Covid-19 Sentry

Contents

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

From Preprints

• Giving a Socially Distanced Voice to Disabled Young People: Insights from the Educational Pathways and Work Outcomes Qualitative Longitudinal Study -
  The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for social research. However, little is known about the impact of social distancing measures on research with hard-to-reach populations. This paper provides methodological reflections on the efficacy of socially distanced recruitment and interviewing methods for research with disabled young people, drawing on our experience from the Educational Pathways and Work Outcomes longitudinal study, which started in March 2021 during the third national lockdown in England. We discuss difficulties in gaining access to disabled young people and argue that the pandemic has exacerbated longstanding barriers implicated in the recruitment of hard-to-reach populations who are typically seen as vulnerable by gatekeepers. In contrast, our experience suggests that flexible online/virtual interviews can overcome pitfalls inherent in the face-to-face interviewing of disabled young people and could therefore be utilised to make their voices heard in a variety of contexts and scenarios after the end of the ongoing pandemic.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Giving a Socially Distanced Voice to Disabled Young People: Insights from the Educational Pathways and Work Outcomes Qualitative Longitudinal Study
• What is the impact of Covid-19 on the Antenatal Care Services Utilization in Public-Private-Rural-Urban Hospitals of India during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period of 2020-2021 compared to pre-pandemic era 2018-2019? -
  Background The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is well documented to have a disastrous effect on the health-care services, particularly pregnancy-related health services. In order to provide the information to the scientific community and policy makers with accredited evidence and data in the country, this retrospective cross sectional mixed research study aims to find out the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antenatal services utilization among pregnant women of India attending public / private / rural / urban health facilities in 36 states and union territories. Hence, the researcher hopes that result and analysis will be beneficial to important stakeholders as well as policy makers in designing strategies for prioritizing pregnancy healthcare even within the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods A facility-based retrospective mixed cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st January 2018 to 31st May 2021 for pregnant women attending public / private / rural / urban ANC services in 36 states and union territories of India. A total of 96990524 women registered for ANC during this period across all health facilities were included in the study with a purposive sampling technique. The data required for this study is collected from HMIS of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) which is the most accredited data source in India. The total number of indicators included for the study was 20.The data collected is analysed with the help of Microsoft office. Results Overall, 96990524 women registered for ANC during the study period. The analysis shows that the covid-19 pandemic era has a negative impact on several indicators. The study revealed that there is significant increase in ANC service utilization at urban health facility of all the services as compared to pre-pandemic era on cumulative all India basis. Conclusion Enhancing women knowledge of protective health services, prioritizing maternal care related health services during ongoing COVID-19, and improving the accessibility of ANC service should be emphasized for getting maximum benefit to the neediest. Keywords: antenatal care, health facility, utilization, coronavirus disease, pregnant women, India
  🖺 Full Text HTML: What is the impact of Covid-19 on the Antenatal Care Services Utilization in Public-Private-Rural-Urban Hospitals of India during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period of 2020-2021 compared to pre-pandemic era 2018-2019?
• Covid-19: acquired acute porphyria hypothesis -
  Pandemic Covid-19 pneumonia, of SARS-CoV-2 aetiology, is of global importance to health systems, national economies and individual civil liberties. Multiple therapeutic and prophylactic agents are currently undergoing clinical trial and, while progress towards a curative agent is promising, the principal limiting factor in public health emergency is time. A pre-existing licensed therapeutic would offer reprieve to international citizens currently enduring the adverse consequences of lockdown policies. This brief communication serves as an update on the initial version of the acquired acute porphyria hypothesis and advocates for direct testing of the hypothesis.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Covid-19: acquired acute porphyria hypothesis
• Combination of Spironolactone and Sitagliptin Improves Clinical Outcomes of Outpatients with COVID-19: An Observational Study -

  Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) leads to hospitalization and death, especially in elderly and those with comorbidities. There are evidences showing that sitagliptin and spironolactone can potentially improve the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 cases. In this observational study on acutely symptomatic outpatient COVID-19 cases, we investigated the effects of spironolactone and sitagliptin on the outcomes of the disease. Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Clinics during the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic between July 2021 and September 2021. We followed mild to moderate symptomatic COVID-19 patients, who were treated with either combination (spironolactone 100 mg daily and sitagliptin 100 mg daily) or standard (steroid, antiviral and/or supportive care) therapy up to 30 days. Our primary outcome was hospitalization rate. The secondary outcomes included ER visit, duration of disease, and complications, such as hypoglycemia, low blood pressure or altered mental status. Results: Of the 206 patients referred to clinics, 103 received standard therapy and 103 treated with combination therapy. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics, except for slightly higher clinical score in control group (6.92 +/- 4.01 control, 4.87 +/- 2.92 combination; P <0.0001). Treatment with combination therapy was associated with lower admission rate (5.8% combination, 22.3% control; P = 0.0011), ER visits (7.8% combination, 23.3% control; P = 0.0021) and average duration of symptoms (6.67 +/- 2.30 days combination, 18.71 +/- 6.49 days control; P =<0.0001). Conclusion: In this prospective cohort study of acutely ill outpatients with COVID-19, the combination of sitagliptin and spironolactone reduced duration of COVID infection and hospital visits better than standard therapeutic approaches. The effects of combination of sitagliptin and spironolactone in COVID-19 patients should be further verified in a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Combination of Spironolactone and Sitagliptin Improves Clinical Outcomes of Outpatients with COVID-19: An Observational Study
• ReadItAndKeep: rapid decontamination of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing reads -
  Viral sequence data from clinical samples frequently contain human contamination, which must be removed prior to sharing for legal and ethical reasons. To enable host read removal for SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data on low-specification laptops, we developed ReadItAndKeep, a fast lightweight tool for Illumina and nanopore data that only keeps reads matching the SARS-CoV-2 genome. Peak RAM usage is typically below 10MB, and runtime less than one minute. We show that by excluding the polyA tail from the viral reference, ReadItAndKeep prevents bleed-through of human reads, whereas mapping to the human genome lets some reads escape. We believe our test approach (including all possible reads from the human genome, human samples from each of the 26 populations in the 1000 genomes data, and a diverse set of SARS-CoV-2 genomes) will also be useful for others. ReadItAndKeep is implemented in C++, released under the MIT license, and available from https://github.com/GenomePathogenAnalysisService/read-it-and-keep .
  🖺 Full Text HTML: ReadItAndKeep: rapid decontamination of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing reads
• Nanoformulated Remdesivir with Extremely Low Content of Poly(2-oxazoline) - Based Stabilizer for Aerosol Treatment of COVID-19 -
  The rise of the novel virus SARS-CoV2 which causes the disease known as COVID-19 has led to a global pandemic claiming millions of lives. With no clinically approved treatment for COVID-19, physicians initially struggled to treat the disease and there is still a need for improved anti-viral therapies in this area. We conceived early in the pandemic that an inhalable formulation of the drug Remdesivir which directly targets the virus at the initial site of infection could improve therapeutic outcomes in COVID-19. We developed a set of requirements that would be conducive to rapid drug approval: 1) try to use GRAS or GRAS similar reagents 2) minimize excipient concentration and 3) achieve a working concentration of 5 mg/mL Remdesivir to achieve a deliverable dose which is 5-10% of the IV dose. In this work, we discovered that Poly(2-oxazoline) block copolymers can stabilize drug nanocrystal suspensions and provide suitable formulation characteristics for aerosol delivery while maintaining anti-viral efficacy. We believe POx block copolymers can be used as a semi-ubiquitous stabilizer for the rapid development of nanocrystal formulations for new and existing diseases.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Nanoformulated Remdesivir with Extremely Low Content of Poly(2-oxazoline) - Based Stabilizer for Aerosol Treatment of COVID-19
• Pre-existing antibodies targeting a linear epitope on SARS-CoV-2 S2 cross-reacted with commensal gut bacteria and shaped vaccine induced immunity -

