[ad_1]
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.
Immune response may explain rare clots after AstraZeneca vaccine
Researchers may have found an explanation for the rare but serious blood clots reported in some people who received AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. They think the phenomenon is similar to what rarely occurs with a blood thinner called heparin, called heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). In HIT, the drug triggers the immune system to produce antibodies that activate platelets, which causes blood to clot. Drugs other than heparin can cause bleeding disorders that closely resemble TIH, and researchers suspect that in rare cases, the AstraZeneca vaccine may be another such trigger. Four previously healthy people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine and developed life-threatening clots had the same type of antibodies that activate platelets and trigger clotting in TIH, the researchers reported on Monday in a Research Square article. before peer review. Twenty people who received the vaccine but did not develop clots did not have these antibodies. An editorial comment published with the study noted that drug-induced thrombocytopenia is treatable if identified early. Millions of people have received the vaccine without a problem, and European regulators and the World Health Organization say the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks. (https://bit.ly/2P84dp7)
Risk of death from COVID-19 increases among young adults in Brazil
Southern Brazil is seeing a sudden increase in deaths from COVID-19 among young and middle-aged adults after the identification of a worrying virus variant known as P.1, researchers said. They analyzed data from Parana – the largest state in southern Brazil – on 553,518 cases diagnosed from September 2020 to March 17, 2021. Across all age groups, the proportion of patients who died has stabilized or declined. between September and January. Starting in February, however, death rates rose for almost all groups over 20, according to a report on medRxiv on Friday ahead of the peer review. From January to February, these rates tripled in patients aged 20 to 29, from 0.04% to 0.13%, and doubled in those aged 30 to 39, 40 to 49 and 50 at 59 years old. The diagnosis made in February 2021 had a risk of death more than 3 times higher than those diagnosed in January 2021, “the researchers said.” Taken together, these preliminary results suggest significant increases in case fatality rates in young and young adults and middle-aged after the identification of a new strain of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in Brazil, and this should trigger public health alarms. (https://bit.ly/3sF6Ey0)
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines limit asymptomatic infections
Vaccines from Pfizer Inc and its partner BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc significantly reduced the risk of infection with the novel coronavirus in the weeks following the first of two injections, according to data from a study of nearly 4,000 staff health and first responders in six states. Previous trials conducted by the companies have assessed the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing illness from COVID-19, but reportedly missed infections that did not cause symptoms. In the new study, conducted from mid-December to mid-March, nearly 75% of participants had received at least one dose of the vaccine, and everyone underwent weekly coronavirus tests for 13 consecutive weeks to look for infections. asymptomatic. According to a report released Monday by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the risk of infection decreased by 80% two weeks or more after the first of two injections and by 90% two weeks after the second. stroke. “Authorized COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have provided early and substantial protection against infection for our country’s healthcare workers, first responders and other essential front-line workers,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a press release. (https://bit.ly/3cup3Yy; https://reut.rs/3cywPkg)
The pandemic has reduced parents’ access to hospitalized children
Pediatricians have long endorsed the idea that infants and children in hospital should not be separated from their families – a practice that in many facilities has been restricted or discontinued to limit COVID-19 infections, according to a news report. research. From mid-May to early July, researchers collected responses to surveys from 96 pediatric care units in 22 countries in Europe, Asia and North America. The results – mostly neonatal intensive care units – showed that before the pandemic, 87% of units accommodated families and 92% promoted skin-to-skin care, according to a report in the Journal of Perinatology. After the start of the pandemic, more than 83% of hospital units restricted family presence, with additional restrictions placed on parents’ participation in the care of their infants, said study co-author Ita Litmanovitz of Meir. Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel. Hospitals’ decisions to limit family access did not depend on their previous rules, the availability of single-family rooms, or the rate of viral infection in the geographic area of the hospital. “The restrictions during the pandemic increased the separation between infant and family,” the researchers found. These restrictions, Litmanovitz added, “run counter to the psychological and neuroscientific evidence to support unlimited parental presence and the ability to care for their hospitalized infants.” (https://go.nature.com/3w96Xmy)
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)
[ad_2]
Source link