Coronavirus / COVID

This study found a substantial increase in Alzheimer's-related deaths during the initial year of the pandemic due to limited access to healthcare, social isolation, and disrupted care routines. However, the second year brought positive developments with prevention strategies and vaccinations, leading to a substantial decline in excess deaths.

More symptoms, older age, and longer hospitalization time increased the risk of post-COVID-19 conditions (long COVID) in children.

Neuropilin-1 enables COVID-19 to enter human cardiomyocytes, accounting for increased proteases activity and apoptotic markers that lead to cell damage and apoptosis.

This study analyzed 81 communities in Los Angeles and found that once vaccines became widely available, there was no significant difference in COVID-19 incidence between communities of varying income levels.

Though rare, Guillain-Barré syndrome can occur after vaccination. Did Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Janssen COVID-19 vaccination increase the risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome?

This examination of vaccine introductions worldwide reveals significant gaps in access, especially in low-income countries.

Researchers investigated abatacept, cenicriviroc, and infliximab, but found that these medications did not significantly impact the time to recovery from COVID-19 pneumonia compared to placebo.

These study findings highlight higher in-hospital mortality rates for patients with preventable conditions during COVID-19.

The findings showed that heterologous vaccination, or mixing different vaccines, was safe and effective, with the Novavax vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) providing enhanced protection against the Omicron variant.

This variant, which is an ancestor of Omicron, is an emerging variant that is being seen most frequently in Utah, California, and New York State.

A small study explored the connection between Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and the COVID-19 condition.

Patients who perceived brain fog within 4 weeks of COVID-19 infection were twice as likely to report symptoms of long COVID than patients without cognitive deficits.

There was a lower risk of Omicron infection for each 10-fold increase in preinfection IgG, and for each 2-fold increase in neutralizing antibody titers.

In Indiana, COVID-19 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes had significantly higher mortality rates than COVID-19 patients without these comorbidities.

The strain, identified as EU11, accounts for 1.7% of cases nationwide in the United States.

Non-enveloped viruses were resistant to all types of wash products and duration tested, including synthetic soaps, such as the ones typically used in hospitals.

Even low levels of air pollution make COVID-19 worse, this study found. Air pollution exposure was associated with more severe disease, longer hospitalization periods, and an increased likelihood of intensive care admission.

The vaccine manufacturer has incorporated spike proteins for the XBB.1.5 sublineage of SARS-CoV-2 for its mRNA-1273.815 COVID-19 vaccine.

While COVID-19 patients had a higher risk of venous thromboembolic disease compared to influenza and sepsis patients, the risk of other adverse outcomes was comparable.

ABNCoV2, a non-adjuvanted COVID-19 booster vaccine by Bavarian Nordic, demonstrates promising results in phase 2 trials. The vaccine generates strong immune responses, neutralizing multiple variants of concern, including Beta, Delta, and Omicron.

In a large observational study, significant information was obtained about protection against acute infection and disease severity in this age group.

This past weekend, vaccine scientist and physician Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, was stalked outside his home after facing online scrutiny from Twitter CEO Elon Musk and controversial podcaster Joe Rogan. His story is severe, but Hotez is far from the first health advocate to be harassed online since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) unanimously voted 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccines should be updated to a monovalent XBB strain.

"It does take the immune system a while to build up antibodies and recover," said Madeline King-Patel, PharmD, BCIDP, "So you don't want to give the vaccines too close to each other, or you're not going to get the full benefits."

A new retrospective study found non-oxygen-dependent COVID-19 patients were more likely to experience this phenomenon if they were immunocompromised, receiving concomitant corticosteroids, or had comorbidities.