Covid-19 Sentry

Contents

• From Preprints
• From Clinical Trials
• From PubMed
• From Patent Search

From Preprints

• Evaluation of COVID-19 Spread Effect on the Commercial Instagram Posts using ANN: A Case Study on The Holy Shrine in Mashhad, Iran -
  The widespread deployment of social media has helped researchers access an enormous amount of data in various domains, including the the COVID-19 pandemic. This study draws on a heuristic approach to classify Commercial Instagram Posts (CIPs) and explores how the businesses around the Holy Shrine were impacted by the pandemic. Two datasets of Instagram posts (one gathered data from March 14th to April 10th, 2020, when Holy Shrine and nearby shops were closed, and one extracted data from the same period in 2019), two word embedding models – aimed at vectorizing associated caption of each post, and two neural networks – multi-layer perceptron and convolutional neural network – were employed to classify CIPs in 2019. Among the scenarios defined for the 2019 CIPs classification, the results revealed that the combination of MLP and CBoW achieved the best performance, which was then used for the 2020 CIPs classification. It was found out that the fraction of CIPs to total Instagram posts has increased from 5.58% in 2019 to 8.08% in 2020, meaning that business owners were using Instagram to increase their sales and continue their commercial activities to compensate for the closure of their stores during the pandemic. Moreover, the portion of non-commercial Instagram posts (NCIPs) in total posts has decreased from 94.42% in 2019 to 91.92% in 2020, implying the fact that since the Holy Shrine was closed, Mashhad residents and tourists could not visit it and take photos to post on their Instagram accounts.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Evaluation of COVID-19 Spread Effect on the Commercial Instagram Posts using ANN: A Case Study on The Holy Shrine in Mashhad, Iran
• Circulation of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia -

  In many countries, non-pharmaceutical interventions to limit SARS-CoV-2 transmission resulted in significant reductions in other respiratory viruses. However, similar data from Africa are limited. We explored the extent to which viruses such as influenza and rhinovirus co-circulated with SARS-CoV-2 in The Gambia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between April 2020 and March 2022, respiratory viruses were detected using RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs from 1397 participants with influenza-like illness. Overall virus positivity was 44.2%, with prevalence higher in children <5 years (80%) compared to children aged 5-17 years (53.1%), adults aged 18-50 (39.5%) and >50 years (39.9%), p<0.0001. After SARS-CoV-2 (18.3%), rhinoviruses (10.5%) and influenza viruses (5.5%) were the most prevalent. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was lower in children <5 (4.3%) and 5-17 years (12.7%) than in adults aged 18-50 (19.3%) and >50 years (24.3%), p<0.0001. In contrast, rhinoviruses were most prevalent in children <5 years (28.7%), followed by children aged 5-17 (15.8%), adults aged 18-50 (8.3%) and >50 years (6.3%), p<0.0001. Four SARS-CoV-2 waves occurred, with 36.1%-52.4% SARS-CoV-2 positivity during peak months. Influenza infections were observed in both 2020 and 2021 during the rainy season as expected (peak positivity 16.4%-23.5%). Peaks of rhinovirus were asynchronous to the months when SARS-CoV-2 and influenza peaked.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Circulation of respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia
• A Comparative Assessment of Murder Counts Pre, During and Post-COVID-19 Restriction In Trinidad And Tobago (working paper) -
  Stringency measures associated with governmental responses to COVID-19 have reportedly had varying effects on crime. As countries worldwide continue to remove restrictions there is concern related to post-COVID-19 restriction crime patterns. This study specifically examines the change in murder counts in Trinidad and Tobago pre, during and post-COVID-19 restrictions. Tie series analysis was used to assess non-linear trends and seasonality, while Date Time Warping was used to assess similarity between time periods. The results suggest that murder counts did decrease substantial during COVI-19 with 2020 having the lowest average murder count in a 8 year period. However, murder count have return to pre-COVID-19 levels in 2022, with all restrictions having been left in November 2021. It was concluded that while the exogenous shock caused by COVID-19 did decrease murders the effect was temporary. The removal of the treatment led to a return to the previous state of murders.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: A Comparative Assessment of Murder Counts Pre, During and Post-COVID-19 Restriction In Trinidad And Tobago (working paper)
• COVID-19 made some population groups more miserable than others -
  The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of suffering to many people across the whole world. The disease not only directly devastated people’s health but also disrupted normal lifestyles and increased the risk of mental health issues [1,2]. A recent study by Kim et al. (2022) published in the Journal of Personalized Medicine (IF 3.508, according to JCR 2022) [3] revealed that the prevalence of stress, depression, and suicidal attempts did not change significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before. However, the 19- to 39-year-old group in the 2020 group had a higher rate of depression. The study employed data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2019 and 2020, with a sample of >=19-year-old 11,873 participants. The research sample is highly representative of the Korean population.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: COVID-19 made some population groups more miserable than others
• Current Perception of Epidemic between Traditional and Social Media: an Italian Case Study -
  Aim. More than two years after the beginning of the global epidemic period, most governments have adopted questionable strategies, aimed at the progressive reduction of the people freedom and pushing in a non-transparent way on the forced use of genic drugs, improperly called vaccines. The purpose of this work concerns the different way in which news relating to the epidemic reached citizens from traditional media (main TV channels and main national newspapers) and from social media, in particular from Telegram. Methods. The paper considers the situation perceived in Italy up to the first months of 2022 by analyzing the news appearing on mainstream TV channels and how they are described by national newspapers, as opposed to what can be deduced from some social media platforms who are still enough free from censorship. Results. The analysis underlines that there is a clear discrepancy between traditional and social media; the official narration of the traditional media is not only questionable, but does not give rise to the possibility of a free discussion on the hottest issues of this epidemic. Only Telegram appears to be the most censorship free channel among the studied traditional/social media in this paper. Conclusions. The attention placed on the official narrative of Covid-19, on the use of the methodology still in force in Italy for fighting the epidemic, on the strong nonsanitary limitation of individual freedom and on a possible underlying plan about what is globally happening leads to the conclusion that in Italy there is an attempt to give an ambiguous, equivocal and inconsistent version of the facts, contradicted by experimental data and scientific papers appearing more and more numerous in qualified international journals.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Current Perception of Epidemic between Traditional and Social Media: an Italian Case Study
• Multi-omic comparative analysis of COVID-19 and bacterial sepsis-induced ARDS -

  Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a life-threatening condition characterized by hypoxemia and poor lung compliance, is associated with high mortality. ARDS induced by COVID-19 has similar clinical presentations and pathological manifestations as non-COVID-19 ARDS. However, COVID-19 ARDS is associated with a more protracted inflammatory respiratory failure compared to traditional ARDS. Therefore, a comprehensive molecular comparison of ARDS of different etiologies groups may pave the way for more specific clinical interventions. Methods and Findings: In this study, we compared COVID-19 ARDS (n=43) and bacterial sepsis-induced (non-COVID-19) ARDS (n=24) using multi-omic plasma profiles covering 663 metabolites, 1,051 lipids, and 266 proteins. To address both between- and within- ARDS group variabilities we followed two approaches. First, we identified 706 molecules differently abundant between the two ARDS etiologies, revealing more than 40 biological processes differently regulated between the two groups. From these processes, we assembled a cascade of therapeutically relevant pathways downstream of sphingosine metabolism. The analysis suggests a possible overactivation of arginine metabolism involved in long-term sequelae of ARDS and highlights the potential of JAK inhibitors to improve outcomes in bacterial sepsis-induced ARDS. The second part of our study involved the comparison of the two ARDS groups with respect to clinical manifestations. Using a data-driven multi-omic network, we identified signatures of acute kidney injury (AKI) and thrombocytosis within each ARDS group. The AKI-associated network implicated mitochondrial dysregulation which might lead to post-ARDS renal-sequalae. The thrombocytosis-associated network hinted at a synergy between prothrombotic processes, namely IL-17, MAPK, TNF signaling pathways, and cell adhesion molecules. Thus, we speculate that combination therapy targeting two or more of these processes may ameliorate thrombocytosis-mediated hypercoagulation. Conclusion: We present a first comprehensive molecular characterization of differences between two ARDS etiologies: COVID-19 and bacterial sepsis. Further investigation into the identified pathways will lead to a better understanding of the pathophysiological processes, potentially enabling novel therapeutic interventions.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Multi-omic comparative analysis of COVID-19 and bacterial sepsis-induced ARDS
• SPARSEMODr: Rapid simulations of spatially explicit and stochastic models of infectious disease, including COVID-19 -

