Novel Coronavirus Outbreak Jan 17 - Jan 23 2022

Most recent articles (newest articles listed first)

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Oxidative stress status and vitamin D levels of asymptomatic to mild symptomatic COVID‐19 infections during the third trimester of pregnancy: A retrospective study in Metz, France

Highlights

  • Oxidative status, CRP, and vitamin D levels in pregnant women with and without COVID-19 during the third trimester.

  • Absence or a low level of oxidative stress in pregnant women with asymptomatic to mild symptomatic COVID-19.

  • No differences between the levels of CRP in pregnant women with and without COVID-19.

  • All pregnant women (patients and healthy controls) were vitamin D deficient.

  • Mild COVID-19 pregnant women were severely vitamin D deficient.

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Lymphadenopathy post‐COVID‐19 vaccination with increased FDG uptake may be falsely attributed to oncological disorders: A systematic review

Highlights

  • Lymphadenopathy has been widely reported post-COVID-19 vaccination including patients undergoing follow-up FDG-PET-CT scans which showed increased FDG uptake

  • Care must be taken before suspecting lymph node metastasis or deciding for lymphadenectomy following COVID-19 vaccination

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Dynamics of antibody response to CoronaVac vaccine

Highlights

  • Our findings suggest that CoronaVac induced a robust antibody response that wanes significantly over time.

  • In our study, two doses of CoronaVac were capable of induction an antibody response in people ≥51 years old.

  • The seropositivity and the levels of antibodies were higher in females when compared to males.

  • We found a positive correlation with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, previously infected participants had a significantly higher antibody response than previously uninfected participants.

  • Our findings suggest that patients with chronic diseases may need a booster shot of CoronaVac vaccine.

  • Individuals with immune-mediated diseases developed a significant humoral response following the administration of two doses of CoronaVac, albeit with lower antibody titers.

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SARS‐CoV‐2 intralineage variation and temporal patterns of COVID‐19 risk factors in three cities of southeastern Brazil: Age, sex, and race

Key Points

  • The age, sex, and race of patients from three cities in southeastern Brazil were assessed in association with the rate of positive results using generalized linear models.

  • A declining number of reported cases around October to November 2020 separate two epidemic waves in the three cities.

  • GISAID classification of SARS-CoV-2 complete genomic sequences showed the circulation of lineages P.1, B.1.1.28, P.2, B.1.1.332; P.1, P.2, B.1.1.28, B.1.1.33; and P.1, P.2 in São Bernardo do Campo, Diadema, and Mauá, respectively.

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Characteristics of the first 1119 SARS‐CoV‐2 Omicron variant cases, in Marseille, France, November−December 2021

Highlights

  • Significantly low rates of hospitalization, transfer to Intensive Care Unit and death were observed in patients infected with Omicron as compared to those infected with Delta variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 during the same period,

  • 26.3% of patients infected with Omicron get infected during the 3 weeks following COVID-19 vaccination raising the question of facilitating antibodies.

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Transmission dynamics and mutational prevalence of the novel Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 Omicron Variant of Concern

Highlights

  • First report showing the transmissibility of the novel sSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron (B.1.1.529) Variant of Concern.

  • Transmission dynamics analysis suggests that Omicron is more transmissible than other Variant of Concerns (VOCs).

  • Omicron (BA.1) is clustered distinctly from the other VOCs in a monophyletic clade.

  • The K417N, N440K, and G446S are the less prevalent mutations identified in the RBD of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2.

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Red blood cell distribution width: A severity indicator in patients with COVID‐19

Highlights

  • RDW is an inexpensive and routinely measured parameter that was independently associated with the disease severity of COVID-19 infection.

  • RDW > 11.5% could be the optimal cutoff to discriminate critical COVID-19 infection and might be helpful in clinical practice to identify critical cases at an early stage.

  • Future studies should focus on elucidating the underlying mechanism of the association between RDW and the severity of illness in COVID 19 infection.

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‘A fascinating time to be involved with research’ exploring the impact of COVID‐19 on postgraduate psycho‐oncology researchers

Key points

  • To explore the COVID-19 experiences of UK postgraduate research students (PGRs), the British Psychosocial Oncology Society (BPOS) conducted an online survey

  • Twenty-three respondents' qualitative data were analysed thematically and summarised using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) framework

  • COVID-19 offered opportunities to develop online skills, resilience, and adaptability, whilst opening wellbeing conversations

  • PGRs reported practical difficulties, social isolation, unhealthy work/life balance and concerns about future careers

  • PGRs have had an unprecedented and continually evolving experience; BPOS and relevant institutions must continue to provide adequate support and development opportunities to safeguard their futures

