WHO report on origins of the Covid-19 pandemic
Current data suggests a zoonotic origin of SARS-CoV-2 -- which means the virus originated in animals and jumped to humans. The most closely genetically related viruses were found to be beta coronaviruses identified in bats in China and Laos, according to SAGO. "However, so far neither the virus progenitors nor the natural/intermediate hosts or spill-over event to humans have been identified," the report said. The group pointed to published surveys of animals sold at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, where the virus was first identified. Between 2017 and 2019, the survey showed that several species known to be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, such as racoon dogs and red foxes, were present in the market. But those animals were not sampled in the studies presented to the team by invited Chinese scientists. SAGO said further information about studies into the testing of these animals, as well as tracing back to source farms and serologic investigations into people who farmed and sold or traded the animals have been requested.
10th Jun 2022 - CNN
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 10th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid During Pregnancy Doubled Babies' Risk of Delays in Study
Babies whose mothers caught Covid-19 during pregnancy faced nearly double the risk of being diagnosed with delayed speech or motor skills by their first birthday, according to a study of medical records. While the risk of developmental delays was low overall, it rose to about 6% among babies who were exposed to Covid in the womb, while unexposed infants’ risk was about 3%, according to findings released Thursday in the journal JAMA Network Open. The lags were seen in behaviors such as rolling over, reaching for objects or babbling -- basic milestones of infancy.
10th Jun 2022 - Bloomberg
AstraZeneca trots out Evusheld data to expand the COVID preventive drug into the treatment arena
AstraZeneca is back in the COVID-19 game with new data for its antibody cocktail, Evusheld. While it's existing authorizations cover the prophylactic setting, the latest results from the Big Pharma puts the drug in contention as a treatment for patients with mild-to-moderate disease. The company posted data from a phase 3 trial in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine, showing that the medicine reduced the risk of progression to severe COVID or death from any cause by 50% compared to placebo at day 28, which was the trial's primary endpoint. The drug was tested in non-hospitalized adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, and 90% of the patients were at risk of progressing to severe COVID. While the study, dubbed Tackle, included patients who had symptoms for seven days or less, it was designed with a pre-specified analyses to assess patients who received the intramuscular injection within three days of symptom onset. In this group, Evusheld reduced the risk of severe COVID or death from any cause by 88% compared to placebo, and the risk reduction was 67% when participants received Evusheld within five days of symptom onset.
9th Jun 2022 - FiercePharma
HIV may predispose to post-vaccination COVID, requiring extra doses
The risk of COVID-19 infection after primary vaccination was 28% higher in adults diagnosed as having HIV, suggesting they may benefit from two additional doses, according to a US study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. Johns Hopkins University researchers led a team assessing the risk of COVID-19 infection among 113,994 vaccinated patients—33,029 of whom had HIV and 80,965 who didn't—through Dec 31, 2021. Participants were part of the Corona-Infectious-Virus Epidemiology Team (CIVET)-II cohort and were seen at Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill HIV Clinic, and the Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS) sites.
9th Jun 2022 - CIDRAP
Covid-19 news: Moderna's omicron booster has promising immune response
Moderna’s omicron-tailored booster candidate produces eight times as many virus-neutralising antibodies against the variant as its original booster vaccine An updated version of Moderna’s covid-19 vaccine that targets the BA.1 sublineage of omicron leads to an eight-fold increase in antibody levels against the variant of concern, according to a small, preliminary study. Moderna’s new booster is the first covid-19 vaccine to combine the jab that targeted the original strain of the coronavirus – which emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 – with a vaccine that specifically targets the omicron variant. In the clinical trial, the updated vaccine was given to 437 people who had already received two full-dose Moderna vaccines and its booster.
9th Jun 2022 - New Scientist
Diabetes may increase long COVID risk; COVID while pregnant linked to baby brain development issues
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Diabetes may increase long COVID risk. Diabetes may increase the risk of long COVID, new analyses of seven previous studies suggest.
Researchers reviewed studies that tracked people for at least four weeks after COVID-19 recovery to see which individuals developed persistent symptoms associated with long COVID such as brain fog, skin conditions, depression, and shortness of breath. In three of the studies, people with diabetes were up to four times more likely to develop long COVID compared to people without diabetes, according to a presentation on Sunday at the annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association. The researchers said diabetes appears to be "a potent risk factor" for long COVID but their findings are preliminary because the studies used different methods, definitions of long COVID, and follow-up times, and some looked at hospitalized patients while others focused on people with milder cases of COVID-19.
9th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 9th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullA new coronavirus found in Swedish bank voles
The current study discusses the discovery of a novel beta-CoV in Swedish bank voles and presents its full sequence for the first time. The failure to detect this virus using a published pan-CoV PCR test is traceable to the highly divergent RNA sequence of the Grimso virus. The use of specific spike gene primers in the customized PCR used in the present study yielded several samples over the three-year study period. The two complete sequences obtained in this study showed almost 3.5% non-identity, which amounted to about 1,340 differences at the nucleotide level. This exceeds the expected rate of nucleotide substitution over three years. Either several strains of the Grimso virus are co-circulating in this rodent species, or the true reservoir of this virus includes other species that regularly transmit it to bank voles. The prevalence of the Grimso virus in this rodent species was about 3.4%, thus suggesting that this animal is a suitable host for the virus. As a result, the Grimso virus presents a potential zoonotic host for spillover events between bank voles and human beings.
9th Jun 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Revised Moderna Vaccine Works Better Against Omicron, Trial Suggests
Moderna released preliminary results on Wednesday on an updated coronavirus vaccine that targets the Omicron variant, calling it “our lead candidate” to serve as a U.S. booster shot in the fall. The firm’s researchers tested a booster dose combining the original vaccine with one that specifically targeted Omicron, the variant that became dominant last winter. They found that among those with no evidence of prior coronavirus infection, the combination produced 1.75 times the level of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron as the existing Moderna vaccine did alone. While those results may seem encouraging on their face, many experts worry that the virus is evolving so quickly that it is outpacing the ability to modify vaccines, at least as long as the United States relies on human clinical trials for results.
9th Jun 2022 - The New York Times
Study: Many children who contracted COVID-19 did not develop antibodies to ward off Omicron
A new study from researchers at Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows that fewer than 10 percent of kids who contracted COVID-19 in 2020 or early 2021 developed antibodies capable of warding off the Omicron variant of the virus, according to a statement posted to the medical school’s website. The statement said the study findings, published May 27 in the journal Nature Communications, track with prior studies of adults that showed getting COVID-19 once sadly doesn’t guarantee antibody protection against repeat infection at a later date. “I hear parents say, ‘oh, my kid had COVID last year,’” said Dr. Adrienne G. Randolph, a co-senior investigator on the HMS/Children’s study and HMS professor of anesthesia and of pediatrics at Boston Children’s, in the statement. “But we found that antibodies children produced during prior infections don’t neutralize Omicron.
8th Jun 2022 - Boston.com
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 8th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudy: Ineffective blood oxygen readers have endangered Black and Latino Covid-19 patients
Black and Latino patients experienced significant delays in obtaining life-saving Covid-19 treatments due to a popular medical device that inaccurately reads darker skin tones, according to a study released last week in JAMA Internal Medicine. The report shows that pulse oximeters, a device that clips onto a person’s fingertips and reads oxygen levels, is more likely to produce inaccurate results in Black, Latino and Asian Americans than in white patients. The device can make patients of color appear healthier than they actually are, researchers said.
“Not only less accurate, but in particular, more optimistic,” Tianshi David Wu, a co-lead author of the study and assistant professor of pulmonary medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, told NBC News. “In this study we found that minority patients appeared healthier than they really were based on this bias in pulse oximetry.”
7th Jun 2022 - NBC News
Imatinib yields sustained clinical benefit in patients with hypoxemic COVID-19
Treatment with imatinib resulted in a sustained clinical benefit after 90 days in hospitalized patients with hypoxemic COVID-19, according to results of the CounterCOVID study. At the American Thoracic Society International Conference, Job R. Schippers, MD-PhD candidate for pulmonary medicine at Amsterdam University Medical Center, presented long-term clinical outcomes at 90 days after treatment with imatinib.
7th Jun 2022 - Healio
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 7th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID-19 increases risk of psychiatric diagnoses in the months after infection, OSU study finds
A recent Oregon State University study found that COVID-19 patients had a roughly 25% increased risk of developing a psychiatric disorder in the four months following their infection, compared with people who had other types of respiratory tract infections. The findings support previous research on psychiatric disorders among post-COVID patients, though the current study found a smaller effect than the earlier studies, said co-author Lauren Chan, a Ph.D. student in nutrition in OSU’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences. For the current study, published in World Psychiatry, researchers used data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) to match 46,610 COVID-19 positive individuals with control patients who were diagnosed with a different respiratory tract infection so they could compare how COVID specifically affected patients’ mental health.
6th Jun 2022 - Oregon State University
Strong T-cell response for blood cancer patients after vaccine; COVID breakthrough often serious for cancer patients
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19 and cancer presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago. Blood cancer patients show strong T-cell response to COVID vaccines. Patients with blood cancers have a significantly weaker antibody response to COVID-19 vaccines than patients with solid tumors, but they may still be well protected against severe illness from the virus, new data suggests.
6th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Ofatumumab for Multiple Sclerosis Does Not Increase COVID-19 Severity
No increased risk for breakthrough COVID-19 infection, severe COVID-19, or fatal outcomes among patients receiving ofatumumab for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) was found in an updated analysis presented at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) held from June 1-4, in National Harbor, Maryland. SARS-CoV-2 is associated with a severe respiratory infection which can be fatal. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been concern and uncertainty about specific risks for patients receiving disease-modifying therapy (DMT).
6th Jun 2022 - Neurology Advisor
Long-term exposure to air pollution associated with greater risk of severe COVID-19
Long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to a greater risk of severe COVID-19, new research being presented at Euroanaesthesia, the annual meeting of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) in Milan, Italy (4-6 June), finds. The German study found that people living in counties with higher levels of the pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were more likely to need ICU care and mechanical ventilation if they had COVID-19. Long-term exposure to NO2, a gas released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned, can have harmful effects on the lungs. This includes damage to the endothelial cells, which play a key role in oxygen transfer – the transfer of oxygen from inhaled air to the blood.
6th Jun 2022 - News-Medical.Net
U.S. FDA flags risk of heart inflammation after Novavax COVID vaccine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasraised concerns about a possible risk of heart inflammation from Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, even as the company's data showed it could reduce the chances of mild-to-severe disease.
In Novavax's nearly 30,000 patient trial, conducted between December 2020 and September 2021, there were four cases of a type of heart inflammation called myocarditis detected within 20 days of taking the protein-based shot. "These events raise the concern for a causal association with this vaccine, similar to the association documented with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines," FDA staff wrote in briefing documents released on Friday.
6th Jun 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 6th Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullJapan study shows women more likely to get skin rash from Moderna shot
A study in Japan found that women were significantly more likely than men to develop rash-like side effects after a first dose of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine.
The study of 5,893 participants between May and November last year showed that 22.4% of women developed delayed skin reactions after the first shot, compared to 5.1% of men. The symptoms were mild and not considered a contraindication of the mRNA-based vaccine, according to the June 1 report in JAMA Dermatology.
2nd Jun 2022 - Reuters
Vaccination during pregnancy cuts infant infections; vaccines only modestly reduce long COVID risk
Article reports that the following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Vaccines in pregnancy reduce infants' COVID-19 risk COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy appears to lower newborns' risk of coronavirus infection, according to a study conducted in Norway.
3rd Jun 2022 - Reuters
Pfizer's Paxlovid reduces COVID risk in seniors regardless of vaccine status -study
Pfizer Inc's antiviral treatment Paxlovid reduces COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients 65 years and older, according to a new study in Israel conducted during the rise of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
3rd Jun 2022 - Reuters
U.S. FDA flags risk of heart inflammation after Novavax COVID vaccine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasraised concerns about a possible risk of heart inflammation from Novavax Inc's (NVAX.O)COVID-19 vaccine, even as the company's data showed it could reduce the chances of mild-to-severe disease. In Novavax's nearly 30,000 patient trial, conducted between December 2020 and September 2021, there were four cases of a type of heart inflammation calledmyocarditis detected within 20 days of taking the protein-based shot. "These events raise the concern for a causal association with this vaccine, similar to the association documented with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines," FDA staff wrote in briefing documents released on Friday.
3rd Jun 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 1st Jun 2022
View this newsletter in fullSouth Africa Had Fifth Covid Wave Despite 97% Antibody Protection
South Africa experienced a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections despite 97% of the population having antibodies due to previous infections or vaccination, the results of a blood survey show. Examination of 3,395 samples from blood donors earlier this year, at the tail end of the fourth wave of infections, showed that 87% of South Africans had previously been infected with the virus, while just over 97% had either had a previous infection or a vaccination or both. The study was lead by Stellenbosch University’s DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modeling and Analysis and the South African National Blood Service.
30th May 2022 - Bloomberg
Evidence on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and duration of protection against Omicron
In the present study, researchers reported results from an interim analysis of a living systematic review (LSR) summarizing evidence on VE and duration of protection against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron. For the LSR, the researchers included studies investigating VE against SARS-CoV-2 infection among people aged 12 years or older for European Medicine Agency (EMA) approved vaccines. For the current analysis, only the studies which investigated the mentioned outcomes due to SARS-CoV-2 Omicron or during the Omicron period were considered. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) literature database created by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) library was searched for studies published from October 23, 2021, to January 14, 2022, regardless of publication status or language.
31st May 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Study shows low social cohesion is a factor in reducing vaccine responses
Loneliness and social stresses can have a negative impact on the antibody response to Covid-19 vaccines, new research has revealed. University of Limerick researchers have found that lower neighbourhood cohesion is associated with antibody response to Covid-19 vaccines. In a study published in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity, the research team demonstrated that lower social cohesion also made people feel lonelier, and this was an additional factor in reducing Covid-19 vaccine responses. The report stated that social cohesion is the degree of social connectedness and solidarity among different community groups within a society, including levels of trust and connectedness between individuals and across community groups.
31st May 2022 - Belfast Telegraph
International study reveals factors contributing to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare providers
A new 23-country study by a multidisciplinary team of researchers in the journal Vaccine, published by Elsevier, sheds light on the factors that contribute to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare providers. To assess the associations between self-reported vaccine hesitancy and a number of sociodemographic and COVID-19 vaccine perception factors, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) Senior Scholar Jeffrey Lazarus, PhD, Dean Ayman El-Mohandes, MBBCh, MD, MPH, FAAP, and colleagues from the School of Health Administration at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain, developed a cross-sectional survey relating to perceptions of risk, efficacy, safety and trust, and current COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
31st May 2022 - EurekAlert!
Leicester study finds promising link between treatment of 'long Covid' and vaccinations
Symptoms of 'long Covid' can decrease after being vaccinated, a Leicester study has found. The research conducted by the University of Leicester was published in the British Medical Journal. It found that a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination was associated with a reduction in the likelihood of continuing symptoms of the virus by 12.8 per cent. A second dose showed a further reduction of 8.8 per cent, according to the study. Between February 3 and September 5, 2021, a team of academics and government statisticians assessed the results of the Office for National Statistics’ COVID-19 Infection Survey to examine the health outcomes of 28,356 people who had received a vaccine after contracting the coronavirus. More than 23 per cent of the participants went on to experience symptoms of long Covid 12 weeks after they were infected with the virus.
31st May 2022 - Leicestershire Live
Long term implications of covid-19 in pregnancy
Complications in pregnancy, including maternal and perinatal deaths, increased with each wave of the covid-19 pandemic. By contrast, serious illness fell in other high risk groups because of vaccines and approved treatments. More than a year after the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JVCI) opened up covid-19 vaccination to pregnant women, 40% of women giving birth have still not received a first dose.2 This is despite a positive benefit-risk profile, endorsement in guidelines, and public health campaigns. Worryingly, 69.5% of black women giving birth have not received any covid-19 vaccine. Meanwhile the JCVI has chosen not to include pregnant women in its interim autumn booster plans. Strategies for treating covid-19 in pregnancy and potential long term complications are also underused.1 A large portion of the diffidence for both vaccination and treatment in pregnancy stems from the continued exclusion of pregnant women from much of the pre-approval drug development process. This results in delayed or even absent data on benefit-risk profiles and a dangerous spiral of indecision
31st May 2022 - The BMJ
Covid Booster Shots Are Key to Stopping Severe Infection: Study
A third dose of messenger RNA Covid-19 vaccine provides a key boost to immunity against the coronavirus, regardless of the original type of immunization, researchers said. An mRNA booster following an initial course of two shots of the same type is the most effective way to prevent non-severe Covid infections, according to an analysis of studies published Wednesday in the BMJ medical journal. Adding a third mRNA shot to other primary vaccination regimens raises protection to almost the same level, the authors from the Chinese University of Hong Kong said.
31st May 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 31st May 2022
View this newsletter in fullOnline education and the mental health of faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan | Scientific Reports
While the negative impact of the pandemic on students’ mental health has been studied around the world, very little is known about the mental health of faculty and staff. This research aims to examine mental health among Japanese faculty members who taught online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. We recruited 537 university faculty members and assessed their mental health using the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5), both retrospectively (during the academic year before the onset of the pandemic) and during the pandemic.
30th May 2022 - Nature.com
Fourth COVID-19 vaccination effectiveness drops after 10 weeksHospital Healthcare Europe
A fourth COVID-19 vaccination’s effectiveness against infection drops after only 10 weeks but remains high against severe disease. A fourth COVID-19 vaccination dose offers greater protection against infection than three doses but this effectiveness quickly wanes within 10 weeks but is maintained against more severe disease. This was the key finding of a retrospective analysis by Israeli researchers.
The use of a third COVID-19 vaccination is more effective at protecting individuals against severe COVID-19-related outcomes in comparison to only two doses. Nevertheless, it is also becoming clear that in the presence of COVID-19 variants such as Omicron, the relative protection against infection even from three doses wanes over time. For instance, in one study, the effectiveness of a third COVID-19 vaccine, waned from 53.4% a month after vaccination to 16.5% three months later.
30th May 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
Launch of Scenario Hub projecting future COVID-19 health impact
A new online modelling hub launched today, the European COVID-19 Scenario Hub, will present modelling projections on how the COVID-19 pandemic may evolve in terms of cases, hospitalisations and deaths. It will serve as a resource for Member States in their pandemic planning and inform decisions aimed at minimising the expected burden caused by COVID-19 under different scenarios. The hub is developed and run by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in co-operation with the Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
“The Scenario Hub will help inform public health preparedness and anticipatory action as Europe transitions into new phases of the pandemic” said Andrea Ammon, ECDC Director. “It will also play a key role in supporting ECDC's risk analysis, assessment of public health advice and strategic planning.”
30th May 2022 - European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 30th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullPrevious COVID-19 or MIS-C does not protect kids from omicron, study finds
Research drawing on the national Overcoming COVID-19 study, led by Boston Children's Hospital, and the hospital's own Taking On COVID-19 Together Group provides evidence that children who previously had COVID-19 (or the inflammatory condition MIS-C) are not protected against the newer omicron variant. The researchers obtained blood samples from 62 children and adolescents hospitalized with severe COVID-19, 65 children and adolescents hospitalized with MIS-C, and 50 outpatients who had recovered from mild COVID-19. All the samples were taken during 2020 and early 2021, before the emergence of the omicron variant. The researchers obtained blood samples from 62 children and adolescents hospitalized with severe COVID-19, 65 children and adolescents hospitalized with MIS-C, and 50 outpatients who had recovered from mild COVID-19. All the samples were taken during 2020 and early 2021, before the emergence of the omicron variant.
28th May 2022 - Medical Xpress
Exploring antigenic traits of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5 and BA.4 subvariants
SARS-CoV-2 mutants have emerged constantly throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 and BA.1 lineages appeared in late November 2021 in South Africa and harbor a substantial antigenic gap from prior SARS-CoV-2 variants and existing vaccine strains, yet a minor antigenic distance between each other. BA.4 and BA.5, the most recent SARS-CoV-2 Omicron mutants to appear, were initially discovered in Southern Africa, where they are causing the present wave of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In addition, the Omicron BA.5 and BA.4 sublineage cases were elevating quickly in various European nations. BA.5 and BA.4 encode similar spike (S) proteins and are more closely associated with BA.2. They share multiple mutations with BA.2, including Δ69-70, F486V, and L452R, but neither has the Q493R alteration compared to BA.2.
