By Nancy Lapid
January 20 (Reuters) – The following is a summary 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.
South African variant can withstand current antibody treatments
Scientists have found that the variant of the new coronavirus identified in South Africa can resist, or ‘escape’, antibodies, which neutralize earlier versions of the virus. The scientists reported on bioRxiv on Tuesday about the bioRxiv scientists, showing ‘complete escape’ from three classes of monoclonal antibodies produced for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. peer review. Similarities between the South African variant and another variant identified in Brazil indicate that the Brazilian variant will show similar resistance, they added. Liam Smeeth of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who was not involved in the study, noted that these were laboratory tests, and that at this stage it would be unwise to extrapolate the findings to humans. “The data increase the possibility that the protection obtained by infection with COVID-19 in the past may be lower for re-infection with the South African variant,” he said. “The data also indicate that the existing vaccines may be less effective against the South African variant.” He called for large studies among populations where the variant is common. (https://bit.ly/3sLeIgP)
Pfizer / BioNTech shot likely protects against UK variant
According to laboratory tests, the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE is likely to protect against the more contagious variant of the virus that was discovered in Britain and is now spreading around the world. Researchers took blood samples from 16 people who received the vaccine and exposed the blood to a synthetic virus, or pseudovirus, designed to find ten mutations in the British variant. The antibodies developed in response to the vaccine effectively neutralized the pseudovirus, according to a report posted on bioRxiv on Tuesday before the peer review. “This makes it very unlikely that the British variant will escape the protection afforded by the vaccine,” said Jonathan Stoye, a virus scientist at the Francis Crick Institute in Britain, who was not involved in the research. Similar experiments are needed with the more worrying variant first found in South Africa, he suggested. AstraZeneca Plc, Moderna Inc and CureVac NV are also testing whether their respective vaccines will protect against the rapidly spreading variants. (https://bit.ly/35X6Wa4; https://reut.rs/3p1TCZz)
The immune system will remember how to make COVID-19 antibodies
People who have recovered from COVID-19 are likely to have a rapid and effective response to the virus if they encounter it again, as the immune system’s “B cells” will remember how to make the antibodies needed to kill it. combat. Researchers tracked 87 COVID-19 survivors for six months and found that levels of antibodies to the virus could drop over time, but that the number of memory B cells remained unchanged. The antibodies produced by these cells are more potent than the patients’ original antibodies and may be more resistant to mutations in the protein that the virus uses to break into cells. For example, they found that the antibodies could recognize and neutralize at least one of the mutations in the South African variant of the virus, which is causing concern among health experts. Even if antibody levels drop, B cells will remember how to do so if necessary, according to study leader Michel Nussenzweig of Rockefeller University, whose findings were reported Monday in Nature. If it is true at six months, as in this study, you can assume it is likely to be true for longer periods of time, he added. People who have recovered from COVID-19 may “become infected, but the immune system will be prepared to fight the infection,” Nussenzweig said. (https://go.nature.com/3nWtwWo)
Mortality rate is higher than ICUs full of COVID-19 patients
The more intensive care unit (ICU) is with COVID-19 patients, the higher the mortality rate among the patients, new data suggest. When researchers tracked the results of 8,515 COVID-19 patients in 88 U.S. veterans’ cases in 2020, they found that survival rates improved between March and August. During the study period, however, the risk of death was almost double if at least 75% of the ICU beds were filled with COVID-19 patients, compared to when they did not occupy more than 25% of the ICU beds. COVID-19 mortality rate “increases during periods of peak demand,” said Dr. Dawn Bravata of Richard L Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, who co-led the study, which was published Tuesday at the JAMA Network Open. “The more the public can do to avoid infections, the better,” she added. In addition, Bravata said: “facilities within a healthcare system or within a geographic region should work together to reduce critically ill patients with COVID-19 to locations with a greater ICU capacity to reduce stress at one facility.” (https://bit.ly/3oYfWDa; https://bit.ly/35VHpOk)
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(Reporting by Nancy Lapid, Linda Carroll, Kate Kelland and Ludwig Burger; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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