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COVID-19 patients can be categorised into three clinical phenotypes
In a new study, researchers identify three clinical COVID-19 phenotypes, reflecting patient populations with different comorbidities, complications and clinical outcomes. The three phenotypes are...
Pfizer claims vaccine efficacy against SA variant — Phase 3 study
Pfizer and BioNTech have announced updated top-line results from analysis of 927 confirmed symptomatic cases of COVID-19 observed in their pivotal Phase 3 study...
Sensitivity of UK and SA variants to neutralising antibodies — French study
The B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants of SARS-CoV-2 were first detected in the UK and South Africa respectively, and have since spread to many other...
Factors predisposing severe COVID-19 patients to mechanical ventilation — Pretoria and Wits study
Researchers at the University of Pretoria and University of Witwatersrand have published research to identify factors that may predispose patients with COVID-19 to severe...
Insomnia, disrupted sleep, and burnout linked to higher severe COVID-19 risk
Insomnia, disrupted sleep, and daily burnout are linked to a heightened risk of not only becoming infected with coronavirus, but also having more severe disease...
99% strong immune response after Pfizer vaccination — UK's PITCH study
A new study led by the Universities of Sheffield and Oxford with support from the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) has found that 99%...
Remdesivir linked with clinical improvement and safety — Johns Hopkins hospital study
Hospitalised COVID-19 patients treated with remdesivir at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine demonstrated faster clinical improvement than patients who did not receive the drug, according...
Cross-neutralisation of variants in convalescent plasma — small SA study
Antibodies from individuals in South Africa who had recovered from a SARS-CoV-2 infection from the first wave of the epidemic are less effective at...
Neutralising antibodies may be less effective against SA variant — French study
Antibodies from people convalescing from or vaccinated against COVID-19 can neutralise the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant (first identified in the UK), but they may be...
Long-haul COVID-19 associated with white, female, middle age — UK hospital study
Researchers reporting on two non-peer–reviewed studies followed up months after adults' COVID-19 hospitalisation and found that 55% to 71% have not fully recovered. Middle...
Risk of COVID very low in vaccinated medical workers — Large US study
COVID-19 infection was very low in a cohort of vaccinated California healthcare workers (HCWs) amid a surge of new cases, according to a research...
Superspreaders linked to over 81% of US infections in early stages of pandemic
Study details
Superspreading of SARS-CoV-2 in the USA
Calvin Pozderac, Brian Skinner
Published in PLOS One on 25 March 2021
Abstract
A number of epidemics, including the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic...
Vaccination may ease Long COVID patients — Small Bristol study
For those suffering from the effects of long COVID, this has been one of the worst years of their lives. But reports The Daily...
Inflammatory bowel disease biologic blunts immune response to COVID-19 — NHS study
Infliximab, a powerful biologic that is used to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), blunts the body's immune response to COVID-19 infection, indicates research. This...
COVID-19 antibodies discovered in stray cat and dog — Small Brazil study
Study details
Neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 in stray animals from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Helver Gonçalves Dias, Maria Eduarda Barreto Resck, Gabriela Cardoso Caldas, Alessandro Fioretti...
AstraZeneca claims 79% prevention efficacy in US vaccine trial
The AstraZeneca US Phase III trial of AZD1222 demonstrated statistically significant vaccine efficacy of 79% at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% efficacy at preventing...
Regeneron antibody cocktail cuts COVID-19 hospitalisation and deaths
New late-stage trial data show Regeneron and Roche’s antibody cocktail against COVID-19 cut hospitalisation or death by 70% versus a placebo in non-hospitalised patients,...
Schools guidance to reflect new evidence on distancing in classrooms — CDC
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is updating K–12 school guidance to reflect the latest science on physical distance between students...
High vitamin D levels may protect against COVID-19, especially for Black people
A study at the University of Chicago Medicine has found that when it comes to COVID-19, having vitamin D levels above those traditionally considered...