  Building realistically complex models of infectious disease transmission that are relevant for informing public health is conceptually challenging and requires knowledge of coding architecture that can implement key modeling conventions. For example, many of the models built to understand COVID-19 dynamics have included stochasticity, transmission dynamics that change throughout the epidemic due to changes in host behavior or public health interventions, and spatial structures that account for important spatio-temporal heterogeneities. Here we introduce an R package, SPARSEMODr, that allows users to simulate disease models that are stochastic and spatially explicit, including a model for COVID-19 that was useful in the early phases of the epidemic. SPARSEMOD stands for SPAtial Resolution-SEnsitive Models of Outbreak Dynamics, and our goal is to demonstrate particular conventions for rapidly simulating the dynamics of more complex, spatial models of infectious disease. In this report, we outline the features and workflows of our software package that allow for user-customized simulations. We believe the example models provided in our package will be useful in educational settings, as the coding conventions are adaptable, and will help new modelers to better understand important assumptions that were built into sophisticated COVID-19 models.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: SPARSEMODr: Rapid simulations of spatially explicit and stochastic models of infectious disease, including COVID-19
• Comparison of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants in Australian children -

  There is limited understanding of antibody responses in children across different SARS-CoV-2 variants. As part of an ongoing household cohort study, we assessed the antibody response among unvaccinated children infected with Wuhan, Delta or Omicron variants, as well as vaccinated children with breakthrough Omicron infection, using a SARS-CoV-2 S1-specific IgG assay and surrogate virus neutralisation test (sVNT). Most children infected with Delta (100%, 35/35) or Omicron (81.3%, 13/16) variants seroconverted by one month following infection. In contrast, 37.5% (21/56) children infected with Wuhan seroconverted, as previously reported. However, Omicron-infected children (GMC 46.4 BAU/ml; sVNT % inhibition: 16.3%) mounted a significantly lower antibody response than Delta (435.5 BAU/mL, sVNT=76.9%) or Wuhan (359.0 BAU/mL, sVNT=74.0%). Vaccinated children with breakthrough Omicron infection mounted the highest antibody response (2856 BAU/mL, sVNT=96.5%). Our findings suggest that despite a high seroconversion rate, Omicron infection in children results in lower antibody levels and function compared with Wuhan or Delta infection or with vaccinated children with breakthrough Omicron infection. Our data have important implications for public health measures and vaccination strategies to protect children.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Comparison of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants in Australian children
• Longitudinal analysis of serum neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5 in patients receiving monoclonal antibodies -

