Article Summary
February 16, 2021
Age- and Sex-Associated Variations in the Sensitivity of Serological Tests Among Individuals Infected With SARS-CoV-2
Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 75% (365 of 486) of patients in a University of California health system with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 who subsequently underwent antibody testing a median of 34 days later (IQR: 3-64 days). Seropositivity was associated with a longer delay between PCR and antibody testing, with sensitivity reaching 75% at 112 days…
Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Mutations in the United States Suggests Presence of Four Substrains and Novel Variants
Whole genome sequencing of 12,754 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from the US suggests the presence of 4 substrains and 11 most frequent mutations as of September 11, 2020. The 2 most common mutations are also the top 2 in the world (D614G mutation in the spike protein and the P323L mutation), both of which were detected in…
S-Variant SARS-CoV-2 Lineage B1.1.7 Is Associated with Significantly Higher Viral Loads in Samples Tested by ThermoFisher TaqPath RT-QPCR
Individuals infected with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant (first described in the UK) may have considerably higher viral loads, which could potentially explain the higher transmissibility of this variant. Analysis of 641 SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive samples in the UK from October to November 2020 showed that samples suspected to have the B.1.1.7 variant, identified by a…
February 13, 2021
COVID-19 Pandemic Among Immigrant Latinx Farmworker and Non-Farmworker Families: A Rural-Urban Comparison of Economic, Educational, Healthcare, and Immigration Concerns
Analysis of data gathered during a telephone survey of Latinx families conducted in May 2020 suggested that urban families are experiencing more acute economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and are facing more overt racism compared to rural families. Rural workers reported fewer workplace protective measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission, in spite of industries like…
Cardiovascular Sequalae in Uncomplicated COVID-19 Survivors
Evaluation for cardiac abnormalities was performed at 1 to 4 weeks after hospital discharge among 97 survivors of non-severe COVID-19 who had been hospitalized but did not require intensive care. The abnormalities identified included sinus bradycardia <50 beats per minute (7%), newly detected T-wave abnormality (8%), elevated troponin level (6%), newly detected atrial fibrillation (1%),…
Association of Mortality and Aspirin Prescription for COVID-19 Patients at the Veterans Health Administration
Among Veterans with confirmed cases of COVID-19, preexisting aspirin prescription was associated with a statistically and clinically significant decrease in overall mortality at 14-days (OR=0.38) and at 30-days (OR=0.38). Participants were matched on age, gender, and clinical characteristics for the analysis. The authors speculate that aspirin’s systemic antithrombotic effects could disrupt the risk of thrombotic…
Safety and Efficacy of the ChAdOx1 NCoV-19 (AZD1222) Covid-19 Vaccine against the B.1.351 Variant in South Africa
[pre-print; not peer-reviewed] A randomized trial conducted in South Africa found the incidence of COVID-19 >14 days after the second dose of the AstraZeneca-Oxford SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was 93.6 per 1,000 person-years (23 cases among 717 participants) in the vaccine group and 73.1 per 1,000 person-years (19 cases among 750 participants) in the placebo group, yielding…
Impact of Age, Ethnicity, Sex and Prior Infection Status on Immunogenicity Following a Single Dose of the BNT162b2 MRNA COVID-19 Vaccine: Real-World Evidence from Healthcare Workers, Israel, December 2020 to January 2021
A single dose of the Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 vaccine produced detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG antibodies 21 days after vaccination in 92% (n=475) of a cohort of healthcare workers in Israel, including in 92% (n=458) of people who had no history of COVID-19 infection. The 39 healthcare workers who did not respond to the first dose were…
Comparison of Sixteen Serological SARS-CoV-2 Immunoassays in Sixteen Clinical Laboratories
The diagnostic accuracy of 16 antibody assays was assessed with 150 samples from people with asymptomatic, mild, or moderate COVID-19. Although confidence intervals overlapped for several assays, sensitivities in descending order were: Wantai/ELISA total-Ab (97%), CUH-NOVO/in-house ELISA total-Ab (96%), Ortho/Vitros total-Ab (95%), YHLO/iFlash-IgG (94%), Ortho/Vitros-IgG (93%), Siemens/Atellica total-Ab (93%), Roche/Elecsys total-Ab (93%), Abbott/Architect-IgG (90%), Abbott/Alinity-IgG…
Effect of High-Dose Zinc and Ascorbic Acid Supplementation vs Usual Care on Symptom Length and Reduction Among Ambulatory Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Infection: The COVID A to Z Randomized Clinical Trial
Results of a randomized trial among 214 patients with lab-confirmed COVID-19 suggest that high-dose zinc, high-dose ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and a combination of the two do not significantly change the duration of symptoms. Patients who received usual care without supplementation achieved a 50% reduction in symptoms at a mean of 6.7 days compared with…
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