Covid-19: Novel Coronavirus Outbreak

We assessed the wellbeing, coping with homeschooling, and lesirue behavior of 9- to 16-year-old German children and adolescents during two COVID-19-related lockdowns in spring 2020 and winter 2021. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, physical wellbeing was lower during the first COVID-19-related lockdown and declined further from the first to the second lockdown. Similarly, coping with homeschooling was poorer during the second than during the first lockdown.

This study aimed to assess the impact of coronavirus disease-19 lockdowns on allergic rhinitis (AR) symptoms reported by the patients treated with immunotherapy at two allergy referral centers in Colombia. Up to 38.4% of the AR patients reported that their symptoms got worse during lockdowns, probably due to higher exposure to indoor AR allergens and interruption of immunotherapy. Granting their immunotherapy continuity, adequate environmental, and allergen avoidance education could reduce the likelihood of allergy exacerbations.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients presented neutrophilia, with signs of emergency myelopoiesis. Alterations in the monocytic component were observed in patients with moderate to critical illness, with an increase in cMo and a reduction in ncMo, in addition to a reduction in the expression of HLA-DR in all subtypes of monocytes, indicating immunosuppression. DCs, especially pDCs, also showed a large reduction in moderate to critical patients. COVID-19 patients showed an increase in MPO, IL-12, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-8, accompanied by a reduction in IL-17A and NOx. IL-10 levels ≥14 pg/ml were strongly related to the worst outcome.

Linked Comment: F. Ricci and D. Abeni. Br J Dermatol 2022; 187:135–136.

We identified 126 SARS-CoV-2 T cell targets that exhibit cross-reactive potential with HCoV predicted peptide-MHC. We found a subset of COVID-19 patients whose SARS-CoV-2-specific public TCRs are primarily directed toward these targets with cross-reactive potential. For these patients, we found distinct HLA profiles. It is plausible that such patients may exhibit more robust protection against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Ten of the identified SARS-CoV-2-HCoV peptides are highly conserved across multiple coronaviruses and are predicted to invoke T cell responses in high proportions of the global population, which is an encouraging insight in the search for pan-coronavirus T cell targets.

Here, we report the follow-up study of a pregnant woman of her whole infective course of SARS-CoV-2, from asymptomatic infection at gestational week 20 to mild and then severe illness state, finally cured at Week 24 and delivering at Week 28 due to incomplete uterine rupture. The placenta from this case exhibited more syncytial knots and lowered expressions of syncytiotrophoblast-related genes. The single-cell RNA sequencing analysis demonstrated impaired trophoblast differentiation, activation of antiviral and inflammatory CD8 T cells, as well as the tight association of increased inflammatory responses with complement over-activation in macrophages. These findings illustrate a systematic cellular and molecular signature of placenta insufficiency and immune activation that may be attributed to SARS-CoV-2 infection at midgestation stage, which highly suggests the extensive care for maternal and fetal outcomes in COVID-19 pregnancy.

Patients with fatigue and cognitive difficulties following mild COVID-19 present altered excitability and neurotransmission within the primary motor cortex and deficits in sustained and executive attention.

This figure helps to visualize the frequency of deficits by cognitive domain. Additionally, it allows the reader to see what percentage of patients showed single-domain versus multi-domain cognitive impairment.

SARS-CoV-2 can result in neurological conditions, but the mechanisms of COVID-19-associated nervous system injury remain unclear. Using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood biomarkers of amyloid processing collected from patients with COVID-19-associated neurological injury and healthy controls, we find COVID-19 neurological patients display impaired amyloid processing characterized by decreased soluble amyloid precursor proteins and Amyloid β. Reductions in amyloid processing biomarkers correlated with increases in neuronal injury (NfL) and neuroinflammatory biomarkers but with decreases in astrocyte reactivity (GFAp). This supports the possibility that patients with COVID-19-associated neurological syndromes exhibit impaired amyloid processing during their acute illness.

C6G25S is a fully modified siRNA specifically targeting the highly-conserve region of SARS-CoV-2 genome. It has been developed as an inhalable and broad-spectrum therapeutic that is highly stable and effective via direct respiratory administration.