Covid-19
Study: Lateral flow antigen testing can rapidly and accurately detect early COVID-19 among patients presenting with flu-like illness and can be a plausible alternative to RT-PCR.
26 Jul, 2021 | 02:56h | UTCNews release: Lateral flow tests are 95% effective at detecting Covid-19 when used at the onset of symptoms – University of Oxford
Related:
Rapid point-of-care tests for diagnosing COVID-19 infection: the latest Cochrane evidence
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
Comparing the diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care lateral flow antigen testing for SARS-CoV-2 with RT-PCR in primary care (REAP-2)
Thread on today's @EDGEclinical paper, with some recommendations at the end for how we can improve UK testing. ?
— The Sharing Scientist (@ScienceShared) July 14, 2021
M-A: Psychiatric patients at increased risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality.
26 Jul, 2021 | 02:57h | UTCNews release: Psychiatric patients at increased risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality – European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Study: Among kidney transplant recipients who did not respond after 2 doses, a third dose of an mRNA-1273 vaccine induced a serologic response in 49% of patients.
26 Jul, 2021 | 02:54h | UTCCommentary: Case Mounts for COVID Vaccine Boosters in Kidney Transplant Recipients – MedPage Today (free registration required)
Related:
[Preprint] 3rd AstraZeneca shot gives strong immunity.
Commentary on Twitter
JUST PUBLISHED @JAMANetwork
✔️N=159 kidney #transplant recipients
✔️3rd dose of #mRNA #Moderna #vaccine induced a #serologic response in 49% of kidney transplant recipients who did not respond after 2 doseshttps://t.co/NCDyraI98x#RealTimeCOVID19 @IDSAInfo @HIV_TID @AST_info— COVID-19 Real-Time Learning Network (RTLN) (@RealTimeCOVID19) July 24, 2021
Case report: Kawasaki-like multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in an adult.
26 Jul, 2021 | 02:52h | UTCRelated:
Case report: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in an adult after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Case series of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection
Case Reports: 2 Adults with Kawasaki-like Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Associated with COVID-19
COVID vaccines to reach poorest countries in 2023 — “Amid a COVID surge in Africa, vaccine promises from richer nations are not enough to bring an early end to the pandemic, experts say”.
26 Jul, 2021 | 02:51h | UTCCOVID vaccines to reach poorest countries in 2023 — despite recent pledges – Nature
WHO: Vaccine inequity undermining global economic recovery.
23 Jul, 2021 | 10:53h | UTCNews release: Vaccine inequity undermining global economic recovery – World Health Organization
Dashboard: Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity
Commentaries: Urgent need for COVID-19 vaccine equity – University of Oxford AND COVID-19 Vaccine Inequity Undermines Global Economic Recovery – Health Policy Watch
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
COVID-19 vaccine inequity is undermining ? economic recovery. ?WHO, @UNDP and @BlavatnikSchool Dashboard on #VaccinEquity finds that low-income countries would add $38B to their GDP forecast if they had the same vaccination rate as high-income countrieshttps://t.co/BsYF2eYL1G
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 22, 2021
Opinion | Tocilizumab in COVID-19 therapy: who benefits, and how? – the researchers suggest that maybe IL-6 inhibitors should be given only to patients with high IL-6.
23 Jul, 2021 | 10:51h | UTCTocilizumab in COVID-19 therapy: who benefits, and how? – The Lancet
Related: A living WHO guideline on drugs for covid-19 – interleukin-6 receptor blockers are now recommended for patients with severe or critical covid-19. AND M-A: Association Between Administration of IL-6 Antagonists and Mortality Among Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19 – “The 4% absolute risk reduction in mortality from 25% to 21% with IL-6 inhibition added to glucocorticoids may not translate to patients with a lower baseline mortality risk and likely do not justify the additional expense and risk for toxicities for patients hospitalized with modest oxygen requirements and a stable clinical course (from editorial)”. AND RECOVERY trial: In hospitalized COVID-19 patients with hypoxia and systemic inflammation (C-reactive protein ≥75 mg/L), tocilizumab improved survival and other clinical outcomes AND Secondary analysis of RCT finds Tocilizumab was beneficial to patients hospitalized with Covid-19 if CRP levels were greater than 15.0 mg/dL, but not if CRP levels were 15.0 mg/dL or less. AND M-A: Tocilizumab in COVID-19 – “For hospitalized COVID-19 patients, there is some evidence that tocilizumab use may be associated with a short-term mortality benefit, but further high-quality data are required”.
