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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Comparison of the Effectiveness in Nasopharyngeal, Throat, Saliva, and Nasal Swab Sample Media of Detection SARS-Cov-2 using RT-PCR</strong> -
<div>
To evaluate effectivity results among Nasopharyngeal, Throat, Saliva, and Nasal Swab Sample Media for Detection of SARS-Cov-2 virus using RT-PCR. SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus microorganism found in humans. A known viral infection causes the covid-19 disease to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Covid-19 has confused the public because of the different places where the samples were taken. Sampling was taken from the Nasopharynx, Throat, Saliva, and nasal Swab. This study used mini-review journals from several leading search engine journals such as PubMed, Elsevier, Jama Network, BMJ, Cochrane, Wiley, medRXiv, Lancet, and others, as well as from government websites such as WHO selected between 2020 and 2021 in the English language. Each sampling place has its advantages and disadvantages. Any place that is used as the gold standard is the nasal swab and nasopharyngeal. This paper attempts to compare the efficacy of four sample media to find the best method for detecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is hoped that repeating this paper can make us aware of every method that we can use to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus and reduce the spread of this virus, which is increasingly widespread.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/pfrt4/" target="_blank">Comparison of the Effectiveness in Nasopharyngeal, Throat, Saliva, and Nasal Swab Sample Media of Detection SARS-Cov-2 using RT-PCR</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The prevalence of post COVID-19 condition (PCC) and a simple risk scoring tool for PCC screening on Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands: a retrospective cohort study.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Aim: To assess the prevalence of post COVID-19 condition (PCC) on Bonaire and develop a practical risk scoring tool for PCC screening, using easily obtainable characteristics. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 cases were randomly sampled from Bonaire their case-registry and telephone interviewed between 15-November-2021 and 4-December-2021. PCC patients had a PCR-positive SARS-CoV-2 test (1-March-2020 and 1-October-2021) and self-attributed at least one symptom lasting over four weeks to their infection. Multivariate logistic regression was used to derive a risk formula to develop a practical risk scoring tool. Results: Out of 414 cases, 160 (39%) were PCC patients. Fifty-three patients were unrecovered (median illness duration 250 days (IQR 34)). Of recovered patients, 35% experienced symptoms for at least 3 months after disease onset. PCC prevalence was highest among females (38%), 40-59 year-olds (40%), morbidly obese (31%) and hospitalized patients (80%). A PCC risk scoring tool using age, sex, presence of comorbidities, and acute phase hospitalization or GP visit had an area-under-the-curve (AUC) of 0.68 (95%CI 0.63-0.74). Adding smoking, alcohol use, BMI, education level, and number of acute phase symptoms increased the AUC to 0.79 (95%CI 0.74- 0.83). Subgroup analyses of non-hospitalized patients (n=362) resulted in similar AUCs. Conclusion: Thee estimated prevalence of PCC on Bonaire was 39%. Moreover, easily obtainable patient characteristics can be used to build a risk scoring tool for PCC with acceptable discriminatory power. After external validation, this tool could aid the development of healthcare interventions in low resource settings to identify patients at risk for PCC.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.20.23291646v1" target="_blank">The prevalence of post COVID-19 condition (PCC) and a simple risk scoring tool for PCC screening on Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands: a retrospective cohort study.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Association of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir treatment and COVID-19 neutralizing antibody titers in a longitudinal healthcare worker cohort</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (NMV/r) is used for the treatment of COVID-19 infection. However, rebound COVID-19 infections can occur after taking NMV/r. We examined neutralizing antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein before and after infection in people who did and did not take NMV/r to determine if NMV/r impedes the humoral immune response.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.19.23291620v1" target="_blank">Association of Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir treatment and COVID-19 neutralizing antibody titers in a longitudinal healthcare worker cohort</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Effectiveness of a COVID-19 contact tracing app in a simulation model with indirect and informal contact tracing</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