28th May 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Scientists identify ‘trigger molecule’ for Covid-related changes to smell
Scientists have identified the “trigger molecule” that makes pleasant aromas smell like burning rubbish or sewage in people whose sense of smell is disrupted by Covid. The loss of smell is a defining symptom of Covid-19, with about 18% of adults in the UK estimated to have been affected. Some people also experience disturbances in their sense of smell – a condition known as parosmia – but the biological basis for this has remained a mystery. Now scientists have identified a highly potent odour molecule that appears to be a trigger for the sense of disgust experienced by many of those with parosmia. The molecule, called 2-furanmethanethiol, found in coffee, was described by those with a normal sense of smell as being coffee- or popcorn-like, but those with parosmia typically described its scent as disgusting, repulsive or dirty.
28th May 2022 - The Guardian
Study: Lingering cough, fatigue more common in Omicron patients
Patients suffering from COVID-19 aftereffects were more likely to have persistent coughs and fatigue if they were infected with the Omicron variant instead of the Delta or other strains, a survey showed. The survey by the Tokyo metropolitan government was based largely on data collected from eight hospitals run by the metropolitan government or the Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Hospitals Corporation. These hospitals offer telephone consultations to patients experiencing long-term effects of COVID-19. The Tokyo Center for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention analyzed consultation records for 2,039 patients who tested positive for the Omicron variant between January and April.
27th May 2022 - The Asahi Shimbun
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 27th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullMucosal COVID vaccine candidate powerfully protective in macaques
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is capable of infecting people of any age. Although COVID-19 is often mild in young children relative to adults, thousands of children have been admitted to hospitals in the United States (US) owing to SARS-CoV-2 infection, with around one-third of them having no prior medical issues. Over 800 US children aged 0 to 11 years have died from COVID-19, and during the 2021/2022 fall/winter SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the US, children constituted more than 25% of COVID-19 cases. Moreover, COVID-19 rarely produces a multisystem inflammatory disease in children (MIS-C).
26th May 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Long COVID risk falls only slightly after vaccination, huge study shows
Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 lowers the risk of long COVID after infection by only about 15%, according to a study of more than 13 million people1. That’s the largest cohort that has yet been used to examine how much vaccines protect against the condition, but it is unlikely to end the uncertainty. Long COVID — illness that persists for weeks or months after infection with SARS-CoV-2 — has proved difficult to study, not least because the array of symptoms makes it hard to define. Even finding out how common it is has been challenging. Some studies2,3 have suggested that it occurs in as many as 30% of people infected with the virus. But a November study4 of about 4.5 million people treated at US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals suggests that the number is 7% overall and lower than that for those who were not hospitalized.
26th May 2022 - Nature.com
Multi-inflammatory index predicts mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients
A multi-inflammatory index (MII) biomarker have been shown to have good predictive power for mortality among COVID-19 patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). This was the main finding of a study by a team of Turkish researchers.
26th May 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
COVID-19: Amyloids could explain blood clots, neurological symptoms
The cause of the many mysterious and lingering symptoms brought on by SARS-CoV-2 infection, or COVID-19, has remained a hard-to-solve puzzle for scientists. Researchers have been looking into various systems in the body in an effort to find answers. A sometimes controversial area of study has been micro clots in people with long COVID, caused by fibrin, which is a substance that contributes to coagulation. This has made both the immune system and circulatory system interesting candidates for further study. A recent study, published in the Journal of American Chemical Society, has provided a suggested mechanism to explain why some people develop complicated COVID-19 symptoms after infection.
26th May 2022 - Medical News Today
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 26th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullNew Study Shows Vaccination Reduces Long Covid Risk, But Modestly
Vaccination reduces your risk of developing long Covid, but not by much on average, new research suggests. A Veterans Affairs study out Wednesday found that vaccinated people with breakthrough Covid-19 infections had a 15% reduction in experiencing persistent or new symptoms and health conditions up to six months after infection compared with those who were unvaccinated and got Covid.
26th May 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Heart-Failure Drug Used to Treat Long Covid Symptoms
More than 200 symptoms can afflict those dealing with the aftereffects of Covid-19. An emerging approach to treating one of them—heart palpitations—highlights the successes scientists are having in addressing the symptoms, even if it may take years to understand how they’re caused. About 11% of coronavirus patients report experiencing palpitations or an increased heart rate, according to a meta-analysis of long-Covid studies published in the journal Scientific Reports in August. The symptoms are suggestive of a broader condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, which affects more than 24 million Americans—a number that’s growing because of Covid. POTS is more prevalent among women of childbearing age; often coincides with lightheadedness, brain fog, and gastric upset; and can eventually lead to chronic fatigue.
26th May 2022 - Bloomberg
Covid survivors face double risk of getting lung blood clots, CDC study warns
Survivors of Covid-19 have twice the risk of developing a blood clot in the lungs or a respiratory condition, according to a new study by the US’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Published on Tuesday, the study by the US government body said adults aged between 18 and 64 years have an increased risk of developing pulmonary embolism – a clot in an artery of the lung – or other respiratory conditions like chronic cough or shortness of breath. One in five Covid survivors in this age range and one in four survivors over the age of 65 years have experienced “at least one incident condition that might be attributable to the previous infection”, it said.
25th May 2022 - The Independent
Persistent multiple organ damage noted with COVID-19
A multicenter Scottish study reveals persistent multisystem abnormalities among 159 COVID-19 patients 28 to 60 days after release from the hospital, including cardio-renal inflammation, diminished lung function, worse quality of life, and poor outcomes. In the study, published yesterday in Nature Medicine, a team led by University of Glasgow researchers collected serial blood biomarkers and patient-reported outcomes and performed digital electrocardiography, chest computed tomography (CT) with pulmonary and coronary angiography, and cardio-renal (heart-kidney) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the hospital and 28 to 60 days later. For longer-term outcomes, the researchers accessed electronic health records.
25th May 2022 - Cidrap.umn.edu
Women twice as likely to suffer from long Covid, study suggests
Women are more than twice as likely as men to suffer from long Covid, according to the largest study of the condition to date, which found a history of autoimmune disease or depression also increased the likelihood of experiencing symptoms. The study by genetic testing company 23andMe surveyed more than 100,000 people who had Covid-19, about a quarter of whom reported having experienced long Covid — where symptoms such as breathing problems, fatigue and brain fog last for more than 12 weeks. Some 7,000 of these had been formally diagnosed.
25th May 2022 - Financial Times
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 25th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullPfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine produces strong immune response in children
Pfizer and BioNTech have announced recent data from a top-line safety, immunogenicity and vaccine efficacy phase 2/3 trial assessing a third 3µg dose – one-tenth of the adult dosage – of their COVID-19 vaccine for children aged from six months to under five years old. The vaccine resulted in a strong immune response following the third dose in this particular age group, and showed a positive safety profile similar to placebo. One of the second endpoints in the trial was vaccine efficacy, which was 80.3% in children aged six months to under five years. This analysis was taken during a period when the Omicron strain was the predominant variant, and was based on ten symptomatic COVID-19 cases identified seven days after the third dose and accrued as of 29 April 2022.
24th May 2022 - PMLiVE
Higher air pollution linked to more severe cases of COVID-19, study suggests
People living in areas with higher levels of air pollution are more likely to develop severe COVID-19 illness that leads to hospitalization and even death, a new study suggests. The research, published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), found an elevated likelihood of hospitalization, admission to an intensive care unit and death among COVID-19 cases who were chronically exposed to fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone. “These results suggest that chronic exposure to air pollution before SARS-CoV-2 infection may contribute to COVID-19 severity, particularly chronic exposure to (ozone),” the researchers write.
24th May 2022 - Global News
Covid-19 linked to impaired heart function, research finds
Covid-19 is associated with impaired function of the right side of the heart, a new study of intensive care patients has found. The research, led by experts from NHS Golden Jubilee, aimed to help improve future care and outcomes for those most at risk from Covid-19, by gaining a better understanding of the impact the virus has on the sickest patients who require invasive ventilation. The Covid-RV study was carried out in 10 intensive care units across Scotland and examined 121 critically ill patients who were receiving treatment on ventilators due to the impact of coronavirus on their system. Researchers found that about one in three of the patients in the study showed evidence of abnormalities in the right side of the heart – the area that pumps blood to the lungs.
24th May 2022 - The Independent
Covid-19: Vaccine effectiveness wanes more rapidly for cancer patients, study finds
Covid-19 vaccination is effective for cancer patients but protection wanes much more rapidly than in the general population, a large study has found. Vaccine effectiveness is much lower in people with leukaemia or lymphoma, those with a recent cancer diagnosis, and those who have had radiotherapy or systemic anti-cancer treatments within the past year, according to the research published in Lancet Oncology. The authors of the world’s largest real world health system evaluation of covid-19 in cancer patients highlighted the importance of booster programmes, non-pharmacological strategies, and access to antiviral treatment programmes in order to reduce the risk that covid-19 poses to cancer patients. The study, jointly led by the universities of Birmingham, Oxford, and Southampton and the UK Health Security Agency, included 377 194 people with active or recent cancer who had received two doses of a covid-19 vaccine, of whom 43 882 had breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections. The control population consisted of 28 010 955 people of whom 5 748 708 had a breakthrough infection.
24th May 2022 - The BMJ
Kids' COVID syndrome—MIS-C—less severe in Omicron
COVID-19–related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) was milder amid the Omicron variant surge than during the Alpha and Delta waves in Israel, concludes a research letter published late last week in JAMA. Researchers from Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa conducted prospectively studied all pediatric MIS-C patients at 12 Israeli hospitals during the same 16-week period in the Alpha (Dec 20, 2020, to Apr 10, 2021), Delta (Jul 18 to Nov 13, 2021), and Omicron (Nov 21, 2021, to Mar 12, 2022) pandemic waves. Participating hospitals account for roughly 70% of pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in Israel.
23rd May 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 24th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullWomen who are pregnant or nursing should receive a COVID booster vaccination
In the current work, the researchers examined humoral immunity elicited by the booster dose of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in 63 subjects comprising breastfeeding, pregnant and age-matched nonpregnant females. They studied the antibody response to the spike (S) proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and ancestral strains in a group of 12 nursing, 31 pregnant, and 20 nonpregnant age-matched volunteers who received an mRNA-1273 or BNT162b2 booster dose after completing the primary COVID-19 vaccination. Further, the researchers analyzed the transmission of vaccine-triggered antibodies in 15 maternal-cord pairs at delivery. The eligible subjects were lactating, pregnant, and nonpregnant women aged 18 to 45 years. Moreover, all included participants were vaccinated with SARS-CoV-2 mRNA booster dose between August and December 2021. The participants were selected from two tertiary care hospitals by practitioners or were self-referred. Blood samples were taken from all volunteers four weeks following the booster dose vaccination and at delivery in pregnant women. Furthermore, umbilical cord and maternal blood were obtained during delivery for 15 women who gave birth during the research period.
23rd May 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Largest study to date on the effect of vaccination on long-COVID
In a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers evaluated the association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination and long COVID symptoms among adults residing in United Kingdom (UK) communities with positive COVID-19 history before vaccination. COVID-19 vaccines have been effective in decreasing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, transmission, hospitalizations, and deaths. The likelihood of long COVID may be lower among individuals who are infected by SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination; however, the association between COVID-19 vaccination and long COVID symptoms is not clear.
23rd May 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Long Covid 1: assessing the long-term health effects of Covid-19
Long Covid is more than a prolonged recovery from a respiratory infection; it is a multisystem, and potentially long-term and life-changing, disease. Many people carry the illness burden, including nurses, who may be disproportionately affected due to their high risk of Covid-19 infection. In this first in a series of three articles on long Covid, we look at what is known about the condition, its symptoms, causes and prognosis, and the nurse’s role, particularly in symptom management.
23rd May 2022 - Nursing Times
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 23rd May 2022
View this newsletter in fullHypoxemia in COVID-19–Related ARDS: Links to BMI, Prior Respiratory Disease
The presence of hypoxemia in patients with COVID-19–related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is associated with such risk factors as body mass index (BMI) and prior respiratory illness, according to clinical trial results recently published in the Journal of Critical Care. Organized by the Argentine Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the SATICOVID19 clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04611269), a prospective, multicenter cohort study, identified determinants of oxygenation over time (as measured by the ratio of arterial oxygen partial pressure to fractional inspired oxygen over days 1, 3, and 7 from ICU admission) among patients with COVID-19 ARDS. Study authors also analyzed the differences in physiological parameters, ventilation management, and outcomes over time associated with the 3 categories of ARDS severity outlined in the Berlin definition of ARDS.
21st May 2022 - Pulmonology Advisor
Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on procedure volumes in gastroenterology in the Netherlands
We used claims data extracted from the Dutch national health insurers information system (Vektis) to identify all gastroenterological health-care activities performed from Jan 1, 2019, to March 28, 2021, as part of a diagnosis treatment combination plan with a hepatogastroenterologist as the treating physician. The activities were analysed overall and across procedure types and diagnosis groups of interest (appendix pp 2–5). We compared absolute and relative changes for the index week during the COVID-19 pandemic with the reference week in 2019. We defined three timeframes on the basis of the number of weekly COVID-19 admissions:3 the first wave from week 9 through week 22 of 2020; a subsequent recovery phase with relatively few admissions from week 23 through week 35; and a second wave with high ongoing admission rates from week 36 through to the end of the study period
21st May 2022 - The Lancet
U.S. CDC says adenovirus leading hypothesis for severe hepatitis in children
Infection with adenovirus, a common childhood virus, is the leading hypothesis for recent cases of severe hepatitis of unknown origin in children that have led to at least six deaths, U.S. health officials said on Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it is continuing to investigate whether 180 cases identified in 36 states and territories since last October represent an increase in the rate of pediatric hepatitis or whether an existing pattern has been revealed though improved detection.
20th May 2022 - Reuters
Paxlovid Rebound: FDA Investigating Reports Of Covid-19 Relapses After Taking Pfizer Antiviral
For example, there’s that pre-print case report uploaded to Research Square on April 26, 2022, of a 71-year-old man who had been fully vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19. He began taking Paxlovid as soon as he had tested positive for Covid-19, two days after he had gotten exposed to the virus. His Covid-19 symptoms essentially disappeared after two days of Paxlovid, which seemed like a good thing. Yet, nine days after he had first tested positive and four days after he had completed the five-day course of Paxlovid, guess what happened? His runny nose, sore throat, and difficulty breathing returned, along with SARS-CoV-2 levels in his body going up again. It was like déjà eww all over again. Viral genome sequencing showed that during both his initial symptoms and his return of symptoms, he was infected with the BA.1 Omicron subvariant of the SARS-CoV-2. This suggested that he has experienced not two separate infections but a single one that improved before subsequently getting worse.
20th May 2022 - Forbes
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 20th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullWhy isn't there a nasal vaccine for Covid-19 yet?
Covid-19 vaccines have rapidly altered our relationship with SARS-CoV-2, turning a dangerous infection into something akin to the common cold for many vaccinated people who contract it. But while these vaccines are great at protecting against severe illness and death, they cannot stop vaccinated people from contracting the virus and experiencing mild symptoms. If we want to prevent mild Covid infections, we’re going to need vaccines that protect us where infections start: in the mucus membranes of the nose, mouth, and throat. And for that, we’re likely going to need intranasal vaccines. A number of research groups and companies are working on Covid-19 vaccines that would be delivered intranasally, but the development process is tricky. Watch the explainer above to learn more.
19th May 2022 - STAT News
Trajectory of long covid symptoms after covid-19 vaccination: community based cohort study
The likelihood of long covid symptoms was observed to decrease after covid-19 vaccination and evidence suggested sustained improvement after a second dose, at least over the median follow-up of 67 days. Vaccination may contribute to a reduction in the population health burden of long covid, although longer follow-up is needed.
19th May 2022 - The BMJ
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 19th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullHow can Covid-19 affect the human brain?
A study from Oxford university researchers published in March found tissue damage and shrinkage in parts of the brain related to smell in people. These effects could be associated with a pre-existing increased brain vulnerability to the deleterious effects of COVID-19.
18th May 2022 - Financial Times
Doctors let down by Government during Covid-19 pandemic, says BMA
The Government “failed in its duty of care” to doctors during the coronavirus crisis, a union has said. The British Medical Association (BMA) launched a scathing attack on the ministerial response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The union, which has conducted its own review of the Government’s handling of the crisis, highlighted the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the early stages of the pandemic.
It also pointed to the mental and physical exhaustion felt by most doctors as they cared for hundreds of thousands of patients with Covid – all while working in a “dystopian reality”, the union said.
19th May 2022 - The Independent
Estrogen treatment linked to reduced COVID-19 mortality
Women who received prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with estrogen within 6 months of a COVID-19 diagnosis had reduced mortality, according to a new study in Family Practice. The findings, coupled with data on sex differences between male and female COVID-19 severity, suggest estrogen may have a protective role against the virus. The study was based on medical records gathered from the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre primary care database. Researchers looked at women ages 18 and older who received prescriptions for HRT or combined oral contraceptive pill, which contains estrogen. A total of 1,863,478 women from 465 general practices in England were included in the study. The main outcome was mortality among those with confirmed COVID-19 during the first 6 months of the pandemic in 2020.
18th May 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 18th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID vaccines may cut hospital Omicron cases in youth
In the first study, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed data from 74,208 drive-thru polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 test results from children aged 5 to 11 years, and 47,744 tests from aged 12 to 15 from Dec 26, 2021, to Feb 21, 2022. The tests were conducted by a single pharmacy chain at 6,897 sites in 49 states; Washington, DC; and Puerto Rico. The researchers compared the effectiveness of two Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses at least 2 weeks before testing with no vaccination in children, and two or three doses 2 or more weeks earlier in adolescents. Overall, the study involved 30,888 positive tests and 43,209 negative tests from children aged 5 to 11 and 22,273 positive tests and 25,471 negative tests from 12- to 15-year-olds. Median age was 10 years, 50.2% were girls, 70.1% were White, and 25.7% were Hispanic or Latino.
17th May 2022 - CIDRAP
Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine prevented almost 700,000 hospitalizations -study
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine prevented almost 700,000 hospitalizations in the US and saved more than $70 billion in costs over one year, a new study has found. Published on Sunday in the peer-reviewed Journal of Medical Economics, the study concluded that the vaccine prevented 8.7 million symptomatic cases of the virus in America as well as 690,000 hospitalizations and over 110,000 deaths. Additionally, it saved over $30 billion in healthcare costs and over $40 billion in lost productivity, the study found. The study's authors, who all received some form of funding from Pfizer, used a model with real-world and trial data to determine the number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths that would have occurred without the Pfizer vaccine, as well as the cost on the healthcare system and the economy.
17th May 2022 - The Jerusalem Post
Flu vaccine could cut COVID risk
Influenza vaccines have a surprising health benefit: they might also prevent COVID-19, particularly in its most severe forms. A study of more than 30,000 health-care workers in Qatar found that those who got a flu jab were nearly 90% less likely to develop severe COVID-19 over the next few months, compared with those who hadn’t been recently vaccinated against flu. The study, which was conducted in late 2020, before the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, is in line with previous work suggesting that ramping up the immune system using influenza vaccines and other jabs could help the body to fend off the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
17th May 2022 - Nature
Study: Readmission rate for COVID-19 is 11%
Eleven percent of Canadian patients who were discharged after hospitalization for COVID-19 were readmitted to the hospital or died within 30 days of discharge, according to a study today in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The retrospective cohort study was based on the medical records of all adults hospitalized in Alberta and Ontario for SARS-CoV-2 from Jan 1, 2020, to Sep 30, 2021. A total of 46,412 (5.5%) adults had a positive COVID-19 test 14 days prior or during their hospital admission. Of these, 8,496 died in hospital and 34,846 were discharged alive. Of those discharged, 30,336 had a typical hospital stay — 30 days or less. A total of 4,510 had a stay greater than 30 days, and 14% required intensive care unit admission. The median length of hospital stay was 8 days.
17th May 2022 - CIDRAP
COVID-19 vaccine uptake in pregnant women rising but stark inequality remains
Data for January 2022 from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show that almost six in 10 (59.6%) pregnant women had received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. This is a significant rise in uptake from the 48.7% recorded in November 2021 and saw the total number of pregnant women who had received their first dose rise to 125,365 this January. Over half (50.6%) had received two doses of vaccine by January, another significant rise from the 38.4% recorded three months earlier. The total number of pregnant women double vaccinated by January was 88,736.