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Assessment of Sectoral NOx Emission Reductions During COVID-19 Lockdown Using Combined Satellite and Surface Observations and Source-Oriented Model Simulations

Key Points

  • A new optimization method coupled with a source-oriented model was applied to estimate sector-based NOx emission changes

  • NOx emission changes vary with regions and sectors, with larger reductions in transportation (286.6 kt) and industrial sources (260.1 kt)

  • Our work presents a quick and reliable technique for assessing the actual sectoral NOx emission changes due to short-term control policies

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Remdesivir significantly reduces SARS‐CoV‐2 viral load on nasopharyngeal swabs in hospitalized patients with COVID‐19: A retrospective case–control study

Highlights

  • Remdesivir's effect on viral load has not been extensively studied

  • Remdesivir-treated patients showed a steeper viral load reduction compared to controls

  • This could impact on the optimal timing of administration to prevent disease progression

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COVID‐19 vaccination rates, intent, and hesitancy in patients with solid organ and blood cancers: A multicenter study

Practitioner Points

  • Though achieving higher vaccination rates than the general population, a significant proportion of cancer patients remain unvaccinated despite prioritization in the vaccine rollout program.
  • Fifty-eight percent of unvaccinated cancer patients indicate they are “definitely” or “probably” willing to be vaccinated.
  • Vaccine safety in the context of cancer history and treatment and lack of clear medical advice were common concerns.

Open access

Resilience and transformation: Lessons from the UK local food sector in the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic there is a renewed interest in the role of local food systems from policy, academic, and third sector actors, who see those systems as a source of “bounce-back” resilience, supporting existing structures, but also as sources of “bounce forward” transformative resilience. The capacity of the local food sector to provide either form of resilience depends on the resilience of the local food actors themselves, which has been little investigated to date. Drawing on 31 in-depth interviews and analysis of 26 key policy and third sector reports, this article concluded that while strong bonding and bridging capitals support the local food sector's persistence and adaptability, a lack of linking social capital, most visible as a “middle class image problem”, is preventing it from achieving a transformative role.

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Case fatality and mortality rates, socio‐demographic profile, and clinical features of COVID‐19 in the elderly population: A population‐based registry study in Iran

Highlights

  • Quantifying mortality measures due to COVID-19 infection among older people is an essential step in COVID-19 prevention and planning for health managers and policymakers. In the aging population, mortality measures and characteristics of COVID-19 are poorly understood at the population level.

  • The overall case fatality and mortality rates were 24% and 1% in the elderly population, respectively. Case fatality rate ranged from 9.56% in the 60–64 age group to 70% in the age group ≥85. The male to female case fatality risk ratio was 3.2. Male sex, advanced age, marital status, and living alone were associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 fatality.

  • Advanced treatment supports and interventions are needed to reduce mortality rates of COVID-19 in the aging population.

Open access

Post‐sequelae symptoms and comorbidities after COVID‐19

Key points

  • Even months after coronavirus 2019 a substantial proportion of persons continue to have symptoms that might restrict their daily activities.

  • Further research is needed to prevent this complication especially as the pandemic spreads over the world.

Open access

N protein‐based ultrasensitive SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody detection in seconds via 3D nanoprinted, microarchitected array electrodes

Highlights

This work demonstrates a microfluidic biosensor with 3D printed array electrodes that detects nucleocapsid (N) antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in mere 10-12 seconds. This breakthrough technology will save lives and help in the management of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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Assessment of CD39 expression in regulatory T‐cell subsets by disease severity in adult and juvenile COVID‐19 cases

Research Highlights

  • CD39+ Tregs increased with disease severity in adult COVID-19 cases. In addition, significant changes were also observed in other Treg subsets.

  • Treg subsets in the juvenile COVID-19 cases showed age-related variability but were significantly lower than in the healthy control group.

  • Consistent correlations were found between laboratory findings in adult COVID-19 cases and Treg subsets.

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Efficacy of melatonin in the treatment of patients with COVID‐19: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

Highlight

  • This study investigated the effect of melatonin on clinical outcomes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

  • Patients receiving melatonin had a higher clinical recovery rate than did the controls (odds ratio: 3.67; 95% CI: 1.21−11.12; I2 = 0%, p = 0.02).

  • The risk of intensive care unit admission was only insignificantly lower in the melatonin group than in the control group.

  • The risk of mortality was insignificantly lower in the melatonin group than in the control group.

Open access

Aggregation of high‐frequency RBD mutations of SARS‐CoV‐2 with three VOCs did not cause significant antigenic drift

Highlights

  • Infectivity increased by adding three VOCs of V367F, S494P, or A520S.

  • The infectivity of the three VOCs with multiple high-frequency mutations decreased.

  • Almost all of the possible variants of the three VOCs did not show severe antigenic drift.