South Africa variant elicits cross-reactive neutralising antibodies
Penny Moore was one of the first scientists to show that a coronavirus variant identified in South Africa could dodge the immune system. So,...
Progesterone therapy may improve COVID-19 outcomes for men — Pilot study
COVID-19 disproportionately affects men compared with women, raising the possibility that a hormone like progesterone may improve clinical outcomes for certain hospitalised men with...
Efficacy of Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine — Wits University trial
Findings of a study in the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial have been published. This is a landmark study in so far as being...
Increased mortality in UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 – Large database analysis
The B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2, which was first identified in the UK, may be associated with an increased risk of death, a study suggests....
COVID-19 numbers may double if asymptomatic adults added — US insurer analysis
A study evaluating asymptomatic adults for COVID-19 would add another 16m to the total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the US, at least up...
Efficacy and safety of ruxolitinib in COVID-19 associated ARDS — DEVENT study
Incyte has announced results from the Phase 3 DEVENT study evaluating the efficacy and safety of ruxolitinib (5mg and 15mg) plus standard of care...
COVID-19's link with audio-vestibular problems, including tinnitus — Systematic review
Hearing loss and other auditory problems are strongly associated with COVID-19 according to a systematic review of research evidence led by The University of...
ECDC report: Face mask effectiveness in reducing COVID-19 transmission
Key messages:
The role of face masks in the control and prevention of COVID-19 remains an issue of debate. Prior to COVID-19, most studies assessing...
Aspirin use for CVD may reduce risk of COVID-19 infection – Israeli study
Aspirin is an established, safe, and low-cost medication in long-standing common use in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and in the past a...
Novavax trials in SA and UK confirm high efficacy against original and variants
Results of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine trial in South Africa and UK have confirmed high levels of efficacy against the original and variant COVID-19....
Pfizer vaccine neutralises Brazil variant but less robust against SA variant
Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine does successfully neutralise the more contagious P.1 variant of the virus recently discovered in Brazil, MedicalXpress reports new research shows. Pfizer...
UK variant associated with a significantly higher mortality — Two studies
The highly infectious variant of COVID-19 discovered in Kent, which swept across the UK last year before spreading worldwide, is between 30% and 100%...
High COVID-related depression, anxiety and PTSD among health workers — Meta-analysis
A new systematic review of 65 studies from around the world involves a total of 97,333 health care workers and finds that 1 in...
More evidence of lack of Vitamin D efficacy for COVID-19 — Two studies
The idea that vitamin D supplements can reduce susceptibility to, and the severity of, COVID-19 is seductive – it offers a simple, elegant solution...
Blood biomarkers offer early indicator of severe COVID-19 — Yale
When patients with COVID-19 arrive in emergency rooms, there are relatively few ways for doctors to predict which ones are more likely to become...
Prioritising oldest for COVID-19 vaccines saves more lives, potential years of life
Challenging the idea that older people with shorter life expectancies should rank lower in coronavirus immunisation efforts, University of California-Berkeley research shows that giving...
Statin use associated with 50% increased survival in severe COVID-19
People who took statins to lower cholesterol were approximately 50% less likely to die if hospitalised for COVID-19, a study by physicians at Columbia...
Promising early findings from Merck/Ridgeback Phase 2a trial of oral COVID-19 therapeutic
Merck, known as MSD outside the US and Canada, and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP have announced preliminary results from Ridgeback’s Phase 2a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled...
Baricitinib plus remdesivir in reducing recovery time in COVID-19 patients — ACTT-2 trial
Baricitinib plus remdesivir was superior to remdesivir alone in reducing recovery time and accelerating improvement in clinical status among patients with COVID-19, notably among...
WHO expert panel strongly advises against use of hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19
The anti-inflammatory drug hydroxychloroquine should not be used to prevent infection in people who do not have covid-19, says a World Health Organisation (WHO)...
Azithromycin doesn't reduce recovery time or hospitalisation risk — PRINCIPLE trial
Treatment with azithromycin had little effect on reducing the time to recovery or risk of hospitalisation in patients with suspected COVID-19, according to a...