17th May 2022 - GP online
Covid-19 can cause infected cells to ‘explode,’ research shows
Cells infected with the Covid-19 virus can “explode”, contributing to the development of severe disease, researchers have shown. Scientists from the US and the UK looked at blood samples from people infected with Covid, and found that about 6 per cent of monocytes – immune cells that patrol the body for foreign invaders – were undergoing a type of cell death known as pyroptosis, which is associated with inflammation, after being infected by the virus. A small proportion of macrophages – another type of immune cell, which engulfs and destroys foreign cellular debris – also became inflamed after being infected by Sars-CoV-2. In the case of the two cell types, it’s believed that the virus activated what are known as inflammasomes: large molecules that trigger a cascade of inflammatory responses that can culminate in cell death.
17th May 2022 - The Independent
Omitting long Covid from pandemic messaging is harmful for public health
Public health messaging about Covid-19 has focused almost exclusively on hospitalizations and deaths. The omission of long Covid, which may affect between 8 million and 23 million Americans, deprives the public of the knowledge necessary to understand the risks of various activities, make informed decisions about risk-taking, and understand what is happening to them if they feel sick for an extended period. Local and national public health entities continue to characterize infections not resulting in hospitalization as “mild,” and most media have followed their lead. Authorities have been shaping a narrative in which the primary risks from Covid are acute illness, death, and impacts on health care systems. Yet evidence is rapidly mounting that post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC, or long Covid) can cause symptoms — often debilitating symptoms — that persist for months or even years after infection.
17th May 2022 - STAT News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 17th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullCoronavirus may be linked to cases of severe hepatitis in children
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. SARS-CoV-2 could be at root of mysterious hepatitis in kids. A chain of events possibly triggered by unrecognized infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus could be causing the mysterious cases of severe hepatitis reported in hundreds of young children around the world, researchers suggest.
16th May 2022 - Reuters
Coronavirus: How Omicron infection turbocharges vaccinated people’s immunity
People who are vaccinated and then get infected with Omicron may be primed to overcome a broad range of coronavirus variants, early research suggests.
A pair of studies showed that infection produced even better immune responses than a booster shot in vaccinated patients. Teams from Covid-19 vaccine maker BioNTech SE and the University of Washington posted the results on preprint server bioRxiv in recent weeks. The findings offer a reassuring sign that the millions of vaccinated people who’ve caught Omicron probably won’t become seriously ill from another variant soon – even though the research needs to be confirmed, especially by real-world evidence.
16th May 2022 - South China Morning Post
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 16th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullHow Omicron Infection Turbo-Charges Vaccinated People's Immunity
People who are vaccinated and then get infected with omicron may be primed to overcome a broad range of coronavirus variants, early research suggests. A pair of studies showed that infection produced even better immune responses than a booster shot in vaccinated patients. Teams from Covid-19 vaccine maker BioNTech SE and the University of Washington posted the results on preprint server bioRxiv in recent weeks. The findings offer a reassuring sign that the millions of vaccinated people who’ve caught omicron probably won’t become seriously ill from another variant soon -- even though the research needs to be confirmed, especially by real-world evidence.
15th May 2022 - Bloomberg
mRNA booster vaccines may be a good investment in developing countries
Vaccines based on inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus are commonly used in developing countries due to their low cost. New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that a booster shot of mRNA vaccine to individuals who have received two doses of inactivated vaccine offers the same level of protection against COVID-19 as three doses of mRNA vaccine. The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications. “Our results indicate that one booster shot of an mRNA vaccine, as a complement to the cheaper but less effective inactivated vaccines, is sufficient to achieve the ‘gold-standard’ immune response measured after three doses of mRNA vaccine,” says Qiang Pan Hammarström, professor at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, who led the study. “That would likely be a good investment even in resource-poor countries to protect against severe COVID-19.”
13th May 2022 - EurekAlert
Study shows how MS patients treated with Rituximab react to COVID-19 vaccination
MS patients treated with Rituximab have better responses to the COVID-19 vaccine if they have higher B cell counts. This is the finding of a study from Uppsala University published in the journal JAMA Network Open. In patients with B cell counts of 40/µL (microlitres) or more, 9 of 10 patients developed protective levels of antibodies, while significantly fewer with lower counts had similar responses. In Sweden, Rituximab is the most common medicine for multiple sclerosis (MS), but it is also used for many other diseases. The medicine is given as a drip, normally once or twice a year, and has a documented good effect on slowing the progression of MS. The treatment knocks out the body's B cells, which are an important part of our immune system though they also contribute to the MS disease process. As a result, the treatment increases the risk of patients suffering from serious infections, such as COVID-19. Having low levels of B cells also makes it more difficult for the body to form protective antibodies against viruses and bacteria, which is the primary purpose of vaccinations. In this case, this concerns the S protein in the SARS-CoV-19 virus.
13th May 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Symptoms linger two years for some; inflammatory protein patterns may provide long COVID clues
Half of the COVID-19 patients discharged from a Chinese hospital in early 2020 still have at least one symptom two years later, a new study shows. Overall, regardless of initial disease severity, the 2,469 COVID-19 survivors in the study had improvements in physical and mental health over time. Nearly 90% of those who were employed returned to their jobs within two years. But the survivors had a "remarkably" lower health status than the general population at two years, and their burden of symptoms from after-effects "remained fairly high," the researchers reported on Wednesday in The Lancet Respiratory Diseases. At two years, 55% still had at least one COVID-19 after-effect, according to the report.
13th May 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 13th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullSymptoms linger two years for some; inflammatory protein patterns may provide long COVID clues
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. COVID-19 symptoms still afflict many two years later
Half of the COVID-19 patients discharged from a Chinese hospital in early 2020 still have at least one symptom two years later, a new study shows. Overall, regardless of initial disease severity, the 2,469 COVID-19 survivors in the study had improvements in physical and mental health over time. Nearly 90% of those who were employed returned to their jobs within two years.
13th May 2022 - Reuters
Severe COVID, similar illnesses may raise risk for psychiatric disorders
A new study shows that the more than 32,000 survivors of severe COVID-19 and more than 16,000 survivors of other severe respiratory infections studied in England were at significantly higher risk than the general population for new anxiety disorders, dementia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and new neuropsychiatric drug prescriptions in the first year after hospital release. In the observational study, published today in JAMA Psychiatry, a team led by University of Oxford researchers analyzed data from all 8.38 million adults registered in national databases from Jan 24, 2020, to Jul 7, 2021.
11th May 2022 - CIDRAP
More than half of early Covid-19 patients at one hospital had symptoms two years later, study finds
Even two years after their initial infection, the majority of people who were hospitalized with Covid-19 early in the pandemic had lingering symptoms, according to a new study that may be one of the longest and largest on record to follow people with long Covid. The study, published Wednesday in The Lancet, found that 55% of patients still had at least one Covid-19 symptom two years later. That was actually an improvement from six months after infection, when 68% had symptoms.
12th May 2022 - CNN
Researchers recommend kidney transplant recipients continue getting COVID-19 vaccinations
Although COVID-19 vaccines lower the risk of infection among kidney transplant recipients, breakthrough infections can occur, and researchers recommend patients continue to receive boosters when available. “The SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines have shown high clinical efficacy in preventing COVID-19 in the immunocompetent population,” Ivan Zahradka, MD, from the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in the Czech Republic, and colleagues wrote. They added, “However, data about the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are conflicting, and to what extent the two doses of an mRNA vaccine protect [kidney transplant recipients] KTRs from COVID-19 is unclear.”
12th May 2022 - Healio
Study finds cancer patients with COVID-19 at greater risk of hospitalisation and death
Cancer patients with COVID-19 have a greater risk of both hospitalisation and death following infection compared with those without the disease Cancer patients with COVID-19 have been found to be at a greater risk of hospitalisation and 30-day all-cause mortality compared to those without the disease according to the results of a study by a US team from Texas. The presence of cancer has become a recognised factor that is associated with a higher risk for severe outcomes in those infected with COVID-19 and which is largely due to the presence of a compromised immune system. During the early course of the pandemic, studies observed that a higher proportion of cancer patients infected with COVID-19 were both hospitalised and subsequently died, compared to those without the disease.
12th May 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
Covid-19 inquiry to look at impact of pandemic on mental health and young people
A public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic and its handling will now include the impact of the pandemic on mental health, and on children and young people. It will also look into collaboration between the central government and regional government, including devolved administrations. The chairwoman of the inquiry has also proposed changes to also look at support for victims of domestic abuse, first contact with the NHS, including 111 and 999 services, care in the home, and regulatory control. The updated remit was confirmed in the updated terms of reference published today.
12th May 2022 - Metro.co.uk
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 12th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullHalf of Covid-hospitalised still symptomatic two years on, study finds
More than half of people hospitalised with Covid-19 still have at least one symptom two years after they were first infected, according to the longest follow-up study of its kind. While physical and mental health generally improve over time, the analysis suggests that coronavirus patients discharged from hospital still tend to experience poorer health and quality of life than the general population. The research was published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine. “Our findings indicate that for a certain proportion of hospitalised Covid-19 survivors, while they may have cleared the initial infection, more than two years is needed to recover fully,” said the lead author, Prof Bin Cao, of the in China.
12th May 2022 - The Guardian
First real-world data from Africa on immune response to AZ/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine
Scientists have released the first real-world data from Africa on the effectiveness of two doses of AstraZeneca/ChaAd0x-1 COVID-19 vaccination, showing that while protective against SARS-CoV-2, immunity against the delta and omicron variants was lower, even in the context of prior infection or infection after vaccination.
In a pre-print—which has yet to be peer-reviewed—scientists from Nigeria and the U.K. analyzed data from 140 healthcare workers at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research and Federal Medical Center, Ebute Metta, and two private hospitals in Lagos. All participants had received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered between Jan and July 2021, with 12 weeks between doses.
11th May 2022 - Medical Xpress
Fourth Covid-19 vaccine provides stronger immunity than third dose, study reveals
A fourth Covid-19 vaccine offers stronger immunity protection, a recent study has found. The latest results from the Cov-boost trial, which ran at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, show that a fourth dose is “safe and boosts antibody levels - higher than that of a third dose”. A fourth dose of the vaccine has been offered as a spring booster to the most vulnerable people in the UK as a precautionary strategy.
12th May 2022 - The Argus
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 11th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid vaccines are ‘safe for pregnant women and cut stillbirth risk’, study says
Covid-19 vaccines are safe for pregnant women to take and can even reduce the risk of stillbirths, according to a new study. Researchers at St George’s University of London and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists collated data from studies and trials involving over 115,000 vaccinated pregnant women.
10th May 2022 - The Independent
Israeli study shows importance of COVID boosters, lacking in much of the world
With much of the world still lacking COVID boosters, a large new Israeli study has underscored the urgency of rolling out third vaccine doses. The peer-reviewed research shows that both the quantity and quality of antibodies skyrocket after a third dose of Pfizer’s vaccine. While the study has limited relevance in Israel and other Western countries where third doses were given long ago, it has broad global significance. Worldwide, only 24 boosters have been given per 100 people — with a disproportionate number in rich countries. Across Africa, only 1.6 boosters have been given per 100 people; in India where boosters only became available last month the figure is 2; and in Russia it is 9.7, even though in all these places there are lots of people who had their initial vaccination shots long ago.
10th May 2022 - The Times of Israel
Spatial and temporal fluctuations in COVID-19 fatality rates in Brazilian hospitals
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Gamma variant of concern has spread rapidly across Brazil since late 2020, causing substantial infection and death waves. Here we used individual-level patient records after hospitalization with suspected or confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) between 20 January 2020 and 26 July 2021 to document temporary, sweeping shocks in hospital fatality rates that followed the spread of Gamma across 14 state capitals, during which typically more than half of hospitalized patients aged 70 years and older died. We show that such extensive shocks in COVID-19 in-hospital fatality rates also existed before the detection of Gamma. Using a Bayesian fatality rate model, we found that the geographic and temporal fluctuations in Brazil’s COVID-19 in-hospital fatality rates were primarily associated with geographic inequities and shortages in healthcare capacity. We estimate that approximately half of the COVID-19 deaths in hospitals in the 14 cities could have been avoided without pre-pandemic geographic inequities and without pandemic healthcare pressure. Our results suggest that investments in healthcare resources, healthcare optimization and pandemic preparedness are critical to minimize population-wide mortality and morbidity caused by highly transmissible and deadly pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
10th May 2022 - Nature.com
Evasion of COVID-19 vaccine-medicated mucosal immunity by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron
NELF was carefully collected using hydroxylated polyvinyl acetate (PVA) sponges. These sponges were inserted within the inferior turbinate and the nasal septum and left in situ for approximately 15 minutes till they swelled, then softly withdrawn and kept in a 50 ml Falcon tube with 2 ml of saline solution. Simple pressure was used to remove the fluid (nasal secretions+saline) from the sponge, which was then aliquoted and stored at -70°C for further examination. The VPLEX® SARS-CoV-2 Panel was used to assess IgG and IgA targeting the S of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron, Delta variants, and ancestor strain. Further, the V-PLEX® Isotyping Panel 1 Human/NHP Kit was used to determine total IgG and IgA levels. Nasal secretions were diluted 10-time before being tested for S-specific and overall IgG and IgA. The V-PLEX® Sector Imager 2400 plate reader was used to collect data, which was then processed using Discovery Workbench 3.0 software. The ability of NELF antibodies to hinder the adherence of a soluble ACE2 to S of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron, Delta variants, and the ancestral strain was tested by the multiplex V-PLEX® SARS-CoV-2 Panel 13 ACE2 Kit. Before assessing for binding attenuation, NELF was diluted 10-time. As mentioned above, the data was collected and analyzed using the V-PLEX® Sector Imager 2400 plate reader and the Discovery Workbench 3·0 software, respectively.
10th May 2022 - News-Medical.net
Covid-19: Fourth dose of mRNA vaccines is safe and boosts immunity, study finds
Fourth doses of covid-19 mRNA vaccines are safe and provide a substantial boost to antibody concentrations and cellular immunity when given more than six months after a third dose of Pfizer’s vaccine, a study has found. The latest findings from the UK Cov-Boost study, published in Lancet Infectious Diseases,1 compared antibody and T cell responses after a fourth dose of an mRNA covid-19 vaccine with immune responses after a third dose. Giving a fourth dose of Pfizer’s and a half dose of Moderna’s vaccine was effective at increasing antibody levels and cellular immunity up to and above the baseline and peak levels seen after third dose boosters, the results show. Although pain at the vaccination site and fatigue were the commonest side effects, there were no vaccine related serious adverse events, and the fourth doses were safe and well tolerated, the authors said. Some study participants maintained high antibody levels and cellular responses even before the fourth dose and had limited boosting from a fourth dose. Researchers said this trend was also noted in participants with previous infection, which indicated that a fourth dose may not boost immunity if baseline levels are high.
10th May 2022 - The BMJ
BioNTech completes Phase II trial of COVID-19 vaccine in China
Vaccine developer BioNTech completed a Phase II clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine in China in January but has yet to release its results, a registry of such trials showed on Tuesday. The vaccine, based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, is one of the most widely used worldwide against COVID, but has yet to receive approval in China, which has vaccinated 89% of its 1.4 billion population with several domestically developed non-mRNA shots. China's leading medical experts have urged authorities to retain tough zero-COVID measures to buy time, step up vaccination rates and develop new treatments in the battle against the country' biggest outbreak.
10th May 2022 - Reuters
Rare cases of COVID returning pose questions for Pfizer pill
As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. Paxlovid has become the go-to option against COVID-19 because of its at-home convenience and impressive results in heading off severe disease. The U.S. government has spent more than $10 billion to purchase enough pills to treat 20 million people. But experts say there is still much to be learned about the drug, which was authorized in December for adults at high risk of severe COVID-19 based on a study in which 1,000 adults received the medication.
10th May 2022 - Associated Press
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 10th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullVaccine to stop Covid transmission should now be top priority, says leading UK scientist
It is questionable how much longer current Covid-19 vaccines will be used as they have largely done their job in preventing mass deaths, and scientists should focus on developing a vaccine that stops transmission of the virus, according to leading scientist Sir John Bell. The huge success of Covid vaccines in countries able to get them has led to sharp declines in deaths and severe disease from the virus, even though the latest Covid variant, Omicron, has spread rapidly. “We need a new vaccine to stop transmissions and there are lots of interesting ideas,” said Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University and a former member of the UK vaccine taskforce who has worked on the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid jab.
9th May 2022 - The Guardian
Nasal vaccines may be the next generation of protection against COVID
Current vaccines are great at stopping severe disease. But people can still catch COVID-19, even after two, three or more shots. Researchers hope a different delivery system will make for a vaccine that is better at preventing transmission and infections. By putting the vaccine directly into the nose, it might prevent the virus from taking hold in the mucus membranes, where it first enters the body. Studies are still underway to prove whether this approach will work. And even if it does, the vaccines are likely to take another year to become widely available.
9th May 2022 - USA TODAY
Knowledge about COVID-19, vaccination influences vaccine uptake in pregnancy
Pregnant patients who had more knowledge about COVID-19 and immunization were more likely to get vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, according to a study presented here. However, researchers emphasized that it is also incumbent on providers to improve vaccine uptake and increase acceptance. While Eva Agasse acknowledged that informing patients is vital to encourage vaccination, how clinicians present themselves is also important.
9th May 2022 - Healio
Oral COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Host, Slows Transmission in Hamsters
The available COVID-19 vaccines have been called the biggest scientific accomplishment of the century and a modern miracle. But that hasn’t stopped scientists from working on making improvements. To that end, a new study presents promising data on a COVID-19 vaccine that is designed to be taken as a pill. Moreover, the vaccine not only protects the host, but also decreases the airborne spread of the virus to other close contacts. The experiments, done in a hamster model that mimics human exposures, demonstrated the potential of a COVID vaccine that works through the mucosal tissue to neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus, limiting infections and the spread of active virus in airborne particles.
9th May 2022 - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
Study investigates the cause of lymphopenia as seen in COVID-19 patients
In a recent study posted to the Research Square preprint server, researchers explored the underlying mechanism resulting in thymic atrophy and subsequent lymphopenia in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Previous studies have reported dysregulated T cell function and lymphopenia in COVID-19 patients. However, the literature does not shed light on immunological and pathological alterations in thymus post-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
9th May 2022 - News-Medical.Net
3 COVID vaccine doses appear to protect against Omicron subvariants
Three new studies report on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) and antibody responses to Omicron, with one from Sweden finding a drop in two-dose VE against severe disease after the transition from the BA.1 to the BA.2 subvariant but three-dose protection remaining above 80% against severe disease. Also, a study from Hong Kong shows good antibody response against BA.2 after three doses, and one from the United States finds that nursing home patients who received a third dose had a 47% lower risk of Omicron infection.
6th May 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 9th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullKids get limited COVID protection from world's most popular vaccines
Three new studies offer a first look at how well some of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines protect young children from the coronavirus1–3. The results — including data from toddlers as young as three years old — have prompted mixed responses among researchers about whether the vaccines should be recommended for use in kids. The research examines two ‘inactivated’ vaccines, which rely on whole viruses that have been killed, that were developed by Chinese scientists. The results, from Argentina, Brazil and Chile, show that, in children, the vaccines provide little protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and modest protection against symptomatic COVID-19. The studies also show that the vaccines are less effective against the now-dominant Omicron variant than the earlier Delta variant. The studies have not yet been peer reviewed.
6th May 2022 - Nature.com
Cognitive impairment from long COVID equivalent to aging 20 years, study finds
A new study says that cognitive impairment due to long COVID is the equivalent of aging 20 years or losing 10 IQ points. Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London published their findings in the journal eClinicalMedicine last week. They looked at data from 46 individuals who received care at a hospital for COVID-19 between March and July 2020 and compared them to a matched control group.
Six months after their stay in hospital, the researchers invited the patients and the control group to undergo a computerized test to measure their memory, attention and reasoning. The researchers found that compared to the control group, those who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 were less accurate and displayed slower response times in the test.