During the COVID-19 pandemic, contact tracing was used to identify individuals who had been in contact with a confirmed case so that these contacted individuals could be tested and quarantined to prevent further spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Many countries developed mobile apps to find these contacted individuals faster. We evaluate the epidemiological effectiveness of the Dutch app CoronaMelder, where we measure effectiveness as the reduction of the reproduction number R. To this end, we use a simulation model of SARS-CoV-2 spread and contact tracing, informed by data collected during the study period (December 2020 - March 2021) in the Netherlands. We show that the tracing app caused a clear but small reduction of the reproduction number, and the magnitude of the effect was found to be robust in sensitivity analyses. The app could have been more effective if more people had used it, and if time intervals between symptom onset and reporting of contacts would have been shorter. The model used is novel as it accounts for the clustered nature of social networks and as it accounts for cases informally alerting their contacts directly after symptom onset, without involvement of health authorities or a tracing app.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.15.23291010v1" target="_blank">Effectiveness of a COVID-19 contact tracing app in a simulation model with indirect and informal contact tracing</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>High rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant Ugandan women and association with stunting in infancy</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: SARS-CoV-2 has been well studied in resource-rich areas but many questions remain about effects of infection in African populations, particularly in vulnerable groups such as pregnant women. Methods: We describe SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgM antibody responses and clinical outcomes in mother-infant dyads enrolled in malaria chemoprevention trials in Uganda. Results: From December 2020 to February 2022, among 400 unvaccinated pregnant women, serologic assessments revealed that 128 (32%) were seronegative for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM at enrollment and delivery, 80 (20%) were infected either prior to or early in pregnancy, and 192 (48%) were infected or re-infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy. We observed preferential binding of plasma IgG to Wuhan-Hu-1-like antigens in individuals seroconverting up to early 2021, and to Delta variant antigens in a subset of individuals in mid-2021. Breadth of IgG binding to all variants improved over time. No participants experienced severe respiratory illness during the study. SARS-CoV-2 infection in early pregnancy was associated with lower median length-for-age Z-score at age 3 months compared with no infection or late pregnancy infection (-1.54 versus -0.37 and -0.51, p=0.009). Conclusion: Pregnant Ugandan women experienced high levels of SARS-CoV-2 infection without severe respiratory illness. Variant-specific serology testing demonstrated evidence of antibody affinity maturation at the population level. Early gestational SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with shorter stature in early infancy.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.16.23291450v1" target="_blank">High rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant Ugandan women and association with stunting in infancy</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Vaccines at Velocity: Evaluating Potential Lives Saved by Earlier Vaccination in the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Fast development of COVID-19 vaccines likely averted millions of deaths. We estimate how many more lives could have been saved if safe and effective vaccines were available earlier in the pandemic, in particular, before the epidemic waves in winter of 2020. We fit an epidemiological model informed by retrospective data and simulate counterfactual vaccination scenarios for the United Kingdom and the United States in which vaccines are available between 30 and 90 days earlier. We find that up to 1 July 2021 reductions in mortality range from 10,000 to 48,000 in the UK and 53,000 to 130,000 in the US, depending on when vaccinations start. This corresponds to a maximum of 7.1 and 4 deaths averted per 10,000 people in the UK and US respectively. We find that our model is sensitive to uncertain vaccine parameters and benefits depend on the time horizon of the analysis. However, the large average reductions we estimate suggests that it is highly cost-effective to make large investments in strategies to expedite vaccine availability.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.16.23291442v1" target="_blank">Vaccines at Velocity: Evaluating Potential Lives Saved by Earlier Vaccination in the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Comparison of control and transmission of COVID-19 across epidemic waves in Hong Kong: an observational study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Hong Kong contained COVID-19 for two years, but experienced a large epidemic of Omicron BA.2 in early 2022 and endemic transmission of Omicron subvariants thereafter. Methods: We examined the use and impact of pandemic controls in Hong Kong by analysing data on more than 1.7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and characterizing non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical interventions implemented from January 2020 through to 30 December 2022. We estimated the daily effective reproductive number (Rt) to track changes in transmissibility and effectiveness of community-based measures against infection over time. We examined the temporal changes of pharmaceutical interventions, mortality rate and case-fatality risks (CFRs), particularly among older adults. Findings: Hong Kong experienced four local epidemic waves predominated by the ancestral strain in 2020 and early 2021 and prevented multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants from spreading in the community before 2022. Strict travel-related, case-based, and community-based measures were increasingly tightened in Hong Kong over the first two years of the pandemic. However, even very stringent measures were unable to contain the spread of Omicron BA.2 in Hong Kong. Despite high overall vaccination uptake (&gt;70% with at least two doses), high mortality was observed during the Omicron BA.2 wave due to lower vaccine coverage (42%) among adults ≥65 years of age. Increases in antiviral usage and vaccination uptake over time through 2022 was associated with decreased case fatality risks. Interpretation: Integrated strict measures were able to reduce importation risks and interrupt local transmission to contain COVID-19 transmission and disease burden while awaiting vaccine development and rollout. Increasing coverage of pharmaceutical interventions among high-risk groups reduced infection-related mortality and mitigated the adverse health impact of the pandemic.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.20.23291593v1" target="_blank">Comparison of control and transmission of COVID-19 across epidemic waves in Hong Kong: an observational study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Inpatient Antibacterial Drug Prescribing for Patients with COVID-19 in Hong Kong</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Hong Kong experienced four epidemic waves caused by the ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2 in 2020-2021 and a large Omicron wave in 2022. Few studies have assessed antibacterial drug prescribing for COVID-19 inpatients throughout the pandemic. Objectives: To describe inpatient antibacterial drug prescribing for COVID-19 patients throughout the pandemic and to determine factors associated with their prescription. Methods: This cohort study used electronic health records of COVID-19 cases admitted to public hospitals in Hong Kong from 21 January 2020 to 30 September 2022. We assessed the prevalence and rates of inpatient antibacterial drug use, using days of therapy/1000 patient days (DOT/1000PD), and examined the association of baseline factors and disease severity with receipt of an inpatient antibacterial drug prescription. Results: Among 65,810 inpatients, 54.0% were prescribed antibacterial drugs at a rate of 550.5 DOT/1000PD. Antibacterial use was lowest during wave 4 (28.0%; 246.9 DOT/1000PD), peaked in early wave 5 (64.6%; 661.2 DOT/1000PD), and then modestly declined in late wave 5 (43.2%; 464.1 DOT/1000PD) starting on 23 May 2022. Older age, increased disease severity, and residing in an elderly care home were strongly associated with increased odds of prescription, while receiving ≥ 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and pre-admission use of coronavirus antivirals were associated with lower odds. Conclusions: The rate of inpatient antibacterial prescribing initially declined during the pandemic, but increased during the Omicron wave when hospital capacity was overwhelmed. Despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and antiviral drugs, antibacterial drug use among COVID-19 inpatients remained high into late 2022.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.19.23291622v1" target="_blank">Inpatient Antibacterial Drug Prescribing for Patients with COVID-19 in Hong Kong</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Explanations for higher-than-expected mortality from April 2021: a scoping review protocol</strong> -
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Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to identify the explanations that have been proposed for higher-than-expected mortality following the first pandemic year, and any evidence to support or refute these explanations. Introduction: Mortality rates have remained high compared to previous years, beyond the peak waves of Covid-19 mortality. Several explanations have been suggested for this. Identifying potential hypotheses and empirical studies investigating these is the first step before any further analytical work to investigate these trends can be undertaken. Inclusion criteria: The scoping review will include papers proposing or investigating hypotheses for raised all cause or cause specific mortality, or reduced life expectancy, from April 2021 onwards compared to pre-pandemic levels. It will include papers on mortality in the whole population or any specific sub-populations, in high income countries only, but exclude studies of mortality or survival following a healthcare intervention. Methods: A systematic search will be undertaken on Medline, Embase and Google Scholar for relevant articles published from 2021 onwards in English, with a similar search for grey literature on relevant government websites. Two reviewers will screen titles and abstracts, then full text articles with disagreements resolved by discussion or involvement of a third reviewer. Data extracted from selected articles will include the setting, population, hypothesis/es proposed, study type and findings if relevant. Included papers will be tabulated against the proposed hypotheses with any empirical evidence and hypotheses summarised narratively.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.20.23291333v1" target="_blank">Explanations for higher-than-expected mortality from April 2021: a scoping review protocol</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Covid-19 Excess Mortality in China: A Regional Comparison</strong> -
