At almost 7 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, what reasons for (cautious) optimism does recent research offer us when it comes to controlling the spread and impact of the new corona virus?

Almost 7 months ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the COVID-19 outbreak had become a pandemic.
Since then, scientists all over the world have been working ceaselessly to find effective ways to prevent and treat infections with SARS-CoV-2 and help people recover from COVID-19.

At Medical News Today, we present regular roundups of the most recent research advances that offer hope and reassurance that scientists continue to look for ways out of the pandemic.

In this installment, we look at the latest research around SARS-CoV-2 infection prevention, emerging evidence that could help inform new COVID-19 therapies, and what specialists are doing to advance knowledge about the mysterious “long COVID” and support people it affects.

Alpaca nanobodies to the rescue?

At the start of September, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published a study paper in the journal Nature Communications. In it, they suggest that a nanobody, or an antibody fragment, that alpacas naturally produce could help prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Antibodies are a type of protein that recognize antigens. Antigens are structural sequences that are present on infectious agents.

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Coronaviruses wafting through a Chinese apartment building’s plumbing may have infected some residents, according to a new study, raising fears of yet another way that COVID-19 could spread.

The case echoes a 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that spread through the pipes of a Hong Kong apartment building—and some worry that transmission via toilets might have contributed to the COVID-19 outbreak that shut down New York City early in the pandemic.

The study adds to months of warnings that SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 and is thought to spread mainly through respiratory droplets and aerosols, could also infect via feces. “It’s not something that people like to talk about,” buildings expert Joseph Allen of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health wrote in a Washington Post op-ed this week.

Although fecal transmission of a pathogen is tricky to confirm—and proving that a virus spreads via building waste pipes is even more difficult—it is entirely possible, several researchers tell ScienceInsider. With their help, we try to answer some key questions about this unusual and still speculative risk.

Can people catch COVID-19 from poop?

A number of studies have reported finding RNA from SARS-CoV-2 in fecal samples from COVID-19 patients. Some of those patients also had diarrhea, suggesting the virus had infected their intestinal tracts; the RNA could also come from swallowing saliva or respiratory tract fluids containing the virus. Such fecal samples inspired wastewater testing currently being used to watch for incipient COVID-19 outbreaks in cities around the world and at some U.S. universities.

Some studies have also found abundant coronavirus RNA in hospital bathrooms, and one modeling study suggested that flushing a toilet can spew viral particles far above the seat. A person could therefore be exposed to SARS-CoV-2 by breathing aerosolized fecal matter, or by ingesting the virus after touching a contaminated surface.

With COVID-19 vaccines currently in the final phase of study, you’ve probably been wondering how the FDA will decide if a vaccine is safe and effective.

Based on the status of the Phase 3 trials currently underway, it is unlikely that the results of these trials will be available before November. But it is likely that not just one, but several of the competing COVID-19 vaccines will be shown to be safe and effective by the end of 2020.

I am a scientist and infectious diseases specialist at the University of Virginia, where I care for patients with COVID-19 and conduct research on the pandemic. I am also a member of the World Health Organization Expert Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritization.

What is the status of COVID-19 vaccines in human clinical trials?

Phase 3 studies are underway for the Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines and the Oxford/AstraZeneca viral vector vaccine.

Each of these vaccines uses the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein, which the virus uses to infect cells, to trigger the immune system to generate protective antibodies and a cellular immune response to the virus. Protective antibodies act by preventing the spike glycoprotein from attaching the virus to human cells, thereby neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on September 21 that countries representing close to two-thirds of the world’s population have joined its plan to buy and fairly distribute COVID-19 vaccines around the globe. It also unveiled the mechanism through which it plans to allocate the vaccine as it becomes available, aiming “to end the acute phase of the pandemic by the end of 2021.”

“It is a huge success to have equivalent to 64% of the world’s population signed up,” Alexandra Phelan, a lawyer at Georgetown University who specializes in global health policy, wrote in an email. “However, this doesn’t reflect the deeply unequal power dynamics in global health and vaccine manufacturing capabilities that may still challenge equitable access to vaccines.” China and the United States are notably absent from WHO’s list of partners in the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, she and other observers noted.

With nearly 1 million deaths reported worldwide from COVID-19, and the Northern Hemisphere heading into its first winter in the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 still has the world in its grip. WHO has pushed countries to sign up for a plan that will buy a vaccine in huge quantities and distribute it in an equitable way. But it has been grappling with two big issues: how to get high-income countries to join, instead of hoarding early vaccine supplies for their own populations; and how to share the vaccine in a fair way once it becomes available.

“As of today, 64 higher income countries, including 29 economies operating as Team Europe, have submitted legally binding commitments to join the COVAX Facility,” Seth Berkley, head of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, said at the press conference. An additional 38 countries are expected to sign soon, he said. These countries will have access to the vaccines in the COVAX portfolio and will pay for their own doses. Lower income countries that have joined COVAX will have vaccine doses purchased for them; there are 92 such signers.

Original Source

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on September 21 that countries representing close to two-thirds of the world’s population have joined its plan to buy and fairly distribute COVID-19 vaccines around the globe. It also unveiled the mechanism through which it plans to allocate the vaccine as it becomes available, aiming “to end the acute phase of the pandemic by the end of 2021.”

“It is a huge success to have equivalent to 64% of the world’s population signed up,” Alexandra Phelan, a lawyer at Georgetown University who specializes in global health policy, wrote in an email. “However, this doesn’t reflect the deeply unequal power dynamics in global health and vaccine manufacturing capabilities that may still challenge equitable access to vaccines.” China and the United States are notably absent from WHO’s list of partners in the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, she and other observers noted.

