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Arthritis drug effective in most severely ill COVID-19 patients
The rheumatoid arthritis drug tocilizumab significantly improves outcomes in ICU patients with COVID-19, show early results from the Remap-Cap international platform trial. Previous studies...
Meta-analysis: COVID-19 associated with 74% increased risk of thrombo-embolism mortality
While respiratory issues continue to be the most common symptom of a COVID-19 infection, a meta-analysis of 42 studies indicates the disease could also...
Guidelines on oxygen saturations as an admission criterion may be set too high — Large UK study
A UK study found that current NHS guidelines on blood oxygen levels, that between 94 and 98 per cent are 'normal', may be too...
FDA emergency authorisation for Regeneron's experimental antibody given to Trump
The US Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorisation (EUA) for casirivimab and imdevimab to be administered together for the treatment...
MMR vaccine may protect against COVID-19 — Analysis of mumps titres in 80 adults
A US study of 80 subjects found a statistically significant inverse correlation between mumps titre levels and COVID-19 severity in people under age 42...
Antidepressant drug repurposed for patients with coronavirus infection — JAMA
In a preliminary randomised clinical trial of COVID-19 patients with mild-to-moderate disease who were attempting to recover in their homes, researchers found that fluvoxamine...
To turn COVID-19 tide, test sensitivity matters less than frequency and speed — Harvard/Colorado model
Testing half the population weekly with inexpensive, rapid-turnaround COVID-19 tests would drive the virus toward elimination within weeks — even if those tests are...
Updated CDC guidelines: Cloth masks protect wearers as well as others
Updated guidelines from the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States stress that cloth face masks help protect wearers from SARS-CoV-2, as...
Long COVID may cause multiple-organ damage even in low risk patients — Coverscan Study
A study in the United Kingdom has discovered signs of organ damage in young and formerly healthy people who have ongoing symptoms of COVID-19,...
Ethnicity and clinical outcomes in COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis
People from Black and Asian backgrounds are at substantially greater risk of contracting coronavirus than white people, according to a study published in the...
FDA emergency use authorisation for first COVID-19 home-collected saliva test
The US Food and Drug Administration has authorised the first diagnostic test with the option of using home-collected saliva samples for COVID-19 testing.
Specifically, the...
Support for earlier studies on efficacy of OTC mouthwashes against SARS-CoV2
An over-the-counter mouthwash can kill SARS-CoV2 within 30 seconds of being exposed to it, found a Cardiff University in vitro study
The preliminary result comes...
Brazil Health Surveillance Agency: Trials of Chinese COVID-19 vaccine resumed
Brazil has resumed the trials of a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine after halting them on two days earlier over a mysterious death. The reported ‘severe adverse...
COVID-19 vaccine results hold promise – At last, a scientific weapon
Nearly a year has passed since SARS-CoV-2 began its deadly sweep across the world. This week, as global infections soared to more than 50...
COVID-19 increases risk of new psychiatric disorders — Data analysis of 69m Americans
Nearly one in five people is diagnosed with a psychiatric condition within three months of contracting coronavirus – double the usual rate from other...
Lasting post-COVID-19 fatigue common irrespective of infection severity — Irish study
More than half of people with acute COVID-19 infection continue to have persistent fatigue 10 weeks after their initial illness, according to a study...
The possible repurposing of melatonin as a COVID-19 treatment – Cleveland data anlysis
Melatonin, a hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and is commonly used as an over-the-counter sleep aid, may be a viable treatment option for...
FDA gives emergency use authorisation to bamlanivimab to treat COVID-19 patients
Eli Lilly's bamlanivimab became the first monoclonal antibody drug to treat COVID-19 patients to receive emergency use authorisation (EUA) by the US Food &...
Age-specific mortality and immunity patterns of SARS-CoV-2 across 45 countries
The age-dependent risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection resulting in death is consistent across countries for people below the age of 65, but the relative risk...
Determining 'COVID age' online to assess vulnerability
It's known that there are a variety and interplay of risk factors that determine vulnerability to and morality risk of the coronavirus, writes MedicalBrief....