9th May 2022 - CTV News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 6th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullWHO Says 15 Million Have Died From Covid-19 Pandemic
The World Health Organization estimated that nearly 15 million people had died from causes related to the coronavirus pandemic by the end of 2021, putting the toll from Covid-19 at nearly three times the number that had been officially recorded by countries. India suffered the highest toll of any country in the world, according to the report released Thursday, but most of the deaths have gone unrecorded. The 4.7 million people who had died in India by the end of last year, according to WHO estimates, was nearly 10 times the official tally at that time of 481,000 deaths. India’s count has risen to about 524,000 since then. The report, which was compiled by scientists from around the world, has sparked fierce resistance from India, where government officials have denounced the health agency’s methodology and objected to the release of the report.
5th May 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 5th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullSevere Covid May Lower Survivor's IQ By 10 Points, Study Finds
Severe Covid-19 may cause long-lasting cognitive impairment, similar to how much brainpower 70-year-olds typically have lost compared to age 50, a new study found, adding to preliminary evidence that infections may inhibit survivors’ intellectual capabilities. The study of 46 patients, who were assessed six to ten months after being hospitalized, showed slower and less accurate responses than what was expected for their age and demographic profile. Those patients who required ventilators and organ support scored even worse. The effect was sudden, as it was the equivalent of aging 20 years intellectually within the span of a few months. The impairment is equivalent to losing about 10 IQ points, said co-author Adam Hampshire, a professor of restorative neurosciences at Imperial College London, in an interview.
4th May 2022 - Bloomberg
Covid-19 worsens asthma in children, finds study
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine , looked at almost 49,000 unvaccinated patients in total, and identified multiple predictors of more severe Covid-19 and worse outcomes in them compared to vaccinated individuals. It found that evidence of heart muscle damage (myocardial injury) at the time of admission to hospital was associated with a nine-fold increase in likelihood of death. Patients found to have such heart issues also had higher chances of developing other complications, including severe lung failure (acute respiratory distress syndrome) and acute kidney injury, and required higher rates of intensive care admission and invasive mechanical ventilation.
4th May 2022 - India Today
Unvaccinated individuals with heart problems up to 9 times more likely to die or suffer serious complications from COVID-19
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have combined evidence from 110 previous Covid-19 studies and found that unvaccinated individuals who contract the virus when they already have high blood pressure, diabetes or major heart damage are up to nine times more likely to suffer serious outcomes - including death, lung failure, admission to intensive care and kidney problems.
4th May 2022 - QMUL
Covid-19: Remdesivir has “small effect” against death or progression to ventilation, WHO trial finds
Remdesivir has no significant effect on patients with covid-19 who are already being ventilated but has a small effect against death or progression to ventilation among other patients admitted to hospital, the World Health Organization’s Solidarity trial has found.1
This appears to be a change from findings reported in February 2021, when preliminary trial data suggested that remdesivir “had little or no effect on patients admitted to hospital with covid-19.”2
The Solidarity trial recruited over 14 000 patients from 454 hospitals across 35 countries between March 2020 and January 2021, of which over 8000 were allocated 1:1 to remdesivir (10 daily infusions) or control (no drug).
The updated results, published in the Lancet, reported that overall 14.5% (602 of 4146) of patients assigned to remdesivir died compared with 15.6% (643 of 4129) assigned to the control group (mortality rate ratio 0.91, 95% confidence interval 0.82 to 1.02, P=0.12).
4th May 2022 - The BMJ
Patterns in Olfactory Injury Among Patients Who Died From COVID-19
Article reports that among patients who died with COVID-19 infection, more severe axon pathology, axon losses, and microvasculopathy were found in the olfactory tissue than in those who died without COVID-19 infection, suggesting COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction may be permanent. These are the findings of a postmortem study published in JAMA Neurology. SARS-CoV-2 is associated with a range of symptoms with the most common nonrespiratory symptom presenting as olfactory dysfunction. As the pandemic is still recent, it remains unclear how long COVID-19 symptoms may persist.
4th May 2022 - Neurology Advisor
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 4th May 2022
View this newsletter in fullTime for a fourth Covid vaccine dose? Here's why medical professionals are skeptical
Countries are beginning to offer a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to vulnerable groups, but medical professionals are undecided on whether it would benefit the wider population. The U.S. FDA has so far authorized a fourth shot only for those aged 50 and above, as well as those who are immunocompromised. And the U.S. CDC was skeptical of the need for a fourth dose for healthy adults in the absence of a clearer public health strategy. Those decisions came as a study from Israel found that although a fourth dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offers protection against serious illness for at least six weeks after the shot, it provides only short-lived protection against infection, which wanes after just four weeks.
3rd May 2022 - CNBC
Covid-19 news: Cognitive impairment equivalent to 20 years of ageing
People hospitalised with covid-19 may lose 10 IQ points, equivalent to the natural cognitive decline that occurs between 50 and 70 years old. Covid-19 can cause lasting cognitive and mental health issues, including brain fog, fatigue and even post-traumatic stress disorder. To better understand the scale of the problem, researchers at the University of Cambridge analysed 46 people who were hospitalised due to the infection between March and July 2020. The participants underwent cognitive tests on average six months after their initial illness. These results were compared against those of more than 66,000 people from the general population.
3rd May 2022 - New Scientist
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 3rd May 2022
View this newsletter in fullU.S. Seeks 'Urgent' Data on Covid Relapses After Using Pfizer's Drug
U.S. government researchers are planning studies of how often and why coronavirus levels rebound in some Covid patients who have completed a five-day course of treatment with Pfizer Inc.’s Paxlovid. “It is a priority,” said Clifford Lane, deputy director for clinical research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, calling the issue “a pretty urgent thing for us to get a handle on.” The agency is discussing a variety of possible epidemiological and clinical studies to examine post-Paxlovid rebound with scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said. The demand for answers is rising as Paxlovid has become a key element of the Biden administration’s pandemic approach, with the drug being made available at pharmacies nationwide. Among other questions the NIH hopes to get a better handle on is how often viral rebounds occur after five days of Paxlovid treatment, who’s at risk for relapse, and whether it could be avoided with a longer regimen.
30th Apr 2022 - Bloomberg
Better Vaccines Are in Sight — for the Next Pandemic
Arcturus Therapeutics, a San Diego biotech company, may have just laid out a template for how to make vaccines for the next pandemic. Its new vaccine, which uses self-copying mRNA, appears to work well against current strains of Covid. It’s just that the product is coming in too late to matter in the current pandemic. But data from a large clinical trial suggest the technology should be explored for the next one — and it may have many other uses, too. In a study that enrolled more than 16,000 people, Arcturus’s “self-amplifying” mRNA vaccine was 95% protective against severe disease and death and about 55% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid.
2nd May 2022 - Bloomberg
Pfizer’s Covid-19 Pill Failed Study Testing Its Preventive Use
The Covid-19 pill from Pfizer Inc. failed to prevent symptomatic infections in adults who had been exposed to the pandemic virus, a late-stage study found. Pfizer said Friday that the drug, named Paxlovid, failed the study’s main objective of meaningfully reducing the risk of confirmed and symptomatic Covid-19 infections in adults who were exposed to the virus by someone in their household. Paxlovid was cleared for use in December by U.S. health regulators to treat people 12 years and older early in the course of their disease who are at high risk of developing severe Covid-19.
30th Apr 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 29th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudy shows public health impact of covid-19 vaccines in the U.S.
A large US study published by The BMJ today finds that fewer people die from covid-19 in better vaccinated communities. The findings, based on data across 2,558 counties in 48 US states, show that counties with high vaccine coverage had a more than 80% reduction in death rates compared with largely unvaccinated counties. This large benefit complements the growing body of evidence indicating individual level benefits of covid-19 vaccination. A linked editorial also proposes that encouraging people to keep up to date with vaccination saves lives. As of 11 April 2022, more than 11 billion covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally and the World Health Organization's target is to vaccinate 70% of the world's population by mid-2022.
28th Apr 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Covid-19: Highly vaccinated communities see far fewer deaths - study
High vaccination rates reduced Covid-19 deaths by more than 80% compared with places with low vaccine uptake, according to a major study of cases in the United States. The researchers, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), looked at infections of the Alpha and Delta strains, and deaths from these strains, across more than 2,500 US counties during 2021. They compared places where the number of adults who had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine was very low (<10%), low (10-39%), medium (40-69%), and high (>70%) and found as vaccine rate increased, death rates and infections from the virus fell away dramatically.
28th Apr 2022 - Stuff.co.nz
Measles cases surge nearly 80% in wake of Covid chaos, with fears other diseases could follow
In the short term, if the goal is to stop transmission when cases are rising and enhance society’s transition to more normal activities, boosters could conceivably help. “If you can quickly boost a bunch of people at the cusp of a surge, you might be able to flatten that curve,” Swift says. She notes, however, that boosters only temporarily slow the spread of infection. Adding to the public’s risk calculation fatigue, many airlines lifted mask requirements last week after a federal judge ruled that a mask mandate on public transportation is unlawful. (The Department of Justice has since appealed that ruling.) “It feels like a mixed message to people to say, ‘Get your booster but stop wearing masks,’” Swift says. “It’s been such a quagmire.”
28th Apr 2022 - The Guardian
Moderna files for U.S. authorization of COVID shot for kids under 6
Moderna Inc said it asked U.S. regulators to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of 6, which would make it the first shot against the coronavirus available for those under 5-years-old. The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE is authorized for children 5 and older. But their trial results for 2- to 4-year-olds showed a weaker immune response than in adults, forcing the study to be extended to test a third dose. Pfizer has said that data would come in April.
28th Apr 2022 - Reuters
European studies shed light on long COVID risk and recovery
A trio of new observational studies from Europe describes long COVID prevalence in Luxembourg, the effect of initial infection severity on risk in Sweden, and an occupational therapy program to ease symptoms in Ireland. The research was presented at the annual congress of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) in Portugal, which ended yesterday.
28th Apr 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 28th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullMeasles cases jump 79% in 2022 after COVID hit vaccination campaigns
Measles cases jumped by 79% in the first two months of this year compared to 2021, after COVID-19 and lockdowns disrupted child vaccination campaigns around the world, according to data from UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). In January and February, there were 17,338 measles cases reported worldwide, up from 9,665 in the same period last year. Measles is a very contagious disease that can be particularly dangerous for young children and babies. It spreads more quickly than Ebola, flu or COVID-19.
28th Apr 2022 - Reuters
More than half of Americans have had Covid, including three of four children
More than half of Americans show signs of a previous Covid-19 infection, including three out of every four children, according to a new report released on Tuesday.
The findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) come after researchers examined blood samples from more than 200,000 Americans and looked for virus-fighting antibodies made from infections, not vaccines. They found that signs of past infection rose dramatically between December and February, when the more contagious Omicron variant surged through the US.
27th Apr 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 27th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullMore Than Half of People in U.S. Likely Had Covid-19, CDC Says
Nearly 60% of people in the U.S., including three in four children, exhibited signs of previous Covid-19 infection as of February, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report said. The estimated proportion of people in the U.S. with detectable, infection-induced antibodies jumped from 34% in December 2021 to 58% by February 2022, according to a study the CDC released Tuesday, highlighting the reach of the winter Omicron surge that washed over the country.
“We do believe that there is a lot of protection in the community both from vaccination, as well as from boosting and from prior infection,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. “Those who have detectable antibodies from prior infection, we still continue to encourage them to get vaccinated.”
26th Apr 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 26th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullEffect of nations' COVID restrictions on mental health varied by type, group
An international team led by a Simon Fraser University researcher in Canada assessed the stringency of daily public health policies using the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker and psychological distress and life evaluations using the Imperial College London-YouGov COVID 19 Behaviour Tracker Global Survey. Respondents from 15 countries were tracked from Apr 27, 2020, to Jun 28, 2021, when most participants weren't fully vaccinated. They completed the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) and the single-question Cantril Ladder every 2 weeks. Included countries were Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The researchers also studied a subset of the Nordic countries, with Sweden following a mitigation strategy, and Denmark, Finland, and Norway adopting an elimination approach. Australia, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea pursued a COVID-elimination strategy, while the remainder took a mitigation approach.
22nd Apr 2022 - CIDRAP
Unvaccinated people increase risk of COVID-19 infection among vaccinated: new study
Even with high immunization rates, unvaccinated people threaten the safety of people vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, suggests a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. “We’ve really tended to forget that we’re in a pandemic of a communicable disease, which means that our actions affect those around us,” Dr. David Fisman, the study’s coauthor and professor of epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, told Global News.
25th Apr 2022 - Global News
Only 29% of UK Covid hospital patients recover within a year
Fewer than one in three people who have been hospitalised with Covid-19 have fully recovered a year after they succumbed to infection. That is the shock finding of a survey into the impact of long Covid in the UK. The team of scientists and doctors at Leicester University also found that women had poorer recovery rates than men after hospitalisation, while obesity was also likely to hinder a person’s prospects of health improvements. Among the symptoms reported by patients a year after their initial infection were fatigue, muscle pain, poor sleep and breathlessness. “Given that more than 750,000 people have been hospitalised in the UK with Covid-19 over the past two years, it is clear from our research that the legacy of this disease is going to be huge,” said Rachael Evans, one of the study’s authors.
25th Apr 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 25th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullLong Covid May Be Result of Coronavirus Persisting in Feces
Covid-19 patients can harbor the coronavirus in their feces for months after infection, researchers found, stoking concern that its persistence can aggravate the immune system and cause long Covid symptoms. In the largest study tracking SARS-CoV-2 RNA in feces and Covid symptoms, scientists at California’s Stanford University found that about half of infected patients shed traces of the virus in their waste in the week after infection and almost 4% patients still emit them seven months later.
23rd Apr 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 22nd Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullAntibody response to Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine over 6 months
The binding responses and temporal dynamics of antibodies elicited against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) due to vaccination must be fully understood to design future vaccination strategies. A new study published in PLoS ONE characterizes the antibody response to BNT162b2, the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. This study analyzes the temporal dynamics of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibody response to five different SARS-CoV-2 epitopes over a period of six months after vaccination.
21st Apr 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Novavax publishes positive initial data for first combined Covid and flu vaccine
Novavax has published the first clinical data for a combined Covid-19 and flu vaccine, with promising initial findings that a two-in-one shot could be safe and effective. The trial, conducted in Australia, studied the combined shot in almost 650 people aged 50 to 70. An initial analysis found that their immune responses were similar to that for Novavax’s standalone Covid-19 vaccine and its flu vaccine candidate, which is waiting for regulatory approval. The safety profile was also similar to the individual vaccines, with no serious adverse events.
21st Apr 2022 - Financial Times
Third Covid-19 vaccine dose offers ‘prolonged immune response’ – UK-wide study
A UK-wide study has found a prolonged immune response from third doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The Cov-Boost study, led by the University Hospital Southampton (UHS), compared immune responses to seven vaccines used as a booster 28 days after participants had received two initial doses of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines. The latest findings, published online in the Journal of Infection, show “strong immune responses” are still seen 84 days after third jabs, with five of the Covid-19 vaccines currently approved for use in the UK (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen and Novavax vaccines). Of these vaccines, only three – Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca – have been used in the UK booster programme.
21st Apr 2022 - The Independent
Nearly half of those recovering from coronavirus infection endure ‘long Covid’ symptoms, study finds
An analysis of data from 50 studies looking at 1.6 million people suggests that as much as 43 per cent of those infected with the coronavirus experienced post-Covid conditions, pointing to the need for better diagnosis and care for “long Covid” patients. Post-Covid conditions are clinically defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as mid- and long-term symptoms – also known as long Covid – occurring in individuals after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The research, published this week in the Journal of Infectious Disease, assessed 23 symptoms reported across 36 of the studies and found that shortness of breath, sleep problems, and joint pain was widely reported by those who had recovered from the novel coronavirus infection.
21st Apr 2022 - The Independent
Covid-19: Has the spread of omicron BA.2 made antibody treatments redundant?
Drug regulators are reviewing authorisations for monoclonal antibody treatments just months after they were issued. Elisabeth Mahase asks what the future holds for this class of biologicals The US Food and Drug Administration has removed its authorisation for anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody treatment sotrovimab because of concerns that it is ineffective against the omicron subvariant BA.2, which is now dominant in the US. The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) authorised sotrovimab for high risk over 12s with mild to moderate covid-19 in December 20212 after reporting that a single dose, given as an intravenous infusion over 30 minutes, reduced the risk of hospital admission and death by 79% in high risk adults with symptomatic covid-19. The regulator has told The BMJ that it is also now reviewing the treatment to see if the “benefit-risk balance remains favourable.” Laura Squire, the MHRA’s chief officer for healthcare access and quality, said, “We are in contact with the FDA and are looking closely at the data supporting their decision.”
21st Apr 2022 - The BMJ
COVID-19 vaccines do not heighten heart inflammation risk in most individuals
Recent studies have suggested that COVID-19 vaccines may increase the risk of heart inflammation, which can be potentially fatal. A meta-analysis synthesizing data from 22 previous studies suggests that the risk of heart inflammation after a COVID-19 vaccine was similar to that following vaccination against other diseases.
Males and individuals under the age of 30 were at a higher risk of heart inflammation, especially after the second dose. These results suggest that the risk of heart inflammation after having a COVID-19 vaccine is generally low, supporting previous data about their safety.
21st Apr 2022 - Medical News Today
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 21st Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullThe impact of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance on the population of England
The study findings highlight that hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccination can significantly increase the rate of COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths in England. Importantly, the study predicts that the observed severity of COVID-19 could be reduced significantly if the majority of unvaccinated people, who are resistant to COVID-19 vaccination, agree to receive full vaccination.
20th Apr 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Nearly every adult in Scotland has Covid-19 antibodies, Office for National Statistics estimates say
Nearly every adult in Scotland would have tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies, official estimates have found. At the end of March, 99% of those over 15 years old are estimated to have developed the infection-fighting molecules, the Office for National Statistics said. This is higher than in both England and Wales. The measurement shows the impact of coronavirus infections and the vaccine programme.
20th Apr 2022 - STV News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 20th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullGlobal data reveal half may have long COVID 4 months on
Worldwide, 49% of COVID-19 survivors reported persistent symptoms 4 months after diagnosis, estimates a meta-analysis of 31 studies published late last week in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. University of Michigan researchers, who conducted a systematic review on Jul 5, 2021, also found the prevalence of long COVID at 1 month at 37%, while it was 25% at 2 months and 32% at 3 months. Fifty studies were identified in the review, and 41 were included in a quantitative synthesis, and 31 reporting overall prevalence were meta-analyzed. The 50 studies included a total of 1,680,003 COVID-19 patients, including those who were hospitalized (67,161 patients from 22 studies), nonhospitalized (4,165 from 5 studies), and any COVID-19 patients, regardless of hospitalization status (1,608,677 from 23 studies).
18th Apr 2022 - CIDRAP
Omicron Covid Wave Hit Unvaccinated Children Hardest: CDC
Almost 90% of U.S. children hospitalized for Covid during the omicron wave this winter were unvaccinated, according to a government study. Omicron caused a record-breaking number of pediatric hospitalizations from December to February, and national data on hundreds of kids aged 5 to 11 highlight the importance of vaccinating them, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in the report. “Increasing vaccination coverage among children, particularly among racial and ethnic minority groups disproportionately affected by Covid-19, is critical to preventing Covid-19-associated hospitalization and severe outcomes,” the CDC said.
20th Apr 2022 - Bloomberg
Getting covid-19 over 50 increases the risk of getting shingles
People 50 and older who have had a mild case of covid-19 are 15 percent more likely to develop shingles (herpes zoster) within six month than are those who have not been infected by the coronavirus, according to research published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases . The risk, however, was found to be even greater for older people who were hospitalized because of a more severe covid case, making them 21 percent more likely to develop shingles than those who did not have covid. The findings stem from data on roughly 2 million people — nearly 400,000 diagnosed with covid-19 and 1.6 million who had no coronavirus infection. Shingles is an outbreak of a painful rash or blisters on the skin, most often occurring on one side of the torso.
19th Apr 2022 - The Washington Post
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 19th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudy shows 99% on Indonesia's most populous island have COVID antibodies
Almost all residents of Indonesia's most populous island of Java have antibodies against COVID-19, owing to a combination of prior infection and vaccination against the virus, a government-commissioned survey showed. The March study of 2,100 people, conducted on Java, home to 150 million people, and Bali, Indonesia's top tourism destination, revealed 99.2% of people had COVID antibodies, a 6 percentage point increase from a December survey. Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, which conducted the survey with the health ministry, on Monday told Reuters the antibody levels in the latest survey were higher due to a wider booster shot rollout, as recipients had stronger protection.
