Higher risk of death from various UK viruses; vaccinated in pregnancy can protect newborns

(Reuters) – The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find cures and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease that caused the virus.

The UK variable has a higher risk of death

The coronavirus variant first identified in the UK is more lethal than earlier mutations, a new study confirms. Researchers found about a million people tested for COVID-19 between November and January in community settings, including about 3,000 who eventually died. After reporting other factors influencing COVID-19 results, patients with the new variant had a near 35% higher risk of death, they reported on Wednesday on medRxiv ahead of next peer review. Among male patients aged 55–69, approximately 1-in-180 died after being infected with older versions of the virus. With the new version “that has gone up to around … 1-in-140,” said co-author Nicholas Davies of the London School of Medicine & Tropical Hygiene. The risk of death is still completely below the age of 54, his team said. For women aged 70-84, the risk of death within 28 days went from 2.9% with the original variant to 3.7% with the new variant in the UK, and for those aged 85 and over it went from 12.8% to 16.4%. For men aged 70-84, the mortality rate rose from 4.7% to 6.1% and for older men from 17.1% to 21.7%. The researchers had no data on people diagnosed in hospitals or on infected people who had never been diagnosed. Davies said his team is updating the analysis with more data, “and it looks like the increase in mortality could be as high as 35%.” (bit.ly/3qe7HU0)

COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy may protect newborns

COVID-19 vaccines given to pregnant women may help protect their newborn, a case report suggests. Florida doctors described a facial health care worker who received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine three weeks before going to work. Her healthy young daughter was on IgG antibodies called new coronavirus in umbilical cord blood. The detection of these antibodies in the infant after one dose of the vaccine reveals “the ability to protect and reduce the risk of infection from … maternal vaccines,” the doctors said in a paper posted Friday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. The exact timing of vaccination during pregnancy is not clear, they said, and it is unclear how well these antibodies protect the baby, or for how long. The guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that with only limited data available on the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy, “the vaccine is a personal choice for pregnant women.” (Bit.ly / 3a07Ogz)

Semen quality can be impaired after COVID-19

Young, sexually active men who overdose on COVID-19 may be at risk for fertility problems, a small Italian study suggests. Doctors who examined semen samples from 43 men found that in 25%, the semen was almost or completely devoid of sperm. Absolute absence of sperm, or azoospermia, was “significantly related to the severity of the disease: the condition was detected in four out of five patients admitted to the intensive care unit,” said researchers in the journal Human Reproduction. While most of the men had killed children, a few said they had previous problems with a baby with a long-term partner, and the researchers admit that semen samples were not pre-COVID-19 for comparison purposes. However, the researchers said that their finding that one in four men who received COVID-19 had low sperm semen, “semen quality assessment should be recommended for men. at reproductive age affected by COVID- 19. “(bit.ly/3jwudVD)

New insights have been found on the respiratory problems of ICU patients

COVID-19 patients ‘lungs in intensive care units may lack “surfactant,” a substance essential for respiration that helps transfer oxygen in the lungs’ air sacs to blood. Researchers believe they now have new ads to explain why that is happening. The coronavirus is somehow causing the immune system to attack surfactant-producing cells, they reported Sunday on medRxiv ahead of a peer review. In laboratory tests, they showed healthy human lung compression to plasma from COVID-19 patients. So-called IgA antibodies in the plasma attacked lung cells that produced surfactant called pneumocytes, although this was only true for plasma from very severe patients. In autopsies of COVID-19 patients who died, the researchers found “significantly reduced” levels of surfactant in the lungs. Other research teams have been designing experiments to see if treatment with artificial surfactant – a combination of lipids and proteins that may be helpful in premature babies – will help with respiratory problems in COVID-19 patients who is very ill. The authors of the new report say that further research is also needed to see if treatment with immunosuppressive drugs is another way to protect surfactant-producing proteins. (bit.ly/3aMRn6d)

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