Covid-19: Novel Coronavirus Outbreak

We aimed to systematically review the relationship between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and acute pancreatitis, seeing that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection also affects the gastrointestinal (GI) system. Acute pancreatitis should be considered in COVID-19 patients, especially in those exhibiting GI symptoms; however, evidence to establish a causal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and AP is currently lacking.

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The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent mitigation strategies have varied across the Nordic countries. This is the first international comparison of cancer notification rates during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, including six countries with similar tax-funded healthcare systems and population-based cancer reporting. The findings suggest that, despite differences in pandemic mitigation efforts, the severity of the pandemic may have had a larger effect on cancer detection than strict societal restrictions. In all countries, it will be of importance to monitor future trends in late-stage cancer incidence and survival.

Antibodies induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination mediate NK cell activation, resulting in the release of cytotoxic granules, referred to as ADCC. Highest levels of ADCC were observed when using plasma from BNT162b2-vaccinated individuals. (Created with BioRender.com)

“In acute infection, combinations with only IFN-γ were deleterious and those with IL-2 were associated with a better course of acute infection. Additionally, mild patients had a more polyfunctional T response. In severe patients, there was increased antibody production inversely associated with the expression of combinations including IL-2. Seven months after infection, cellular and humoral responses were present, with T-cell response quality similar to acute infection. However, previously hospitalised subjects had higher T-cell exhaustion. Finally, an association was found between the response to HCoV and SARS-CoV-2 mainly mediated by IL-2 expression in pre-COVID-19 participants.”

In this retrospective, multicentre cohort study, we included 574 remotely monitored implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization devices (CRT-D) recipients, comparing the burden of arrhythmias occurred during the lockdown period due to COVID-19 epidemics (from March 9th to May 1st 2020) with the arrhythmias burden of the corresponding period in 2019. #10;During pandemics lockdown period we observed an higher burden of arrhythmic events in ICD/CRT-D patients followed up through device remote monitoring. #10;

A systematic search of studies examining changes in alcohol use during or following pandemics compared to before a pandemic occurred identified 7 cohort and 21 cross-sectional studies. Alcohol use may have decreased in some countries and remained constant in others. Heavy episodic drinking and problematic alcohol use may have increased in some countries and remained stable in others. Additionally, the lack of studies from low-income countries indicates a dearth of information for most of the world’s population.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hyperimmune globulin (COVID-HIG) prepared from the plasma of healthy donors vaccinated with BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine) exhibits broad-spectrum neutralization effects against multiple severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern in vitro and shows protective effect against SARS-CoV-2 infection in vivo. It is currently under clinical evaluation for the treatment of COVID-19 (NCT05173441).

In this study, we describe a COVID-19 vaccine based on virus-like particles (VLPs) for intranasal administration. We demonstrate that the vaccine candidate (CuMV_TT-RBD) is highly immunogenic in mice and is capable of inducing mucosal and systemic RBD as well as spike specific antibody responses. The induced antibodies are capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern (VOCs).Abbreviations: COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; RBD, receptor-binding domain; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; VLPs, virus-like particles; VOC, variant of concern