  The origins of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactive antibodies and their potential impacts on vaccine efficacy have not been fully clarified. In this study, we demonstrated that S2 was the prevailing target of the pre-existing S protein cross-reactive antibodies in both healthy human and SPF mice. A dominant antibody epitope was identified on the connector domain of S2 (1147-SFKEELDKYFKNHT-1160, P144), which could be recognized by pre-existing antibodies in both human and mouse. Through metagenomic sequencing and fecal bacteria transplant, we proved that the generation of S2 cross-reactive antibodies was associated with commensal gut bacteria. Furthermore, six P144 specific monoclonal antibodies were isolated from naive SPF mice and proved to cross-react with commensal gut bacteria collected from both human and mouse. Mice with high levels of pre-existing S2 cross-reactive antibodies mounted higher S protein specific binding antibodies, especially against S2, after being immunized with a SARS-CoV-2 S DNA vaccine. Similarly, we found that levels of pre-existing S2 and P144 reactive antibodies correlated positively with RBD specific binding antibody titers after two doses of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in human. Finally, we provided data demonstrating that immunization of a SARS-CoV-2 S DNA vaccine could alter the gut microbiota compositions of mice.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Pre-existing antibodies targeting a linear epitope on SARS-CoV-2 S2 cross-reacted with commensal gut bacteria and shaped vaccine induced immunity
• Outbreak.info: A standardized, searchable platform to discover and explore COVID-19 resources and data -
  To combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, scientists have been conducting research at breakneck speeds, producing over 52,000 peer reviewed articles within the first 12 months. In contrast, a little over 1,000 peer reviewed articles were published within the first 12 months of the SARS-CoV-1 pandemic starting in 2002. In addition to publications, there has also been an upsurge in clinical trials to develop vaccines and treatments, scientific protocols to study SARS-CoV-2, methodology for epidemiological modeling, and datasets spanning molecular studies to social science research. One of the largest challenges has been keeping track of the vast amounts of newly generated disparate data and research that exist in independent repositories. To address this issue, we developed outbreak.info, which provides a standardized, searchable interface of heterogeneous data resources on COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2. Unifying metadata from 14 data repositories, we have assembled a collection of over 200,000 publications, clinical trials, datasets, protocols, and other resources as of October 2021. We used a rigorous schema to enforce a consistent format across different data sources and resource types, and linked related resources where possible. This enables users to quickly retrieve information across data repositories, regardless of resource type or repository location. Outbreak.info also combines the combined research library with spatiotemporal genomics data on SARS-CoV-2 variants and epidemiological data on COVID-19 cases and deaths. The web interface provides interactive visualizations and reports to explore the unified data and generate hypotheses. In addition to providing a web interface, we also publish the data we have assembled and standardized in a high performance public API and an R package. Finally, we discuss the challenges inherent in combining metadata from scattered and heterogeneous resources and provide recommendations to streamline this process to aid scientific research.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Outbreak.info: A standardized, searchable platform to discover and explore COVID-19 resources and data
• Sialic acid and fucose residues on the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain modulate IgG reactivity -
  The receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is a conserved domain and a target for neutralizing antibodies. We defined the carbohydrate content of recombinant RBD produced in different mammalian cells. We found a higher degree of complex type N-linked glycans, with less sialylation and more fucosylation, when the RBD was produced in Human embryonic kidney cells compared to the same protein produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells. The carbohydrates on the RBD proteins were enzymatically modulated and the effect on antibody reactivity was evaluated with serum samples from SARS-CoV-2 positive patients. Removal of all carbohydrates diminished antibody reactivity while removal of only sialic acids or terminal fucoses improved the reactivity. The RBD produced in Lec3.2.8.1-cells, which generate carbohydrate structures devoid of sialic acids and with reduced fucose content, exhibited enhanced antibody reactivity verifying the importance of these specific monosaccharides. The results can be of importance for the design of future vaccine candidates, indicating that it might be possible to enhance the immunogenicity of recombinant viral proteins.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Sialic acid and fucose residues on the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain modulate IgG reactivity
• Relationship between monomer packing, receptor binding domain pocket status, and pH, in the spike trimer of SARS- CoV-2 variants -
  Existence of a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein trimer form with closer packing between monomers when receptor binding domains (RBDs) are all down, locked as opposed to closed, has been associated with linoleic acid (LA) binding at neutral pH, or can occur at acidic pH in the absence of LA binding. The relationship between degree of closure of the LA binding pocket of the RBD, and monomer burial in the trimer, is examined for a range of spike protein structures, including those with D614G mutation, and that of the Delta variant (which also carries D614G). Some spike protein structures with this aspartic acid mutation show monomer packing approaching that of the locked form (at neutral pH, without LA binding) for two segments, a third (around the RBD) remains less closely packed. Mutations in the RBD are a focus for the Omicron variant spike protein. Structure reports suggest that these mutations are involved in increased RBD-RBD interactions, and also that they could lead to a closing of the LA pocket, both of which could impact on pH- dependence. One potential outcome is that the extent of pH-dependent conformational transitions of the pre-fusion SARS- CoV-2 spike trimer are reduced in the Omicron variant.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Relationship between monomer packing, receptor binding domain pocket status, and pH, in the spike trimer of SARS-CoV-2 variants
• A human antibody reveals a conserved site on beta-coronavirus spike proteins and confers protection against SARS- CoV-2 infection -
  Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) to coronaviruses (CoVs) are valuable in their own right as prophylactic and therapeutic reagents to treat diverse CoVs and, importantly, as templates for rational pan-CoV vaccine design. We recently described a bnAb, CC40.8, from a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-convalescent donor that exhibits broad reactivity with human beta-coronaviruses ({beta}-CoVs). Here, we showed that CC40.8 targets the conserved S2 stem-helix region of the coronavirus spike fusion machinery. We determined a crystal structure of CC40.8 Fab with a SARS-CoV-2 S2 stem-peptide at 1.6 A resolution and found that the peptide adopted a mainly helical structure. Conserved residues in {beta}-CoVs interacted with CC40.8 antibody, thereby providing a molecular basis for its broad reactivity. CC40.8 exhibited in vivo protective efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 challenge in two animal models. In both models, CC40.8-treated animals exhibited less weight loss and reduced lung viral titers compared to controls. Furthermore, we noted CC40.8-like bnAbs are relatively rare in human COVID-19 infection and therefore their elicitation may require rational structure- based vaccine design strategies. Overall, our study describes a target on {beta}-CoV spike proteins for protective antibodies that may facilitate the development of pan-{beta}-CoV vaccines.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: A human antibody reveals a conserved site on beta-coronavirus spike proteins and confers protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection
• Habit Formation of Preventive Behaviours during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study of Physical Distancing and Hand Washing -
  Introduction: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing and hand washing have been used as effective means to reduce virus transmission in the Netherlands. However, they pose a societal challenge as they require people to change their customary behaviours in various contexts. The science of habit formation is potentially useful for informing policy-making in public health, but the current literature largely overlooked the role of habit in predicting and explaining these preventive behaviours. Our research aimed to describe habit formation processes of physical distancing and hand washing and to estimate the influences of habit strength and intention on behavioural adherence. Methods: A longitudinal survey was conducted between July and November 2020 on a representative Dutch sample (n = 800). Respondents reported weekly their intention, habit strength, and actual adherence regarding six context- specific behaviours. Temporal developments of the measured variables were visualized, quantified, and mapped to five distinct phases of the pandemic. Regression models were used to test the effects of intention, habit strength, and their interaction on future adherence. Results: Dutch respondents generally had strong intention to adhere to all preventive measures and their actual adherence rates were between 70% and 90%. They also self-reported to experience their behaviours as more automatic over time, and this increasing trend in habit strength was more evident for physical distancing than hand washing behaviours. For all six behaviours, both intention and habit strength predicted future adherence (all ps < 2e-16). In addition, the predictive power of intention decreased over time and was weaker for respondents with strong habits for physical distancing when visiting supermarket (B = -0.63, p < .0001) and having guests at home (B = -0.54, p < .0001) in the later phases of the study, but not for hand washing. Conclusions: People’s adaptation to physical distancing and hand washing involves both intentional and habitual processes. For public health management, our findings highlight the importance of using contextual cues to promote habit formation, especially for maintaining physical distancing practice. For habit theories, our study provides a unique data set that covers multiple health behaviours in a critical real-world setting.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Habit Formation of Preventive Behaviours during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study of Physical Distancing and Hand Washing
• Time to Get Social: Adaptive Social Processes in the Daily Lives of Youth (Full PhD thesis) -
  To better understand the development of mental health problems, it is of fundamental importance to focus on both adolescence – as this is the age period where most psychopathology develops – and social processes – as psychological distress is largely interpersonal in nature. In addition, certain parenting styles are strong predictors of both social and mental health outcomes. However, relatively little is known about how these different factors interrelate in adolescent day-to-day life. Within this dissertation, we draw on data collected with the Experience Sampling Method to gain a greater, more ecologically valid insight into the relationship between parenting, social processes, and psychopathology in adolescents. In Chapter 3, we present the case for why assessments of social processes require a greater consideration of ecological validity – and of daily life. Social cognition assessments in psychosis are discussed, but the arguments posited here are relevant for all types of social assessments in mental health research. In Chapters 4 to 6, the interrelationships between parenting, psychopathology, and daily-life social interactions are studied in three empirical studies using two large adolescent experience sampling data sets. In Chapter 4, we find how parental care and control are largely related to the experienced quality of daily-life social interactions rather than to its quantity. A similar finding is reported in Chapter 5, where we see consistent associations between the quality of daily-life social interactions and mean psychopathology level – and less consistent relationships between the quantity of social interactions and psychopathology. Finally, in Chapter 6, these relationships are investigated in one comprehensive model, including more specific parenting styles, and daily social interactions in different companies. In this model, paternal autonomy support and an altered quality of daily social interactions have unique associations with psychopathology levels. Taken together, these findings indicate a particular relevance of the quality of day-to-day social interactions for better understanding psychopathological development. As the social lives of contemporary adolescents are happening largely online as well as offline, in Chapter 7, we assess how adolescents experience online vs. face-to-face social interactions at the moment that they engage in them. We find how participants report more affective benefits when engaging in face-to-face interactions compared to online interactions, and, in contrast to our hypotheses, we report no moderating effects of social resources on the strength of these benefits. The investigation of adolescents` social lives and their relation with mental health became much more relevant as COVID-19 hit, when restrictions prevented people from interacting with each other. In the last study, presented in Chapter 8, we investigate differences in young people’s mental health and day-to-day social interactions, from before the pandemic to early in the pandemic (May 2020). We find how face-to-face interactions decreased and online interactions increased, but more surprisingly, that general psychopathology levels were lower than expected and that anxiety levels had even decreased. Moreover, the relationship between the quality of social interactions and psychopathology had become stronger during the pandemic, indicating the relevance of high-quality social interaction during times of social deprivation. In sum, in this thesis, I target the uniquely relevant momentary social interaction to better understand the social development of young people – and to assess when this might go awry. Across all studies, the quality of social interactions seems fundamentally important. Cross-level relationships seem to exist between general parenting perceptions and how social interactions are experienced in the moment, and between those daily-life social experiences and psychopathology levels. Future research should further disentangle these processes longitudinally to gain greater insight into the temporal ordering of these relationships. Finally, for the development of momentary interventions aimed at relieving social distress, a focus on the quality rather than the quantity of social behaviors is likely most helpful.
  🖺 Full Text HTML: Time to Get Social: Adaptive Social Processes in the Daily Lives of Youth (Full PhD thesis)
• Microbial GWAS studies revealing combinations of Omicron RBD mutations existed and may contribute to antibody evasion and ACE2 binding -