  The emergence of novel Omicron lineages, such as BA.5, may impact the therapeutic efficacy of anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Here, we evaluated the neutralization and ADCC activity of 6 therapeutic mAbs against Delta, BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5 isolates. The Omicron sub-variants escaped most of the antibodies but remained sensitive to Bebtelovimab and Cilgavimab. Consistent with their shared spike sequence, BA.4 and BA.5 displayed identical neutralization profiles. Sotrovimab was the most efficient at eliciting ADCC. We also analyzed 121 sera from 40 immunocompromised individuals up to 6 months after infusion of 1200 mg of Ronapreve (Imdevimab + Casirivimab), and 300 or 600 mg of Evusheld (Cilgavimab + Tixagevimab). Sera from Ronapreve-treated individuals did not neutralize Omicron subvariants. Evusheld-treated individuals neutralized BA.2 and BA.5, but titers were reduced by 41- and 130-fold, respectively, compared to Delta. A longitudinal evaluation of sera from Evusheld-treated patients revealed a slow decay of mAb levels and neutralization. The decline was more rapid against BA.5. Our data shed light on the antiviral activities of therapeutic mAbs and the duration of effectiveness of Evusheld pre-exposure prophylaxis.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Longitudinal analysis of serum neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5 in patients receiving monoclonal antibodies
• SARS-CoV-2 specific plasma cells acquire the phenotype of long-lived plasma cells in the human bone marrow -
  Establishment of long-lived plasma cells (PC) in the bone marrow (BM) is important for the development of long-term specific humoral immunity. While SARS-CoV-2-specific, resting, affinity-matured, IgG-secreting plasma cells were described in human bone marrow approx. 6-7 months after infection or vaccination, the long-term durability of these PC remains unclear. We here show that approximately 20% of SARS-CoV-2-specific human BM plasma cells, including RBD-specific PC accommodate the phenotype of long-lived plasma cells, characterized by the lack of CD19 and/or CD45. This result provides evidence in support of the emergence of persistent SARS-CoV-2 specific plasma cells in humans sustaining the durable production of specific serum IgG protecting against severe courses of COVID-19.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: SARS-CoV-2 specific plasma cells acquire the phenotype of long-lived plasma cells in the human bone marrow
• Memory B cell responses to Omicron subvariants after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA breakthrough infection -
  Individuals that receive a 3rd mRNA vaccine dose show enhanced protection against severe COVID19 but little is known about the impact of breakthrough infections on memory responses. Here, we examine the memory antibodies that develop after a 3rd or 4th antigenic exposure by Delta or Omicron BA.1 infection, respectively. A 3rd exposure to antigen by Delta breakthrough increases the number of memory B cells that produce antibodies with comparable potency and breadth to a 3rd mRNA vaccine dose. A 4th antigenic exposure with Omicron BA.1 infection increased variant specific plasma antibody and memory B cell responses. However, the 4th exposure did not increase the overall frequency of memory B cells or their general potency or breadth compared to a 3rd mRNA vaccine dose. In conclusion, a 3rd antigenic exposure by Delta infection elicits strain-specific memory responses and increases in the overall potency and breadth of the memory B cells. In contrast, the effects of a 4th antigenic exposure with Omicron BA.1 is limited to increased strain specific memory with little effect on the potency or breadth of memory B cell antibodies. The results suggest that the effect of strain-specific boosting on memory B cell compartment may be limited.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Memory B cell responses to Omicron subvariants after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA breakthrough infection
• The impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) related public-health measures on training behaviours of individuals previously participating in resistance training: A cross-sectional survey study -
  Introduction: Understanding the impact of lockdown upon RT, and how people adapted their RT behaviours, is expected to have implications for strategies to maintain engagement in positive health behaviours such as this during- restrictive pandemic-related public health measures. Further, doing so will provide a baseline for investigation of the long-term effects of these measures upon behaviours and perceptions and facilitate future follow-up study. Objectives: To determine how the onset of coronavirus (COVID-19), and the associated ‘lockdown’, affected resistance training (RT) behaviours, in addition to motivation, perceived effectiveness, enjoyment, and intent to continue, in those who regularly performed resistance training RT prior to the pandemic. Methods: We conducted an observational, cross-sectional study using online surveys in multiple languages (English, Danish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Slovakian, Swedish, and Japanese) distributed across social media platforms and through authors professional and personal networks. Adults (n = 5389 after data cleaning; median age = 31 years [interquartile range (IQR) = 25, 38]), who were previously engaged in RT prior to lockdown (median prior RT experience = 7 years [IQR = 4, 12]) participated. Outcomes were self-reported RT behaviours including: continuation of RT during lockdown, location of RT, purchase of specific equipment for RT, method of training (e.g. alone, supervision etc.), full-body or split routine, types of training, repetition ranges, exercise number, set volumes (per exercise and muscle group), weekly frequency of training, perception of effort, whether training was planned/recorded, time of day, and training goals. Secondary outcomes included motivation, perceived effectiveness, enjoyment, and intent to continue RT. Results: A majority of individuals (82.8%) maintained participation in some form of RT during- lockdown. Marginal probabilities from generalised linear models and generalised estimating equations of