Covid-19
Heterologous Oxford–AstraZeneca and BioNTech/Pfizer Vaccination induce increased levels of neutralizing antibody compared to 2 doses of Oxford–AstraZeneca.
16 Jul, 2021 | 11:00h | 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
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1415297187718696964
RCT: Bamlanivimab plus Etesevimab reduce mortality and hospitalization in ambulatory patients with early Covid-19 (within 3 days of a positive test) who are at risk for clinical deterioration (i.e., older people, obese, diabetics, immunocompromised, with CV disease).
15 Jul, 2021 | 09:26h | UTCBamlanivimab plus Etesevimab in Mild or Moderate Covid-19 – New England Journal of Medicine
Long COVID and kids: scientists race to find answers – “Children get long COVID too, but researchers are still working to determine how frequently and how severely”.
15 Jul, 2021 | 09:23h | UTCLong COVID and kids: scientists race to find answers – Nature
Millions of children worldwide missed routine vaccinations during the pandemic, study suggests.
15 Jul, 2021 | 09:24h | UTCMillions of children worldwide missed routine vaccinations during the pandemic, study suggests – CNN
Invited Commentary: Disruptions to childhood immunisation due to the COVID-19 pandemic – The Lancet
COVID and the brain: researchers zero in on how damage occurs.
15 Jul, 2021 | 09:18h | UTCCOVID and the brain: researchers zero in on how damage occurs – Nature
Study shows the viral loads in the Delta infections are ~1000 times higher than those in the earlier strain infections on the day when viruses are firstly detected.
15 Jul, 2021 | 09:20h | UTCCommentary: The Delta Variant Isn’t Just Hyper-Contagious. It Also Grows More Rapidly Inside You – NPR
Related: WHO: Delta variant is ‘most transmissible’ identified so far. AND 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)”.
Commentary on Twitter
Part of the challenge that Delta presents may be tied to this finding
The variant's viral load ~1,000X higher than previous strains (reflected by low CTs), more infectious in the early stages of the illnesshttps://t.co/09CDQFwCSV pic.twitter.com/mjIfcNTYlO— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) July 9, 2021
[Preprint] Brain imaging before and after COVID-19 in UK Biobank.
15 Jul, 2021 | 09:17h | UTCBrain imaging before and after COVID-19 in UK Biobank – medRxiv
Commentaries: COVID linked to loss of brain tissue: but correlation doesn’t prove causation – The Conversation AND COVID-19 survivors may suffer from a loss of gray matter and other brain tissue over time, a long-term study suggests – Business Insider
RCT: Lopinavir-ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine worsened outcomes in critically ill patients with COVID-19.
14 Jul, 2021 | 11:25h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
Results of @remap_cap #Covid_19 #Antiviral Domain released Online First @yourICM: Among critically ill patients with COVID-19, #lopinavir-ritonavir, #HydroxyChloroquine, or combination therapy worsened outcomes compared to no antiviral therapy
— remap-cap (@remap_cap) July 13, 2021
Opinion | The case for mandating COVID-19 vaccines for health care workers.
14 Jul, 2021 | 11:22h | UTCThe Case for Mandating COVID-19 Vaccines for Health Care Workers – Annals of Internal Medicine
News release: Case is strong for mandating COVID-19 vaccination for health care workers – American College of Physicians
Commentary on Twitter
The Case for Mandating COVID-19 Vaccines for Health Care Workers https://t.co/pdaBRZdkfG via @AnnalsofIM "The case for mandating SARS-CoV-2 vaccines for health care workers is substantially stronger than the case was for mandating influenza vaccines." I fully agree.
— Kenny Lin, MD, MPH (@kennylinafp) July 12, 2021
RCT: Neither Remdesivir nor Hydroxychloroquine affect viral clearance in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
14 Jul, 2021 | 11:23h | UTCNews release: Neither remdesivir nor HCQ affect viral clearance in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 – American College of Physicians
Original Study: Evaluation of the Effects of Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine on Viral Clearance in COVID-19 – Annals of Internal Medicine
Commentary on Twitter
Newly published research in Annals concludes neither remdesivir nor #hydroxychloroquine affected viral clearance in hospitalized patients with #COVID19 https://t.co/K3qWLUW8uY. pic.twitter.com/ugbjJJ3qI5
— Annals of Int Med (@AnnalsofIM) July 12, 2021
[Preprint] Wastewater genomic testing can effectively track COVID-19 variants of concern.