  Since Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in South Africa (SA), it has now dominated in United Kingdom (UK) of Europe and United State (USA) of North America. A prominent feature of this variant is the gathering of spike protein mutations, in particularly at the receptor binding domain (RBD). These RBD mutations essentially contribute to antibody resistance of current immune approaches. During global spillover, combinations of RBD mutations may exist and synergistically contribute to antibody resistance in fact. Using three geographic-stratified genome wide association studies (GWAS), we observed that RBD combinations exhibited a geographic pattern and genetical associated, such as five common mutations in both UK and USA Omicron, six or two specific mutations in UK or USA Omicron. Although the UK specific RBD mutations can be further classified into two separated sub-groups of combination based on linkage disequilibrium analysis. Functional analysis indicated that the common RBD combinations (fold change, -11.59) alongside UK or USA specific mutations significantly reduced neutralization (fold change, -38.72, -18.11). As RBD overlaps with angiotensin converting enzyme 2(ACE2) binding motif, protein-protein contact analysis indicated that the common RBD mutations enhanced ACE2 binding accessibility and were further strengthened by UK or USA-specific RBD mutations. Spatiotemporal evolution analysis indicated that UK-specific RBD mutations largely contribute to global spillover. Collectively, we have provided genetic evidence of RBD combinations and estimated their effects on antibody evasion and ACE2 binding accessibility.