engaging in certain RT behaviours were largely similar from pre- to during- lockdown (particularly numbers of exercises, sets per exercise or muscle group, and weekly frequencies). There was reduced probability of training in privately owned gyms (~59% to ~7%) and increased probability of training at home (~18% to ~89%); greater probability of training using a full-body routine (~38% to ~51%); reduced probability of resistance machines (~66% to ~13%) and free weight use (~96% to ~81%), and increased probability of bodyweight training (~62% to ~82%); reduced probability of moderate repetition ranges (~62-82% to ~55-66%) and greater probability of higher repetition ranges (~27% to ~49%); and moderate reduction in the perception of effort experienced during- training (r = 0.31). Further, individuals were slightly less likely to plan or record training during- lockdown and many changed their training goals as a result of lockdown. Additionally, perceived effectiveness, enjoyment, and likelihood of continuing current training were all lower during- lockdown. Conclusions: Those engaged in RT prior to lockdown appeared mostly able to maintain these behaviours with only slight adaptations in both the location and types of training performed. However, people employed less effort, had lower motivation, and perceived training as less effective and enjoyable, reporting that their likelihood of continuing current training was similar or lower than pre- lockdown. These results have implications for strategies to maintain engagement in positive health behaviours such as RT during- restrictive pandemic-related public health measures.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: The impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) related public-health measures on training behaviours of individuals previously participating in resistance training: A cross-sectional survey study
• The emergence of high-fitness variants accelerates the decay of genome heterogeneity in the coronavirus -
  Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus accumulated an important amount of genome compositional heterogeneity through mutation and recombination, which can be summarized by means of a measure of Sequence Compositional Complexity (SCC). To test evolutionary trends that could inform us on the adaptive process of the virus to its human host, we compute SCC in high-quality coronavirus genomes from across the globe, covering the full span of the pandemic. By using phylogenetic ridge regression, we find trends for SCC in the short time-span of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic expansion. In early samples, we find no statistical support for any trend in SCC values over time, although the virus genome appears to evolve faster than Brownian Motion expectation. However, in samples taken after the emergence of Variants of Concern with higher transmissibility, and controlling for phylogenetic and sampling effects, we detect a declining trend for SCC and an increasing one for its absolute evolutionary rate. This means that the decay in SCC itself accelerated over time, and that increasing fitness of variant genomes lead to a reduction of their genome sequence heterogeneity. Therefore, our work shows that phylogenetic trends, typical of macroevolutionary time scales, can be also revealed on the shorter time spans typical of viral genomes.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: The emergence of high-fitness variants accelerates the decay of genome heterogeneity in the coronavirus
• Measuring and validating spatial accessibility to Covid-19 vaccination sites: a case study in England -
  The global Covid-19 pandemic has caused numerous deaths and illnesses and posed unprecedented social and economic challenges to many countries. One of the key strategies to contain the pandemic is mass vaccination. While it is essential to ensure safe and easy accessibility to Covid-19 vaccines for all communities, limited research has been carried out to understand and validate the spatial accessibility of these vaccines. This study addresses this gap by measuring and validating the spatial accessibility to Covid-19 vaccines with a particular focus on England, United Kingdom. More specifically, we compare three floating catchment area (FCA) methods with differing parameters for measuring the small-scale spatial accessibility to vaccination services. Then, we calibrate these accessibility measurements using a beta regression model and the reported vaccination uptake rates. The results show that the three-step FCA method with a distance parameter of 30 miles is the optimal model for measuring the spatial accessibility to Covid-19 vaccines. The findings provide an improved understanding of the spatial inequality of vaccine services. Further, the framework of calibrating spatial accessibility to vaccine services is generalisable to other types of healthcare services.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Measuring and validating spatial accessibility to Covid-19 vaccination sites: a case study in England
• Resuming Social Contact After Months of Contact Restrictions: Social Traits Moderate Associations Between Changes in Social Contact and Well-Being -
  Humans possess a need for social contact. Satisfaction of this need benefits well-being, whereas deprivation is detrimental. However, how much contact people desire is not universal, and evidence is mixed on individual differences in the association between contact and well-being. This preregistered longitudinal study (N = 190) examined changes in social contact and well-being (life satisfaction, depressivity/anxiety) in Germany during pervasive contact restrictions, which exceed lab-based social deprivation. We analyzed how changes in personal and indirect contact and well-being during the first COVID-19 lockdown varied with social traits (e.g., affiliation, extraversion). Results showed that affiliation motive, need to be alone, and social anxiety moderated the resumption of personal contact under loosened restrictions as well as associated changes in life satisfaction and depressivity/anxiety.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Resuming Social Contact After Months of Contact Restrictions: Social Traits Moderate Associations Between Changes in Social Contact and Well-Being