18th Apr 2022 - Reuters
The case for testing Pfizer's Paxlovid for treating long COVID
Reports of two patients who found relief from long COVID after taking Pfizer Inc's antiviral Paxlovid, including a researcher who tested it on herself, provide intriguing evidence for clinical trials to help those suffering from the debilitating condition, experts and advocates say. The researcher said her chronic fatigue symptoms, which "felt like a truck hit me," are gone after taking the two-drug oral therapy.
Long COVID is a looming health crisis, estimated to affect up to 30% of people infected with the coronavirus.
18th Apr 2022 - Reuters
Omicron-specific Sinopharm, Sinovac COVID vaccine candidates cleared for clinical trial
COVID-19 vaccine candidates developed by a Sinopharm subsidiary and Sinovac Biotech (SVA.O) to target the Omicron variant were approved for clinical trials in Hong Kong, the companies said on Saturday. Scientists worldwide are racing to study upgraded injections against Omicron, as data indicated that antibodies elicited by vaccines based on older strains show weaker activity to neutralise the highly transmissible variant.
18th Apr 2022 - Reuters
Pfizer Says Covid-19 Booster in Children Ages 5 to 11 Sparked Immune Response Against Omicron
A booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE Inc. generated a strong immune response in children 5 to 11 years old, an encouraging sign for youngsters to maintain protection against the virus. The companies said Thursday that a late-stage study of a booster found the extra shot significantly increased antibody levels against the Omicron variant. The shot also raised antibody supply against the initial strain the vaccines were designed to fight. The booster shot was found to be safe and well-tolerated among the children in the study, the companies said. The results haven’t been peer-reviewed by independent experts or published in a medical journal. Separate studies have found that adults who receive a third dose of mRNA vaccines are less likely to become infected, or to develop severe disease, than those who got two doses.
15th Apr 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Fourth shot protects against severe Omicron outcomes; COVID may increase risk of rare eye blood clots
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Fourth vaccine dose protects vs Omicron for at least a month. A fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech provided significant added protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death for at least a month in older individuals, according to a study from Israel conducted when the Omicron variant was dominant. The estimated effectiveness of the fourth dose during days 7 to 30 after it was administered compared with a third dose given at least fourth months earlier was 45% against infection, 55% for symptomatic disease.
15th Apr 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 14th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullCDC study highlights effectiveness of COVID-19 booster vaccination against reinfection and hospitalization
SARS-CoV-2, the causative pathogen of COVID-19 pandemic, is a deadly member of the human beta-coronavirus family. The virus has so far caused more than 497 million infections and 6.1 million deaths worldwide. Among various variants of SARS-CoV-2, the most recently emerged omicron variant has been found to have high immune evasion ability, leading to a global rise in breakthrough infections. There is real-world evidence indicating that previous SARS-CoV-2 infection could provide 90% protection against reinfection and related hospitalization. However, because of the immune evasion potency of the omicron variant, a considerable reduction in infection-mediated protection has been observed globally during the omicron-dominated wave. In the current study, the scientists have estimated the effectiveness of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines in providing protection against reinfection-related hospitalization among previously infected adult individuals.
13th Apr 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Researchers developing Covid vaccine for immunocompromised people
A couple months before the pandemic started, Joseph Ford started experiencing a rash of pinpoint polka dots around his lips, ankles, and lower legs. They were itchy, inflamed, painful, and, for him, the first signs of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. “Petechiae,” he explained. Just as he was starting to deal with that, Covid-19 changed the world. “Go home and stay there,” Ford, a 77-year-old retired librarian in Tumwater, Wash., recalled a physician telling him as Covid hollowed out society. “You won’t survive a Covid infection.” That advice has largely remained unchanged over the last two years for the millions who, like Ford, are immunocompromised and haven’t produced adequate — or any — antibodies from the Covid-19 vaccines. But researchers at the University Hospital Tübingen are designing a vaccine to elicit a deeper T cell response than the currently approved vaccines by targeting several key points on viral proteins — epitopes — that are good at stirring up immune T cells.
13th Apr 2022 - STAT News
Convalescent plasma use reduces hospitalisation in unvaccinated COVID-19 patients
Convalescent plasma use in people unvaccinated against COVID-19 significantly reduced the need for hospitalisation due to disease progression, according to a US study. Convalescent plasma (CP) use in people unvaccinated against COVID-19 within 9 days of symptom onset, led to a significant reduction in the proportion of individuals requiring hospital admission due to disease progression. This was the conclusion of a randomised, double-blind, controlled trial by a multidisciplinary group of researchers from New York, US.
13th Apr 2022 - Hospital Healthcare Europe
Nearly 86% of U.S. COVID caused by BA.2 Omicron subvariant -CDC
The BA.2 Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus is now responsible for 86% of U.S. COVID-19 cases and more than 90% of infections in the Northeast, according to data on Tuesday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
COVID-19 infections have been back on the rise during the last few weeks, particularly in Northeast states such as New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, although overall cases have dropped sharply nationally since hitting record levels in January, according to data from the agency. A resurgence in COVID-19 cases in parts of Asia and Europe has raised concerns that another wave could follow in the United States, as has been the case with previous surges during the pandemic.
13th Apr 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 13th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID-19 household transmission is high, with children being a significant source of spread, study finds
A study released today indicates that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) spreads extensively in households, with children being a significant source of that spread. Approximately 50% of household members were infected from the first-infected individual during the study period. Although kids were less likely to spread the virus compared to adults, children and adults were equally likely to become infected from the first-infected individual.
12th Apr 2022 - Science Daily
Heart inflammation after Covid vaccine ‘no more common than after other jabs’
Heart inflammation after a Covid jab is not only rare but no more common than after other types of vaccinations, researchers have found. As Covid vaccination programmes began around the world it emerged that some people – particularly young men – subsequently developed myocarditis, a type of inflammation of the heart muscle, or pericarditis, inflammation of the outer lining of the heart. While cases were rare, the findings caused concern, with risk of such heart inflammation among the reasons cited by experts in the UK for the delay in expanding the vaccination programme to children. Now research suggests that myopericarditis – an umbrella term that encompasses myocarditis and pericarditis – is not only uncommon after Covid jabs, but the risk of developing it is no greater than that posed by other types of inoculations, such as flu vaccinations.
12th Apr 2022 - The Guardian
Even mild COVID-19 raises the risk of blood clots
A new nationwide study conducted in Sweden reports that individuals with COVID-19 were at greater risk of developing a blood clot at least up to 3 months after the infection. Although individuals hospitalized with severe COVID-19 were at the highest risk of developing blood clots, even those with mild COVID-19 were at increased risk of blood clots. The study highlights the importance of treatments to reduce blood clots, especially in high risk COVID-19 patients, and vaccination against COVID-19.
12th Apr 2022 - Medical News Today
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 12th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullCovid nasal spray could replace vaccine jabs as scientists rethink fight against virus
As the omicron variant of the coronavirus moved lightning-fast around the world, it revealed an unsettling truth. The virus had gained a stunning ability to infect people, jumping from one person’s nose to the next. Cases soared this winter, even among vaccinated people. That is leading scientists to rethink their strategy about the best way to fight future variants, by aiming for a higher level of protection: blocking infections altogether. If they succeed, the next vaccine could be a nasal spray. The original coronavirus shots proved remarkably versatile, protecting people from the worst outcomes of Covid-19.
11th Apr 2022 - The Independent
Heart issues after COVID-19 uncommon in children and young adults, more research needed
Heart complications are uncommon, yet treatable for children and young adults after COVID-19 disease or SARS-CoV-2 infection, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association that details what has been learned about how to treat, manage and even prevent cardiovascular complications from the SARS-CoV-2 virus in youth. The statement published today in the Association's flagship journal Circulation. The latest data also indicate returning to sports and strenuous physical activities after heart symptoms resolve is safe, though additional screening may be considered for youth who experience more severe symptoms.
11th Apr 2022 - Medical Xpress
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 11th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudy finds U.S. COVID-19 vaccinations averted 2.2 million deaths
A new study published Friday found COVID-19 vaccinations have prevented 2.2 million deaths in the United States. The Commonwealth Fund study said 17 million hospitalizations were averted by the vaccines between December 12, 2020, and March 31, 2022. More than $899 billion was saved in healthcare costs due to the vaccines, according to the Commonwealth Fund study. The study found there would have been 66 million more COVID-19 infections without the vaccinations.
10th Apr 2022 - UPI.com
In Early Testing, Nasal Spray Shows Signs It Can Fight COVID-19
Over two years into the pandemic, researchers are still searching for new and better ways to help people avoid COVID-19. While COVID-19 vaccines and boosters have been helpful at protecting people from severe hospitalization and death, they have been less effective at preventing symptomatic cases of the disease. Now researchers are looking at novel ways to keep COVID-19 from infecting human cells. ResearchersTrusted Source at Cornell University have been testing a nasal spray that blocks COVID-19 infection. Their study discovered a small molecule that, if sprayed into the nose, may help prevent COVID-19 from infecting cells. The study is still in its early stages and is currently only being tested in mice. But experts are hopeful that this type of study may help lead to better protection against the virus.
9th Apr 2022 - Healthline
COVID-19: Damage to heart's pacemaker cells may explain arrhythmia
A new studyTrusted Source exploring the link between SARS-CoV-2 infection and irregularities in heart rate and rhythm (arrhythmia) is shedding light on how the virus causes disruption in the body’s cardiovascular system. The research, reported in the journal Circulation Research, explores recent findings that heart abnormalities are a common symptom of COVID-19 and could be a consequence of SARS-CoV-2 affecting the specialized pacemaker cells of the heart. The research was carried out by a team from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, which included Shuibing Chen, Ph.D., associate professor of surgery, chemical biology, and biochemistry; Robert Schwartz, MD, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine; and Todd Evans, Ph.D., professor and vice-chair for research, in addition to Benjamin tenOever, Ph.D., a faculty member at the Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health at New York University.
9th Apr 2022 - Medical News Today
COVID-19: Omicron symptoms less severe than Delta variant, study concludes
The research concluded that those with Omicron were less likely to be admitted to hospital and lose their sense of smell than people with Delta. Symptoms do not tend to last as long in vaccinated individuals with the current dominant variant than in people with Delta, at 6.87 days versus 8.89 days. The findings support earlier studies that suggest the incubation time and period of infectiousness for Omicron is shorter than for previous COVID strains. Research showed that the loss of sense of smell appeared in 52.7% of Delta cases, while it showed up in less than 20% of Omicron cases - marking the biggest difference between the two.
9th Apr 2022 - Sky News
Study sheds light on death spike in Hong Kong COVID-19 surge
Hong Kong's surge began in early January with a cluster of Omicron infections in a quarantine hotel. Its fifth wave peaked on Mar 4, along with a mortality rate of 37.7 per million population that was among the highest in the world during the pandemic.
Officials reported 5,906 deaths as of Mar 21 during the Omicron surge. Of eligible people in Hong Kong, 64% had received at least two vaccube doses and 5% had gotten a booster dose, but coverage varied by age. Only 49% of people ages 60 and older had gotten at least two doses, with coverage declining as people got older. Among the deaths, 96% occurred in people ages 60 and older, and of those 70% were unvaccinated. "The high overall mortality rate during the ongoing 2022 Hong Kong Omicron COVID-19 outbreak is being driven by deaths among unvaccinated persons aged ≥60 years," the team wrote. In weighing other factors, the team compared Hong Kong's surge with New Zealand, which has a lower population density but, like Hong Kong, was thought to largely have vaccine-induced immunity due to vaccination combined with low infection levels during earlier waves.
8th Apr 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 8th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullEMA and ECDC publish advice on fourth doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) COVID-19 task force (ETF) has decided not to recommend a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose for the general population of the EU at this time. This decision was made in conjunction with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The fourth doses that were being considered are Pfizer’s Comirnaty and Moderna’s Spikevax – both mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. However, both agencies agreed that adults aged 80 years and above can be given a fourth dose – or second booster – following data reviews. These reviews would evaluate the higher risk of severe COVID-19 in this particular age group and the protection benefits offered from a fourth dose
7th Apr 2022 - PMLiVE
Study finds vaccines effectively reduce deaths from COVID-19 but not the prevalence of infections
Researchers in Australia have investigated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine effectiveness on the prevalence and mortality of the Delta variant. They found that countries with more vaccine coverage suffer from less mortality. However, the case numbers remain high, eventually leading to outbreaks. The team attributes the scenario to the fact that the countries with more vaccine coverage are at the same time the most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection.
7th Apr 2022 - News-Medical.Net
An assessment of COVID-19 vaccine safety during pregnancy
In a recent study posted to the Preprints with The Lancet* SSRN preprint server, researchers evaluated the safety of currently administered coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in child-bearing women. The distinct physiological changes in the cardiopulmonary and immune systems occurring in pregnancy increase the susceptibility of pregnant women to severe outcomes [intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and ventilation requirements) following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. However, the safety data of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines during pregnancy is lacking and needs to be further evaluated to guide advisory and public committees and aid in developing health policies.
7th Apr 2022 - News-Medical.Net
COVID vaccine plus infection can lead to months of immunity
Even people who have had COVID-19 receive long-lasting benefits from a full course of vaccination, according to three recent studies1–3. What's more, one of the studies3 found that the ‘hybrid’ immunity caused by vaccination and infection is long-lasting, conferring highly effective protection against symptomatic disease for at least six to eight months after vaccination. The data were collected before the Omicron variant emerged, casting some doubt on the studies’ relevance today. But if the findings hold up, they could inform vaccination schemes and vaccine passports, which some countries require for entry to places such as restaurants. The work also counters high-profile claims that people who have had COVID-19 don’t benefit from vaccination.
7th Apr 2022 - Nature
U.K. Covid Cases at Highest Level as Immunity Wanes, Study Finds
Covid-19 infections in England reached their highest level in March since the pandemic began, driven by the omicron subvariant BA.2 and waning immunity among older adults, according to a new study. The overall Covid prevalence rate more than doubled last month from February when infection rates were falling from the omicron-led January peak, the React-1 study led by Imperial College London found. Since then the emergence of BA.2 -- a more-transmissible version of omicron- has accelerated new infections and become the dominant strain in England, accounting for about 90% of the samples that tested positive. The higher infection rates may result in an increase in hospitalizations despite the higher levels of vaccination among the population, said Paul Elliott, director of the React program, and chair in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine, Imperial College London.
6th Apr 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 7th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullRare vaccine-related blood clots tied to gene; concentrated antibodies may help the immunosuppressed
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Vaccine-related blood clots tied to gene, antibody variants. New research may help shed light on a rare but serious blood-clotting problem associated with the COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson . Five unrelated people with this clotting complication, known as vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, all had unusually-structured antibodies against a protein called PF4 that is involved in blood clotting, the researchers found.
6th Apr 2022 - Reuters
Protection against infection offered by fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose wanes quickly, Israeli study finds
A fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine seems to offer short-lived protection against infection overall, but protection against severe illness did not wane for at least several weeks, according to a new study. The study, published Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at the health records of more than 1.25 million vaccinated people in Israel who were 60 or older from January through March 2022, a time when the Omicron coronavirus variant was the dominant strain.
6th Apr 2022 - CNN
Current COVID vaccines not 'well-matched' against BA.2 -FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is aiming to come up with a decision on coronavirus strain selection for the composition of future COVID-19 boosters by June, as a panel of its advisers met on Wednesday to discuss the issue. "We should be thinking of a May to June time frame here," said Peter Marks, director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, during the meeting, adding that there is some wiggle room. The panel of outside experts was convened to discuss how and whether to use additional vaccine boosters after data from Israel showed a fourth dose lowered rates of severe COVID among older people.
6th Apr 2022 - Reuters
UK Covid Cases Hit Peak on BA.2 Omicron, Waning Immunity: Study
Covid-19 infections in England reached their highest level in March since the pandemic began, driven by the omicron subvariant BA.2 and waning immunity among older adults, according to a new study. The overall Covid prevalence rate more than doubled last month from February when infection rates were falling from the omicron-led January peak, the React-1 study led by Imperial College London found. Since then the emergence of BA.2 -- a more-transmissible version of omicron- has accelerated new infections and become the dominant strain in England, accounting for about 90% of the samples that tested positive. The higher infection rates may result in an increase in hospitalizations despite the higher levels of vaccination among the population, said Paul Elliott, director of the React program, and chair in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine, Imperial College London.
6th Apr 2022 - Bloomberg
COVID vaccine in early pregnancy not tied to birth defects
Maternal COVID-19 vaccination in early pregnancy is not associated with fetal abnormalities detectable on ultrasound, finds a study yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics.
The retrospective study, conducted by Northwestern University and Penn State College of Medicine researchers, used electronic medical records to identify any link between COVID-19 vaccination in early pregnancy and the risk of major fetal structural abnormalities on ultrasound. Major structural fetal abnormalities were defined as those identifiable on ultrasound in the second semester (18 to 24 weeks' gestation) that may affect the newborn's life expectancy, health, or functioning. Examples included malformation of the heart or spine. Functional defects were excluded from the study because they can't be assessed using ultrasound, the researchers said. "If the baby's heart isn't forming correctly, that could lead to the baby needing major cardiac surgery or long-term medication," senior author Emily Miller, MD, MPH, said in a Northwestern University news release.
5th Apr 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 6th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullCould computer models be the key to better COVID vaccines?
When Moderna joined the hunt for a coronavirus vaccine in early 2020, the company had only limited clinical experience with its technology. Scientists had tested the company’s messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines against a few viruses, such as avian influenza and Zika, in humans. They found that the highest dose levels — upwards of 300 micrograms — often triggered undesirable side effects. The lowest doses (around 10 µg) did not always elicit a sufficient immune response. There seemed to be a happy medium: in a two-dose vaccine for another respiratory virus with pandemic potential1, a new strain of bird flu, the sweet spot was around 100 µg. So, it made intuitive sense for Moderna, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and its collaborators at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland, to try something similar to tackle SARS-CoV-2.
5th Apr 2022 - Nature
Omicron sub-variant BA.2 makes up 72% of COVID variants in U.S. - CDC
The U.S. national public health agency said on Monday the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron was estimated to account for nearly three of every four coronavirus variants in the country. Overall COVID-19 cases in the United States have dropped sharply after hitting record levels in January, but a resurgence in cases in parts of Asia and Europe has raised concerns that another wave could follow in the United States. The country's health experts, however, believe it is unlikely. The seven-day moving average of U.S. COVID cases was 26,106 as of April 1, marginally lower than 26,309 from a week earlier, as per data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
5th Apr 2022 - Reuters
Covid-19 first-of-its-kind study saw volunteers infected for science
The first “controlled investigation” of Covid-19 has been carried out and it has allowed researchers to dispel a widespread myth about the way people become infected. The human challenge study involved people being deliberately infected with a virus — in this case it was SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
The study, published last week in the journal Nature Medicine, found that only the most minuscule amount of the virus is needed to infect a person — as much as a single airborne droplet from a person sneezing, coughing or talking. It also found that, despite what most people have been told, viral shedding and transmissibility occur at high levels when a person is infected regardless of whether they have severe or mild symptoms.
5th Apr 2022 - News.com.au
China Variants and Omicron XE Put Fresh Focus on Covid Mutations
The disclosure of new Covid variants emerging in China and the rise of a potentially more transmissible strain in the U.K. has recast the spotlight on the ongoing risk of the virus, even as health experts say there’s no reason to panic. The World Health Organization said a hybrid of two omicron strains -- BA.1 and BA.2 -- that was first detected in the U.K. and dubbed XE could be the most transmissible variant yet. It is estimated to spread 10% more easily than BA.2, which itself was more transmissible than the original omicron famous for its ease of penetration.
4th Apr 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 5th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullGilead's remdesivir fails to show benefit in European trial; no fetus risk seen with first trimester vaccination
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Two promising drugs for COVID-19 fail to deliver. Two drugs that looked like promising treatments for COVID-19 in preliminary studies - remdesivir for hospitalized patients and camostat for patients who are not seriously ill - failed to show a benefit in those groups in randomized controlled trials, researchers reported in two separate papers.
4th Apr 2022 - Reuters
Study: Vaccine protects most cancer patients from COVID, but risk remains higher for patients with blood cancers
Using the nation’s largest COVID-19 data resource, a researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center found the COVID-19 vaccine protected most cancer patients from getting COVID. However, patients with certain types of cancer have a higher and widely varied risk of breakthrough COVID infections after receiving the COVID vaccine. Jing Su, PhD, assistant professor in the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Biostatistics was the lead investigator for the study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He is also the core associate director of real-world data for the cancer center’s Biostatistics and Data Management Core. Su led a team of 13 investigators from 10 research institutes across the country to analyze data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) at the National Institutes of Health, including another researcher at IU School of Medicine, Xiaochun Li, PhD, a professor of biostatistics and health data sciences.