  🖺 Full Text HTML: Microbial GWAS studies revealing combinations of Omicron RBD mutations existed and may contribute to antibody evasion and ACE2 binding
• Public support for global vaccine sharing in the COVID-19 pandemic: Intrinsic, material, and strategic drivers -
  As of early 2022 an estimated 50% of the global population is fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but the global distribution of vaccines is extremely unequal, over 85% vaccinated in the top 10 countries and below 3% in the bottom

10. Given that governments need to secure public support for investments in global vaccine sharing, it is important to understand the levels and drivers of public support for international vaccine solidarity. Using a factorial experiment administered to more than 10,000 online survey respondents in Germany, we show that global inequities are out of line with domestic German public opinion. Respondents are supportive of substantive funding amounts, on the order of the most generous contributions provided to date, though still below amounts that are likely needed for a successful global campaign. Public preferences appear largely to be driven by intrinsic concern for the welfare of global populations though are in part explained by material considerations – particularly risks of continued health threats from a failure to vaccinate globally. Strategic considerations are of more limited importance in shaping public opinion; in particular we see no evidence for free riding on contributions by other states. Finally, drawing on an additional survey experiment, we show that there is scope to use information campaigns highlighting international health externalities to augment public support for global campaigns.
    🖺 Full Text HTML: Public support for global vaccine sharing in the COVID-19 pandemic: Intrinsic, material, and strategic drivers

From Clinical Trials

• Quantifying Viral Load in Respiratory Particles That Are Generated by Children and Adults With COVID-19 Infection - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Device: COVID-19 Aerosol Collection
  Sponsor:  
  Massachusetts General Hospital
  Recruiting

• A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of Booster With AZD1222, mRNA-1273, or MVC-COV1901 Against COVID-19 - Condition:   COVID-19 Vaccine
  Interventions:   Biological: Half dose of MVC-COV1901;   Biological: Full dose of MVC-COV1901;   Biological: AZD1222;   Biological: Half dose of mRNA-1273
  Sponsors:   Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp.;   Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations
  Not yet recruiting

• Evaluation of Safety & Efficacy of MIR 19 ® Inhalation Solution in Patients With Moderate COVID-19 - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: MIR 19 ®;   Combination Product: Standard COVID-19 therapy
  Sponsors:   National Research Center - Institute of Immunology Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia;   St. Petersburg Research Institute of Vaccines and Sera
  Completed

• Efficacy of Breathox Device Inhalation Therapy in the Treatment of Acute Symptoms Associated With COVID-19 and in the Prevention of the Use of Health Resources - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: BREATHOX 5 sessions;   Drug: BREATHOX 10 sessions
  Sponsors:   UPECLIN HC FM Botucatu Unesp;   Liita Holdings LTD
  Recruiting

• Plasma Exchange in Covid-19 Patients With Anti-interferon Autoantibodies - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Drug: Therapeutic plasma exchange
  Sponsor:  
  Centre Hospitalier St Anne
  Recruiting

• Randomized Multicenter Study on the Efficacy and Safety of Favipiravir for Parenteral Administration Compared to Standard of Care in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19 - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: Favipiravir;   Drug: Remdesivir
  Sponsors:   Promomed, LLC;   Solyur Pharmaceuticals Group
  Completed

• Immunogenicity of an Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Biological: Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine
  Sponsor:   Sinovac Research and Development Co., Ltd.
  Recruiting

• Inhaled Heparin for Hospitalised Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Drug: unfractionated Heparin
  Sponsors:  
  Australian National University;   The George Institute;   St George Hospital, Australia;   St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne;   John Hunter Hospital;   Royal North Shore Hospital
  Not yet recruiting

• A Prospective, Phase II Study to Evaluate Safety of 101-PGC-005 (’005) for Moderate to Severe COVID-19 Disease Along With Standard of Care - Condition:   COVID-19
  Interventions:   Drug: 101-PGC-005 (’005) + SOC;   Drug: Placebo + SOC
  Sponsor:   101 Therapeutics
  Recruiting

• To Evaluate Safety & Immunogenicity of DelNS1-2019-nCoV-RBD-OPT1 for COVID-19 in Healthy Adults Received 2 Doses of BNT162b2 - Condition:   Covid19
  Interventions:   Biological: DelNS1-2019-nCoV-RBD-OPT1;   Biological: Matching placebo
  Sponsor:   The University of Hong Kong
  Not yet recruiting

• Immunogenicity and Safety Study of a SCB-2019 Vaccine Booster Dose to Adults Who Previously Received Primary Series of Selected COVID-19 Vaccines - Condition:   COVID-19
  Intervention:   Biological: Candidate vaccine, SCB-2019
  Sponsor:   Clover Biopharmaceuticals AUS Pty Ltd
  Not yet recruiting

• Increasing COVID-19 Testing in Chicago’s African American Testing Desserts - Condition:   COVID-19 Pandemic
  Intervention:   Behavioral: COVID-19 Testing
  Sponsor:   Rush University Medical Center
  Recruiting

