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By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) – The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Some cold antibodies could help fight COVID-19
Antibodies to the six coronaviruses that cause the common cold cannot ‘neutralize’ the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, but antibodies to two of them could at least help the body fend off serious illness from the new virus, suggests a small preliminary study. German researchers have studied 60 patients with COVID-19, including 25 hospitalized but not seriously ill, 19 requiring hospitalization in an intensive care unit, and 25 who were not sick enough to be hospitalized. The patients who required intensive care all had significantly lower levels of antibodies to two seasonal coronaviruses, HCoV OC43 and HCoV HKU1, which the authors say are more closely related to the COVID-19 virus compared to other human coronaviruses. Although the observation does not prove that these antibodies are responsible, “it is remarkable that the effect of the levels of HCoV specific antibodies OC43 and HKU1 reached statistical significance regarding the need for intensive care therapy” in such a small study, the researchers said in an article. published Tuesday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. “Further studies should validate this finding and explore the possibility of identifying people at risk for serious illness before infection with SARS-CoV-2,” they said. (https://bit.ly/3aMvaqd)
Side effects of vaccines can affect mammograms
Routine mammograms should be done either before the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or four to six weeks after the second dose, advises the Society for Breast Imaging. Temporary side effects from vaccines can include swollen lymph nodes around the armpits, which could be misinterpreted as a possible sign of breast cancer if it shows up on the mammogram. Axillary lymphadenopathy is typically only seen in 0.02% to 0.04% of screening mammograms, according to Company guidelines. In Moderna vaccine trials, disease developed in 11.6% of participants after the first dose and in 16% after the second dose. Researchers testing the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine did not systematically ask participants about tenderness in the armpits and swollen lymph nodes, but some people reported this side effect, which lasted for an average of 10 days. More subtle effects on lymph nodes that are only evident on x-rays are likely to last longer, the Company said, although it is not yet clear what the lymph node changes would look like from vaccination. . “As more information on the incidence and appearance of axillary lymphadenopathy after COVID-19 vaccination becomes available, it may be appropriate to modify the duration of follow-up or the final assessment recommendations,” said the society. (https://bit.ly/2MmkQvR)
Nursing Home Staff Late in COVID-19 Vaccinations
Nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable to severe COVID-19, but vaccinations appear to be behind schedule among the staff who care for them. As of mid-January, about 714,000 residents of nursing homes in the United States and 582,000 staff had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated. the United States. When nursing homes were grouped by state, the average percentage of residents vaccinated ranged from 68% to 100%, while the average proportions of staff vaccinated ranged from just 19% to 67%, the CDC said. In a comment published Wednesday in JAMA, CDC researchers said that on average nationwide, no more than a third of nursing home staff had been vaccinated, which “is of concern because this population is at occupational risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. “They said that obstacles to staff vaccination, including shift schedules and lack of paid sick leave for side effects of vaccination , must be overcome. “Communication and awareness strategies are needed to improve immunization coverage among this priority population,” they said. (https://bit.ly/3soiwns; https://bit.ly/3bBmUsj)
Celiac disease does not increase risk of COVID-19
Celiac disease does not increase patients’ risk of infection or serious illness with the novel coronavirus, new data shows. People with celiac disease have faulty immune activity and are known to be more vulnerable to various viral infections, raising concerns that they may also be more vulnerable to COVID-19. But when researchers used national databases in Sweden to compare 40,963 people with celiac disease to 183,892 similar people without it, they found no difference in the risks of infection, hospitalization from COVID- 19, serious illness requiring intensive care or death due to illness. In a report published Thursday in Clinical Epidemiology, the authors note that Sweden has imposed only limited social distancing regulations and that “the absence of a widespread lockdown is likely to have increased the number of individuals exposed to the COVID-19 “. Against this background, they report, the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19 was around 1 in 1,000 and the risk of being diagnosed with COVID-19 was around 1%. “There was no difference in these results when comparing patients with celiac disease to controls.” (https://bit.ly/3qRw9uY)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser for a Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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