14 Jul, 2021 | 11:19h | UTCOriginal Study: Assessing multiplex tiling PCR sequencing approaches for detecting genomic variants of SARS-CoV-2 in municipal wastewater – medRxiv
Related: Perspective | Sewage sleuths helped an Arizona town beat back Covid-19. For wastewater epidemiology, that’s just the start. (texts on the subject) AND Human Waste Could Be The Next Big Weapon in Controlling COVID-19 – TIME
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
Excited to share our new preprint assessing different approaches for sequencing SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater! We compared different sample matrices and tiled PCR schemes, and then applied the best combo to track variants of concern in @MetroVancouver: https://t.co/cXFhr1qmAe
— Ryan Ziels (@RyanZiels) June 1, 2021
Cohort study: Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine associated with 78% lower risk of Covid-19 in pregnancy.
14 Jul, 2021 | 11:20h | UTCBetween BNT162b2 Vaccination and Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Pregnant Women – JAMA
Commentary: Pfizer COVID vaccine shows 78% efficacy in pregnancy – CIDRAP
Real-World Evidence: The low validity of temperature screening for COVID-19 triage.
14 Jul, 2021 | 11:11h | UTC
Commentary on Twitter
Temperature screening with infrared thermometers has a sensitivity of 9.43% for PCR+ COVID. https://t.co/GjaKpkUqwU
— Carlos del Rio (@CarlosdelRio7) July 7, 2021
New Zealand children falling ill in high numbers due to Covid ‘immunity debt’.
14 Jul, 2021 | 11:16h | UTCNew Zealand children falling ill in high numbers due to Covid ‘immunity debt’ – The Guardian
Related: New Zealand, where Covid-19 is dormant, fights another respiratory virus – The New York Times
Next steps for wastewater testing to help end this pandemic — and prevent the next one.
14 Jul, 2021 | 11:18h | UTCNext steps for wastewater testing to help end this pandemic — and prevent the next one – STAT
Author interview: A biostatistician on the ‘gold mine’ in our sewers – STAT
Related: Perspective | Sewage sleuths helped an Arizona town beat back Covid-19. For wastewater epidemiology, that’s just the start. (texts on the subject) AND Human Waste Could Be The Next Big Weapon in Controlling COVID-19 – TIME
One COVID vaccine dose yields good protection in elderly, 2 studies find.
14 Jul, 2021 | 11:15h | UTCOne COVID vaccine dose yields good protection in elderly, 2 studies find – CIDRAP
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
2 research Articles on #COVID19 vaccine effectiveness in older people:
1) Effectiveness of BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 COVID-19 vaccination at preventing hospitalisations in people aged at least 80 years: a test-negative, case-control study https://t.co/ELvMCPwSHF— The Lancet Infectious Diseases (@TheLancetInfDis) June 24, 2021
German national treatment guidance for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
13 Jul, 2021 | 10:02h | UTC
Long Covid: 39% of patients report persistent symptoms more than seven months after diagnosis of COVID-19 in an outpatient setting.
13 Jul, 2021 | 09:57h | UTCCommentaries: Long COVID symptoms in a third of people with COVID-19 – American College of Physicians AND Covid-19: 1-in-3 Patients Reported Long-Hauler Symptoms – Physician’s Weekly
Commentary on Twitter
A new prospective cohort study of >400 people with mild to moderate (outpatient) covid at 7-9 months: nearly 1 of 3 had persistent symptoms #LongCovid @AnnalsofIM
https://t.co/ix1Hhsm0iZ
by @mayssamnehme and colleagues pic.twitter.com/Uc4UEclDvA— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) July 5, 2021
WHO warns against mixing and matching COVID vaccines.
13 Jul, 2021 | 09:53h | UTCWHO warns against mixing and matching COVID vaccines – Reuters
Commentary: WHO cautions data still limited on mixing COVID-19 vaccines, but Canadian officials say it’s OK – CTV News
Related: Germany issues world’s strongest recommendation for mixing Covid-19 vaccines. AND [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 Perspective | Can I get AstraZeneca now and Pfizer later? Why mixing and matching COVID vaccines could help solve many rollout problems. AND RCT: Mixing 2 different Covid vaccines is associated with increased risk of side effects. AND Should you mix and match COVID-19 vaccines? Scientists are seeking answers
Commentary on Twitter
The World Health Organization's chief scientist on Monday advised against people mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines from different manufacturers, calling it a "dangerous trend" since there was little data available about the health impact. https://t.co/Oog6fWDSMz
— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) July 13, 2021
Large genomic analysis has identified 13 new genomic regions associated with susceptibility and severity to Covid-19.