• COVID-19 Messaging for Vaccination - Conditions:   Vaccination Refusal;   COVID-19 Pandemic
  Interventions:   Behavioral: Doctor Videos;   Behavioral: Sharing Videos;   Behavioral: Sharing Videos (Influencers);   Behavioral: Vaccine Ambassador;   Behavioral: Video framing;   Behavioral: Video order
  Sponsors:   Massachusetts Institute of Technology;   Facebook, Inc.;   Code3;   Stanford University;   Harvard University;   Yale University;   Johns Hopkins University;   Massachusetts General Hospital;   Ludwig-Maximilians - University of Munich;   National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  Recruiting

• Respiratory Physiotherapy and Neurorehabilitation in Patients With Post-covid19 Sequelae. - Condition:   COVID-19 Pandemic
  Intervention:   Other: respiratory treatment
  Sponsor:   Universidad Católica de Ávila
  Not yet recruiting

• The Effect of Telemonitoring on Anxiety and Quality of Life in Patients in COVID 19 Quarantine - Condition:   COVID-19 Pandemic
  Intervention:   Other: tele-monitoring
  Sponsor:  
  Yuksek Ihtisas University
  Completed

From PubMed

• Inhibitory effects of specific combination of natural compounds against SARS-CoV-2 and its Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, and Mu variants - Despite vaccine availability, the global spread of COVID-19 continues, largely facilitated by emerging SARS-CoV-2 mutations. Our earlier research documented that a specific combination of plant-derived compounds can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 binding to its ACE2 receptor and controlling key cellular mechanisms of viral infectivity. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of a defined mixture of plant extracts and micronutrients against original SARS-CoV-2 and its Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, and…

• SARS-CoV-2 spike protein inhibits growth of prostate cancer: a potential role of the COVID-19 vaccine killing two birds with one stone - To investigate the effects of isolated SARS-CoV-2 spike protein on prostate cancer cell survival. The effects of SARS- CoV-2 spike protein on LNCaP prostate cancer cell survival were assessed using clonogenic cell survival assay, quick cell proliferation assay, and caspase-3 activity kits. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were performed to investigate underlying molecular mechanisms. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein was found to inhibit prostate cancer cell proliferation as well as promote apoptosis….

• An integrated framework for identifying clinical-laboratory indicators for novel pandemics: COVID-19 and MIS-C - During the critical early stages of an emerging pandemic, limited availability of pathogen-specific testing can severely inhibit individualized risk screening and pandemic tracking. Standard clinical laboratory tests offer a widely available complementary data source for first-line risk screening and pandemic surveillance. Here, we propose an integrated framework for developing clinical-laboratory indicators for novel pandemics that combines population-level and individual-level analyses. We…

• Arrhythmogenic mechanisms of interleukin-6 combination with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in inflammatory diseases - Inflammatory diseases including COVID-19 are associated with a cytokine storm characterized by high interleukin-6 (IL-6) titers. In particular, while recent studies examined COVID-19 associated arrhythmic risks from cardiac injury and/or from pharmacotherapy such as the combination of azithromycin (AZM) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), the role of IL-6 per se in increasing the arrhythmic risk remains poorly understood. The objective is to elucidate the electrophysiological basis of…

• Circulating ACE2-expressing extracellular vesicles block broad strains of SARS-CoV-2 - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused the pandemic of the coronavirus induced disease 2019 (COVID-19) with evolving variants of concern. It remains urgent to identify novel approaches against broad strains of SARS-CoV-2, which infect host cells via the entry receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Herein, we report an increase in circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) that express ACE2 (evACE2) in plasma of COVID-19 patients, which levels are…

• Does Oxidative Stress Management Help Alleviation of COVID-19 Symptoms in Patients Experiencing Diabetes? - Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 virus causes novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with other comorbidities such as diabetes. Diabetes is the most common cause of diabetic nephropathy, which is attributed to hyperglycemia. COVID-19 produces severe complications in people with diabetes mellitus. This article explains how SARS- CoV-2 causes more significant kidney damage in diabetic patients. Importantly, COVID-19 and diabetes share inflammatory pathways of disease progression….

• In Silico Evaluation of Binding of 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose with Mpro of nCoV to Combat COVID-19 - COVID-19 has threatened the existence of humanity andthis infection occurs due to SARS-CoV-2 or novel coronavirus, was first reported in Wuhan, China. Therefore, there is a need to find a promising drug to cure the people suffering from the infection. The second wave of this viral infection was shaking the world in the first half of 2021. Drugs Controllers of India has allowed the emergency use of 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) in 2021 for patients suffering from this viral infection. The potentiality…

• Potential Role of Colchicine in Combating COVID-19 Cytokine Storm and Its Ability to Inhibit Protease Enzyme of SARS-CoV-2 as Conferred by Molecular Docking Analysis - Despite the advance in the management of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the global pandemic is still ongoing with a massive health crisis. COVID-19 manifestations may range from mild symptoms to severe life threatening ones. The hallmark of the disease severity is related to the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines manifested as a cytokine storm. Based on its anti-inflammatory activity through interfering with several pro and anti-inflammatory pathways, colchicine had been proposed…