From Clinical Trials

• A Study to Measure the Amount of Study Medicine in Blood in Adult Participants With COVID-19 and Severe Kidney Disease - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Drug: PF-07321332 (nirmatrelvir)/ritonavir
  Sponsor:   Pfizer
  Not yet recruiting

• Cognitive Rehabilitation in Post-COVID-19 Condition - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Behavioral: Goal Management Training (GMT)
  Sponsors:   Lovisenberg Diakonale Hospital;   University of Oslo;   Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai;   University of Toronto;   UiT The Arctic University of Norway;   Oslo University Hospital
  Not yet recruiting

• Social Network Diffusion of COVID-19 Prevention for Diverse Criminal Legal Involved Communities - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Other: Education;   Other: Motivational
  Sponsor:   University of Chicago
  Not yet recruiting

• A Study of Booster Immunization With COVID-19 Vaccine,Inactivated Co -Administration With Influenza Vaccine and Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Biological: Adult group in immunogenicity and safety study of combined immunization;   Biological: Elderly group in immunogenicity and safety study of combined immunization;   Biological: Adult group in safety observation study of combined immunization;   Biological: Elderly group in safety observation study of combined immunization
  Sponsor:   Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd
  Completed

• EFFECTS OF INSPIRATORY MUSCLE TRAINING IN POST-COVID-19 PATIENTS - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Other: TREATMENT GROUP (TG);   Other: CONTROL GROUP (CG)
  Sponsor:   University Vila Velha
  Completed

• Long-term Effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the Central Nervous System and One-year Follow-up of “Long COVID-19” Patients - Condition:   Long Covid19
  Intervention:   Diagnostic Test: Perfusion brain scintigraphy imaging
  Sponsor:   Brugmann University Hospital
  Recruiting

• Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Allogeneic Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Patients With COVID-19 - Condition:   COVID-19 Infection
  Interventions:   Biological: Allogeneic umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells;   Biological: Controlled normal saline
  Sponsor:   Ever Supreme Bio Technology Co., Ltd.
  Active, not recruiting

• Temelimab as a Disease Modifying Therapy in Patients With Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Post-COVID 19 or PASC Syndrome - Condition:   Post-COVID-19 Syndrome
  Interventions:   Drug: Temelimab 54mg/kg;   Drug: Placebo
  Sponsor:   GeNeuro SA
  Not yet recruiting

• Active Cycle Of Breathing Technique Verses Breathing Exercises In Post ICU COVID-19 Patients - Condition:   Post Covid-19 Patients
  Interventions:   Other: Chest physiotherapy with breathing exercises and ACBT;   Other: Chest physiotherapy with breathing exercises
  Sponsor:   Riphah International University
  Recruiting

• Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy and Increasing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among African American Young Adults in the South - Conditions:   COVID-19;   Vaccine Uptake
  Intervention:   Behavioral: Tough Talks COVID
  Sponsors:   University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill;   University of Alabama at Birmingham;   National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
  Not yet recruiting

• rSIFN-co Among Healthy Subjects and Subjects With Mild or Asymptomatic COVID-19 - Conditions:   COVID-19;   SARS-CoV-2
  Interventions:   Drug: rSIFN-co Nasal Spray;   Drug: Placebo Nasal Spray
  Sponsor:   Sichuan Huiyang Life Science and Technology Corporation
  Recruiting

• Huashi Baidu Granule in the Treatment of Pediatric Patients With Mild Coronavirus Disease 2019 - Condition:   Coronavirus Disease 2019
  Interventions:   Drug: Huashi Baidu granule;   Drug: compound pholcodine oral solution
  Sponsor:   Shanghai Children’s Medical Center
  Completed