4th Apr 2022 - EurekAlert!
COVID-19 vaccine not associated with birth defects detectable on ultrasound
The exclusion of pregnant patients in initial COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials left many patients and doctors wondering how the vaccine might affect pregnant patients and their unborn babies. A new Northwestern Medicine study has found the vaccine is not associated with birth defects that are detectable on ultrasound.
“This is yet another important piece of data that helps bridge the chasm that was left when pregnant individuals were excluded from those initial vaccine trials,” said corresponding author Dr. Emily Miller, chief of obstetrics at Northwestern Medicine and assistant professor of maternal fetal medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The study will be published April 4 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
4th Apr 2022 - EurekAlert!
COVID-19 led to unprecedented decline in global life expectancy
The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the world’s life expectancy by about 2 years, according to recent estimates published in Population and Development Review. “Since 1950, annual declines of that magnitude had only been observed on rare occasions, such as Cambodia in the 1970s, Rwanda in the 1990s, and possibly some sub-Saharan African nations at the peak of the AIDS pandemic,” wrote Patrick Heuveline, a professor of sociology and the associate director of the California Center for Population Research at UCLA.
4th Apr 2022 - Healio
UK Covid symptoms list expanded with nine more signs of illness
The official list of Covid-19 symptoms on the NHS has been extended to cover nine new symptoms, including sore throat, fatigue and headache. They join the three symptoms of a fever, a new and persistent cough, and a loss or change in taste or smell, according to nhs.uk. Extending the list may help reduce infections by helping people detect whether they may have Covid; however, it coincides with the end of the offer of free universal Covid-19 tests to help people confirm whether they have the virus. Covid infection levels have hit a record high in the UK, with almost 5 million people estimated to be infected.
4th Apr 2022 - The Guardian
Roche says U.S. FDA grants priority review to Actemra for COVID-19
Roche said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug administration granted priority review to its Actemra/RoActemra for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalised adults. "If approved, Actemra/RoActemra would be the first U.S. FDA-approved immunomodulator for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalised patients," Roche said in a statement, adding that more than 1 million people hospitalised with COVID-19 had been treated with Actemra/RoActemra worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic.
4th Apr 2022 - Reuters
New Covid-19 variant Omicron XE found in the UK which is a cross mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 strains
Health experts have confirmed that a new variant of Coronavirus has been found in the United Kingdom. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have said that they are looking at the XE variant - which is a cross mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains that recently swarmed the nation. The new variant is what is technically known as a 'recombinant' according to professionals, however the UKHSA are reported saying that it's too early to know whether it is more transmissible than the previous versions of the virus - reports Wales Online. The officials say that 637 cases of XE have been detected in England alone as of March 22, which would make it a mere fraction of the tens of thousands of total cases being reported daily at the time of writing, The Independent has reported.
4th Apr 2022 - Chronicle Live
CanSinoBIO's mRNA COVID vaccine candidate cleared for trials in China
Chinese vaccine developer CanSino Biologics Inc (CanSinoBIO) said on Monday its potential COVID-19 vaccine using the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology has been approved by China's medical products regulator to enter clinical trials. Unlike other major countries, China is yet to approve any foreign-made mRNA vaccines such as that produced by U.S.-German duo Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and BioNTech SE .
With around 88% of its 1.4 billion population already vaccinated, China is trailing several domestically developed mRNA vaccine candidates, including one candidate that is being tested in a large, Phase 3 clinical trial.
4th Apr 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 4th Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullTwo Chinese mRNA Covid Vaccines Move Toward Clinical Trials
A Chinese company said it’s received approval to start clinical trials of a Covid-19 vaccine based on mRNA technology, while local media reported that another domestic company has applied to start a similar trial. CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. has been approved by China’s medical product regulator to begin a trial of an COVID-19 vaccine named “SYS6006,” it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company said pre-clinical studies demonstrated the vaccine can help neutralize against the omicron variant of coronavirus. It does not need to be stored at below-freezing temperatures, the company said. China has inoculated the majority of its population using domestically-made coronavirus vaccines based on older inactivated virus technology, but authorities have not approved any based on mRNA outside the cities of Hong Kong and Macau.
3rd Apr 2022 - Bloomberg
Vaccination after COVID improves immunity; ivermectin fails in major trial
Vaccination after COVID-19 improves immunity. Although people who recover from COVID-19 usually gain some immune defenses against reinfection, they get additional protection from vaccines, especially against severe disease, according to two studies published on Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
1st Apr 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 1st Apr 2022
View this newsletter in fullNIH begins clinical trial evaluating second COVID-19 booster shots in adults
A Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating various additional COVID-19 booster shots has begun enrolling adult participants in the United States. The trial aims to understand if different vaccine regimens—prototype and variant vaccines alone and in combinations—can broaden immune responses in adults who already have received a primary vaccination series and a first booster shot. The study, known as the COVID-19 Variant Immunologic Landscape (COVAIL) trial, is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
31st Mar 2022 - EurekAlert!
Ivermectin ineffective at preventing COVID-19 in new, large study
A study published on Wednesday found the use of ivermectin to combat COVID-19 did not lead to reduced hospitalization. In Brazil, 3,515 people participated in a study where a group received ivermectin, a group received a placebo and another group received a different form of treatment for COVID-19. The study, posted in The New England Journal of Medicine, says the results concluded ivermectin does not lower the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization. “Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of Covid-19 or of prolonged emergency department observation among outpatients with an early diagnosis of Covid-19,” the study states.
31st Mar 2022 - The Hill
Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine slashes pediatric hospitalization risk -U.S. study
Children ages 5 to 11 who received the Pfizer, BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were 68% less likely to be hospitalized during the Omicron wave in the United States than unvaccinated children, according to a study published on Wednesday. Adolescents aged 12-18 who received two shots of the vaccine were around 40% less likely to be hospitalized with the Omicron variant of the virus, the study led by scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Boston Children's Hospital found. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The risk of more serious outcomes, including need for mechanical breathing assistance or death, was nearly 80% lower for those who received the shots in that age group.
31st Mar 2022 - Reuters
WHO says most likely scenario shows COVID severity will decrease over time
The World Health Organization on Wednesday released an updated plan for COVID-19, laying out three possible scenarios for how the pandemic will evolve this year. "Based on what we know now, the most likely scenario is that the COVID-19 virus continues to evolve, but the severity of disease it causes reduces over time as immunity increases due to vaccination and infection," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a briefing. However, the WHO head cautioned that periodic spikes in cases and deaths may occur as immunity wanes, which may require periodic boosting for vulnerable populations.
31st Mar 2022 - Reuters
Analysis: Governments want COVID vaccine developers to aim higher in hunt for better shots
As governments prepare to live with COVID-19, some are questioning how much to rely on drugmakers to adapt vaccines to ward off future virus variants amid signs of tension between companies and regulators over the best approach, according to several sources familiar with the matter. Some vaccine experts say government agencies should fund and help develop a new generation of COVID shots, and seek innovation from smaller developers, as they did to identify current vaccines.
"We have established a research infrastructure that could do this relatively reasonably rapidly if we primed the pump and created the same kind of plan for second-generation vaccines as we did for the first-generation vaccines," Dr. Larry Corey, a virologist who is overseeing U.S. government-backed COVID vaccine trials, told Reuters.
31st Mar 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 31st Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullHow Does Covid Affect Diabetes, the Brain and Long Covid?
Commenting on Britain’s near-record-high number of Covid cases, the U.K.’s chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, said last Wednesday that we should expect seasonal peaks for the next few years, interspersed with new variants of SARS-CoV-2. As we move into the post-pandemic, living-with-the-virus era, more research is surfacing about the ways even mild Covid cases leave lingering effects on health in some people. Three conditions in particular are capturing scientists’ attention due to the large number of sufferers: increased rates of diabetes, neuropsychological problems, and the illness known as long Covid. Researchers have found associations between Covid infections and each of these issues, but we don’t know enough yet to establish causality. Bloomberg Opinion columnist Therese Raphael and Bloomberg Intelligence senior pharmaceutical analyst Sam Fazeli look at why the long tail of Covid is hard to pin down.
30th Mar 2022 - Bloomberg
Never Had Covid? You May Hold Key To Beating the Virus
More than half of Americans may have never had Covid, according to U.S. government data, leaving scientists wondering whether those who’ve avoided the novel coronavirus might actually be immune to the virus altogether. This could offer new clues into how to attack Covid. At this stage in the pandemic, people may be immune due to vaccines, a past infection, or a combination of both. There’s also evidence that, in rare instances, some people may be Covid-immune without infection or vaccination at all.
30th Mar 2022 - Bloomberg
CureVac and GSK Start Clinical Development of Second-Generation COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate, CV2CoV
CureVac N.V. a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid ("mRNA"), today announced that the first participant was dosed in a Phase 1 study of COVID-19 second-generation mRNA vaccine candidate, CV2CoV, developed in collaboration with GSK. The clinical trial is expected to provide valuable data to further evaluate the performance of CureVac's second-generation mRNA backbone, which has the potential to be applied broadly in future vaccines against COVID-19 variants and other pathogens. A preclinical study of CV2CoV in cynomolgus macaques, published in Nature in November 2021, demonstrated rapid induction of higher antibody titers, better induction of immune memory and stronger protective efficacy of CV2CoV compared to CureVac's first-generation vaccine candidate, CVnCoV. The same study demonstrated comparable neutralizing antibody titers in animals fully vaccinated with either 12µg of CV2CoV or a 30µg standard dose of a licensed mRNA COVID-19 vaccine..
30th Mar 2022 - PharmiWeb
Preclinical investigation of intranasal adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine
The researchers observed antibodies against the S1 and NC antigens in all the animals except those controlled negatively. However, the serological responses varied significantly. Serum IgG titers were significantly elevated in mice receiving vaccines with N3 adjuvant and exhibited nearly a 10-fold increase, and increasing the concentration of anionic L3 to 2% resulted in comparable antibody titers. A similar trend was observed only after the second vaccination for IgA titers, nearly 10-fold higher than the first dose. Microneutralizing antibody titers differed variably across mice receiving different vaccine doses. Mice in groups 5 (1 µg dose + N3 adjuvant) and 6 (0.1 µg + N3 adjuvant) exhibited significantly higher antibody titers. At the same time, those with L3 adjuvants had higher antibody titers than the positive control group. All immunized mice produced IgA antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 antigens in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts.
30th Mar 2022 - News-Medical.Net
COVID-19 vaccines for the youngest children may be inching closer to authorization – a pediatrician explains how they're being tested
For some parents of young children, the wait for COVID-19 vaccines has been long and agonizing. Throughout 2021, vaccines against COVID-19 emerged as the most effective way to prevent severe forms of the disease. Vaccines are currently recommended for everyone 5 years and older in the United States but are not yet available for younger age groups. Though more rare in young children, severe disease leading to hospitalization and even death from COVID-19 can occur. Recent U.S. rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalization in those under 5 have been the highest on record, as a result of the surge in cases from the highly transmissible omicron variant.
30th Mar 2022 - The Conversation
BioNTech to expand trial programme for more anti-Omicron vaccine options
BioNTech has expanded an ongoing clinical trial programme to develop new vaccines and patterns of administration for better protection against the dominant Omicron coronavirus variant as it reported a profit boost from its first-generation shot. The enlargement of its trial programme with partner Pfizer, initially unveiled in January, comes as global COVID-19 cases are on the rise and protection against infection from its established Comirnaty vaccine has waned, though protection against severe disease remains. BioNtech boosted the number of participants in the trial - in which participants' blood will be monitored for immune responses - to 2,150 from the 1,420 announced in January.
30th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Patients with both COVID-19 and influenza four times more likely to need ventilation support, study suggests
Patients infected with both COVID-19 and influenza at the same time are more than four times more likely to require ventilation support and more than twice as likely to die, compared with just having COVID-19, research published in the Lancet has suggested. The study was delivered as part of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium’s Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium; the largest study to look at COVID-19 and other endemic respiratory viruses. The researchers examined the clinical outcomes of 212,466 patients co-infected with COVID-19 and either influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or an adenovirus, who were admitted to hospital in the UK between 6 February 2020 and 8 December 2021.
29th Mar 2022 - The Pharmaceutical Journal
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 30th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullFourth COVID-19 vaccine dose substantially reduces mortality in the elderly
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant was largely responsible for a resurgence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in late 2021. In Israel, a campaign to implement a fourth vaccine or second booster was introduced by the Ministry of Health for those at high risk of infection from this variant who had already received three doses of vaccine. To this end, Israel approved a second booster dose on January 2, 2022, for people aged 60 and older, high-risk groups, and healthcare personnel who had received a first booster dose at least four months prior.
29th Mar 2022 - News-Medical.Net
HIV drugs may lower COVID risk; COVID and flu co-infection raises risk of severe illness, death
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. HIV drugs may curb COVID-19 risk. Certain drugs used to treat HIV may have a role in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections, according to preliminary data that may help explain why people living with the condition have not appeared to be at higher risk for serious COVID-19 despite being generally more vulnerable to infections.
29th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 29th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullCOVID-19 vaccines not tied to adverse pregnancy outcomes
Two studies published yesterday in JAMA, one from Sweden and Norway and one from Ontario, find no link between COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and adverse outcomes. No link to preterm birth, stillbirth, NICU admission
In the first study, a team led by researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm studied 157,521 singleton pregnancies ending after 22 weeks' gestation among vaccinated and unvaccinated pregnant women listed in national birth registries. The study period began Jan 1, 2021, ending on Jan 12, 2022, in Sweden, and 3 days later in Norway. Of the 157,521 births, 103,409 took place in Sweden, and 54,112 occurred in Norway. Average maternal age was 31 years, and 18% were vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy (12.9% with Pfizer/BioNTech, 4.8% with Moderna, and 0.3% with AstraZeneca/Oxford). Among the vaccinated women, 4.4% received only one vaccine dose, while 13.7% had two
28th Mar 2022 - CIDRAP
Fourth vaccine reduces COVID-19 deaths by 78% - study
The fourth coronavirus vaccine resulted in a 78% decrease in COVID-19 related deaths in adults aged 60-100, according to a new study by Clalit Health Services.
The study, conducted by Clalit, Sapir College and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, examined the effect the second booster shot had on mortality rates of the population eligible to receive it in Israel. The research was led by Dr. Ronen Arbel, a health outcomes researcher at Clalit Health Services and Sapir College. The paper is currently awaiting peer review.
28th Mar 2022 - The Jerusalem Post
Studies link Covid-19 infection with increased risk of new diabetes diagnosis
Over a year after recovering from a Covid-19 infection, Jennifer Hobbs is adjusting to her new normal: brain fog, joint pain, elevated liver enzymes and, now, type 2 diabetes. Hobbs had prediabetes before she got Covid-19, but her blood sugar levels were under control, and she didn't need any treatment. Recently, that changed. "I take my blood sugar [level] every morning, and even with two different types of medication, it's all over the place," said Hobbs, 36. The new diabetes diagnosis has both Hobbs and her primary care provider wondering if the coronavirus has played a role. Two years into the pandemic, scientists and physicians are shifting their attention to the long-term consequences of a Covid-19 infection, termed "long Covid." Recent studies add diabetes to the list of possible long Covid outcomes.
28th Mar 2022 - CNN
Second COVID vaccine booster significantly lowers death rate, Israeli study shows
Senior citizens who received a second booster of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination had a 78% lower mortality rate from the disease than those who got one only, a study from Israel showed on Sunday. The country's largest healthcare provider, Clalit Health Services, said the 40-day study included more than half a million people aged 60 to 100. Some 58% of participants had received a second booster - or two shots in addition to the basic two-shot regimen. The remainder had received only one booster.
28th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Scientists: COVID-19 may cause greater damage to the heart
The pain in his chest was sudden, heavy. Juan Sosa was at home doing pushups in the bedroom where he had isolated himself for almost two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19. His mild symptoms were long gone, and it was the final day of his quarantine. A retired carpenter, Sosa had been vaccinated and considered himself a pretty healthy 58-year-old. He thought he had gas and wasn’t too worried. But the pain was severe so he drove himself to a walk-in clinic. Doctors quickly determined Sosa was having a heart attack. An ambulance rushed him to HCA Florida Brandon Hospital. The last thing he remembers that day is a nurse cutting open his T-shirt. Veteran cardiologist Hoshedar Tamboli was seeing patients at his Brandon office when he got the call about a patient in cardiac arrest.
28th Mar 2022 - The Associated Press
Patients with Covid and flu double the risk of dying, say scientists
Covid-19 patients who have been hospitalised should also be routinely tested for flu, researchers have said. The call was made after the publication of a paper in the medical journal the Lancet that revealed having both conditions more than doubles the risk of a patient dying. Scientists also discovered that individuals who had contracted both Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and influenza viruses were more than four times more likely to require ventilation support and 2.4 times more likely to die than if they just had Covid-19. “We found that the combination of Covid-19 and flu viruses is particularly dangerous,” said Professor Kenneth Baillie of Edinburgh University. “We expect that Covid-19 will circulate with flu, increasing the chance of co-infections. That is why we should change our testing strategy for Covid-19 patients in hospital and test for flu much more widely.”
27th Mar 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 28th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullThe BA.2 Omicron subvariant is now dominant in northeastern US states
The Omicron BA.2 subvariant has become dominant over other Covid-19 coronavirus variants in the northeastern US, per the latest CDC data. The news comes as a surge of new cases in Europe, driven by the more-contagious BA.2 and by countries lifting Covid-19 restrictions. That surge is prompting some experts to worry that another wave could soon be coming to the US. Experts told previously Insider they expect a wave of BA.2 in the US could be milder than in Europe, in part because of previous exposure to its cousin, the subvariant BA.1. More vulnerable groups could still be at risk, the experts said. As of last week, BA.2 made up 55.4% of samples collected in Health & Human Services (HHS) Region 1, the CDC said Tuesday. This region covers Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as well as ten federally recognised Tribal Nations.
27th Mar 2022 - Business Insider South Africa
Edinburgh scientists find patients with both Covid and flu at greater risk of severe illness and death
Adults in hospital with Covid-19 and the flu at the same time are at much greater risk of severe disease and death compared with patients who have Covid-19 alone or with other viruses, according to new research. Scientists found that patients who had both SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, and influenza viruses were more than four times more likely to require ventilation support and 2.4 times more likely to die than if they just had Covid-19. The study looked at more than 305,000 hospitalised patients with Covid-19 and involved researchers from the University of Edinburgh, University of Liverpool, Imperial College London and Leiden University in the Netherlands. Researchers say the findings show the need for more flu testing of Covid-19 patients in hospital and highlight the importance of full vaccination against both Covid-19 and the flu. Professor Kenneth Baillie, professor of experimental medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said: “We found that the combination of Covid-19 and flu viruses is particularly dangerous.
27th Mar 2022 - STV News
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 25th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullWe’ve found one factor that predicts which countries best survive Covid
In 2019, the Global Health Security Index published a report ranking countries on their preparedness for pandemics. The US scored highest, followed by the UK. Two years later, both countries rank among those with the greatest loss of life from Covid. How could this be? A large part of the answer is trust. Countries that looked good on paper in 2019, such as the US, UK, Spain and Slovenia, found they lacked this intangible but critical layer of defence. And this figure from our research over the past two years at the Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker shows it in stark terms. On the left (see below) you can see that a higher global health security score in 2019 is not correlated with fewer deaths during the pandemic, at least among the countries whose health systems have a minimum threshold of capacity.
25th Mar 2022 - The Guardian
Sinovac Booster Gives Elderly Stronger Protection Against Omicron, Study Finds
Two doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine offered older people only a moderately high level of protection against severe disease and death from Covid-19, but a third dose significantly bolstered their defenses, according to a new study by scientists in Hong Kong. The study, based on patients infected during the current devastating Omicron wave in Hong Kong, serves as a cautionary note for mainland China, where Sinovac is a pillar of the country’s vaccination program. Many older people there have yet to receive booster shots. For people 60 and older, two Sinovac doses were 72 percent effective against severe or fatal Covid-19 and 77 percent effective against Covid-related death, the study found.
