Article Summary
April 8, 2021
Neutralizing Response against Variants after SARS-CoV-2 Infection and One Dose of BNT162b2
A single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine substantially increased neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 among healthcare workers (HCWs) previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 (n=6). Serum samples from each HCW were obtained 1-12 weeks after natural infection, immediately before vaccination, and 1-2 weeks after vaccination and were tested using a microneutralization assay containing…
CERC-002 a Human Anti-LIGHT mAb Reduces Respiratory Failure and Death in Hospitalized COVID-19 ARDS Patients
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] The monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment CERC-002 reduced mortality and the risk of respiratory failure through day 28 compared to placebo (84% vs 65%; p=0.044) among hospitalized COVID-19 patients with mild-to-moderate acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) according to a randomized placebo-controlled study (n=83). Efficacy was highest among patients ≥60 years old (77% vs…
TMPRSS2 and RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Are Effective Targets of Therapeutic Intervention for Treatment of COVID-19 Caused by SARS-CoV-2 Variants (B.1.1.7 and B.1.351)
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Treatments for SARS-CoV-2 infection designed to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) and RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp), proteins that play a role in cell entry, were shown to suppress in vitro viral replication of both variants of concern B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 with similar effectiveness as compared to the parent SARS-CoV-2 strain. Drug…
Differences in COVID-19 Testing and Test Positivity Among Veterans, United States, 2020
US Veterans who are female, from racial/ethnic minority groups, had a low income, or had a service-related disability were more likely to obtain a COVID-19 test according to a retrospective cohort study with over 6 million veterans across 130 Veterans Health Administration facilities. Among veterans who were tested, those who identify as African American or…
S-Gene Target Failure as a Marker of Variant B.1.1.7 Among SARS-CoV-2 Isolates in the Greater Toronto Area, December 2020 to March 2021
The B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant (first described in the UK) rapidly became the dominant circulating strain in the greater Toronto, Canada area between December 2020 and March 2021. Based on PCR S-gene target failure, which is strongly associated with the B.1.1.7 variant, 2% of samples were inferred to be the B.1.1.7 variant in mid-December 2020, which…
Functional Evaluation of Proteolytic Activation for the SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.1.7 Role of the P681H Mutation
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] In vitro experiments show that while the P681H mutation found in the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant was associated with more efficient cleavage of the Spike 1 and Spike 2 (S1/S2) subunits, this did not translate to a significant impact on cell entry or an increase in cell-to- cell spread. Lubinski et al. (Apr 8,…
April 7, 2021
Trends in Mental Health Symptoms, Service Use, and Unmet Need for Services among U.S. Adults through the First 9 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Prevalence of anxiety and depression rose between April 23 and November 23, 2020 to levels six times higher than 2019 levels (50% and 44%, respectively), according to a weekly cross-sectional surveys of US adults (n = 1,483,378). Use of prescription medications, counseling services, and unmet mental health needs also rose significantly. The prevalence of probable…
Racial and Ethnic Differences and Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department
A cohort study of 87 US health systems from December 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020 found that nearly half (41%) of patients presenting to the ED with COVID-19 were hospitalized. The study found that the risk of in-hospital mortality was higher in Black (RR=1.18) and Hispanic patients (RR=1.28) compared to white patients, while the…
Association of HIV with COVID-19 Outcomes Among Hospitalized Adults
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Among adults hospitalized with COVID-19 (n = 21,528), after adjusting for age, sex, race, and insurance, HIV was not associated with in-hospital mortality (aOR = 1.13). HIV was also not associated with major adverse cardiac events (aOR = 0.99), severity of illness (aOR = 0.96), or length of stay (aOR = 1.03)….
Efficient Maternofetal Transplacental Transfer of Anti- SARS-CoV-2 Spike Antibodies after Antenatal SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 MRNA Vaccination
In a study of women who received the Pfizer (SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2) vaccine, all 20 women and infants had detectable anti S- and anti-RBD-specific IgG. Anti-S and anti-RBD-specific IgG antibody levels in maternal sera were positively correlated to their respective concentrations in cord blood (correlation rho= 0.72; P<0.001 and correlation rho= 0.72; P <0.001, respectively) suggesting…
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