<div>
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Estimates of Covid-19 excess mortality are often considered to reflect the true death toll of the pandemic. As such, information on excess mortality is urgently needed to better understand the impact of the pandemic and prepare for future crises. This study estimated Covid-19 excess mortality at the provincial, regional, and national levels in China and investigated its associated regional disparities. The analyses were based on population and death rates data published by the national and provincial bureaus of statistics in China. The results suggest that excess deaths in China were over 1 million during each year of the pandemic, totaling to over 4 million by the end of 2022, at an excess death rate of 15.4%. This rate was likely comparable to that of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), but lower than the US rate. Striking disparities were discovered among the 31 provinces with excess death rates ranging from negative rates in two eastern provinces to over 30% in three inland provinces. Rates in western China were over twice as high as those in eastern China. Variations with each individual regions were the largest in the central region and the smallest in the Northeast, which was the hardest hit with excess death rate of over 23%. The regional disparities in excess mortality rates seem to reflect pre-existing regional inequalities in socio-economic development in China. Such findings suggest that China has far to go to mitigate regional inequalities, achieve sustainability, and prepare for the next major crises.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.15.23291443v1" target="_blank">Covid-19 Excess Mortality in China: A Regional Comparison</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Experimental Device to Evaluate Aerosol Dispersion in Venues</strong> -
<div>
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The COVID-19 pandemic has focused attention to the importance of understanding and mitigating the airborne transmission of pathogens in indoor environments. This study investigated the aerosol distribution in different indoor venues with varying ventilation concepts, including displacement, mixed, and natural ventilation. A measurement system was developed to investigate venue-specific aerosol distribution patterns using a sodium chloride solution as a tracer. To analyse the spatial dispersion of aerosols, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted in addition to experimental investigations. The investigations indicated the lowest aerosol load for the venue with displacement ventilation and the highest for the natural ventilated venue. The measurement system developed in this study provides a useful tool for assessing the effectiveness of ventilation measures in reducing airborne transmission of pathogens in indoor environments. It also proved its wide range of applications, as it can be used in various sized and shaped indoor environments, with or without an audience.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.13.23291335v1" target="_blank">Experimental Device to Evaluate Aerosol Dispersion in Venues</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Crykey: Comprehensive Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Cryptic Mutations in Wastewater</strong> -
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
We present Crykey, a computational tool for identifying SARS-CoV-2 cryptic mutations from wastewater. While previous exist for identifying cryptic mutations in specific regions of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, there is a need for computational tools capable of tracking cryptic mutations across the entire genome and at scale. Crykey fills this gap and leverages the co-occurrence of single nucleotide variants on the same read combined with variant frequency information. We evaluated Crykey on SARS-CoV-2 sequences from 3175 wastewater samples and more than 14000 clinical samples. Our results are threefold, we show: 1) Crykey can accurately identify cryptic lineages that are rare or missing in existing databases ; 2) the emergence of cryptic lineage can be related to increased transmission rates in the communities, and 3) some cryptic lineages in wastewater mirror intra-host low frequency co-occurring variants in individuals. In summary, Crykey facilitates rapid and comprehensive identification of SARS-CoV-2 cryptic mutations in wastewater samples.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.16.23291524v1" target="_blank">Crykey: Comprehensive Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Cryptic Mutations in Wastewater</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>AI-MET: A Deep Learning-based Clinical Decision Support System for Distinguishing Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children from Endemic Typhus</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The COVID-19 pandemic brought several diagnostic challenges, including the post-infectious sequelae multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Some of the clinical features of this syndrome can be found in other pathologies such as Kawasaki disease, toxic shock syndrome, and endemic typhus. Endemic typhus, or murine typhus, is an acute infection treated much differently than MIS-C, so early detection is crucial to a favorable prognosis for patients with these disorders. Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) are computer systems designed to support the decision-making of medical teams about their patients and intended to improve uprising clinical challenges in healthcare. In this article, we present a CDSS to distinguish between MIS-C and typhus that includes a scoring system that allows the timely distinction of both pathologies only using clinical and laboratory features typically available within the first six hours of presentation to the Emergency Department (ED). The proposed approach was trained and tested on datasets of 87 typhus patients and 133 MIS-C patients. A comparison was made against five well-known statistical and machine-learning models. A second dataset with 111 MIS-C patients was used to verify the AI-MET effectiveness and robustness. The performance assessment for AI-MET and the five statistical and machine learning models was done by computing Sensitivity, Specificity, Accuracy, and Precision. The AI-MET system scores 100 percent in the five metrics used on the training and testing dataset and 99 percent on the validation dataset.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.15.23291453v1" target="_blank">AI-MET: A Deep Learning-based Clinical Decision Support System for Distinguishing Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children from Endemic Typhus</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Real-world Effectiveness of BNT162b2 in Children and Adolescents in Preventing Infection and Severe Diseases with SARS-CoV-2 During the Delta and Omicron Periods: Findings from Trial Emulation Using an EHR-based Cohort</strong> -
<div>
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BACKGROUND The current understanding of the long-term effectiveness of the BNT162b2 vaccine for a range of outcomes across diverse U.S. pediatric populations is limited. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of BNT162b2 against various strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus using data from a national collaboration of pediatric health systems (PEDSnet). METHODS We emulated three target trials to assess the real-world effectiveness of BNT162b2: adolescents aged 12 to 20 years during the Delta variant period (Target trial 1), children aged 5 to 11 years (Target trial 2) and adolescents aged 12 to 20 years during the Omicron variant period (Target trial 3). The outcomes included documented infection, COVID-19 illness severity, admission to an intensive care unit (ICU), and two cardiac-related outcomes, myocarditis and pericarditis. In the U.S., immunization records are often captured and stored across multiple disconnected sources, resulting in incomplete vaccination records in patients9 electronic health records (EHR). We implemented a novel trial emulation pipeline accounting for possible misclassification bias in vaccine documentation in EHRs. The effectiveness of the BNT162b2 vaccine was estimated from the Poisson regression model with confounders balanced via propensity score stratification. RESULTS During the Delta period, the BNT162b2 vaccine demonstrated an overall effectiveness 98.4% (95% CI, 98.1 to 98.7) against documented infection among adolescents, with no significant waning after receipt of the first dose. During the Omicron period, the overall effectiveness was estimated to be 74.3% (95% CI, 72.2 to 76.2) in preventing documented infection among children, which was higher against moderate or severe COVID-19 (75.5%; 95% CI, 69.0 to 81.0) and ICU admission with COVID-19 (84.9%; 95% CI, 64.8 to 93.5). In the adolescent population, the overall effectiveness against documented Omicron infection was 85.5% (95% CI, 83.8 to 87.1), with effectiveness of 84.8% (95% CI, 77.3 to 89.9) against moderate or severe COVID-19, and 91.5% (95% CI, 69.5 to 97.6) against ICU admission with COVID-19. The effectiveness of the BNT162b2 vaccine against the Omicron variant declined after 4 months following the first dose and then stabilized with higher levels of uncertainty. Across all three cohorts, the risk of cardiac outcomes was approximately 65% to 85% lower in the vaccinated group than that of the unvaccinated group accounting for possible misclassification bias. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests BNT162b2 was effective among children and adolescents in Delta and Omicron periods for a range of COVID-19-related outcomes and is associated with a lower risk for cardiac complications. Waning effectiveness over time suggests that revaccination may be needed in the future.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.16.23291515v1" target="_blank">Real-world Effectiveness of BNT162b2 in Children and Adolescents in Preventing Infection and Severe Diseases with SARS-CoV-2 During the Delta and Omicron Periods: Findings from Trial Emulation Using an EHR-based Cohort</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG profile of protein subunit, adenovector and mRNA vaccines</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Different vaccine platforms were developed in 2019 and 2020 to provide immunization for protection against the SARS-CoV-2-caused disease COVID-19. The majority of vaccinated individuals will develop antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The isotype (subclass) and Fc-glycosylation of IgG antibodies determine their affinity for secondary effector functions. For protein subunit vaccines in COVID-19, the IgG profile of the subclass and glycosylation are unknown. Therefore, we measured the IgG subclass and N-297 Fc glycosylation by ELISA and LC-MS/MS of anti-spike IgG from individuals vaccinated with the Taiwanese protein subunit vaccine Medigen, the mRNA vaccines (BNT, Moderna), and the adenovector Astrazeneca. Samples were taken after the first and second doses. For all vaccine types, the main IgG response was dominated by IgG1 and IgG3 as subclasses. For glycosylation, mRNA vaccines presented with an afucosylation after the first dose and a constant significant higher galactosylation and sialylation than non-mRNA vaccines.
