Dr. Boarhead’s Summary of Global Updates on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus: 27th December 2020
1.
Science Advances
:
Scientists reported a portable, ultrasensitive saliva-based COVID-19 assay with a 15-minute sample-to-answer time that did not require RNA isolation or laboratory equipment. This assay used CRISPR/Cas12a activity to enhance the signal from an amplified viral RNA target, which was stimulated by laser diode integrated into a smartphone-based fluorescence microscope readout device. SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels read by CRISPR were similar in patients’ saliva versus nasal swab samples, and viral loads measured by RT-PCR and the smartphone-read CRISPR assay demonstrated good correlation.
<11 Dec.>
[key info]
A portable assay device has been designed for saliva-based COVID-19 diagnosis.
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/12/10/sciadv.abe3703
2.
Nature Medicine
:
Exploratory analyses of the immune responses in adults, aged 18–55 years, up to 8 weeks after vaccination with a single dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 demonstrated an induction of a Th1-biased response characterized by interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α cytokine secretion by CD4+ T cells and antibody production predominantly of IgG1 and IgG3 subclasses. CD8+ T cells were also induced. The results suggested a favorable immune profile induced by the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine.
<17 Dec.>
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A trial proved the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine to be effective.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-01194-5
3.
Lancet Respiratory Medicine
:
According to a retrospective cohort study, in-hospital mortality was higher in patients with COVID-19 than in patients with influenza (16.9% vs. 5.8%). Of the hospitalized patients, the proportion of those younger than 18 years was smaller for COVID-19 than for influenza (1.4% vs. 19.5%), but a larger proportion of patients younger than 5 years needed intensive care support for COVID-19 than for influenza (2.3% vs. 0.9%). In patients aged 11–17 years, the in-hospital mortality was 10 times higher for COVID-19 than for influenza (1.1% vs. 0.1%).
<17 Dec.>
[key info]
For teenagers, COVID-19 is much more fatal than flu.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30527-0/fulltext
4. medRxiv:
Researchers studied 194 people with COVID-19 and found that the most seriously ill had high levels of auto-antibody activity. Some of the auto-antibodies attacked the body’s immune cells, hampering the ability to fight off infection. Others attacked the central nervous system, the heart, the liver, or the connective tissue. Yet no single auto-antibody was common enough to be used to distinguish people with COVID-19 from people without it.
<19 Dec.>
[key info]
The diversity of auto-antibodies is associated with the severity of COVID-19.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.10.20247205v4
5.
Lancet Microbe
:
Infection with SARS-CoV-2 induces antibodies of multiple isotypes (IgG, IgM, and IgA) targeting various epitopes, including the spike and the nucleoprotein. These biomarkers might exhibit distinct kinetics leading to variation in their diagnostic performance. By measuring multiple biomarkers in large numbers of individuals, it is possible to create a serological signature of previous infection, leading to more accurate serological classification of individuals recently infected with SARS-CoV-2.
<21 Dec.>
[key info]
Multiple biomarkers are used to monitor the infection status.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanmic/article/PIIS2666-5247(20)30197-X/fulltext
6.
Nature
:
COVID-19 transmission modelled in France between mid-May and late June showed that the national testing campaign missed some 90,000 people with COVID-19 who showed symptoms at the time when infections in the country were declining. Only 31% of individuals with COVID-19-like symptoms consulted a doctor in the study period. This suggests that large numbers of symptomatic COVID-19 cases did not seek medical advice despite recommendations.
<21 Dec.>
[key info]
Cases in France may have been undercounted, because many people did not go to hospital.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03095-6
7.
Nature Microbiology
:
Using RNA antisense purification and mass spectrometry, scientists identified up to 104 human proteins that directly and specifically bound to SARS-CoV-2 RNAs in infected human cells. It was found that the cellular nucleic acid-binding protein (CNBP) and La-related protein 1 (LARP1), two of the most strongly enriched viral RNA binders, restricted SARS-CoV-2 replication in infected cells. Pharmacological inhibition of three other RNA interactome members, PPIA, ATP1A1, and the ARP2/3 complex, reduced viral replication in two human cell lines.
<21 Dec.>
[key info]
CNBP and LARP1 inhibit viral replication, which may help improve the design of targeted therapeutics.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-020-00846-z
8.
New England Journal of Medicine
:
314 hospitalized patients (163 in the LY-CoV555 group and 151 in the placebo group) were randomly assigned in a study. On day 5, a total of 81 patients (50%) in the LY-CoV555 group and 81 (54%) in the placebo group were in one of the two most favorable categories of the pulmonary outcome. The percentage of patients with the primary safety outcome (a composite of death, serious adverse events, or clinical grade 3 or 4 adverse events through day 5) was similar in the LY-CoV555 group and the placebo group.
<22 Dec.>
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LY-CoV555 did not demonstrate efficacy among hospitalized patients.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2033130
9.
New England Journal of Medicine
:
A total of 12,541 health care workers participated in an investigation and had anti-spike IgG measured; 11,364 were followed up after negative antibody results, and 1,265 after positive results, including 88 in whom seroconversion occurred during follow-up. A total of 223 anti-spike-seronegative health care workers had a positive PCR test, 100 during screening, while they were asymptomatic and 123 while symptomatic, whereas 2 anti-spike-seropositive health care workers had a positive PCR test, both of whom were asymptomatic when tested. There were no symptomatic infections in workers with anti-spike antibodies.
<23 Dec.>
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The presence of anti-spike antibodies may substantially reduce reinfection risk.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2034545
10.
Scientific American
:
A new mutated form of SARS-CoV-2 that appears 70% more transmissible than the original has raised alarm around the world. The variant, dubbed B.1.1.7, has suddenly accumulated 17 mutations and is spreading rapidly in the UK. 8 of the 17 new mutations are on the spike protein: the portion of the coronavirus’s shell that allows it to bind to receptors on cell surfaces and infect cells. One of the mutations, called N501Y, appears in another new variant from South Africa and seems to improve the virus’s binding ability. B.1.1.7 does not appear to cause more severe disease, and the newly available vaccines do seem to protect people against it.
<24 Dec.>
[key info]
The new variant spreading in the UK appears more transmissible but does not increase the disease severity.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-u-k-coronavirus-mutation-is-worrying-but-not-terrifying/
This is issue fifty-two
, edited on the basis of information from the official websites including but not limited to those of
The World Health Organization,
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control,
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States of America, &
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy of the University of Minnesota
and from the forums of FluTrackers.com.
This issue is edited by Alex Sun, Dorothy Fang, Dora Zhang, and
Fred Wong,
under the supervision of Dr. Jason Chu and Conch Zhang.
2020 © The Chung Kwong Wui
