By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) – The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the new coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Modern vaccine protects against new variants
The COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc protects against the new virus variants that occur in Britain and South Africa, researchers reported on bioRxiv on Monday before peer review. They found no reduction in the effect of vaccine-induced antibodies on the British variant. They did significantly reduce the effectiveness of the antibodies on the South African variant, although Moderna still believes that the two-dose vaccine will provide protection. The company said it would test a new booster shot on the South African variant that could be made available if needed. Dr. Paul Offit of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel, said he was only gently concerned that the vaccine did not protect against the variants. “It’s a little worrying that you see a less neutralizing antibody response,” he said, “but even these lower levels are still sufficient to protect against serious infections.” “The purpose of this vaccine is to keep you out of the hospital and keep you out of the morgue. If you get a symptomatic infection or mild symptomatic infection that is not a burden to the health care system,” Offit said. (https://bit.ly/3ocFUBD; https://reut.rs/2Mj0Z06)
Full dose blood thinners help keep patients away from ventilators
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced Friday that a trio of trials have found that giving full-dose blood thinning treatments to moderately ill patients admitted to the hospital for COVID-19. Blood clotting is a serious problem in COVID-19. The three trials, conducted at more than 300 hospitals on four continents, tested whether the administration of a full dose of blood-thinning heparin was greater than the lower dose commonly used to prevent blood clots in hospital patients. In December, the researchers reported that the higher dose is harmful in patients who are already life-supporting. The new data shows ‘that when we give higher doses of blood thinners to patients who are not yet critically ill, it is beneficial and that it needs to be taken care of’, said study leader Matthew Neal of the University of Pittsburgh in a statement. According to the researchers, the cheap, readily available treatment can help reduce the burden on intensive care units. The trials also point to a possible survival benefit with full-dose heparin in patients who do not yet receive life support, but it needs to be studied further, the NIH said. The agency did not release the full study data. (https://bit.ly/39j1BMp)
Lifelong smoking history linked to COVID-19’s death risk
Older smokers who quit still run higher risks due to COVID-19 than never-smokers, a new study shows. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Health System in Ohio and Florida studied 7,102 patients of COVID-19, including 6,020 never-smokers, 910 former smokers, and 172 current smokers. The risk of hospitalization and death increased with the cumulative amount patients ever smoked, and the increase in risk was similar for current smokers and former smokers, researchers found. Those who smoked the most – the equivalent of one pack a day for 30 years, or two packs a day for at least 15 years – were 2.25 times more likely to be hospitalized and 89% more likely to die after ‘ A COVID-19 diagnosis compared to never smokers, the researchers reported Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. The lifetime tobacco smoking history is therefore related to the risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19, the research team concluded, adding that diseases commonly associated with smoking, such as heart and lung diseases, are likely to have contributed has to the weaker outcomes. (https://bit.ly/3caMeHu)
One-out-three with COVID-19 may not know it
At least one-third of people infected with the highly contagious coronavirus may not realize it, warns a new report. Some of them are ‘presymptomatic’, meaning that they have no symptoms but that they will eventually develop. Others will remain asymptomatic for the duration of their infection. “Asymptomatic infection … is important because infected people can transmit the virus to others, even if they have no symptoms,” the researchers said in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Friday. They analyzed data from 43 studies that used the standard of PCR testing to diagnose COVID-19 and 18, which used antibody testing to look for evidence of previous infection. These studies “provide compelling evidence that the asymptomatic fraction of SARS-CoV-2 infection is significant,” they said. The researchers called for new strategies to control the spread of the virus, such as’ cheap, quick home tests to identify and contain presymptomatic or asymptomatic cases, along with government programs providing financial assistance and, if necessary, housing for infected people in enable them to isolate themselves. “It will be important to know if vaccines prevent asymptomatic infections,” they said. (https://bit.ly/3oiHFNG)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser for a Reuters image on vaccines being developed.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid, Manas Mishra and Caroline Humer; Edited by Bill Berkrot)