Perspective | SARS-CoV-2 human challenge studies — establishing the model during an evolving pandemic.
23 Jul, 2021 | 10:49h | UTCRelated: World’s first coronavirus “Human Challenge” study receives ethics approval in the UK (several texts on the subject) AND Are SARS-CoV-2 Human Challenge Trials Ethical? – “A clinical trial is underway in the UK in which young, healthy participants are exposed deliberately to SARS-CoV-2 to assess the viral inoculum needed to produce an infection and to test vaccine efficacy”.
What are the Delta, Gamma, Beta and Alpha Covid variants?
23 Jul, 2021 | 10:45h | UTCWhat are the Delta, Gamma, Beta and Alpha Covid variants? – BBC
Related: Increased transmissibility and global spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern – “Estimated transmissibility increases of alpha 29% (95% CI: 24–33), beta 25% (95% CI: 20–30), gamma 38% (95% CI: 29–48) & delta 97% (95% CI: 76–117)”. AND WHO renames COVID-19 variants with the Greek alphabet (i.e., Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc), making them simple, easy to say and remember. The naming system aims to prevent calling COVID-19 variants by the places where they are detected, which is stigmatizing & discriminatory.
Secondary sclerosing cholangitis: an emerging complication in critically ill COVID-19 patients.
23 Jul, 2021 | 10:47h | UTC
How the Delta variant achieves its ultrafast spread – “Viral load is roughly 1,000 times higher in people infected with the Delta variant than those infected with the original coronavirus strain, according to a study in China”.
23 Jul, 2021 | 10:46h | UTCHow the Delta variant achieves its ultrafast spread – Nature
The Lambda variant: is it more infectious, and can it escape vaccines? A virologist explains.
23 Jul, 2021 | 10:43h | UTCRelated: Lambda, the Newest WHO Variant of Interest, is Now in 29 Countries – Health Policy Watch
Study shows AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are effective against Delta variant, but both doses are needed.
22 Jul, 2021 | 11:16h | UTCCommentaries: Study Finds Pfizer And AstraZeneca Vaccines Effective Against The Delta Variant — As Long As You Get Both Doses – Forbes AND Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine works very well against the Delta variant — but only after 2 doses – Insider
Related: [Preprint] 2 doses of Covid vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca) highly effective against hospitalization from Delta variant. AND Reduced sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 variant Delta to antibody neutralization. AND Should I get my second AstraZeneca dose? Yes, it almost doubles your protection against Delta.
Commentary on Twitter
Public Health England's test-negative case-control study for Delta variant now in NEJM: over 14,000 people with Alpha, over 4,000 with Delta https://t.co/3l1QhKeXBT
Vax effectiveness against testing positive for Delta after 2 doses:
– BNT-Pfizer 88.0% (85-90)
– AZ 67.0% (61-72) pic.twitter.com/9UFy6CLSWw— Hilda Bastian, PhD (@hildabast) July 21, 2021
COVID-19 antibodies persist at least nine months after infection – “98.8 percent of people infected in February/March showed detectable levels of antibodies in November”.
22 Jul, 2021 | 11:14h | UTCNews release: COVID-19 antibodies persist at least nine months after infection – Imperial College London
Original study: SARS-CoV-2 antibody dynamics and transmission from community-wide serological testing in the Italian municipality of Vo’ – Nature Communications
RCT: Dapagliflozin in patients with cardiometabolic risk factors hospitalized with COVID-19 – safe, but no statistically significant risk reduction in organ dysfunction or death.
22 Jul, 2021 | 11:08h | UTCCommentary: Dapagliflozin in patients with COVID-19: truth or dare – The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology
Should children get COVID vaccines? What the science says.
22 Jul, 2021 | 11:06h | UTCShould children get COVID vaccines? What the science says – Nature
Opinion | The benefits of a COVID vaccine far outweigh the small risk of treatable heart inflammation.
22 Jul, 2021 | 10:57h | UTC
Analysis finds benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh risks of rare cases of myocarditis.
