Coronavirus Breaking News

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced a conditional recommendation against the use of remdesivir (Veklury) in hospitalized patients, regardless of disease severity on November 20, 2020. The WHO's Therapeutics and COVID-19 document stated 'there is currently no evidence that remdesivir improves survival and other outcomes in these patients.'

The U.S. CDC report Volume 27, Number 2, February 2021, reviews a new study that found a high proportion of mink on farms can be infected with SARS-CoV-2 within a few days, which may provide major virus exposure to persons working with mink.

Published on November 18, 2020, the infections described in this report occurred with little clinical disease or increase in death, making it difficult to detect the spread of infection. Therefore, mink farms could represent a serious, unrecognized animal reservoir for SARS-CoV-2.

However, 'there is no evidence for the spread of the coronavirus outside of farm buildings, either in Denmark or in the Netherlands, except by infected persons. But, there appears to be some risk of virus transmission to persons working with infected mink as well as for their contacts and thus, indirectly, for the public,' concluded these researchers.

'Is the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 reduced if most people in a community wear masks? If most people do not wear masks but some do, are the mask wearers protected? These are among the most critical public health questions of this moment, but they are very different questions,' stated researchers in an editorial published by the Annals of Internal Medicine on November 18, 2020.

Mask wearing is just one of several interacting strategies to reduce viral transmission, with each reinforcing the others. The recent DANMASK-19 trial was designed to examine only the masks' protective effect, not source control.

This study reported a total of 3,030 participants were randomly assigned to wear masks, and 2,994 were assigned to control; Infection with SARS-CoV-2 occurred in 42 participants recommended masks (1.8%) and 53 control participants (2.1%). Indicating the difference observed was not statistically significant.

'We need to gather many pieces of evidence to solve the puzzle of how to control the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. For this reason, we thought it important to publish this study's findings and carefully highlight the questions that the trial does and does not answer,' concluded this editorial.

As COVID-19 cases continue to increase across the United States, the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with, says the U.S. CDC on November 19, 2020.

The CDC offers various considerations to slow the spread of COVID-19 that are meant to supplement, but not replace, any state, local, territorial, or tribal health and safety laws, rules, and regulations with which all gatherings must comply.

Specifically, the CDC states 'Do not host or participate in any in-person gatherings if you or anyone in your household has been confirmed with COVID-19.'

A non-peer-reviewed prospective Coverscan study examined the impact of long COVID (persistent symptoms 3-months post-infection) across multiple organs in low-risk people who are relatively young and had no major underlying health problems.

Published on October 16, 2020, this study found 'in a young, low-risk population with ongoing symptoms, almost 70% of 67 individuals have impairment in one or more organs 4-months after initial symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection.

The most commonly reported ongoing symptoms—regardless of hospitalization status—were fatigue (98%), muscle ache (88%), shortness of breath (87%), and headache (83%). There was evidence of mild organ impairment in the heart (32%), lungs (33%), kidneys (12%), liver (10%), pancreas (17%), and spleen (6%).

“Causality of the relationship between organ impairment and infection cannot be deduced, but may be addressed by longitudinal follow-up of individuals with organ impairment,” the study authors stated.

Adagio Therapeutics, Inc., announced pre-published in vitro and in vivo data demonstrating its lead antibody candidate, ADG2, shows similar or higher potency against SARS-CoV-2 virus compared to monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in clinical development, while also uniquely offering broad neutralization against a range of sarbecoviruses that pose a threat to humans.

Adagio stated in a press release issued on November 18, 2020, it 'expects its half-life engineered version of ADG2, called ADG20, to enter clinical studies in early 2021.

Laura Walker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Adagio, added: “All of the antibodies currently in clinical development trade-off breadth for potency. They either show broad activity against other sarbecoviruses but lack neutralization potency, or they show high neutralization potency against SARS-CoV-2 but lack activity against other coronaviruses. These data suggest that ADG20 holds the promise of being a broadly protective agent against SARS-CoV-2 as well as future SARS-like coronaviruses that are likely to emerge.”

Understanding immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 is critical for improving diagnostics and vaccines, and for assessing the likely future course of the pandemic, said researchers in a new, non-peer-reviewed study published on November 16, 2020. By analyzing antibody, memory B cell, CD4+ T cell, and CD8+ T cell memory to SARS-CoV-2 in an integrated manner, these researchers observed that each component of SARS-CoV-2 immune memory exhibited distinct kinetics.

They analyzed multiple compartments of circulating immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 cases, including 41 cases at greater than 6 months postinfection. The Spike IgG was found to be relatively stable over 6+ months.

And, Spike-specific memory B cells were more abundant at 6 months than at 1 month. SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells declined with a half-life of 3-5 months.

This study indicates certain aspects of SARS-CoV-2 immunity can last up to 6-months.