By Nancy Lapid
(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.
Kidney problems with COVID-19 are particularly serious
The sudden kidney problems of severe COVID-19 appear to be worse and more lasting than the kidney problems that develop in other critically ill patients, a new study has found. Doctors at five hospitals in Connecticut and Rhode Island studied 182 patients with acute kidney injury associated with COVID-19 (AKI) and 1,430 patients with AKI not associated with coronavirus. COVID-19 patients had more pronounced declines in the kidneys’ ability to filter blood waste while hospitalized, the researchers reported. In addition, among patients whose kidneys were still impaired at discharge, those with COVID-19 were significantly less likely to have recovered their pre-illness kidney state six months later, and their kidney function was predicted to decline over time in one rate than in other patients. The data, published on Wednesday at the JAMA Network Open, show that “acute kidney injury associated with COVID-19 has a worse prognosis than traditional acute kidney injury,” said co-author Dr. Francis Perry Wilson of the School of Medicine at Yale University. “Those with acute kidney damage associated with COVID-19 should probably be monitored more closely than others, once they leave the hospital.” (https://bit.ly/3rD9G56)
The second injection should not be delayed for cancer patients
Late administration of the second dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine leaves most cancer patients unprotected, warns a new report. In clinical trials last year, messenger RNA vaccines were tested with second doses given three or four weeks after the first, depending on the vaccine. In January, the United Kingdom decided to postpone second doses for up to 12 weeks. At Kings College London, doctors studied 205 adults who received the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, including 151 cancer patients. After the first dose, almost all healthy individuals had strong immune responses, but that was true for less than half of patients with solid tumors and less than one in seven patients with blood cancer, said Dr. Adrian Hayday. When patients with solid cancer received the second dose within the recommended three weeks, 95% developed robust antibody responses. Among those who did not receive the booster dose in time due to the new UK policy, only 43% of patients with solid cancer and 8% of patients with blood cancer had antibodies within five weeks. “A single dose of the vaccine left most cancer patients largely or completely unprotected,” said Hayday. The study report was submitted prior to the peer review to medRxiv, but is not yet online. The data are available on the COVID-Immuno-Phenotype website. (https://bit.ly/3ckwU9O)
Prescribed rinse reduces viral load in saliva
A commercially available mouthwash can decrease the amount of coronavirus in saliva in adults with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19, helping to reduce contagiousness, the researchers found. They randomly assigned 154 volunteers, all diagnosed the previous week, to rinse three times a day for seven days with a mouthwash containing antiviral beta-cyclodextrin and citrox or a placebo. Four hours after the first use of the mouthwash, the salivary viral load has already been significantly reduced, the researchers reported on Wednesday in an article published on the prepress server Research Square prior to the peer review. During seven days of treatment, mouthwash had a particularly beneficial effect in reducing the amount of virus in saliva in patients with high or very high initial levels, the authors said. “A one-minute rinse with beta-cyclodextrin and a citrox rinse reduces SARS-CoV-2 salivary viral load by 70%” in asymptomatic or slightly ill adults, said co-author Dr. Florence Carrouel of University Lyon, France . “Therefore, this mouthwash is a barrier measure against the spread of COVID-19.” (https://bit.ly/3lmteZr)
MRNA vaccines reduce the risk of asymptomatic COVID-19
Ten days after receiving a second dose of Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, people without symptoms of COVID-19 are much less likely to carry the virus and transmit it without knowing it, compared to people that have not been vaccinated, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic. Their data, published on Wednesday in Clinical Infectious Diseases, come from 39,000 patients who were routinely tested for COVID-19 before undergoing various medical procedures. More than 48,000 screening tests have been carried out, including 3,000 on patients who received at least one dose of an mRNA vaccine. Among individuals who received a single dose of the vaccine at least 10 days earlier, they saw a 72% reduction in the risk of a positive COVID-19 test. After adjusting for a number of factors, they found an 80% reduction in the risk of a positive test for COVID-19 among people without symptoms who received both doses. The authors said their findings underscore the fact that messenger RNA vaccines for COVID-19 can help to significantly limit the spread of the virus by people without symptoms. (https://bit.ly/3bG07wM)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser to see a Reuters graph on vaccines under development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Additional reporting by Linda Carroll; Editing by Bill Berkrot)