This week’s collection includes some of the latest scientific studies on the coronavirus and efforts to find cures and vaccines for COVID-19 plus compiling the latest information on new coronavirus modifications and how which could have avoided vaccinations better than previously thought.
Multiple vaccines can ‘escape’
Antibodies induced by the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are less effective in neutralizing some of the most troubling coronavirus variants, a new study suggests.
Researchers obtained blood samples from 99 people who received one or two doses of each vaccine and tested their vaccine-induced antibodies against a virus replica designed to mimic 10 mutations. was circulating throughout the globe. Five of the 10 variables were “strongly against neutralization,” even when volunteers received both doses of the vaccines, the researchers at Cell said.
There were mutations in the five immune mutations in the spike on the surface of the virus – known as K417N / T, E484K, and N501Y – that show a rampant difference in South Africa and two variants spread to fast in Brazil. Consistent with previous studies, the proportion of neutralizing antibodies fell 5 to 6 fold against the variables found in Brazil, and against the variant found in South Africa neutralization fell 20 to 44 fold. A variant that is now circulating in New York is an E484K mutation.
“While studies of New York variants are ongoing, our findings suggest that similar changes that harbor E484K may be more difficult for antibodies that have been stimulated by a vaccine to neutralize, ”said study leader Alejandro Balazs of Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. “Despite our findings,” he said, “it is important to consider that vaccines induce other types of immune responses that may protect against the development of a serious disease.”
Variation identified in the UK is more lethal
The coronavirus variant first identified in the UK, known as B.1.1.7, is more lethal than other circulating variants there, a new study seems to confirm.
Researchers analyzed data on about 184,786 people in England diagnosed with COVID-19 between mid-November and mid-January, including 867 who died. For every three people who died within four weeks of being infected with another variable, about five died after being infected with B.1.1.7, according to a paper last posted on medRxiv ahead of peer review.
Overall, the risk of death with B.1.1.7 was 67% higher than the risk with other changes in England, the authors said. Similar to previous changes, patients ’risk of death increased with age, male gender and previous medical illnesses. B.1.1.7 is now common throughout Europe and is expected to become common in the United States.
“Crucially,” the researchers wrote, “emerging data suggests that the currently approved vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 are effective against B.1.1.7.”
Varieties identified in Brazil are double infectious
Between November and January in Manaus, Brazil, the frequency of COVID-19 cases in which the P.1 version of coronavirus increased from non-existent increased to 73% and the number of infections there quadrupled compared with those of the city experienced in the first wave of the pandemic, according to a report posted on medRxiv ahead of a peer review.
The greater susceptibility of the P.1 variant seems to contribute to that, the report suggests. Based on national health survey data, the authors estimate that the P.1 variant is approximately 2.5 times more potent than the previous variants circulating in Manaus.
The spread of P.1 occurred despite the fact that 68% of the city’s population was infected with the original type of coronavirus, the researchers noted. In their analysis, the risk of relapse with P.1 was low. The ability of the variable to cause severe disease, or its pathogenity, is not yet possible. “The P.1 variant has already been detected in at least 25 countries,” the authors said. “This calls for urgent studies … of the P.1 difference in that increased transmission and pathogenesis can shift well-prepared health systems to collapse.”
Surgical delay advised after COVID-19
Whenever possible, surgery should be delayed for at least seven weeks after coronavirus infection, and patients who still have symptoms at this stage may benefit from further delays. research counseling in Anesthesia.
They reviewed data on approximately 140,231 surgical patients from 116 countries, including 3,127 with a history of COVID-19. The mortality rate at 30 days after surgery was 1.4% in patients who had never received COVID-19. It was 9.1% among patients diagnosed within two weeks before surgery, 6.9% among those diagnosed within 3 to 4 weeks and 5.5% when diagnosed do 5 to 6 weeks in advance. The mortality rate dropped to 2% when at least 7 weeks had elapsed between diagnosis and surgery.
For patients with persistent symptoms, the 30-day mortality rate was 6% even after a 7-week delay, researchers found. After adjusting for other risk factors, mortality rates increased 3.6fold to 4.1 fold in patients undergoing surgery within six weeks of COVID-19 diagnosis.
“Patients with persistent symptoms at least seven weeks from the time of diagnosis may benefit from further delay” of their surgery, the researchers said.