Dr. Boarhead’s Summary of Global Updates on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus: 8th March 2020
1. bioRxiv:
South Korean researchers have found that the CR3022 neutralizing antibody in the human body may have higher binding affinity with protein S of SARS-CoV-2 than that of SARS-CoV.
<27 Feb.>
[key info]
An effective neutralizing antibody has been found.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.22.951178v1
2.
Science
:
The US CDC has done only 459 viral tests since the epidemic began. The rollout of a CDC-designed test kit to state and local labs has become a fiasco because of a faulty reagent, while no commercial or state labs have the approval to use their own tests.
<28 Feb.>
[key info]
A big mistake of CDC has encumbered the progress of viral testing in the US.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/united-states-badly-bungled-coronavirus-testing-things-may-soon-improve
3. WHO:
According to the report of the WHO-China Joint Mission, typical signs and symptoms of COVID-19 include fever (87.9%), dry cough (67.7%), fatigue (38.1%), sputum production (33.4%), shortness of breath (18.6%), sore throat (13.9%), headache (13.6%), myalgia or arthralgia (14.8%), chills (11.4%), nausea or vomiting (5.0%), nasal congestion (4.8%), diarrhea (3.7%), hemoptysis (0.9%), and conjunctival congestion (0.8%).
<29 Feb.>
[key info]
Nearly 90% of all cases present with fever.
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf
4. WHO:
Mortality of critical cases is over 50%. Therefore, implementation of proven critical care interventions such as lung protective ventilation should be optimized.
<1 Mar.>
[key info]
Less than half of critical patients can survive.
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200301-sitrep-41-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=6768306d_2
5. ECDC:
The risk associated with COVID-19 infection for people in the EU/EEA and the UK is currently considered to be moderate to high, based on the probability of transmission and the impact of the disease.
<2 Mar.>
[key info]
The risk in Europe has increased sharply.
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/rapid-risk-assessment-outbreak-novel-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-increased
6. medRxiv:
At the First Hospital of Jilin University, SARS-CoV-2 could be detected on the surface of the nurse station in the isolation area and in the air of an isolation ward that admitted an intensive care patient.
<2 Mar.>
[key info]
It is necessary to keep monitoring and sterilizing the hospital areas that may be contaminated.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.25.20028043v2
7.
Science
:
China’s approach to containing the rapid spread of COVID-19 has changed the course of a rapidly escalating and deadly epidemic. But the feasibility of the stringent measures China has taken in other countries is debatable.
<2 Mar.>
[key info]
China’s measures may not work in other countries.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/china-s-aggressive-measures-have-slowed-coronavirus-they-may-not-work-other-countries
8. bioRxiv:
A diagnostic tool based on CRISPR-Cas12 to detect synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA sequences in a proof-of-principle evaluation proves to be sensitive, rapid, and potentially portable.
<2 Mar.>
[key info]
Regions that lack resources to use the current diagnostic test kits may have an alternative.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.29.971127v1?rss=1
9. Social Science Research Network:
In 112 patients, D3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T lymphocyte counts were decreasing as the COVID-19 pneumonia progressed. The CD4+ T lymphocyte counts were reduced at the early stage, while CD8+ counts at the advanced stage or end stage.
<2 Mar.>
[key info]
Counts of T lymphocyte subsets may indicate clinical progression.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3544850&utm_source=EC&utm_medium=Connect
10. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health:
SARS-CoV-2 may transmit more efficiently in winter than summer. However, based on the analogy of pandemic flu, researchers expect that SARS-CoV-2 will face less immunity and thus transmit more readily even outside of the winter season. Changing seasons and the school vacation may help but are unlikely to stop transmission.
[key info]
The virus may not go away on its own in warmer weather.
https://ccdd.hsph.harvard.edu/will-covid-19-go-away-on-its-own-in-warmer-weather/
11.
National Science Review
:
SARS-CoV-2 has evolved into two major types (designated L and S). The S type is the ancestral version, while the L type is more prevalent, aggressive, and transmissible. The frequency of the L type has decreased sharply since early Jan. because human intervention may have placed more severe selective pressure on it.
<3 Mar.>
[key info]
The virus has evolved into two types, one of which is rather aggressive.
https://academic.oup.com/nsr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nsr/nwaa036/5775463
12. WHO:
Severe disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment—caused by rising demand, panic buying, hoarding, and misuse—is leaving doctors, nurses, and other frontline workers dangerously ill-equipped. To meet rising global demand, the industry must increase manufacturing by 40%.
<3 Mar.>
[key info]
Protective equipment is in severe shortage worldwide.
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-03-2020-shortage-of-personal-protective-equipment-endangering-health-workers-worldwide
13. WHO:
There are some important differences between COVID-19 and influenza: (1) COVID-19 does not transmit as efficiently as influenza; (2) COVID-19 causes more severe disease than seasonal influenza; and (3) containment is impossible for seasonal influenza but possible for COVID-19.
<3 Mar.>
[key info]
The virus is less transmissible, yet more lethal, than flu.
https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---3-march-2020
14. medRxiv:
An analysis based on data from Shenzhen suggests that children under 10 are just as likely to become infected as other age groups. It also shows that people who live in a household with an infected case are about six times more likely to get infected than those in contact with an infected person in other settings.
<4 Mar.>
[key info]
Children are as likely to be infected as adults, and the household is the most common place for transmission.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.03.20028423v1
15.
Nature
:
To infect a cell, SARS-CoV-2 uses a special spike protein that binds the cell membrane. A site on the protein is then activated by a host-cell enzyme called furin. Furin is found in lots of human tissues, including the lungs, liver, and small intestines, which means the virus has the potential to attack multiple organs.
<6 Mar.>
[key info]
The virus can cause injuries to other organs than the lungs.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00660-x
16.
Science
:
It is exceedingly rare for airport screeners to detect infected passengers. The biggest shortcoming of thermal scanners and handheld thermometers is that they measure skin temperature, which can be higher or lower than core body temperature. Passengers can also take fever-suppressing drugs or lie about their symptoms and where they have been. In addition, infected people still in their incubation phase are often missed.
<6 Mar.>
[key info]
Airport screening may miss a number of potential cases.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/why-airport-screening-wont-stop-spread-coronavirus
17.
Science
:
The quarantine of Wuhan delayed the overall epidemic progression by 3 to 5 days in mainland China but had a more marked effect at the international scale, where case importations were reduced by nearly 80% until mid-Feb. 90% of sustained travel restrictions to and from mainland China only modestly affected the epidemic trajectory unless combined with a 50% or higher reduction of community transmission.
<6 Mar.>
[key info]
The effect of travel bans is much lower than expected.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/03/05/science.aba9757
18. bioRxiv:
RmYN02, a novel coronavirus identified in a metagenomics analysis of 227 bats collected from Yunnan, shares 93.3% nucleotide identity with SARS-CoV-2 in terms of the complete genome. It also features the insertion of multiple amino acids at the junction site of the S1 and S2 subunits of the spike protein. However, it shows low sequence identity (61.3%) with SARS-CoV-2 in the receptor binding domain.
<6 Mar.>
[key info]
A novel coronavirus in Yunnan bats may be one of the origins of the virus.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.02.974139v2
This is issue ten, 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, Fred Wong, Dorothy Fang, and Dora Zhang under the supervision of Dr. Jason Chu and Conch Zhang.
2020 © The Chung Kwong Wui
