All of the COVID-19 survivors had T cells that recognized the new coronavirus.
The following is a brief summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the new coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Publication of the results of a complete dexamethasone trial
Comprehensive results from a large randomized clinical trial in Britain – the gold standard for testing – the steroid dexamethasone confirm the benefits of its use in COVID-19 patients that were mentioned in the first conclusions published this month latest. The results, published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed benefits for people with advanced or moderate illness.
Overall, 2,104 COVID-19 patients were randomly assigned to receive dexamethasone and 4,321 to receive routine care. Four weeks later, dexamethasone reduced the risk of death by 36% in patients requiring mechanical ventilation when they entered the study and by 18% in those receiving oxygen without mechanical ventilation.
The drug did not improve the survival of patients who did not use oxygen or mechanical ventilation.
In an editorial, Dr. H. Clifford Lane and Dr. Anthony Fauci of the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said the results show the critical importance of large, well-designed, carefully designed randomized controlled trials led.
Even during a pandemic, they said, while it might be tempting to simply “give all therapies a chance” so that patient outcomes improve “, fewer small studies or inconclusive and more studies such as the dexamethasone trial. ”
Immune cells may recognize coronavirus years later
Singapore researchers are not worried that the antibodies to the new coronavirus will disappear quickly.
More important, they say, cells in the immune system called T cells and B cells “remember” the virus and can trigger an immune response. As reported in the journal Nature on Wednesday, the researchers looked for “memory” T cells in 36 survivors of COVID-19, 23 survivors of the 2003 coronavirus that caused SARS, and 37 people who never suffered from any of the diseases.
All of the COVID-19 survivors had T cells that recognized the new coronavirus. The SARS survivors all had T cells that remembered the 2003 virus – and their T cells also recognized the new coronavirus. In addition, more than half of those who were never infected with any of the coronaviruses had protective T cells, suggesting that they may have encountered other coronaviruses in the past. , and there may be pre-existing immunity to the new coronavirus in the general population.
“We find the current discussion of” antibodies disappearing “somewhat unnecessary,” three of the researchers told Reuters in a joint email.
“What is important is that a level of B and T cell memory remains present to quickly initiate an effective immune response capable of stopping the viral spread,” said Anthony Tanoto Tan of Duke-NUS Medical School , as well as her colleagues Nina Le Bert and Antonio Bertoletti. T cells can kill infected cells to slow the virus, and they also help B cells to make antibodies, the researchers said.
Low levels of interferon identify high-risk COVID-19
Low blood levels of one type of interferon (IFN) could identify COVID-19 patients at high risk for severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Interferons are natural proteins that help the body’s immune system to fight infections. In a study published Wednesday in the journal Science, the researchers found that seriously ill and critically ill patients with COVID-19 had severely impaired the production of IFN type I, a persistent virus in the blood and an excessive inflammatory response.
They said the results confirm the potential value of treating these patients early with IFN, combined with anti-inflammatory drugs or steroids such as dexamethasone in the most seriously ill.
They also found that low plasma levels of IFN type I were observed before patients began to deteriorate and required intensive care. “Circulating type 1 IFN levels may even characterize each stage of the disease, with the lowest levels seen in the most severe patients,” they said in a statement.
Heart disease can lead to mysterious blood discoveries in COVID-19 patients
Severe COVID-19 mainly affects the lungs, but high blood levels of troponin, a protein released during heart damage, are also common.
To find out more, London cardiologists performed cardiovascular magnetic resonance analyzes in COVID-19 survivors who had at least slightly elevated troponin levels during their hospital stay. Among 29 people with no obvious reason for elevated troponin, such as a heart attack, they found two models of myocarditis or inflammation of the heart muscle.
In patients with a regimen, heart function did not appear to be affected. These patients should undergo cardiological monitoring to monitor for possible long-term consequences, Dr. Dan Knight of the Royal Free Hospital told Reuters.
The other regimen, seen in about a third of patients, was associated with decreased blood supply to the heart or ischemic heart disease.
Many patients in this group “suffered from significant coronary artery disease that was previously unknown but required additional treatment” that would not have been offered if troponin levels had not been studied, said Knight. The main message, Knight added, is that when troponin levels are elevated in COVID-19 patients for no apparent reason, further examination could reveal undiagnosed heart disease.
Open https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/yxmvjqywprz/index.html in an external browser for a Reuters graph on vaccines and treatments in development.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