</p>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.16.23291455v1" target="_blank">Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG profile of protein subunit, adenovector and mRNA vaccines</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Probiotic and Colchicine in COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Colchicine 0.5 MG;   Dietary Supplement: Probiotic Formula;   Other: Standard protocol<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Ain Shams University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Community-engaged Optimization of COVID-19 Rapid Evaluation And TEsting Experiences</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   COVID-19 Pandemic<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: COVID-19 walk-up, on-site testing strategy;   Behavioral: Community Health Worker (CHW) leading testing navigation and general preventive care reminders;   Behavioral: No-cost self-testing kit vending machines<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of California, San Diego;   San Ysidro Health Center<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Influence of Manual Diaphragm Release on Pulmonary Functions in Women With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: manual therapy;   Other: breathing exercise and prone position alone<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Cairo University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm F (Montelukast)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: Placebo;   Drug: Montelukast<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Susanna Naggie, MD;   National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS);   Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm D (Ivermectin 600)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Susanna Naggie, MD;   National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS);   Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm E (Fluvoxamine 100)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Fluvoxamine;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Susanna Naggie, MD;   National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS);   Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study Evaluating SHEN26 Capsule in Patients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: SHEN26 capsule;   Drug: SHEN26 placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Shenzhen Kexing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Clinical Trial of Recombinant COVID-19 Bivalent (XBB+Prototype) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell) in Booster Vaccination</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 Bivalent (XBB+Prototype) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell) (WSK-V101C);   Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine(Sf9 Cell) (WSK-V101)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   WestVac Biopharma Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase Ⅲ Clinical Trial of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent (XBB+BA.5+Delta) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell) in Booster Vaccination</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: High dose of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent (XBB+BA.5+Delta) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell);   Biological: Low dose of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent (XBB+BA.5+Delta) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell);   Biological: control group;   Biological: Placebo group<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   WestVac Biopharma Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Impact Of Sensory Re-Education Paradigm On Sensation And Quality Of Life In Patients Post-Covid 19 Polyneuropathy</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Post-COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: sensory re-education training;   Other: traditional treatment<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Cairo University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP) Transfusion to Prevent COVID-19 in Adult Recipients Following Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: COVID Convalescent Plasma<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Institute of Hematology &amp; Blood Diseases Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Investigate the Safety, Immunogenicity of a Bivalent mRNA Vaccine RQ3025 as a Booster Dose in Healthy Adults</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: RQ3013;   Biological: RQ3025<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University;   Yunnan University;   Kunming Medical University<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cupping