24th Mar 2022 - The New York Times
No fall in Covid-19 antibody levels among elderly, figures suggest
Covid-19 antibody levels among UK adults remain at a record high, with no evidence of a drop among older age groups whose most recent dose of vaccine was likely to be several months ago, analysis suggests. Some 99.3% of people aged 80 and over in England were likely to have antibodies at the start of March, along with 98.2% in Wales and 98.3% in Scotland – the highest for each nation since estimates began at the end of 2020. The figures, which have been calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), also estimate 99.2% of over-70s in Northern Ireland had antibodies at the beginning of this month – again, the highest level so far.
24th Mar 2022 - Evening Standard
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 24th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullStudy examines the effectiveness of remdesivir in a pill form for COVID-19
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are testing remdesivir in a pill form to understand how effective it is for treating COVID-19. Remdesivir is an RNA polymerase inhibitor that disrupts the production of viral RNA, preventing the multiplication of SARS-CoV-2; it has been given to half of all hospitalised patients with the disease. It works by blocking the machinery the virus needs to make copies of itself and spread throughout the body.
The scientists explored whether a pill form of remdesivir could be developed and the benefits that it could provide. Currently, remdesivir is administered intravenously, however, an oral version of this medication could extend its benefits to outside the hospital.
23rd Mar 2022 - Health Europa
Antibodies in children last at least 6 months after COVID; SK Bioscience vaccine shows promise vs Omicron
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Antibodies in kids after COVID last 6 months or more
Most children and adolescents with COVID-19 antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 infection usually still have the antibodies in their blood more than half a year later, new data shows. Starting in October 2020, researchers in Texas recruited 218 subjects between the ages of 5 and 19. Each provided three blood samples, at three-month intervals. More than 90% were unvaccinated when they enrolled in the study.
23rd Mar 2022 - Reuters
Risk of type 2 diabetes rises after COVID; organ transplant from donors who had COVID likely safe
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Type 2 diabetes risk rises after COVID-19 People may be at increased risk for developing diabetes for up to a year after a diagnosis of COVID-19, according to two studies. One study used data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to track more than 181,000 adults with COVID-19 for a year after recovery
23rd Mar 2022 - Reuters
Moderna’s Covid-19 Vaccine Works Safely in Young Children, Company Says
Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine safely induced robust immune responses in children ages 6 months to 5 years in a new study, the company said, though the shot had modest efficacy against the Omicron variant. Moderna said Wednesday the vaccine’s efficacy against symptomatic infections was 43.7% in children ages 6 months to 2 years, and 37.5% in children ages 2 to 5. The efficacy rates were lower than seen during adult testing, which took place before Omicron emerged, but comparable to the real-world effectiveness of two doses of Moderna’s vaccine found among adults during the Omicron wave.
23rd Mar 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
COVID-19 in pregnancy tied to poor maternal outcomes, preterm birth, fetal death
In the first study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Northern California researchers analyzed the electronic medical records of 43,886 pregnant women who delivered from Mar 1, 2020, to Mar 16, 2021. Average patient age was 30.7 years, 33.8% were White, 28.4% were Hispanic, 25.9% were Asian or Pacific Islander, 6.5% Black, 0.3% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 5% were multiracial or of another race. Among these women, 1,332 (3.0%) tested positive for COVID-19 from 30 days before conception to 7 days after delivery. Infected women were more likely than their uninfected peers to be younger and Hispanic and to have had multiple babies, a higher neighborhood deprivation index, and obesity or chronic high blood pressure. Before universal COVID-19 testing of pregnant women admitted for delivery was implemented in the healthcare system in December 2020, the positivity rate was 1.3%, compared with 7.8% after.
22nd Mar 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 23rd Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullResearch dispels myth that COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility, but misinformation persists
Some sources of misinformation claim that the COVID-19 vaccines cause male sterility. For this to be true, the vaccines would have to damage sperm quality, drastically reduce sperm count or interfere with the mechanisms inherent in male ejaculation. Quality clinical evidence has demonstrated that none of these parameters are affected by the vaccine, so men are not being made sterile. A study in Florida recruited around 45 men and compared their sperm measures before and after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Interestingly, the study found that men who received the vaccine had more sperm, greater semen volume, and sperm more able to move around and fertilize an egg. Pregnancy can be an exciting time but can also provoke worry about the the safety of anything that enters the body, including vaccines. Fortunately, the COVID-19 vaccines are safe during pregnancy.
22nd Mar 2022 - Medical Xpress
New research proves benefit of vaccination after recovery from COVID-19
When our immune system comes into contact with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, it fights back and produces antibodies. A similar immune response is triggered by Corona vaccines. However, there is still little data available on the strength and durability of immune protection. A team led by Prof. Carsten Watzl from the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors Institute for Occupational Research (IfADo), in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology (MPI) and the Klinikum Dortmund, has now been able to detect high levels of neutralizing antibodies in test persons even 300 days after a coronavirus infection with the original variant of the coronavirus.
22nd Mar 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Covid-19 news: Infection linked to higher risk of developing diabetes
Covid-19 linked to a 46 per cent increased risk of type 2 diabetes. People who have had covid-19 within the past year may be more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes for the first time or being prescribed medication to manage their blood sugar levels. Ziyad Al-Aly at the VA Saint Louis Health Care System in the US and his colleagues reviewed the medical records of 181,280 individuals who tested positive for covid-19 between March 2020 and September 2021, using data from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The team compared the number of new diabetes cases among these veterans with that of more than 8 million people who had no evidence of a covid-19 infection. None of the participants had diabetes at the start of the study. Covid-19 was linked to a 46 per cent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes or requiring blood-sugar-lowering medication, even among people with a mild or asymptomatic covid-19 infection. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body cannot make enough insulin or the hormone that is produced does not work properly. SARS-CoV-2 virus may inflame insulin-producing cells, decreasing their efficiency, Al-Aly told The Washington Post.
22nd Mar 2022 - New Scientist
AstraZeneca COVID drug neutralises Omicron sub-variants in lab study
Data from the latest study by Washington University in the United States showed the therapy reduced the amount of virus detected in samples - viral load - of all tested Omicron sub-variants in mice lungs, AstraZeneca said. The study has yet to be peer reviewed. Evusheld was tested against the BA.1, BA.1.1, and BA.2 sub-variants of Omicron and it was also shown in the study to limit inflammation in the lungs - a critical symptom in severe COVID-19 infections. "The findings further support Evusheld as a potential important option to help protect vulnerable patients such as the immunocompromised who could face poor outcomes if they were to become infected with COVID-19," John Perez, head of Late Development, Vaccines & Immune Therapies at AstraZeneca, said.
22nd Mar 2022 - Reuters
Most unvaccinated children lack antibodies after COVID; SK Bioscience vaccine shows promise vs Omicron
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Antibodies in kids after COVID last 6 months or more
Most children and adolescents with COVID-19 antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 infection usually still have the antibodies in their blood more than half a year later, new data shows. Starting in October 2020, researchers in Texas recruited 218 subjects between the ages of 5 and 19
22nd Mar 2022 - Reuters
Coronavirus may double severe complications in pregnancy
Article reports that the study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine on March 21. An analysis of records for 43,886 pregnant individuals during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic found that the 1,332 who had a coronavirus infection during pregnancy had more than double the risk of negative outcomes compared with individuals without the virus. “These findings add to the growing evidence that having COVID-19 during pregnancy raises risks of serious complications,” explained lead author Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD, a senior research scientist and associate director of the women’s and children health section in the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. “Coupled with the evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe during pregnancy, these findings should aid patients in understanding the risks of perinatal complications and the need for vaccination,” said Dr. Ferrara. “This study supports the recommendation for vaccination of pregnant individuals and those planning conception.”
22nd Mar 2022 - EurekAlert
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 22nd Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullNew Research Shows Higher Risk of Developing Diabetes After Covid-19 Infection
A large new study found that people who recovered from Covid-19 within the past year are 40% more likely to receive a new diagnosis of diabetes compared to those who weren’t infected. The increased risk translates into 1% of people who have had Covid-19 developing diabetes who otherwise wouldn’t have, the study’s author says, resulting in potentially millions of new cases world-wide. Most of the people with diabetes in the study, published online Monday in the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, not Type 1. Some researchers say Covid-19 could also be triggering an entirely new type of diabetes in which certain cells mistakenly start to raise, rather than lower, blood sugar. The study adds to evidence showing an increased post-Covid-19 risk of cardiometabolic conditions, such as diabetes as well as heart and kidney complications. Normally when people think of long-term Covid-19 symptoms, they think of problems such as cognitive issues, fatigue or shortness of breath.
22nd Mar 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
CDC studies show COVID-19 vaccines remained effective during omicron surge
Two new studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show COVID-19 vaccines remained highly effective even during the omicron surge. They report vaccines still protected well against hospitalization, ventilation and death from COVID-19. At the peak of the omicron variant, data showed unvaccinated adults were 12 times more likely to be hospitalized.
21st Mar 2022 - ABC Columbia
Safety and antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines in an older community
Clinical trials and population-based studies of COVID-19 vaccines reveal exceptional safety and short-term efficacy. While clinical trials included older people aged over 70 years, the COVID-19 mortality rate was higher, particularly in those with comorbid conditions. In Canada, the interval between two vaccine doses was extended to allow immunization of more people, which raised concerns regarding the efficacy of vaccines. While studies noted the benefits of extended duration, little is known about that in the older population.
21st Mar 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Coronavirus may double severe complications in pregnancy
A Kaiser Permanente analysis of pregnant patients who tested positive for the coronavirus found more than double the risk of poor outcomes including preterm birth, venous thromboembolism (blood clot), and severe maternal morbidity, which includes conditions such as acute respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis. The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine on March 21. An analysis of records for 43,886 pregnant individuals during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic found that the 1,332 who had a coronavirus infection during pregnancy had more than double the risk of negative outcomes compared with individuals without the virus. “These findings add to the growing evidence that having COVID-19 during pregnancy raises risks of serious complications,” explained lead author Assiamira Ferrara, MD, PhD, a senior research scientist and associate director of the women’s and children health section in the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.
21st Mar 2022 - EurekAlert!
'Reassuring' data suggests Johnson & Johnson vaccine may still have a role to play against Covid-19
The US public and even some health experts may have underestimated the Covid-19 vaccine made by Janssen, a division of Johnson & Johnson, new data shows. And there's emerging evidence that it could still play an important role ahead. A study published Thursday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open found that the J&J vaccine remains durable and effective, even through the surge of cases caused by the Delta variant. It was 76% effective overall in preventing Covid-19 infections and 81% effective in preventing Covid-related hospitalizations. The study also showed that it provided lasting immunity at least six months after the shots.
21st Mar 2022 - CNN
COVID-19 Drug Targets Immune Aging, Enters Phase II
Severe COVID-19 infections are more likely in older people, which is likely due to a deterioration of the immune system over time. The need for the development of COVID-19 therapies, especially for aging populations, is of paramount importance.
A new study investigated an oral drug that reverses multiple aspects of immune aging. In doing so, the drug effectively prevents death in a mouse model of COVID-19, suggesting that the medication could be used to protect the elderly patients who are at greatest risk. In the study, daily doses of BGE-175 (asapiprant) protected aged mice from a lethal dose of SARS-CoV-2.
21st Mar 2022 - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
Covid-19 news: Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine treats covid for first time
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is thought to have helped an immunocompromised person clear the covid-19 virus. Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are thought to have cleared the SARS-CoV-2 virus from a person who first tested positive more than 7 months earlier. This is the first known time a covid-19 vaccine has been used to treat, rather than prevent, the infection. Ian Lester has the rare genetic disease Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, which weakens the immune system. Lester, 37, first tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in December 2020. His immune system was unable to fight off the infection naturally for at least 218 days. “Given the persistent positive PCR tests and impact on his health and mental health, we decided on a unique therapeutic approach,” said Stephen Jolles at Cardiff University’s School of Medicine in a statement. “We administered two doses of the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine, one month apart, and very quickly saw a strong antibody response, much stronger than had been induced by the prolonged natural infection.” Lester was confirmed to have cleared SARS-CoV-2 72 days after the first vaccine dose and 218 days after his infection was detected.
21st Mar 2022 - New Scientist
Sinovac COVID vaccine shows modest efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 infection in children 3 to 5 years
In a new study under consideration at a Nature Portfolio Journal and published on the preprint server Research Square*, researchers investigated the efficacy of CoronaVac, a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, in children aged three to five years. The findings of this study reveal that a two-dose regimen of the vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19, whereas this vaccine regimen is modestly effective in preventing infection.
21st Mar 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 21st Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullNeurological problems no higher after vaccination; depression, anxiety risk tied to COVID severity
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Neurological risks not higher after COVID-19 vaccines
COVID-19 vaccination did not increase risks for rare neurological conditions among more than 8 million people who had received at least one dose of a vaccine from AstraZeneca, Pfizer /BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson, according to researchers. Their study also included 735,870 unvaccinated individuals who had tested positive for the coronavirus, as well as older data on an additional 14.3 million people from the general population for a baseline estimate of rates of the neurological conditions before the pandemic
20th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 18th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullSevere COVID-19 tied to long-term depression, anxiety
A new observational follow-up study in six European countries published in The Lancet Public Health links severe COVID-19 to long-term depression and anxiety.
University of Iceland at Reykjavik researchers led the study, which analyzed symptoms of depression, anxiety, COVID-related stress, and poor sleep quality among 247,249 adults, 4% of whom were diagnosed as having COVID-19 from Mar 27, 2020, to Aug 13, 2021. Participants, who were followed up for as long as 16 months (average, 5.7), lived in Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, or the United Kingdom. Most severely ill COVID-19 patients recuperated at home, but some spent time in a hospital.
16th Mar 2022 - CIDRAP
COVID-19 Vaccine Produced by Yeast Could Increase Accessibility
In a new paper, the researchers report that the vaccine, which comprises fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein arrayed on a virus-like particle, elicited a strong immune response and protected animals against viral challenge. The vaccine was designed so that it can be produced by yeast, using fermentation facilities that already exist around the world. The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines, is now producing large quantities of the vaccine and plans to run a clinical trial in Africa. “There's still a very large population that does not have access to Covid vaccines. Protein-based subunit vaccines are a low-cost, well-established technology that can provide a consistent supply and is accepted in many parts of the world,” says J. Christopher Love, the Raymond A. and Helen E. St. Laurent Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard.
17th Mar 2022 - Technology Networks
Fourth vaccine offers little protection against COVID-19 - study
The fourth coronavirus vaccine has shown to offer little protection against the coronavirus, a new study released by Sheba Medical Center has shown. The study, published by The New England Journal of Medicine, examines the efficacy of the fourth coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna. The interim results released show that the vaccine offers little to no protection against contracting the virus when compared to young and healthy individuals vaccinated with three doses. However, the vaccine did prove to provide moderate protection against symptomatic infection among young and healthy individuals in comparison to those inoculated three times.
17th Mar 2022 - The Jerusalem Post
Altered immune cells in lungs may cause breathlessness after Covid-19
A study has found abnormal immune cells in the lungs of patients with persistent breathlessness months after a Covid-19 infection. The altered immune cells in the airways are thought to cause ongoing lung damage. The research was undertaken by scientists at Imperial College London and involved people who had been previously hospitalised with Covid-19. The findings, published in Immunity, suggest that recovery from Covid-19 infection might be accelerated by treatments that dampen the immune system and reduce inflammation. Professor Pallav Shah, a joint senior author of the study from Imperial College, said: ‘These findings suggest that persistent breathlessness in our group of Covid-19 patients is being caused by failure to turn off the immune response, which leads to airway inflammation and injury.’
17th Mar 2022 - Nursing in Practice
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 17th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullCan Covid Infection Increase the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes? Study Suggests Link
Covid-19 infection appears to be linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, a study suggests. But Diabetes UK said there is "still work to do to unpick the link between the two conditions". Researchers from Germany have associated the two ailments in a new paper which explores people's risk of being diagnosed with type 2 after they have had Covid. The study, published in the journal Diabetologia, examined data from more than 1,000 GP surgeries in Germany caring for a population of almost nine million patients. Between March 2020 and January 2021 there were 35,865 people with a documented case of Covid-19.
17th Mar 2022 - Bloomberg
Severe COVID-19 tied to long-term depression, anxiety
A new observational follow-up study in six European countries published in The Lancet Public Health links severe COVID-19 to long-term depression and anxiety.
University of Iceland at Reykjavik researchers led the study, which analyzed symptoms of depression, anxiety, COVID-related stress, and poor sleep quality among 247,249 adults, 4% of whom were diagnosed as having COVID-19 from Mar 27, 2020, to Aug 13, 2021. Participants, who were followed up for as long as 16 months (average, 5.7), lived in Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, or the United Kingdom. Most severely ill COVID-19 patients recuperated at home, but some spent time in a hospital.
16th Mar 2022 - CIDRAP
Newborns Catching Covid From Mothers Is 'Rare', UK Researchers Say
The risk of women passing on Covid-19 to their newborn babies is "low", according to a new study. The chance of transmitting the virus while pregnant, during labour, or after the baby is born is less than 2%, researchers said. When proper preventive steps are taken after a mother tests positive, such as the use of face masks, "infection of newborn babies is unlikely", they concluded. Academics led by experts from the University of Birmingham reviewed data from 472 global studies, which looked at data on 952 mothers and 18,237 babies. Across the world, just 1.8% of the 14,271 babies born to mothers with Covid-19 went on to test positive themselves, the study, published in The BMJ, found.
16th Mar 2022 - Bloomberg
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 16th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullScientists link ‘severe’ Covid-19 to long-term mental health problems
People who suffer from severe Covid-19 symptoms are more likely to have long-term mental health problems, a new study suggests. Higher rates of depression and anxiety have been found in people who were “bedridden” with Covid-19 for more than seven days last year, according to a study published in The Lancet.
Scientists, drawing on data from 247,249 people across the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, found that people with coronavirus who were not admitted to hospital were more likely to experience symptoms of depression up to 16 months after diagnosis, compared to those never infected.
15th Mar 2022 - The Independent
A quarter of symptomatic kids hit by long COVID; mRNA shots provide best protection in breast milk
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. One in four kids with COVID develop lingering problems
One in four children with COVID-19 symptoms develop "long COVID," according to data pooled from 21 earlier studies conducted in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. Among the 80,071 children with COVID-19 in the studies, 25% developed symptoms that lasted at least 4-to-12 weeks or new persistent symptoms that appeared within 12 weeks, researchers reported on Sunday on medRxiv ahead of peer review.
15th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 15th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullSerious Covid Linked to Higher Risk of Depression Months Later
Serious Covid-19 was linked to a higher risk of depression and anxiety months later in a large study, adding to a growing body of data showing the impact the disease can have on mental health. People who were bedridden for at least seven days were about 60% more likely to experience symptoms of depression, according to the study, published in The Lancet Public Health. That contrasts with those who had Covid but weren’t bedridden, who were less likely to experience depression and anxiety than people who never had the disease at all. The study “suggests that mental health effects aren’t equal for all Covid-19 patients,” said Unnur Anna Valdimarsdottir, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Iceland who helped lead the research.
15th Mar 2022 - Bloomberg
Covid-19 vaccine ‘reduces infections in children’ – study
A single dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine can reduce infections among children, a new study suggests. And if a child gets Covid-19 after being vaccinated they are “likely to have a milder disease”, researchers from King’s College London and ZOE Ltd said. While the Covid-19 vaccines have been shown to ward off serious disease and death, questions have arisen over their ability to reduce the spread of infections. The latest study examined the effectiveness of a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine in children.
14th Mar 2022 - Evening Standard
'Deltacron,' the Delta-Omicron hybrid COVID variant, appears to be in the US, according to a new study
The so-called Deltacron COVID variant appears to be present in the U.S., with two cases identified by a California lab since January, according to a new study published Saturday to research site medRxiv. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control–affiliated lab Helix, based in San Mateo, Calif., found two unique cases of Delta-Omicron hybrids when sequencing nearly 30,000 positive COVID samples obtained from U.S. individuals between November and February, according to the study, published to a preprint server for health sciences papers that haven't yet been peer reviewed, cofounded by Yale University and The British Medical Journal.
The Delta-Omicron hybrids—SARS-CoV-2 genomes with features of both Delta and Omicron variants of COVID, known as recombinants—are rare, according to the study, which added that there is no evidence such mutations spread more easily than the highly transmissible Omicron.