Death rates among severe COVID-19 patients drop by a half — Public Health England data
Death rates from people with severe COVID-19 in hospital have dropped to around a half of the rate at the peak of the pandemic,...
COVID-19's cognitive cost may be equivalent to 10-years ageing — UK intelligence test data
A non-peer-reviewed study of more than 84,000 people, led by Adam Hampshire, a doctor at Imperial College London, found that in some severe cases,...
Cellular immunity to SARS-CoV-2 found at six months in non-hospitalised individuals
Cellular (T cell) immunity against SARS-CoV-2 is likely to be present within most adults six months after primary infection, a new pre-print suggests. The...
Hot or cold, weather alone has no significant effect on COVID-19 spread
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, there were high hopes that hot summer temperatures could reduce its spread. Although summer didn't bring widespread...
FDA approves remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment despite negative WHO study
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first drug to treat COVID-19: remdesivir, an antiviral medicine given through an IV for...
CDC redefines COVID exposure time and isolation guidance is supported
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has expanded how it defines a “close contact” with COVID-19 following new evidence, writes MedicalBrief....
Coronavirus antibody prevalence falling in England — REACT study
Tests on more than 365,000 people in England have shown that the antibody response to the virus that causes COVID-19 wanes over time. Led...
Aspirin use significantly reduces ICU admission and risk of death from COVID-19 — Hospital study
Hospitalised COVID-19 patients who were taking a daily low-dose aspirin to protect against cardiovascular disease had a significantly lower risk of complications and death...
COVID Symptom Study app: Attributes and predictors of Long-COVID
An analysis by researchers at Kings College London, using data from the COVID Symptom Study app, shows that one in 20 people with COVID-19...
Hydroxychloroquine fails to prevent COVID-19 in health care workers — US/Canada trial
University of Minnesota Medical School physician researchers studied hydroxychloroquine as a treatment to prevent COVID-19 for those with high-risk for exposure to the virus...
Over 80% of COVID-19 patients have vitamin D deficiency — Spain hospital study
Over 80% of 200 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Spain have vitamin D deficiency, according to a study.
Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) is a...
Blood type link to COVID-19 susceptibility and severity — Danish & Canadian studies
Two studies suggest people with blood type O may have a lower risk of COVID-19 infection and reduced likelihood of severe outcomes, including organ...
Dublin-Boston score predicts which COVID-19 patients will develop severe infection
Scientists have developed a score that can accurately predict which patients will develop a severe form of COVID-19. The study is led by researchers...
Blood test to identify risk of ‘cytokine storm’ hyper-inflammation — Southampton study
Southampton researchers have identified a blood profile that could help identify COVID-19 patients at greatest risk of deterioration and direct them towards trials of...
Gilead challenges WHO's 'conclusive evidence' on repurposed drugs
This week, following a 30-country randomised control trial, the World Health Organisation claimed "conclusive evidence" on the effectiveness of repurposed drugs for the treatment...
COVID-19 causes neurological injuries in 1 in 7 patients — NYU study
Without directly invading the brain or nerves, the virus responsible for COVID-19 causes potentially damaging neurological injuries in about one in seven infected, a...
Coronavirus can survive on skin for nine hours, flu for less than two — Japan study
SARS-CoV-2 can survive on human skin for up to nine hours, Japanese scientists have reported in a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Other...
Some OTC mouthwashes neutralise human coronaviruses — Laboratory study
Some over-the-counter (OTC) oral antiseptics and mouthwashes may neutralise human coronaviruses, according to a Penn State College of Medicine laboratory study. The results indicate...
Therapeutic bronchoscopy in critical hypoxaemic ventilated COVID1-9 patients — Small SA study
Patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia with persistent hypoxaemia despite the resolution of inflammatory parameters may respond to therapeutic bronchoscopy, found a small study reported...
Women more likely to follow guidelines to prevent spread of COVID-19 — NYU & Yale
Women are more likely than are men to follow guidelines outlined by medical experts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, research finds. New York...