• Jakinibs of All Trades: Inhibiting Cytokine Signaling in Immune-Mediated Pathologies - Over the last 25 years, inhibition of Janus kinases (JAKs) has been pursued as a modality for treating various immune and inflammatory disorders. While the clinical development of JAK inhibitors (jakinibs) began with the investigation of their use in allogeneic transplantation, their widest successful application came in autoimmune and allergic diseases. Multiple molecules have now been approved for diseases ranging from rheumatoid and juvenile arthritis to ulcerative colitis, atopic dermatitis,…

• Atazanavir Is a Competitive Inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 M(pro), Impairing Variants Replication In Vitro and In Vivo - Atazanavir (ATV) has already been considered as a potential repurposing drug to 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19); however, there are controversial reports on its mechanism of action and effectiveness as anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Through the pre-clinical chain of experiments: enzymatic, molecular docking, cell- based and in vivo assays, it is demonstrated here that both SARS-CoV-2 B.1 lineage and variant of concern gamma are susceptible to this…

• Computational Design of Miniproteins as SARS-CoV-2 Therapeutic Inhibitors - A rational therapeutic strategy is urgently needed for combating SARS-CoV-2 infection. Viral infection initiates when the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) binds to the ACE2 receptor, and thus, inhibiting RBD is a promising therapeutic for blocking viral entry. In this study, the structure of lead antiviral candidate binder (LCB1), which has three alpha-helices (H1, H2, and H3), is used as a template to design and simulate several miniprotein RBD inhibitors. LCB1 undergoes two…

• Disorders of the Cholinergic System in COVID-19 Era-A Review of the Latest Research - The appearance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus initiated many studies on the effects of the virus on the human body. So far, its negative influence on the functioning of many morphological and physiological units, including the nervous system, has been demonstrated. Consequently, research has been conducted on the changes that SARS-CoV-2 may cause in the cholinergic system. The aim of this study is to review the latest research from the years 2020/2021 regarding disorders in the cholinergic system…

• Assessing SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibodies after BNT162b2 Vaccination and Their Correlation with SARS-CoV-2 IgG Anti-S1, Anti-RBD and Anti-S2 Serological Titers - The humoral response through neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) is a key component of the immune response to COVID-19. However, the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT), the gold standard for determining NAbs, is technically demanding, time-consuming and requires BSL-3 conditions. Correlating the NAbs and total antibodies levels, assessed by generalized and automated serological tests, is crucial. Through a commercial surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT), we aimed to evaluate the…

• Calcium Signaling Pathway Is Involved in the Shedding of ACE2 Catalytic Ectodomain: New Insights for Clinical and Therapeutic Applications of ACE2 for COVID-19 - The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a type I integral membrane that exists in two forms: the first is a transmembrane protein; the second is a soluble catalytic ectodomain of ACE2. The catalytic ectodomain of ACE2 undergoes shedding by a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain-containing protein 17 (ADAM17), in which calmodulin mediates the calcium signaling pathway that is involved in ACE2 release, resulting in a soluble catalytic ectodomain of ACE2 that can be measured as soluble…

• Role of Ajwa Date Fruit Pulp and Seed in the Management of Diseases through In Vitro and In Silico Analysis - This study investigated the health-promoting activities of methanolic extracts of Ajwa date seed and fruit pulp extracts through in vitro studies. These studies confirmed potential antioxidant, anti-hemolytic, anti-proteolytic, and anti- bacterial activities associated with Ajwa dates. The EC(50) values of fruit pulp and seed extracts in methanol were reported to be 1580.35 ± 0.37 and 1272.68 ± 0.27 µg/mL, respectively, in the DPPH test. The maximum percentage of hydrogen peroxide-reducing…

From Patent Search

• IDENTIFICATION AND ALARM SYSTEM FOR FACIAL CORONA MASK USING CNN BASED IMAGE PROCESSING - tThe covid-19 epidemic is the world’s largest wake-up call for people to pay attention to their own and society’s health. One thing to keep in mind is that there is a segment of the population that has been exposed to the covid-19 virus and has generated antibodies without developing any significant illnesses and is continuing to be healthy. This indicates that a significant section of the population, even excluding the elderly, lacks the necessary bodily immunity to combat a Viral infection. As terrible as covid-19 is on a global scale, developing personal health standards and preventative measures for any pathogenic virus as a community would have spared many lives. In’this work, a camera is combined with an image processing system to recognise facial masks, which may be improved in a variety of ways. First and foremost, this method is meant to identify masks on a single person’s face. While this method is efficient in identifying someone has a mask, it does not ensure that they will wear it all of the time. The most effective update for this task is to install a camera with a wide field of view so that many individuals can be seen in the frame, and the faces of those who aren’t wearing markings can be identified, as well as the number of people and the timing. - link

• ANTIMICROBIAL SANITIZING FORMULATION - An antimicrobial sanitizing formulation, comprising, i) isopropyl alcohol in the range of 0.1%- 80% w/w, ii) an emollient in the range of 0.1%-15% w/w, iii) hydrogen peroxide in the range of 0.1 0.13% w/w, iv) citric acid in the range of 0.1% to 2.0% w/w, v) silver nitrate in the range of 0.1% to 0.5% w/w, and vi) a fragrance imparting agent in the range of 0.1% to 2.0% w/w. - link

