(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.
Half a year later, patients with COVID-19 still show symptoms
Most patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have at least one symptom six months after becoming ill, according to the results of a study in Wuhan, China, where the new coronavirus emerged in late 2019. Doctors followed up 1,733 patients who were diagnosed and hospitalized between January 2020 and May. Six months later, 76% had at least one symptom including muscle fatigue or weakness (seen in 63%), difficulty sleeping and anxiety or depression. Most of those who were seriously ill had lung problems and chest abnormalities that could indicate organ damage, while 13% of patients whose kidneys functioned normally in the hospital later developed kidney problems, the researchers reported on Friday at The Lancet. “We are just beginning to understand” some of the long-term effects of COVID-19, the study’s co-author Bin Cao of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing said in a statement. “Our analysis indicates that most patients continue to live with at least some of the effects of the virus after hospital discharge”, highlighting the need for post-discharge care. (bit.ly/39hUKS2)
Interferon increases proteins that prevent coronavirus entry
An experimental inhaled form of interferon being tested for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 may not have a limitation that the researchers feared. A potential problem with interferon is that it increases levels of a protein called ACE2, which the new coronavirus uses as a gateway to cells. In experiments with test tubes, the researchers looked at the cells that line the path from the nose to the lungs and found that there are actually two forms of ACE2 – the well-known and the short form that does not have the gateway used by the virus. Interferon increases the short form of ACE2, but not the longest form, they found, meaning that it does not appear to increase the virus’s entry points. “We were excited to discover a new form of ACE2,” said Dr. Jane Lucas of the University of Southampton, who co-led the study, reported in Nature Genetics on Monday in a statement. “We believe that this may have important implications for the control of COVID-19 infection.” An inhaled interferon from Synairgen Plc is being tested in final stage tests. (go.nature.com/3oBO9Z0)
Viral load of saliva improves COVID-19 severity prediction
The amount of the new coronavirus in saliva may help guide doctors’ care of patients because it is a better indicator of the course of the disease than the viral load in swab samples taken from the nose and back of the throat, the researchers said . They studied 26 patients with slightly ill COVID-19, 154 hospitalized patients – including 63 who became seriously ill and 23 who eventually died – and 108 uninfected individuals. The viral load of saliva, but not the nasopharyngeal viral load, was associated with COVID-19 risk factors, such as age and sex, and with immune system responses. The viral load of saliva was also higher than the nasopharyngeal viral load in predicting critical illness and death, the researchers reported on Wednesday in medRxiv before the peer review. Saliva contains inhaled germs that are eliminated from the lungs by the body’s protective mechanisms, co-author Akiko Iwasaki of Yale University explained in a tweet on Sunday. The viral load of saliva, therefore, reflects how well the virus is making copies of itself throughout the respiratory tract, from the nose to the lungs, and not just in the nose and the back of the throat, said Iwasaki. (bit.ly/3i1KpO9)
Open tmsnrt.rs/3a5EyDh in an external browser to see a graph of Reuters about vaccines and treatments under development.
Nancy Lapid reports; Bill Berkrot edition