By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) – The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.
Kidney problems from COVID-19 are particularly severe
Sudden kidney problems from severe COVID-19 appear to be worse, and longer-lasting, than kidney problems that develop in other seriously ill patients, a new study found. Doctors at five hospitals in Connecticut and Rhode Island studied 182 patients with COVID-19-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) and 1,430 patients with AKI not associated with the coronavirus. The COVID-19 patients had steeper declines in their kidneys’ ability to filter waste from the blood while hospitalized, the researchers reported. In addition, among patients whose kidneys were still impaired at hospital discharge, those with COVID-19 were significantly less likely to have recovered to their pre-illness kidney status six months later, and their kidney function was predicted to decline over time at a faster rate than in the other patients. The data, published on Wednesday in JAMA Network Open, show that “acute kidney injury associated with COVID-19 has a worse prognosis than traditional acute kidney injury,” said coauthor Dr. Francis Perry Wilson of the Yale University School of Medicine. “Those with COVID-19 associated acute kidney injuries should probably be monitored more closely than others once they are out of the hospital.” (https://bit.ly/3rD9G56)
Second shot should not be delayed for cancer patients
Delayed administration of the second dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine leaves most cancer patients unprotected, a new report warns. In clinical trials last year, the messenger RNA vaccines were tested with second doses given either three or four weeks after the first depending on the vaccine. In January, the UK decided to delay second doses until 12 weeks. At Kings College London, doctors studied 205 adults who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, including 151 cancer patients. After the first dose, almost all the healthy individuals had strong immune responses, but that was true for fewer than half of patients with solid tumors and fewer than one-in-seven patients with blood cancers, said Dr. Adrian Hayday. When solid-cancer patients got the second dose at the recommended three weeks, 95% developed robust antibody responses. Among those who did not get the booster dose on time because of the UK’s new policy, only 43% of solid cancer patients and 8% of blood cancer patients had antibodies at five weeks. “A single dose of the vaccine left most cancer patients largely or completely unprotected,” Hayday said. The study report has been submitted ahead of peer review to medRxiv but is not yet online. The data are available on the COVID-Immuno-Phenotype website. (https://bit.ly/3ckwU9O)
Prescription mouthwash cuts viral load in saliva
A commercially available prescription mouthwash can decrease the amount of the coronavirus in saliva in adults with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19, helping to reduce their contagiousness, researchers found. They randomly assigned 154 volunteers, all of whom had been diagnosed within the past week, to rinse three times a day for seven days with a mouthwash containing antiviral beta-cyclodextrin and citrox or a placebo. Four hours after the first use of the antiviral mouthwash, salivary viral load was already significantly reduced, the researchers reported on Wednesday in a paper posted on the preprint server Research Square ahead of peer review. During seven days of treatment, the mouthwash had a particularly beneficial effect on reducing the amount of virus in saliva in patients with high or very high levels to start with, the authors said. “A one-minute rinse with a beta-cyclodextrin and citrox mouthwash reduces the SARS-CoV-2 salivary viral load by 70%” in asymptomatic or mildly ill adults, said coauthor Dr. Florence Carrouel of University Lyon in France. “Thus, this mouthwash is a barrier measure against the spread of COVID-19.” (https://bit.ly/3lmteZr)
mRNA vaccines cut risk of asymptomatic COVID-19
Ten days after receiving a second dose of the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna, people without COVID-19 symptoms are far less likely to be carrying the virus and unknowingly spreading it, compared with people who have not been vaccinated, according to Mayo Clinic doctors. Their data, published on Wednesday in Clinical Infectious Diseases, come from 39,000 patients who were routinely tested for COVID-19 before undergoing various medical procedures. More than 48,000 screening tests were performed, including 3,000 on patients who had received at least one dose of an mRNA vaccine. Among individuals who had received a single dose of vaccine at least 10 days earlier, they saw a 72% reduction in the risk of a positive COVID-19 test. After adjusting for a range of factors, they found an 80% risk reduction of testing positive for COVID-19 among people without symptoms who had gotten both doses. The authors said their findings underscore the fact that messenger RNA vaccines for COVID-19 can help to significantly limit the spread of the virus by people without symptoms. (https://bit.ly/3bG07wM)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser for a Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Additional reporting by Linda Carroll; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