13 Jul, 2021 | 09:59h | UTCMapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19 – Nature
Commentaries: The quest to find genes that drive severe COVID – Nature AND Gene hunters turn up new clues to help explain why Covid-19 hits some people so hard – STAT AND Large genomic analysis highlights COVID-19 risk factors – Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard AND A new study finds genetic variations in Covid patients that could point to better drug treatments. – The New York Times AND How your DNA may affect whether you get COVID-19 or become gravely ill – ScienceNews
[Preprint] Long Covid: Persistent symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection in a random community sample of 508,707 people.
13 Jul, 2021 | 09:55h | UTCCommentary: Study explores the prevalence of long COVID in England – News Medical
Extremely rare cases of Guillain-Barré reported with Johnson & Johnson vaccine for Covid-19.
13 Jul, 2021 | 09:48h | UTCJ&J’s Covid-19 vaccine may trigger neurological condition in rare cases, FDA says – STAT
See also: Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Is Linked To Neurological Disorder In Extremely Rare Cases – NPR AND F.D.A. Attaches Warning of Rare Nerve Syndrome to Johnson & Johnson Vaccine – The New York Times
Pro-Con Debate | Should we delay covid-19 vaccination in children?
13 Jul, 2021 | 09:51h | UTCShould we delay covid-19 vaccination in children? – The BMJ
News release: Should we delay COVID-19 vaccination in children? – British Medical Journal
Commentary on Twitter
Covid-19 vaccines in adults have been remarkably effective. There is good reason to expect that the same will be true in children.
A group of authors discuss the pros and cons of vaccinating children against covid-19 https://t.co/TOEI67YPeH
— The BMJ (@bmj_latest) July 9, 2021
[Preprint] Heparin for Moderately Ill Patients with Covid-19 – “In moderately ill ward patients with Covid-19 and elevated D-dimer level, therapeutic heparin did not significantly reduce the primary outcome but decreased the odds of death at 28 days”.
12 Jul, 2021 | 03:14h | UTCHeparin for Moderately Ill Patients with Covid-19 – medRxiv
Related: RCT: In patients hospitalized with Covid-19 with elevated D-Dimer, a full-dose anticoagulation strategy based on rivaroxaban (full-dose heparins in unstable patients) + rivaroxaban to day 30 was not better than prophylactic anticoagulation and increased bleeding risk. AND [Preprint] Practice Changing RCT: Therapeutic-dose anticoagulation with heparin (LMWH or unfractionated heparin) improves outcomes in non-critically ill patients with Covid-19 – the superiority of therapeutic-dose anticoagulation was seen in both high and low D-dimer groups. AND [Preprint] RCT: Full-dose/therapeutic anticoagulation provides no benefit in critically ill patients with Covid-19
Commentary on Twitter (thread – click for more)
🚨Final results of the RAPID trial now pub'd @medrxivpreprint 🚨 RAPID was an open-label trial that randomly assigned hospitalized ward patients with COVID-19 and elevated D-dimer levels to therapeutic or prophylactic heparin. 🧵 1/10 https://t.co/oxiyXQAPeK pic.twitter.com/V2GtruEyM2
— Michelle Sholzberg (@sholzberg) July 9, 2021
New CDC Guidance for COVID-19 prevention in kindergarten schools says safely returning to in-person instruction is a priority.
12 Jul, 2021 | 03:11h | UTCCommentaries: Updated CDC schools guidance prioritizes in-person learning, even if all Covid-19 safety measures aren’t in place – CNN AND The C.D.C. Issues New School Guidance, With Emphasis on Full Reopening – The New York Times AND New CDC guidance says fully vaccinated teachers and students don’t need to wear masks indoors – CNBC AND CDC calls for reopening schools fully, recommends masking – CIDRAP
Related: COVID and schools: the evidence for reopening safely – Nature