Therapy on Immune System in Post Covid -19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid-19 Patients<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Combination Product: Cupping therapy with convential medical treatment;   Drug: Convential medical treatment<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Cairo University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>To Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of Sequential Booster Immunization of Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (CHO Cells) for SARS-CoV-2</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Recombinant Novel Coronavirus vaccine (CHO Cells)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>LIAISON NES Flu A/B &amp; COVID-19 Clinical Agreement</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Influenza A;   Influenza Type B;   Coronavirus Disease 2019<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: LIAISON NES FLU A/B &amp; COVID-19<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   DiaSorin Molecular LLC<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Preventing Occludin Tight-Junction Disruption via Inhibition of microRNA-193b-5p Attenuates Viral Load and Influenza-induced Lung Injury</strong> - Virus-induced lung injury is associated with loss of pulmonary epithelial-endothelial tight junction integrity. While the alveolar-capillary membrane may be an indirect target of injury; viruses may interact directly and/or indirectly with miRs to augment their replication potential and evade the host antiviral defense system. Here we expose how the influenza virus (H1N1) capitalizes on host-derived interferon-induced, microRNA (miR)-193b-5p to target occludin and compromise antiviral defenses….</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The impact of COVID-19 on the intention of third-child in China: an empirical analysis based on survey data</strong> - BACKGROUND: Against the grim background of declining intention to have children, the ravages of COVID-19 have pushed China and the world into a more complex social environment. To adapt to the new situation, the Chinese government implemented the three-child policy in 2021.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Activity of nsp14 Exonuclease from SARS-CoV-2 towards RNAs with Modified 3-Termini</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the urgent need for new treatments for coronavirus infections. Nucleoside analogs were successfully used to inhibit replication of some viruses through the incorporation into the growing DNA or RNA chain. However, the replicative machinery of coronaviruses contains nsp14, a non-structural protein with a 3→5-exonuclease activity that removes misincorporated and modified nucleotides from the 3 end of the growing RNA chain. Here, we studied the efficiency of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effective inhibition of HCoV-OC43 and SARS-CoV-2 by phytochemicals in vitro and in vivo</strong> - Several coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) can cause respiratory infections in humans. To address the need for reliable anti-coronavirus therapeutics, we screened 16 active phytochemicals selected from medicinal plants used in traditional applications for respiratory-related illnesses. An initial screen was completed using HCoV-OC43. The phytochemicals lycorine (LYC), capsaicin (CAP), rottlerin (RTL),…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Generation of host-directed and virus-specific antivirals using targeted protein degradation promoted by small molecules and viral RNA mimics</strong> - Targeted protein degradation (TPD), as exemplified by proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC), is an emerging drug discovery platform. PROTAC molecules, which typically contain a target protein ligand linked to an E3 ligase ligand, recruit a target protein to the E3 ligase to induce its ubiquitination and degradation. Here, we applied PROTAC approaches to develop broad-spectrum antivirals targeting key host factors for many viruses and virus-specific antivirals targeting unique viral proteins….</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A broad-spectrum macrocyclic peptide inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein</strong> - The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had great societal and health consequences. Despite the availability of vaccines, infection rates remain high due to immune evasive Omicron sublineages. Broad-spectrum antivirals are needed to safeguard against emerging variants and future pandemics. We used messenger RNA (mRNA) display under a reprogrammed genetic code to find a spike-targeting macrocyclic peptide that inhibits SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) Wuhan strain infection…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Specific nasopharyngeal Corynebacterium strains serve as gatekeepers against SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> - The SARS-CoV-2 virus is still causing a worldwide problem. The virus settles primarily on the nasal mucosa, and the infection and its course depend on individual susceptibility. Our aim was to investigate the nasopharynx compositions role in the individual susceptibility. During the first phase of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, nasopharyngeal microbiome samples of close contact unvaccinated patients were investigated by 16S rRNA analysis and by