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By Nancy Lapid
March 12 (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.
Kidney problems from COVID-19 are particularly serious
Sudden kidney problems from severe COVID-19 appear to be worse and longer lasting than kidney problems that develop in other critically ill patients, a new study has found. Doctors at five hospitals in Connecticut and Rhode Island studied 182 patients with acute kidney injury associated with COVID-19 (AKI) and 1,430 patients with AKI not associated with coronavirus. Patients with COVID-19 have had more marked declines in the ability of their kidneys to filter waste products from the blood while they are hospitalized, the researchers reported. In addition, among patients whose kidneys were still impaired upon discharge from hospital, those with COVID-19 were significantly less likely to have recovered their pre-disease kidney condition six months later, and their function. kidney function should decline more rapidly over time. rate than in other patients. The data, published Wednesday in the JAMA Network Open, shows that “acute kidney injury associated with COVID-19 has a worse prognosis than traditional acute kidney injury,” said co-author Dr Francis Perry Wilson of Yale University School of Medicine. “Those with acute kidney injury associated with COVID-19 should probably be monitored more closely than others once they are released from the hospital.” (https://bit.ly/3rD9G56)
The second shot should not be delayed for cancer patients
Delayed administration of the second dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine leaves most cancer patients unprotected, a new report warns. In clinical trials last year, messenger RNA vaccines were tested with second doses given three or four weeks after the first depending on the vaccine. In January, the UK decided to postpone second doses to 12 weeks. At Kings College London, doctors studied 205 adults who received the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, including 151 cancer patients. After the first dose, almost all healthy individuals had strong immune responses, but this was true for less than half of patients with solid tumors and less than one in seven patients with blood cancers, said the Dr Adrian Hayday. When solid cancer patients received the second dose at the recommended three weeks, 95% developed robust antibody responses. Of those who did not receive the booster dose on time due to the new UK policy, only 43% of solid cancer patients and 8% of blood cancer patients had antibody at five weeks. “A single dose of the vaccine has left most cancer patients largely or completely unprotected,” Hayday said. The study report was submitted prior to peer review to medRxiv but is not yet online. The data is available on the COVID-Immuno-Phenotype website. (https://bit.ly/3ckwU9O)
Prescription mouthwash reduces viral load in saliva
A commercially available prescription mouthwash can reduce the amount of coronavirus in saliva in adults with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19, helping to reduce their contagiousness, the researchers found. They randomly assigned 154 volunteers, all diagnosed in the past week, to rinse three times a day for seven days with a mouthwash containing the antiviral beta-cyclodextrin and citrox or a placebo. Four hours after the first use of the antiviral mouthwash, the salivary viral load was already significantly reduced, the researchers reported on Wednesday in an article posted to the Research Square preprint server ahead of the peer review. During seven days of treatment, the mouthwash had a particularly beneficial effect in reducing the amount of virus in saliva in patients with high or very high levels at baseline, the authors said. “A one-minute rinse with a beta-cyclodextrin and citrox mouthwash reduces the salivary viral load of SARS-CoV-2 by 70%” in asymptomatic or mildly ill adults, said co-author Dr Florence Carrouel of the University of Lyon in France. “Thus, this mouthwash is a barrier measure against the spread of COVID-19.” (https://bit.ly/3lmteZr)
MRNA vaccines reduce risk of asymptomatic COVID-19
Ten days after receiving a second dose of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines from Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna, people without symptoms of COVID-19 are much less likely to carry the virus and spread it unknowingly, for example compared to people who have not been vaccinated. , according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic. Their data, published Wednesday in Clinical Infectious Diseases, comes from 39,000 patients who were routinely tested for COVID-19 before undergoing various medical procedures. More than 48,000 screening tests have been performed, including 3,000 on patients who have received at least one dose of an mRNA vaccine. Among individuals who had received a single dose of the vaccine at least 10 days earlier, they saw a 72% reduction in the risk of a positive COVID-19 test. After adjusting for a range of factors, they found an 80% risk reduction of testing positive for COVID-19 in people without symptoms who had received both doses. The authors said their results underscored the fact that messenger RNA vaccines for COVID-19 can help significantly limit the spread of the virus by people without symptoms. (https://bit.ly/3bG07wM)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser for a Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Additional reporting by Linda Carroll; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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