• A HEALTH BAND WITH A BIOMETRIC MODULE AND WORKING METHOD THEREOF - The present invention discloses a health band with a biometric module and method thereof. The assembly includes, but not limited to, a plurality of sensors configured to gather health data associated with a predefined symptom of a medical condition of a user; a memory unit configured to store the data and an interface, which is configured to determine the medical condition using the data;a processing unit configured to execute the application; and a notification facility configured to provide a notification upon receiving from the interface an instruction associated with the notification, wherein the notification is associated with a drug reminder and the like. - link

• RNA 검출 방법 - 본 발명은 RNA의 분석 및 검출 방법에 관한 것이다. 특히, 본 발명은 특히, 본 발명은 짧은 염기서열의 RNA까지 분석이 가능하면서도 높은 민감도 및 정확도로 정량적 검출까지 가능하여 감염증, 암 등 여러 질환의 진단 용도로도 널리 활용될 수 있다. - link

• REUNION OF PHOTOTHERMAL THERAPY WITH MXENE ADSORBED UREMIC TOXINS AND CYTOKINES: A SHILED FOR COVID-19 PATENTS - The COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc throughout the world. The disease has proved to be more fatalfor patients having comorbidities like diabetics, lungs and kidney infections, etc. In the case of COVID-19 patientsI having kidney injury, the. removal of uremic toxins from the blood is hindered and there is a rapid surge in the levelj of cytokine hormone resulting in the death of the patient in a short interval of time. To resolve this issue,iI; researchers have examined that the immediate removal of these toxins can improve the condition of the patient to a |greater extent. Studies have also found the presence of SARS CoV-2 viral RNAs in the blood of COVID-19patients, which risks their life as well as impacts the blood transfusion process, especially in the case ofasymptomatic patients. Hence it is required to control the surge of cytokines and uremic toxins as well as disinfectthe blood of the patient from the virus. MXenes, having a foam-like porous structure and hydrophilic negativesurface functionalization have greater adsorption efficiency as well as superior photothermal activity. Utilizingthese properties of MXenes, the MXene membranes can be used in the dialyzer that can help in the efficient andBiuick removal of the uremic toxins, cytokines, and other impurities from the blood. Along with this the greaterTJAdsorption efficiency of MXenes to amino acids result in the trapping of the SARS CoV-2 viruses on the surface J)3>f the MXene. Many researchers as well as the WHO have proved the efficient reduction of the viral copy numbersjjvith the increase of temperature. Hence, followed by the trapping of the viruses, the implementation of"Zphotothermal Therapy can result in the inactivation and denaturation of the viruses and their respective viral RNAsBJlby the produced heat. The same process can be repeated several times to get better results. This whole process canr>oQ-esult in impurity-free and infection-free blood, that can be returned back to the body of the patient or can be!— I Sitilized for the blood transfusion process without any risk of infection.IM - link

• REDUCING AND STOPPING OXYGEN WASTAGE IN HOSPITAL - In an aspect, the present invention discloses a system (200) for prevention and reduction of oxygen wastage from oxygen mask (202). The system (200) includes the oxygen mask (202) having straps; a tension sensor (204), the tension sensor being sensitive towards tension produced in the straps as the oxygen gets leakage through sides of the mask (202); a processor configured in alignment with the tension sensor (204); and a buzzer (206) in alignment with processor. - link

• 编码SARS-COV-2病毒C.37突变株抗原的DNA分子、DNA疫苗及应用 - 本发明涉及生物技术领域，具体而言，提供了一种编码SARS‑COV‑2病毒C.37突变株抗原的DNA分子、DNA疫苗及应用。本发明提供的SEQ ID NO：1核酸序列在真核表达系统中能够高效转录和表达，而且具有免疫原性，表现在体液免疫和细胞免疫应答中，以此作为活性成分的核酸疫苗同样具有良好的免疫原性。 - link

• SARS-COV-2病毒B.1.617.2突变株DNA疫苗及应用 - 本发明涉及生物技术领域，具体而言，提供了一种编码SARS‑COV‑2病毒B.1.617.2突变株抗原的DNA分子、DNA疫苗及应用。本发明提供的SEQ ID NO：1核酸序列在真核表达系统中能够高效转录和表达，而且具有免疫原性，表现在体液免疫和细胞免疫应答中，以此作为活性成分的核酸疫苗同样具有良好的免疫原性。 - link

• Hung Thanh Phan COVID-19 NEW SOLUTION - - link

• A METHOD TO REVEAL MOTIF PATTERNS OF COVID-19 USING MULTIPLE SEQUENCE ALIGNMENT - This present invention consists of different levels of computation and work in a pipeline manner i.e., input of one will be output of another and it is sequential process. Input data given in form of nucleotide sequence (DNA) of different COVID-19 patients (1). Using these nucleotide sequence perform mutation if possible and arrange them in a sequential order (2). Arrange number of nucleotide sequences of different patients in row wise and also compute number of characters in each row. (3). Compute frequency of occurrence of character in column wise and create a matrix having 4 rows and maximum sequence length will be the column size (4). Find the character like A, T, C, and G which one has maximum score and similarly find for each column to produce a final sequence (5). - link