culturing. The whole genome of cultured Corynebacteria was…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Research progress on pharmacological effects and mechanisms of cepharanthine and its derivatives</strong> - Cepharanthine (CEP) is a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid compound found in plants of the Stephania genus, which has biological functions such as regulating autophagy, inhibiting inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. It is often used for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, viral infections, cancer, and immune disorders and has great clinical translational value. However, there is no detailed research on its specific mechanism and dosage and administration methods, especially clinical…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A mutation in the coronavirus nsp13-helicase impairs enzymatic activity and confers partial remdesivir resistance</strong> - Coronaviruses (CoVs) encode nonstructural proteins 1-16 (nsps 1-16) which form replicase complexes that mediate viral RNA synthesis. Remdesivir (RDV) is an adenosine nucleoside analog antiviral that inhibits CoV RNA synthesis. RDV resistance mutations have been reported only in the nonstructural protein 12 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (nsp12-RdRp). We here show that a substitution mutation in the nsp13-helicase (nsp13-HEL A335V) of the betacoronavirus murine hepatitis virus (MHV) that was…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy and safety of MAS825 (anti-IL-1ꞵ/IL-18) in COVID-19 patients with pneumonia and impaired respiratory function</strong> - MAS825, a bispecific IL-1⍰/IL-18 monoclonal antibody, could improve clinical outcomes in COVID19 pneumonia by reducing inflammasome-mediated inflammation. Hospitalized nonventilated patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (n=138) were randomized (1:1) to receive MAS825 (10 mg/kg single i.v.) or placebo in addition to standard of care (SoC). The primary endpoint was the composite Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score on Day 15 or on day of discharge (whichever was earlier)…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Targeting the cGAS-STING pathway as an inflammatory crossroad in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)</strong> - Context and objective: The emerging pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has imposed significant mortality and morbidity on the world. An appropriate immune response is necessary to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 spread throughout the body.Results: During the early stages of infection, the pathway of stimulators of interferon genes (STING), known as the cGAS-STING pathway, has a significant role in the induction of the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Losartan in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in North America: An individual participant data meta-analysis</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: In this IPD meta-analysis of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, we found no convincing evidence for the benefit of losartan versus control treatment, but a higher rate of hypotension adverse events with losartan.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>2,3 cyclic-nucleotide 3-phosphodiesterase (CNP) inhibits SARS-CoV-2 virion assembly by blocking infection-induced mitochondria depolarization</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 6.5 million lives worldwide and continues to have lasting impacts on the worlds healthcare and economic systems. Several approved and emergency authorized therapeutics that inhibit early stages of the virus replication cycle have been developed however, effective late-stage therapeutical targets have yet to be identified. To that end, our lab identified 2,3 cyclic-nucleotide 3-phosphodiesterase (CNP) as a late-stage inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 replication….</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An evolutionarily conserved strategy for ribosome binding and inhibition by β-coronavirus non-structural protein 1</strong> - An important pathogenicity factor of SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses is Nsp1, which suppresses host gene expression and stunts antiviral signaling. SARS-CoV-2 Nsp1 binds the ribosome to inhibit translation through mRNA displacement and induces degradation of host mRNAs through an unknown mechanism. Here we show that Nsp1-dependent host shutoff is conserved in diverse coronaviruses, but only Nsp1 from β-CoV inhibits translation through ribosome binding. The C-terminal domain of all β-CoV…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Green and rapid and instrumental one-pot method for the synthesis of imidazolines having potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 main protease activity</strong> - The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for ongoing epidemics in humans and some other mammals and has been declared a public health emergency of international concern. In this project, several small non-peptide molecules were synthesized to inhibit the major proteinase (M^(pro)) of SARS-CoV-2 using rational strategies of drug design and medicinal chemistry. M^(pro) is a key enzyme of coronaviruses and plays an essential role in mediating viral replication…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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