With nearly 1 million deaths reported worldwide from COVID-19, and the Northern Hemisphere heading into its first winter in the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 still has the world in its grip. WHO has pushed countries to sign up for a plan that will buy a vaccine in huge quantities and distribute it in an equitable way. But it has been grappling with two big issues: how to get high-income countries to join, instead of hoarding early vaccine supplies for their own populations; and how to share the vaccine in a fair way once it becomes available.

“As of today, 64 higher income countries, including 29 economies operating as Team Europe, have submitted legally binding commitments to join the COVAX Facility,” Seth Berkley, head of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, said at the press conference. An additional 38 countries are expected to sign soon, he said. These countries will have access to the vaccines in the COVAX portfolio and will pay for their own doses. Lower income countries that have joined COVAX will have vaccine doses purchased for them; there are 92 such signers.

Original Source

A team of researchers at the Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) explains why some people are more susceptible to the effects of the virus, developing the severe disease than others. In some people who contract the virus they develop only mild to moderate symptoms, while some have no symptoms at all.

In the new study, published in the journal Cell, the team has found that the uncoordinated responses produced by the immune system, especially in people who are more than 65 years old, maybe the reason why older adults are more at risk.

The power of the immune system to work properly and in a coordinated manner is critical in fighting the SARS-CoV-2 infection early in the acute phase of the infection. This way, COVID-19 severity will be reduced, preventing the development of severe disease and mortality.

In the study, the researchers noted that the T cells or T lymphocytes, which are one of the significant components of the adaptive immune system, play a more prominent role in the response against the coronavirus than antibodies. T cells work by killing infected host cells and activating other immune cells, producing cytokines, and controlling the immune response.

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Wondering when to get your flu shot? The best time is before influenza (flu) starts circulating widely.

For most people, September or October is ideal for protection through the whole flu season, as the immune response from the vaccine wanes over time. And while changes and restrictions due to COVID-19 may make getting a flu vaccine less convenient for some this year, the pandemic makes it more important than ever.

Why is it especially important to get the flu vaccine this year?

Measures that help protect us against COVID-19 — such as distancing, wearing face coverings, and washing hands often — may also decrease the spread of flu. Yet it’s more important than ever to get vaccinated. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused shortages of hospital beds, ICU beds, and ventilators even outside of flu season. During flu season, when both the flu and COVID-19 will be circulating, hospitals may again face shortages, limiting their ability to care for people who are seriously ill with the flu, COVID-19, or both.

People can get COVID-19 and the flu at the same time. A recent study showed people who had COVID-19 and influenza B were sicker than those who had COVID-19 alone.

Also, COVID-19 and flu have similar symptoms like fever, chills, fatigue, body aches, and coughs. So people who get the flu may need to be tested for COVID-19, and then quarantine until they get the test result. This could mean more days out of work. It could also lead to testing shortages.

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In their latest advice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warn that people with moderate-to-severe asthma may be at greater risk of developing severe COVID-19.

However, a review of research by scientists at the University of Colorado in Denver has found no evidence of an increased prevalence of asthma among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 compared with the condition’s prevalence in the wider population.

In addition, they found that patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who had asthma were no more likely to be intubated than other patients.

In a research letter that appears in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society, the authors report:

“Despite early concern about disproportionately high morbidity and mortality for those with asthma, data presented here and elsewhere show minimal evidence of a clinically significant relationship.”

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Twelve kids who likely caught COVID-19 at three child care centers in Utah went on to spread the virus elsewhere and infected some parents and siblings, according to a new study published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The authors of the study note that research had previously shown that kids 10 years and older could spread the virus in schools. The new study is evidence that even younger kids, including an 8-month-old baby, can still spread the virus, despite not getting severely sick from Covid-19, the researchers said.

The study looked at outbreaks that occurred in three child care centers in Salt Lake City, between April and July. Using contact tracing data collected at the time of the outbreaks, the researchers used the data to “retrospectively construct transmission chains” to determine precisely how the virus spread. A total of 83 kids attended the three child care centers included in the study, the researchers said.

Among the three outbreaks, the researchers said 12 kids were infected with Covid-19 at the child care centers, though three of them never developed symptoms and nine developed just mild symptoms. The study says those 12 kids came into contact with 46 people not associated with the child care facilities and appear to have infected 12, or more than a quarter, of them. Those infected by the kids include six mothers, one of whom was hospitalized, three siblings and three others, the study says.

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Team led by Houston Methodist addresses need for quick, easy tests to screen plasma donors.

A new study released by Houston Methodist takes researchers a significant step closer to developing a uniform, universal COVID-19 antibody test. The multicenter collaboration tested alternative ways to measure COVID-19 antibody levels that is faster and easier and can inexpensively be used on a larger scale to accurately identify potential donors with the best chance of helping patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus with convalescent plasma therapy.

The findings will also have applications beyond determining who the best plasma donors are. The consensus among the study authors is that, following donor identification, it will most likely next be used in practice to establish target levels of COVID-19 antibodies needed for effective vaccine candidates and passive immune therapies.

Additional uses coming later that are likely to have the biggest societal impact, the researchers say, are to assess relative immunity in those previously infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and identifying asymptomatic individuals with high levels of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

It was also found that donors who experienced shortness of breath (or dyspnea) while infected with COVID-19 and those who were hospitalized or had severe disease were more likely to have a robust immune response and, thus, had higher levels of neutralizing antibodies in all the tests. In the absence of available testing, identifying such donor characteristics may be used as a contingency plan to determine which patients have developed higher antibody levels and inform efforts to recruit plasma donors for therapeutic purposes.

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