Covid-19
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)
https://twitter.com/GYamey/status/1417509867498229760
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
WHO Guidance for clinical case management of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) following vaccination to prevent coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
20 Jul, 2021 | 10:29h | UTCRelated Guidance: AHA/ASA Guidance: Diagnosis and Management of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis with Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia – “No heparin products in any dose should be given.” AND ISTH Interim Guidance for the Diagnosis and Treatment on Vaccine Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia
WHO and UNICEF warn of a decline in vaccinations during COVID-19.
20 Jul, 2021 | 10:27h | UTCWHO and UNICEF warn of a decline in vaccinations during COVID-19 – World Health Organization
Related: Millions of children worldwide missed routine vaccinations during the pandemic, study suggests.
International Registry: Ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke among critically ill patients with Covid-19.
20 Jul, 2021 | 10:21h | UTCRelated: SARS-CoV-2 and Stroke Characteristics – higher rate of large vessel occlusions and stroke in young patients AND Case series of 18 male adults aged 50 years or younger with acute ischemic stroke during the convalescent phase of asymptomatic Covid-19 AND Case-control study: COVID-19-associated stroke is associated with worse outcomes and increased mortality AND Pictorial essay: Neurological emergencies associated with COVID-19: stroke and beyond AND Characteristics and Outcomes in Patients With COVID-19 and Acute Ischemic Stroke AND Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Patients with COVID-19 vs. Patients with Influenza
WHO warns that HIV infection increases risk of severe and critical COVID-19.
20 Jul, 2021 | 10:24h | UTCNews release: WHO warns that HIV infection increases risk of severe and critical COVID-19 – World Health Organization
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
🆕 report confirms that #HIV infection is a significant independent risk factor for both severe/critical #COVID19 presentation at hospital admission & in-hospital mortality. 23.1% of all people living with HIV who were hospitalized with COVID-19, died.
👉 https://t.co/UBd0OyFKnd pic.twitter.com/UHLo9RPa1g
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 16, 2021
Experts recommend Covid jabs for some under-18s in UK – “advice is that 16 to 18-year-olds can be offered a Pfizer jab if they are in a priority group or live with someone who has a weakened immune system”.
20 Jul, 2021 | 10:15h | UTCCommentaries: Experts recommend Covid jabs for some under-18s in UK – BBC
What vaccinated people should know about Covid-19 exposure, tests and more.
20 Jul, 2021 | 10:17h | UTCWhat vaccinated people should know about Covid-19 exposure, tests and more – CNN
Editorial: Defining covid-19 elimination.
20 Jul, 2021 | 10:20h | UTCDefining covid-19 elimination – The BMJ
RCT: more data showing Azithromycin is not better than placebo in patients with Covid-19.
18 Jul, 2021 | 23:54h | UTCRelated: RCT: Another study shows Azithromycin does not improve outcomes in patients with Covid-19. (several articles on the subject)
Commentary on Twitter
Among outpatients with #SARSCoV2 infection, treatment with a single dose of oral #azithromycin compared with placebo did not result in a greater likelihood of being free of symptoms at day 14 https://t.co/dYDcSyGtwd #COVID19
— JAMA (@JAMA_current) July 16, 2021
Review: Symptoms, complications and management of long COVID.
18 Jul, 2021 | 23:46h | UTCCommentary: Long COVID: More likely in patients with 5+ symptoms in first week of infection – SAGE Publications
Commentary on Twitter
Pooled prevalence data in this review showed the 10 most prevalent reported symptoms of long covid were: fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle pain, joint pain, headache, cough, chest pain, altered smell, altered taste and diarrhoea.
https://t.co/ww5HM1s7vm— KK Cheng (@KKCheng4) July 16, 2021
Position Paper: Recommendations for the use of topical inhalant budesonide in COVID-19.
18 Jul, 2021 | 23:53h | UTCRecommendations for use of topical inhalant budesonide in COVID-19 – HNO
Related: RCT: Inhaled budesonide shortens recovery time in non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19 AND Phase 2 RCT: Inhaled budesonide shows promise for the treatment of early COVID-19
Studies elucidate poorly understood long COVID.
18 Jul, 2021 | 23:42h | UTCStudies elucidate poorly understood long COVID – CIDRAP
Long Covid: fatigue, post-exertional malaise, and cognitive dysfunction are the most common symptoms, according to an international survey.
18 Jul, 2021 | 23:44h | UTCCommentaries: Identification of over 200 long COVID symptoms prompts call for UK screening programme – University College London AND A survey of long-haulers found 66 symptoms that lasted more than 6 months. Tiredness and brain fog were most common. – Insider AND Long Covid has more than 200 symptoms, study finds – The Guardian
CDC warns Covid-19 vaccines might not protect people who are immunocompromised – “CDC is looking into ongoing research exploring the possibility that immunocompromised could benefit from an additional dose”.