13th Mar 2022 - Fortune
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 14th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullWhat is Deltacron? Everything you need to know about the new Covid-19 variant
A fresh reminder that the pandemic is not yet over comes as new Covid-19 variant Deltacron is officially identified with cases confirmed in France and the US. Here is everything you need to know about the new Covid variant. What is Deltacron?
Deltacron is a Covid variant that is made up of elements from both Delta and Omicron. It contains genes from both of these previous variants, which makes it a recombinant virus. This is when the genetic material from more than one origin is combined- in other words, when someone is infected with two variants at the same time and their cells then replicate together.
12th Mar 2022 - The Independent
GeoVax vaccine targeting virus in two places shows promise; virus may become resistant to antibody drugs
An experimental vaccine developed by GeoVax Labs Inc succeeded in promoting development of antibodies that target two different sites on the virus in a small pilot study and has been advanced to mid-stage clinical trials, researchers reported.
Like currently available COVID-19 vaccines, GeoVax's GEO-CM04S1 induces immune responses that target the spike protein on the surface of the virus. But it also targets the "nucleocapsid," or body, of the virus. In the study reported on Wednesday in The Lancet Microbe, 56 volunteers received the vaccine, which uses a modified version of a harmless virus to deliver instructions to the immune system. Overall, 94% developed antibodies against the spike and the nucleocapsid protein, according to the research team from City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California.
12th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Covid treatment sotrovimab can cause drug-resistant mutation, study finds
Australian virologists have uncovered a drug-resistant mutation in the Covid-19 virus associated with the drug sotrovimab and say without the monitoring of patients given the treatment the mutated virus could spread in the community. The world-first findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, are the result of an analysis of the first 100 patients in western Sydney during the Delta outbreak in 2021 to be given sotrovimab. Sotrovimab is a monoclonal antibody that is available in many countries to treat vulnerable patients who are at risk of severe disease and death due to Covid-19 infection. Sotrovimab must be administered via infusion within the first five days of Covid-19 infection, and prevents Covid-19 symptoms from becoming severe. It is one of the few human-engineered monoclonal antibodies that can target Omicron.
10th Mar 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 11th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullMental decline seen in older COVID patients 1 year later
Cognitive impairment was more common among COVID-19 patients 60 years and older—particularly those with severe illness—released from hospitals in Wuhan, China, than among their uninfected peers, according to a 1-year follow-up study yesterday in JAMA Neurology. A team led by researchers at Daping Hospital in Chongqing, China, followed 1,438 COVID-19 survivors aged 60 and older released from one of three dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in Wuhan from Feb 10 to Apr 10, 2020, and compared them with 438 of their uninfected spouses. Because pre-COVID cognitive status wasn't available, family members provided their perceptions of cognitive changes using the Chinese version of the short form of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE).
9th Mar 2022 - CIDRAP
COH04S1 COVID-19 vaccine shown to produce robust antibodies and T cells against SARS-CoV-2
A COVID-19 investigational vaccine, developed by City of Hope scientists and now licensed to GeoVax Labs Inc produced a robust neutralizing antibody and T cell (an immune cell) response against SARS-CoV-2 with no significant side effects in a Phase 1 clinical trial led by John Zaia, M.D., Aaron D. Miller and Edith Miller Chair for Gene Therapy, according to a study published today in The Lancet Microbe.
COH04S1 is uniquely different than the many vaccines that have been developed because it targets both the spike and nucleocapsid proteins, in contrast to the current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved COVID-19 vaccines, which only target the spike protein.
10th Mar 2022 - Medical Xpress
Incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination
Several vaccine candidates have been developed following the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Most countries throughout the world have rolled out extensive vaccination programs to vaccinate and protect individuals from severe infections and deaths associated with COVID-19. However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported mild to moderate myocarditis/pericarditis cases post the second dose of mRNA vaccination on 17th May 2021. Most of the patients who were found less than 50 years of age were reported to be presented with chest pain, fever, raised cardiac-specific troponin many days after vaccination followed by full recovery.
10th Mar 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Pfizer launches clinical trial testing its COVID-19 pill in children aged 6 and older
Pfizer announced Wednesday it is launching a clinical trial to study the effectiveness of its COVID-19 antiviral pill in young children. The treatment, Paxlovid, was authorized in December 2020 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use in patients aged 12 and older who have mild-to-moderate symptoms and are at increased risk of severe illness.
10th Mar 2022 - ABC News
Covid treatment sotrovimab can cause drug-resistant mutation, study finds
Australian virologists have uncovered a drug-resistant mutation in the Covid-19 virus associated with the drug sotrovimab and say without the monitoring of patients given the treatment the mutated virus could spread in the community. The world-first findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, are the result of an analysis of the first 100 patients in western Sydney during the Delta outbreak in 2021 to be given sotrovimab. Sotrovimab is a monoclonal antibody that is available in many countries to treat vulnerable patients who are at risk of severe disease and death due to Covid-19 infection. Sotrovimab must be administered via infusion within the first five days of Covid-19 infection, and prevents Covid-19 symptoms from becoming severe. It is one of the few human-engineered monoclonal antibodies that can target Omicron.
10th Mar 2022 - The Guardian
How will COVID end? Experts look to past epidemics for clues
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the world has seen a dramatic improvement in infections, hospitalizations and death rates in recent weeks, signaling the crisis appears to be winding down. But how will it end? Past epidemics may provide clues. The ends of epidemics are not as thoroughly researched as their beginnings. But there are recurring themes that could offer lessons for the months ahead, said Erica Charters of the University of Oxford, who studies the issue. “One thing we have learned is it’s a long, drawn-out process” that includes different types of endings that may not all occur at the same time, she said. That includes a “medical end,” when disease recedes, the “political end,” when government prevention measures cease, and the “social end,” when people move on.
10th Mar 2022 - Associated Press
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 10th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in full'Variant-proof' Covid vaccine created in UK
A British “variant-proof” vaccine has received tens of millions of pounds of funding in the hope it may provide more durable protection against Sars-Cov2 — and against coronaviruses that don’t even exist yet. Boris Johnson hailed the technology as part of the “next generation of vaccines” as he opened a conference in London held by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
9th Mar 2022 - The Times
Pfizer Starts Testing Its Covid-19 Pill in Children
Pfizer Inc. has begun studying its Covid-19 pill in children under 18 years old who are at high risk of developing severe disease. The study will evaluate whether the five-day treatment Paxlovid, which is in use among people 12 years and older, can also keep children who are newly infected by the coronavirus out of the hospital, Pfizer said Wednesday. The first child enrolled in the study on Monday. Pfizer expects results by the end of the year, said Annaliesa Anderson, who leads the company’s Paxlovid research. Should results from the pediatric study prove positive, the antiviral would be the first Covid-19 pill for children under 12 years and an especially important remedy for those with underlying health conditions who cannot be vaccinated or whose parents don’t want them to get shots.
9th Mar 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Variant that combines Delta and Omicron identified; dogs sniff out virus with high accuracy
The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. "Deltacron" with genes of Delta and Omicron found
Hybrid versions of the coronavirus that combine genes from the Delta and Omicron variants - dubbed "Deltacron" - have been identified in at least 17 patients in the United States and Europe, researchers said. Because there have been so few confirmed cases, it is too soon to know whether Deltacron infections will be very transmissible or cause severe disease, said Philippe Colson of IHU Mediterranee Infection in Marseille, France, lead author of a report posted on Tuesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. His team described three patients in France infected with a version of SARS-CoV-2 that combines the spike protein from an Omicron variant with the "body" of a Delta variant.
9th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Study reveals some brain changes, even in mild COVID-19
Adult COVID-19 survivors—even those with mild illness—who underwent scans showed changes in brain structure beyond that expected from normal aging, including in areas tied to smell and memory, according to a UK study published yesterday in Nature. University of Oxford investigators administered cognitive tests to and scanned the brains of 785 visitors to the UK Biobank imaging centers two times an average of 38 months apart. Of the 785 participants, 401 (51%) were diagnosed as having COVID-19 between their scans, from March 2020 to April 2021. The remaining 384 participants were age- and sex-matched controls. Patients were aged 51 to 81 years.
8th Mar 2022 - CIDRAP
Most mRNA COVID vaccine adverse events mild, transient
The vast majority of adverse events (92%) recorded after people received the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines during the first 6 months of the US vaccine rollout were mild and transient, according to an observational study published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
8th Mar 2022 - CIDRAP
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 9th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullFrench study shows COVID vaccine efficacy 94% against severe outcomes
In late December 2019, France began administering vaccinations against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to its population. At the end of 2021, 77% of the entire population were fully vaccinated, and 91% of those 18 years or older. During these times, France experienced three epidemic waves caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants Alpha, Delta, and Omicron. Vaccination administration was stratified among the different population groups due to limited availability, begging with those at most risk of severe COVID-19-related complications and those who work in healthcare. Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Janssen were the four Covid-19 vaccine brands utilized. With the exception of the Janssen vaccine, which only required one dosage, a vaccination program was initially considered complete following two doses. A complete vaccination cycle had become a prerequisite for obtaining a French health permit, which became effective in June and was first necessary to enter events and places with large crowds. In August, the health pass was expanded to include admission to all museums, bars, restaurants, railways, and other public venues.
8th Mar 2022 - News-Medical.Net
COVID-19 associated with "significant, deleterious impact" on brain, finds U.K. study
Scans and cognition tests collected from hundreds of people suggest coronavirus infection is associated with "a significant, deleterious" change in the brain, according to a study published Monday from scientists in the United Kingdom. The paper, published in the journal Nature, draws on data in the U.K. Biobank from 401 people between the ages of 51 and 81 who had COVID-19 through April 2021.
Researchers analyzed data from brain scans and tests collected from participants both before they were infected with the disease, and from a second round conducted later, close to five months on average after they tested positive.
8th Mar 2022 - CBS News
COVID-19: New study could lead to life-saving treatment for severe cases
The world's largest genetic study of people with severe COVID has identified DNA variations that could lead to new life-saving treatments for the disease. The research identified 16 changes to the DNA sequence of critically ill COVID patients that affected their immune response, or increased the risk of blood clotting and inflammation in the lungs. The researchers in the GenOMICC consortium, which involved almost every intensive care unit in the UK, say the findings map out new molecular targets for drugs that are currently used to treat other medical conditions. Professor Kenneth Baillie, the study's chief investigator and a critical care consultant at the University of Edinburgh, said: "We have shown for the first time in the history of critical care medicine that an infectious disease that causes organ failure is treatable by supressing the immune system.
8th Mar 2022 - Sky News
COVID-19 can cause brain shrinkage: study
A new study by Oxford University has found COVID-19 can cause the brain to shrink, reduce grey matter in the regions that control emotion and memory, and damage areas that control the sense of smell.
8th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Moderna plots vaccines against 15 pathogens with future pandemic potential
Moderna Inc said on Monday it plans to develop and begin testing vaccines targeting 15 of the world's most worrisome pathogens by 2025 and will permanently wave its COVID-19 vaccine patents for shots intended for certain low- and middle-income countries. The U.S. biotechnology company also said it will make its messenger RNA (mRNA) technology available to researchers working on new vaccines for emerging and neglected diseases through a program called mRNA Access. Moderna announced its strategy ahead of the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit sponsored by the UK government and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an international coalition set up five years ago to prepare for future disease threats.
8th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 8th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullModerna Starts Human Trials of 15 Vaccines as Prepares for Next Pandemic
Moderna Inc. plans to start human trials for vaccines against 15 threatening viruses and other pathogens by 2025, part of a strategy to develop shots that could be made quickly in response to a future pandemic. The effort will include prototype vaccines against the virus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome, a cousin of Covid-19; the Ebola and Marburg viruses; a tick-borne virus that causes Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever; and mosquito-borne viruses such as chikungunya and dengue fever, according to a company statement Tuesday. Moderna has come under criticism from vaccine advocates who say the company has been slow to ship doses of its Covid vaccine to poor countries and that patents it is pursuing in South Africa threaten access to shots. The company is rowing back, announcing an agreement Monday to open a vaccine plant in Kenya that will make as many as 500 million doses annually, although it didn’t specify which vaccines might be produced there.
8th Mar 2022 - Bloomberg
Covid Cases Linked to Brain Shrinkage, Cognitive Decline Months Later
Even a mild case of Covid-19 can damage the brain and addle thinking, scientists found in a study that highlights the illness’s alarming impact on mental function.
Researchers identified Covid-associated brain damage months after infection, including in the region linked to smell, and shrinkage in size equivalent to as much as a decade of normal aging. The changes were linked to cognitive decline in the study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature. The findings represent striking evidence of the virus’s impact on the central nervous system. More research will be required to understand whether the evidence from the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging at the University of Oxford means Covid-19 will exacerbate the global burden of dementia -- which cost an estimated $1.3 trillion in the year the pandemic began -- and other neurodegenerative conditions.
8th Mar 2022 - Bloomberg
Myocarditis and pericarditis in COVID-19 vaccine recipients
Are the cardiac complications associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines worse than the disease itself? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to understand their true incidence and association with the vaccine. A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* provides valuable evidence towards this end, using surveillance data to provide the best estimates of these outcomes. The onset of COVID-19, caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), led to a worldwide outbreak of infections, sickness, and death. The emergence and rapid transmission of SARS-CoV-2 prompted the development of vaccines to potentially create herd immunity and limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2. However, doubts raised by the unprecedented speed of vaccine approval, the novel platforms used for their development, and the rapid spread of conspiracy theories, accompanied by a severe shortfall of vaccine supplies to developing areas of the world, hindered the expected speed of vaccine coverage. During this lag period, attention shifted to the potential adverse effects associated with COVID-19 vaccines.
7th Mar 2022 - News-Medical.Net
Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Effective in Protecting Socially Vulnerable Populations
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is also effective in reducing symptomatic COVID-19 in a socially vulnerable community, where viral transmission is high and access to healthcare might be limited. This is the conclusion of a study performed in a group of favelas in Brazil, and co-led by ISGlobal, a centre supported by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil (Fiocruz). A large number of people in low- and middle-income countries live in densely populated slums or favelas, often with limited resources to respond to the stress caused by a pandemic such as COVID-19. “We know that socially vulnerable populations have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic – they are more exposed to the virus and are more likely to die if they get sick” says ISGlobal researcher Otavio Ranzani, “but studies estimating vaccine effectiveness in these populations are lacking,” he adds. Moreover, few studies have assessed vaccine effectiveness against the Gamma variant, which circulated mainly in Brazil and Latin America, and is able to partially escape recognition by vaccine-induced antibodies.
7th Mar 2022 - Technology Networks
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 7th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullAlmost a third of people report lingering symptom 6-12 months after COVID-19 -study
Almost a third of people report at least one ongoing symptom between 6 and 12 months after their coronavirus infection, a survey of 152,000 people in Denmark has found. The study includes one of the largest groups yet of people who were not hospitalised with COVID, and followed them for longer than other major studies, the researchers from Denmark's State Serum Institute (SSI) said. The questionnaire-based study suggested that the most commonly reported long-term symptoms were changes in sense of smell and taste, as well as fatigue.
4th Mar 2022 - Reuters
Covid-19 update: Omicron strain 40% more lethal than flu
The global Covid death toll has passed 5.9 million, with a figure of 5,972,661 according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, infections have continued past 440 million to a world wide figure of 440,182,504. The Omicron strain of Covid-19 is at least 40% more lethal than seasonal flu, according Japanese scientists, underscoring the potential danger of lifting pandemic curbs too quickly and underestimating the virus’s ongoing health risks. Rates of anxiety and depression rose by about 25% worldwide in the first year of Covid, another indication of the widespread harm on mental health inflicted by the pandemic. Young people were at the greatest increased risk of suicide and self-harm, and women bore the brunt of the emotional and psychological burden, according to a report from the World Health Organization
4th Mar 2022 - Pharmaceutical Technology
Arthritis drug could help save Covid patients – study
A drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis could help to save the lives of patients with severe Covid, researchers have found, and they say its benefits can be seen even when it is used on top of other medications. Experts involved in the Randomised Evaluation of Covid-19 Therapy (Recovery) trial say baricitinib, an anti-inflammatory drug taken as a tablet, can reduce the risk of death from severe Covid by about a fifth. However, they add that when the impact of other medications used alongside the drug are also taken into account, the risk of death could be lowered by well over 50% – although the figure will vary from patient to patient.
3rd Mar 2022 - The Guardian
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 4th Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullLilly, Incyte Arthritis Drug Baricitinib Cut Covid Deaths in Study
Eli Lilly & Co. and Incyte Corp.’s rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib reduced the risk of death from Covid-19 in a large U.K. study, bolstering evidence that the class of inflammation-fighting medicines can help infected patients. Adding baricitinib to standard treatments lowered the risk of death among hospitalized Covid patients by 13%, according to results from the U.K. trial, called Recovery, in 8,156 people with the disease. Most of the patients also received steroids, and about one-quarter also got a different type of arthritis drug, Roche Holding AG’s Actemra.
3rd Mar 2022 - Bloomberg
How Covid-19 Could Shift From Pandemic to Endemic Phase
What is an endemic and how will we know when Covid-19 becomes one? WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez breaks down how public-health experts assess when a virus like Covid-19 enters an endemic stage.
3rd Mar 2022 - The Wall Street Journal
Survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest 35% lower in COVID-19 patients
Adult COVID-19 patients who had an in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) were 35% less likely to receive potentially life-saving defibrillation without delay and survive to hospital release, according to a study today in JAMA Network Open. University of Iowa at Iowa City researchers led the study of 24,915 patients with IHCA from 286 US hospitals, of whom 5,916 (23.7%) had COVID-19, from March to December 2020. The research team analyzed data from the American Heart Association's Get With the Guidelines Registry (GWTG-R), which compiles information on patients who have IHCA at participating US hospitals. Among the 24,915 patients with IHCA, average age was 64.7 years, 39.5% were women, 24.8% were Black, 61.1% were White, 3.8% were of other races, and 10.3% were of unknown race.
3rd Mar 2022 - CIDRAP
COVID-19 vaccine prior to infection may reduce long COVID symptoms
A new study investigates whether receiving two doses of a coronavirus vaccine before a SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with reduced long COVID symptoms after 12 weeks. COVID-19 vaccines given prior to infection appear effective in resisting long COVID following breakthrough infections or infection after two doses.
These findings have relevance for United Kingdom public health initiatives aimed at reducing the prevalence of long Covid in the U.K. population, especially in disadvantaged communities where prevalence is higher.
3rd Mar 2022 - Medical News Today
Healthcare Innovations - Connecting Communities for COVID19 News - 3rd Mar 2022
View this newsletter in fullCoronavirus vaccine: Indian, Australian researchers devise math model to predict COVID vaccine efficacy
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) here, and Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) in Australia have developed a mathematical model that predicts how antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines confer protection against symptomatic infections. The model can potentially optimise the use of available vaccines and speed up the development of new ones. "The reason why predicting vaccine efficacies has been hard is that the processes involved are complex and operate at many interconnected levels," said Narendra Dixit, Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, IISc, and the senior author of the study that has been published in Nature Computational Science. "Vaccines trigger a number of different antibodies, each affecting virus growth in the body differently. This in turn affects the dynamics of the infection and the severity of the associated symptoms. Further, different individuals generate different collections of antibodies and in different amounts," he elaborated.
2nd Mar 2022 - Times of India
Covid-19 update: Vaccines protect children from severe symptoms
The global Covid death toll has passed 5.9 million, with a figure of 5,964,704 according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, infections have continued past 438 million to a world wide figure of 438,535,937. Covid-19 vaccines protected children and adolescents from severe disease even after the immune-evasive Omicron variant emerged, according to findings from US government reports. After Omicron became dominant in the US late last year, protection against infection and urgent care visits declined for 5- to 17-year-olds who’d received primary inoculations, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released Tuesday.
2nd Mar 2022 - Pharmaceutical Technology
Nerve damage may explain some cases of long COVID -U.S. study
A small study of patients suffering from persistent symptoms long after a bout of COVID-19 found that nearly 60% had nerve damage possibly caused by a defective immune response, a finding that could point to new treatments, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday. The study involved in depth exams of 17 people with so-called long COVID, a condition that arises within three months of a COVID-19 infection and lasts at least two months.
2nd Mar 2022 - Reuters
CDC data suggest Pfizer vaccine protection holds up in kids 5-11, raising questions on earlier study
Does the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine provide less protection to children aged 5 to 11 than to adolescents 12 to 17? A study from New York state released Monday su