• Evaluation of Safety and Immunogenicity of the Recombinant ZR202-CoV and ZR202a-CoV Vaccines in Adults. - Conditions:   SARS-CoV-2 Infection;   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Biological: ZR202-CoV;   Biological: ZR202a-CoV;   Biological: Comirnaty®
  Sponsor:   Shanghai Zerun Biotechnology Co.,Ltd
  Recruiting

• The Effect of Pilates on Biopsychosocial Characteristics in the Covid-19 Pandemic - Conditions:   COVID-19;   Healthy;   Sedentary;   Exercise;   Pilates
  Interventions:   Behavioral: Sedantary;   Behavioral: Exercise therapy
  Sponsor:   Medipol University
  Recruiting

• This Trial is a Clinical Performance Validation Study That Will Evaluate the Clinical Agreement of the Sky Medical™ Rapid Antigen Test Comparing the Antigen Rapid Test to RT-PCR - Conditions:   COVID-19;   Sars-CoV-2 Infection
  Intervention:   Diagnostic Test: Sky Medical™ Rapid Antigen Test
  Sponsor:   Sky Medical Supplies & Equipments, LLC
  Recruiting

From PubMed

• Disulfiram blocked cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 via inhibiting the interaction of spike protein and ACE2 - Disulfiram is an FDA-approved drug that has been used to treat alcoholism and has demonstrated a wide range of anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral effects. In the global COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need for effective therapeutics and vaccine development. According to recent studies, disulfiram can act as a potent SARS-CoV-2 replication inhibitor by targeting multiple SARS-CoV-2 non-structural proteins to inhibit viral polyprotein cleavage and RNA replication. Currently,…

• Schaftoside inhibits 3CL^pro and PL^pro of SARS-CoV-2 virus and regulates immune response and inflammation of host cells for the treatment of COVID-19 - It is an urgent demand worldwide to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. The 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CL^(pro)) and papain-like protease (PL^(pro)) are key targets to discover SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. After screening 12 Chinese herbal medicines and 125 compounds from licorice, we found that a popular natural product schaftoside inhibited 3CL^(pro) and PL^(pro) with IC(50) values of 1.73 ±…

• Antibiotic-Induced Primary Biles Inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Endoribonuclease Nsp15 Activity in Mouse Gut - The gut microbiome profile of COVID-19 patients was found to correlate with a viral load of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 severity, and dysfunctional immune responses, suggesting that gut microbiota may be involved in anti-infection. In order to investigate the role of gut microbiota in anti-infection against SARS-CoV-2, we established a high-throughput in vitro screening system for COVID-19 therapeutics by targeting the endoribonuclease (Nsp15). We also evaluated the activity inhibition of the target by…

• Human surfactant protein D facilitates SARS-CoV-2 pseudotype binding and entry in DC-SIGN expressing cells, and downregulates spike protein induced inflammation - Lung surfactant protein D (SP-D) and Dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecules-3 grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN) are pathogen recognising C-type lectin receptors. SP-D has a crucial immune function in detecting and clearing pulmonary pathogens; DC-SIGN is involved in facilitating dendritic cell interaction with naïve T cells to mount an anti-viral immune response. SP-D and DC-SIGN have been shown to interact with various viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, an enveloped RNA virus that…

• Characterization and Structural Prediction of Proteins in SARS-CoV-2 Bangladeshi Variant Through Bioinformatics - The renowned respiratory disease induced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global epidemic in just less than a year by the first half of 2020. The subsequent efficient human-to-human transmission of this virus eventually affected millions of people worldwide. The most devastating thing is that the infection rate is continuously uprising and resulting in significant mortality especially among the older age population and those with health…

• Green Approaches, Potentials, and Applications of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles in Surface Coatings and Films - Interest in the use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in surface coatings and films has increased as its incorporation can significantly improve the mechanical and antimicrobial properties of coatings and film solutions. In an effort to produce green or eco-friendly products, the potential use of ZnO NPs biosynthesized from natural resources to replace conventional petroleum-derived polymers has been investigated. This review provides an insight into the growing trend of incorporating ZnO…

• Role of ethno-phytomedicine knowledge in healthcare of COVID-19: advances in traditional phytomedicine perspective - CONCLUSIONS: Since medicinal plants are the sources of modern biotherapeutics development, it is essential to build collaborations among ethnobotanists, scientists, and technologists toward developing the most efficient and the safest adjuvant therapeutics against the pandemic of the twenty-first century, COVID-19.