22 Jul, 2021 | 11:05h | UTCNews release: Study finds benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh risks of rare cases of myocarditis – American Heart Association
Original study: Myocarditis with COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines – Circulation
Commentary: Myocarditis and COVID-19 Vaccines: New Review Tackles Knowns, Unknowns – TCTMD
Commentary on Twitter
Just published ahead of print- Myocarditis with Covid mRNA Vaccines https://t.co/mc2yrr5pDV Mechanisms, benefit of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination over low risk, management strategies – review of all myocarditis cases published to date, CDC&other reports @PeterHotez @ishannovation
— BiykemBozkurt (@BiykemB) July 20, 2021
Opinion | Kids aren’t just littler adults – here’s why they need their own clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine.
22 Jul, 2021 | 10:55h | UTC
Exploring the gap between excess mortality and COVID-19 deaths in 67 countries.
21 Jul, 2021 | 10:51h | UTCExploring the Gap Between Excess Mortality and COVID-19 Deaths in 67 Countries – JAMA Network Open
More than 1.5 million children lost a primary or secondary caregiver due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
21 Jul, 2021 | 10:52h | UTCNews release: More than 1.5 million children lost a primary or secondary caregiver due to the COVID-19 pandemic – NIH News Releases
Original study: Global minimum estimates of children affected by COVID-19-associated orphanhood and deaths of caregivers: a modelling study – The Lancet
Invited commentary: Answering the call to support youth orphaned by COVID-19 – The Lancet
Related: Covid-19 Has Created Thousands Of Newly Single Parents And Orphans
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
NEW—Over 1.5 million children lost a parent, custodial grandparent, or other relative who cared for them during the first 14 months of the #COVID19 #pandemic, first global study estimates.
? Read https://t.co/Ug2ADTvO8G (1/2)
— The Lancet (@TheLancet) July 20, 2021
Report: Three new estimates of India’s all-cause excess mortality during the COVID-19 Pandemic – pandemic death toll estimated to be between 3.4 million and 4.9 million excess deaths.
21 Jul, 2021 | 10:49h | UTCCommentaries: India’s pandemic death toll could be in the millions – Associated Press AND Covid-19: India excess deaths cross four million, says study – BBC AND India’s true pandemic death toll is likely to be well over 3 million, a new study finds. – The New York Times AND India’s excess deaths during Covid ‘could be 10 times official toll’ – The Guardian
Commentary on Twitter
India's official COVID death toll is 400,000.
But new research shows the death toll could be much higher, up to 4 million.
↘️ @abhishekecon @JustinSandefur & @arvindsubraman breakdown the numbers from three data estimates: https://t.co/rdOcZvHZQU.
— Center for Global Development (@CGDev) July 20, 2021
Perspective | Potential COVID-19 endgame scenarios: eradication, elimination, cohabitation, or conflagration?
21 Jul, 2021 | 10:48h | UTC
Is the cure really worse than the disease? The health impacts of lockdowns during COVID-19 – “While there are certainly costs to be expected from intervening against COVID-19—every decision has a cost, after all—the counterfactual of an unmitigated epidemic makes these restrictions far less damaging than some have suggested”.
21 Jul, 2021 | 10:46h | UTCCommentaries: Expert reaction to a narrative review looking at the health impacts of lockdowns – Science Media Centre AND Lockdowns do not harm health more than Covid, say researchers – The Guardian
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
The smiley faces, cherry blossoms, Great Barrington Declaration fans, "natural herd immunity" enthusiasts & anti-maskers do not approve of our new @GlobalHealthBMJ analysis on lockdowns ?
So, here's a long-ish thread on what we did & did not find 1/nhttps://t.co/CFtT9j44vo
— Prof. Gavin Yamey MD MPH (@GYamey) July 20, 2021
Cohort study: Sickle cell disorders and severe COVID-19 outcomes – “Our analysis estimated a 4-fold increased risk for COVID-19–related hospitalization and a 2.6-fold increased risk for COVID-19–related death for sickle cell disease”.
21 Jul, 2021 | 10:44h | UTCSickle Cell Disorders and Severe COVID-19 Outcomes: A Cohort Study – Annals of Internal Medicine