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.
Pregnant women infected with COVID-19 are higher
According to new data, pregnant women are infected with the new coronavirus at higher doses than other adults. Between March and June in Washington state, there were 14 cases of COVID-19 for every 1,000 pregnant women, compared with 7 cases among every 1,000 non-pregnant adults aged 20 to 39 years, researchers found. After considering other risk factors, the COVID-19 percentage in pregnant women there was 70% higher than in non-pregnant adults, according to a report in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Pregnant women in non-white racial / ethnic groups were particularly vulnerable. Compared to women in general in the state of Washington who gave birth to live births in 2018, the proportion of COVID-19 cases in pregnancy among most racial and ethnic minority groups during the pandemic study period was two to four times higher. While people in a language other than English received medical care, they made up about 8% of the general population, they made up about 30% of pregnant women with COVID-19. In addition to the fact that pregnant women with COVID-19 have higher diseases, the new study ‘strongly suggests that pregnant people should be given the highest priority for the allocation of COVID-19 vaccines’, the researchers concluded. (https://bit.ly/3bsz5Yy)
Variety found in the UK can cause longer infections
The reason why the coronavirus variant first identified in the UK is more transmissible than earlier versions of the virus may be that it spends more time in infected people, giving them more time to spread the virus, according to a small study. Researchers measured viral loads daily in 65 patients with COVID-19, including seven infected with the British variant. The amount of virus carried by patients was similar in the two groups. However, among individuals infected with variant B.1.1.7, the mean infection duration was 13.3 days, compared with 8.2 days in those infected with an older version of the coronavirus. The time until the virus load of patients peaked was also longer in the UK variant: 5.3 days, compared to 2 days with earlier variants. “The findings are preliminary as they are based on seven B.1.1.7 cases,” the researchers warn in a report posted on a Harvard University website without a peer review. “However, if confirmed by additional data, a longer isolation period may be required than the current recommended 10 days after the onset of the symptom to effectively interrupt secondary infections through this variant,” they said. (https://bit.ly/2Nlss2f)
Stronger bonds bind some mutant viruses to infected cells
Scientists are learning more about what makes coronavirus variants identified in South Africa and Brazil less vulnerable to vaccines and current antibody therapies. Researchers already know that this variant has a worrying mutation called E484K. A new study has found that the variety has ‘more favorable electrostatic interactions’, or electric charges, after the peak of the virus breaks into receptors on cells, and it strengthens bonds that hold it firmly to the infected cell. In addition, according to a report published on bioRxiv on Wednesday before peer review, the shape of the vein protein is different at the site of the E484K mutation, which helps the vein to bind more tightly to ‘receptor’ sites on the infected cells . The authors also confirmed that six antibodies that neutralize the other versions of the virus are significantly less effective compared to variants with the E484K mutation. They discovered that this is mainly because the electric charges that bind the antibodies to the peak are not strong enough. According to them, these findings will be ‘of great importance’ for the development of effective vaccines and antibodies. (https://bit.ly/2NtpEjv)
Female sex hormones can help hospitalized men with COVID-19
Men were prone to worse illnesses and deaths than women during the pandemic. In a small trial safety study, 42 men received injections of the female hormone progesterone under the skin twice daily, plus regular care, or regular treatment alone, to see if the female hormone could reduce the cascade of inflammation leading to serious lung injury. . in COVID-19. No adverse side effects were reported, and overall clinical status improved to a greater extent in men receiving progesterone. Men treated with progesterone require 3 days of extra oxygen and are 2.5 days less in the hospital compared to men who did not receive the female hormone. “This evidence of draft pilot study has shown very encouraging outcome data, suggesting that administration of progesterone … may be a safe and effective approach to the treatment of COVID-19” in men with moderate to severe disease, researchers said in a report. Published Saturday in the journal Chest. (https://bit.ly/2MkPYMg)
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(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Edited by Bill Berkrot)