Result for
Topic: Testing and Treatment
October 5, 2020
Use of Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine in COVID-19: How Good Is the Quality of Randomized Controlled Trials?
A review of 16 clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19, of which 14 were randomized, reported concerns about the ability to derive meaningful results from the trials due to the assessed risk of bias in the studies. None of the trials met the CONSORT criteria in full for reporting harms data. None…
A One-Minute Blood Test to Monitor Immune Responses in COVID-19 Patients and Predict Clinical Risks of Developing Moderate to Severe Symptoms
[Preprint, not peer-reviewed] A nanoparticle-enabled blood test could detect a statistically significant differences in immune response between samples collected from COVID-19 patients with no or mild symptoms (n=38) and those with moderate/severe symptoms (n=115), with results available in <1 minute. The authors conclude this new rapid test may be used as a point-of-care clinical tool…
October 2, 2020
Effectiveness of Tests to Detect the Presence of SARS-CoV-2 Virus, and Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, to Inform COVID-19 Diagnosis: A Rapid Systematic Review
A rapid systematic review of both SARS-CoV-2 virus and antibody testing found a sensitivity of 87.8% for an initial RT-PCR test, while sensitivity of antibody tests ranged from 18.4% to 96.1% and specificity ranged from 88.9% to 100%. The authors note that estimates of diagnostic accuracy should be interpreted cautiously due to the lack of…
October 1, 2020
Real-Time Screening of Specimen Pools for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Infection at Sanya Airport, Hainan Island, China
A 10:1 pooled test strategy for nasopharyngeal swabs was used to screen airline passengers arriving in China. Among 944 specimens collected and tested for RNA using the Xpert Xpress assay, the pooled approach identified 2 positive individuals who were immediately quarantined, which resulted in no local contacts in China. The pooled approach saved 827 (87.6%)…
September 30, 2020
Risk of COVID-19-Related Death among Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Asthma Prescribed Inhaled Corticosteroids: An Observational Cohort Study Using the OpenSAFELY Platform
In a large cohort of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the UK (n=148,557), and asthma (818,490), Schultze et al. found an increased risk of COVID-19 related death associated with use of inhaled corticosteroids, compared to other commonly-used medications. The authors note that the observed increased risks could be attributed to unmeasured confounding…
Reliability of Serological Tests for COVID-19: Comparison of Three Immunochromatography Test Kits for SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies
Three commercially available serological test kits using immunochromatography (Hangzhou AllTest, SD BIOSENSOR, and Vazyme) were evaluated using identical sample sets consisting of 99 serum samples from SARS-CoV-2 positive patients and 100 serum samples from healthy volunteers in 2017. All test kits achieved >97% specificity for IgM and IgG and >97% sensitivity to IgG at 13…
The Role of Anti-Hypertensive Treatment, Comorbidities and Early Introduction of LMWH in the Setting of COVID-19: A Retrospective, Observational Study in Northern Italy
Chronic treatment with the antihypertensive medications angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) and early treatment with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) were both associated with lower in-hospital mortality in a cohort of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Italy (n=575), after adjusting for age. Angiotensin receptor blockers, which are also antihypertensive agents acting on the same physiological pathway, were…
Comparative Study of Four SARS-CoV-2 Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) Platforms Demonstrates That ID NOW Performance Is Impaired Substantially by Patient and Specimen Type
The nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) platform Abbott ID NOW performed significantly worse than similar tests (Abbott m2000, DiaSorine Simplexa, and Cepheid Xpert) in detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in a comparative study. All four tests were used in parallel on nasopharyngeal and nasal samples from 88 emergency department and hospital-admitted patients. In particular, the ID NOW…
Efficacy and Safety of Hydroxychloroquine vs Placebo for Pre-Exposure SARS-CoV-2 Prophylaxis Among Health Care Workers
Daily administration of hydroxychloroquine to hospital-based healthcare workers as pre-exposure prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 infection did not change infection risk between participants receiving hydroxychloroquine vs placebo (6.3% vs 6.6%, p>0.99) in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (n=132). The trial was terminated early due to futility and may have been underpowered to detect clinically important differences. Abella…
September 29, 2020
Anti-C5a Antibody IFX-1 (Vilobelimab) Treatment versus Best Supportive Care for Patients with Severe COVID-19 (PANAMO): An Exploratory, Open-Label, Phase 2 Randomised Controlled Trial
An exploratory, open-label, phase 2 randomized trial of the monoclonal antibody IFX-1 (vilobelimab) in adults with severe COVID-19 indicated that C5a inhibition with the drug appeared to be safe. Mortality estimates at 28 days were 13% for the IFX-1 group and 27% for the control group, although the authors note that this outcome is preliminary…
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