• Neutralizing immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 by infection and vaccination - The emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 (B.1.1.529) variant has raised questions regarding resistance to neutralizing antibodies elicited by natural infection or immunization. We examined the neutralization activity of sera collected from previously SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals and SARS-CoV-2 naïve individuals who received BBIBP-CorV or CoronaVac to BA.1 and the earlier variants Alpha, Beta, and Delta. Both sera from convalescent patients over three months after infection and two-dose…

• Dual effects of supplementation oxygen on pulmonary infection, inflammatory lung injury, and neuromodulation in aging and COVID-19 - Clinical studies have shown a significant positive correlation between age and the likelihood of being infected with SARS-CoV-2. This increased susceptibility is positively correlated with chronic inflammation and compromised neurocognitive functions. Postmortem analyses suggest that acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), with systemic and lung hyperinflammation, can cause significant morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients. Supraphysiological supplemental…

• In vitro evaluation of the impact of Covid-19 therapeutic agents on the hydrolysis of the antiviral prodrug remdesivir - Remdesivir (RDV, Veklury®) is an FDA-approved prodrug for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Recent in vitro studies have indicated that human carboxylesterase 1 (CES1) is the major metabolic enzyme catalyzing RDV activation. COVID-19 treatment for hospitalized patients typically also involves a number of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Further, individuals who are carriers of a CES1 variant (polymorphism in exon 4 codon 143 [G143E]) may experience impairment in their…

• Proteomic analysis and identification reveal the anti-inflammatory mechanism of clofazimine on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice - CONCLUSION: This study can provide significant insight into the proteomics-guided pharmacological mechanism study of CFZ and suggest potential therapeutic strategies for infectious disease.

• Modeling SARS-CoV-2 and influenza infections and antiviral treatments in human lung epithelial tissue equivalents - There is a critical need for physiologically relevant, robust, and ready-to-use in vitro cellular assay platforms to rapidly model the infectivity of emerging viruses and develop new antiviral treatments. Here we describe the cellular complexity of human alveolar and tracheobronchial air liquid interface (ALI) tissue models during SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus (IAV) infections. Our results showed that both SARS-CoV-2 and IAV effectively infect these ALI tissues, with SARS-CoV-2 exhibiting a…

• Structure-Based Identification of Naphthoquinones and Derivatives as Novel Inhibitors of Main Protease M^pro and Papain-like Protease PL^pro of SARS-CoV-2 - The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 urgently demands novel direct antiviral treatments. The main protease (M^(pro)) and papain-like protease (PL^(pro)) are attractive drug targets among coronaviruses due to their essential role in processing the polyproteins translated from the viral RNA. In this study, we virtually screened 688 naphthoquinoidal compounds and derivatives against M^(pro) of SARS-CoV-2. Twenty-four derivatives were selected and evaluated in…

• SARS-CoV-2 infection and C1-esterase inhibitor: Camouflage pattern and new perspective - In Covid-19, the pathological effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection is arbitrated through direct viral toxicity, unusual immune response, endothelial dysfunction, deregulated renin-angiotensin system [RAS], and thrombo-inflammation leading to acute lung injury [ALI], with a succession of acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS] in critical conditions. C1 esterase inhibitor [C1INH] is a protease inhibitor that inhibits the spontaneous activation of complement and contact systems and kinin pathway,…

• The effect of reparixin on survival in patients at high risk for in-hospital mortality: a meta-analysis of randomized trials - CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis of randomized trials suggests that short-term inhibition of CXCL8 activity improved survival in patients at high risk for in-hospital mortality without increasing the risk of infection.

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