Category: COVID
SARS-CoV-2 mutation leads to resistance to remdesivir in 2 patients
CIDRAP – A report published yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases describes a new SARS-CoV-2 mutation that confers resistance to the COVID-19 antiviral drug remdesivir in two persistently infected kidney transplant recipients treated with immunosuppressive drugs. NYU researchers identified the V792I RNA-dependent 25 RNA polymerase mutation in the transplant patients, who were hospitalized and experienced life-threatening COVID-19 complications […]
Sep 28, 2022
Japan’s COVID herd immunity near 90% after Omicron wave, study says
Reuters – Japan’s population level immunity to COVID-19 has reached about 90% in major population areas after a recent Omicron wave, though that level of protection is likely to diminish in a matter of months, according to a study published on Tuesday.
Sep 28, 2022
Further humoral immunity evasion of emerging SARS-CoV-2 BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants
The Lancet – SARS-CoV-2 BA.4 and BA.5 lineages have been the dominant strains in most regions worldwide and are continuously gaining mutations in the receptor-binding domain. Multiple BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants with Arg346 mutations in the spike glycoprotein have been identified in various countries, such as BA.4.6, BF.7, BA.5.2.6, BA.4.1.9, and BE.1.2 harbouring Arg346Thr; BA.4.7 […]
Sep 28, 2022
Host and viral proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection differentially bind heme
PubMed – In most severe cases, SARS-CoV-2-induced autoimmune reactions have been associated with hemolytic complications. Hemolysis-derived heme from ruptured red blood cells has been shown to trigger a variety of fatal proinflammatory and procoagulant effects, which might deteriorate the progression of COVID-19. In addition, the virus itself can induce proinflammatory signals via the accessory protein […]
Sep 28, 2022
Broadly neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and other human coronaviruses
Nature – Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a recently emerged pathogenic human coronavirus that belongs to the sarbecovirus lineage of the genus Betacoronavirus. The ancestor strain has evolved into a number of variants of concern, with the Omicron variant of concern now having many distinct sublineages. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by […]
Sep 28, 2022
CDC/IDSA Clinician Call: Updates & Emerging Issues on COVID-19 and Monkeypox
IDSA – Link to download slides Topic: Updates & Emerging Issues on COVID-19 and Monkeypox Moderator:Dana S. Wollins, DrPH, MGCVice President, Clinical Affairs & Practice Guidelines, IDSA Topics and Featured Experts COVID-19: Situation Update, Emerging Variants & Implications for Therapeutics:Pragna Patel, MD, MPHCaptain, U.S. Public Health ServiceChief Medical Officer (acting)Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Diseases Division […]
Sep 27, 2022
Covid-19 Associated With 72% Greater Risk Of Type 1 Diabetes Among Children, Study Shows
Forbes – Still think that getting Covid-19 is no big deal for children? Well, there’s been growing evidence that Covid-19 could hit you right in the pancreas. And a study just published as a research letter in JAMA Network furthered the possibility that Covid-19 may somehow lead to type 1 diabetes. Since type 1 diabetes results when the […]
Sep 27, 2022
Why COVID isn’t like the flu (yet) in one brutal graph
Fortune – While the two can present with similar symptoms—like fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, muscle aches, and headache—and are both more likely to be fatal for the elderly and immunocompromised, the comparison falls apart when it comes to the death toll.
Sep 27, 2022
Long COVID Has Forced a Reckoning for One of Medicine’s Most Neglected Diseases
The Atlantic – Only a couple dozen doctors specialize in chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Now their knowledge could be crucial to treating millions more patients. ME/CFS involves a panoply of debilitating symptoms that affect many organ systems and that get worse with exertion. The Institute of Medicine estimates that it affects 836,000 to 2.5 million people in the […]
Sep 27, 2022
Omicron subvariants linked to reinfections
CIDRAP – A new study based on COVID-19 patients in France shows high reinfection rates among people with different Omicron subvariants, including BA.1, BA.2, and BA.5. The study is published as a research letter in Emerging Infectious Diseases. The research group conducting this study, from Aix Marseille University, previously found reinfection rates were 6-fold higher during […]
Sep 27, 2022