18 Jul, 2021 | 23:38h | UTCCDC warns Covid-19 vaccines might not protect people who are immunocompromised – CNN
Fauci says natural origins theory of coronavirus is still the most likely.
18 Jul, 2021 | 23:40h | UTCFauci says natural origins theory of coronavirus is still the most likely – CNN
Related article (preprint): The Origins of SARS-CoV-2: A Critical Review – Zenodo
See also: A Group of Scientists Presses a Case Against the Lab Leak Theory of Covid – The New York Times (a few articles per month are free) AND Leading scientists push back against Wuhan lab leak theory – The Age
Related: Opinion | The Covid-19 lab leak theory is a tale of weaponized uncertainty.
Study: Pooled saliva analysis is a low-cost and effective strategy for surveillance of Covid-19 in schools and universities and allows to rapidly assess transmission and adjust prevention protocols.
18 Jul, 2021 | 23:37h | UTCRelated: Pooling of Samples for Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in Asymptomatic People AND Implementation of a Pooled Surveillance Testing Program for Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections on a College Campus — Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, August 2–October 11, 2020 – CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Perspective | Averting Future Vaccine Injustice.
16 Jul, 2021 | 11:04h | UTCAverting Future Vaccine Injustice – New England Journal of Medicine
Commentary on Twitter
As high-income countries have secured much of the #Covid19vaccine supply, many low-income countries have barely begun the immunization process. We need political courage to end vaccine injustice now and political vision to negotiate rules for averting future inequities.
— NEJM (@NEJM) July 15, 2021
Why was a major study on ivermectin for covid-19 just retracted?
16 Jul, 2021 | 11:11h | UTCWhy Was a Major Study on Ivermectin for COVID-19 Just Retracted? – Grifter Analysis and Review
See also: Huge study supporting ivermectin as Covid treatment withdrawn over ethical concerns – The Guardian AND Some problems in the dataset of a large study of Ivermectin for the treatment of Covid-19 – Nick Brown’s Blog AND Is Ivermectin for Covid-19 Based on Fraudulent Research? – Gideon M-K; Health Nerd
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
So, one of the biggest studies to date on ivermectin for COVID-19 has issues significant enough that, if not fraud, are so serious that it invalidates the study without further explanation
I promised a thread
Here we go 1/n https://t.co/L9QOChmGtA
— Health Nerd (@GidMK) July 16, 2021
Long-term Symptoms After SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children and Adolescents – “This study found a low prevalence of symptoms compatible with long COVID in a randomly selected cohort of children assessed 6 months after serologic testing”.
16 Jul, 2021 | 11:06h | UTCLong-term Symptoms After SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children and Adolescents – JAMA
Heterologous Oxford–AstraZeneca and Moderna Vaccination induce increased levels of neutralizing antibody compared to 2 doses of Oxford–AstraZeneca.
16 Jul, 2021 | 11:02h | UTCHeterologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and mRNA-1273 Vaccination – New England Journal of Medicine
Related: [Preprint] Mixing Covid jabs has good immune response, study finds – “The Com-Cov trial looked at the efficacy of either two doses of Pfizer, two of AstraZeneca, or one of them followed by the other. All combinations worked well, priming the immune system”. AND Phase 2 RCT: Immunogenicity and reactogenicity of a Pfizer-BioNTech booster in patients that have received a single dose of AstraZeneca vaccine – “BNT162b2 (Pfizer) given as a second dose in individuals prime vaccinated with ChAdOx1-S (AstraZeneca) induced a robust immune response, with an acceptable and manageable reactogenicity profile”. AND RCT: Mixing 2 different Covid vaccines is associated with increased risk of side effects.
Commentary on Twitter
Health care workers who had received a dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 were offered either ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 or mRNA-1273 9 to 12 weeks later. Levels of S-specific and RBD-specific IgG increased by a factor of 5 after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and by a factor of 115 to 125 after mRNA-1273.
— NEJM (@NEJM) July 14, 2021
Short review: The gut in COVID-19.
16 Jul, 2021 | 10:54h | UTCThe gut in COVID-19 – Intensive Care Medicine
Commentary on Twitter
Gut & #COVID19, main findings
➡️clinical GI features
➡️pathophysiology: cytotoxic enterocyte injury, microvascular injury/thromboinfammation, non‑specifc critical illness‑related dysfunction
➡️GI dysfunction in severe #SARSCoV2 vs other critical illnesseshttps://t.co/wzzTNldInN pic.twitter.com/DnHLMsSu6v— Intensive Care Medicine (@yourICM) July 9, 2021
Donuts, drugs, booze, and guns: what governments are offering people to take covid-19 vaccines – “Incentive programs do not target the trust relationship between the public and the providers”.
16 Jul, 2021 | 10:56h | UTC
Deaths from COVID ‘incredibly rare’ among children.
16 Jul, 2021 | 10:58h | UTCDeaths from COVID ‘incredibly rare’ among children – Nature