Studies corner

[Branster]

There are so many snippets of information regarding small tests, case studies and even research from all over the world, some interesting, some surprising, some hopeful. Too many and too small or sometimes obscure to make the main news

If you’d like to share you are welcome to join the thread.

I’ll make a start with these findings from Canada about a potential inhibitor drug

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200402144526.htm

fomites really not an issue www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30678-2/fulltext

Absence of Apparent Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from Two Stylists After Exposure at a Hair Salon with a Universal Face Covering Policy — Springfield, Missouri, May 2020

They had COVID with symptoms, but wore masks and spent at least 15 minutes with 139 clients - but didn't infect any of them

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6928e2.htm#:~:text=On%20May%2012%2C%202020%20(day,2019%20(COVID%2D19).

"If Not Us, Who? And If Not Now, When?
Perspective From a COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit Run by Otolaryngology Residents"

NYC hospital nearly overwhelmed in the 1st wave:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/fullarticle/2771365?

Indian study of transmission - notable for this

"While the role of children in transmission has been debated (36, 37), we identify high prevalence of infection among children who were contacts of cases around their own age; this finding of enhanced infection risk among individuals exposed to similar-age cases was also apparent among adults. School closures and other non-pharmaceutical interventions during the study period may have contributed to reductions in contact among children. "

science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/29/science.abd7672

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2771116

Really interesting study on US aircraft carrier sailors - so a younger population. All tested and less than 20% tested positive. They were symptom checked everyday and only 20% remained asymptomatic. Most common was "cold like symptoms". Interestingly only 7% had a temperature, and less than half had a cough. Less than 1% hospitalised, and 1 died.

Crowding and the shape of COVID-19 epidemics

www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1104-0

"We show that the degree to which cases of COVID-19 are compressed into a short period of time (peakedness of the epidemic) is strongly shaped by population aggregation and heterogeneity, such that
epidemics in crowded cities are more spread over time,
and crowded cities have larger total attack rates than less populated cities. "

adolescent transmission and benefit of social distancing www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6940e2.htm

Surveillance of COVID-19 school outbreaks, Germany, March to August 2020

www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.38.2001645#html_fulltext

Neurological complications common in those hospitalised with Covid onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/acn3.51210

Two thirds of non-critical Covid patients had problems up to 60 days later with 30% still having shortness of breath at 60 days and 40% having fatigue. www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(20)30606-6/fulltext

Study of 3 facilities in Salt Lake City adds to the evidence that younger children can contribute to community spread even if asymptomatic, highlighting the importance of children in the COVID19 pandemic.

Key points/summary:
mobile.twitter.com/JHSPH_NCRC/status/1313876541965832195

Link to study:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32941418/

Covid can reduce male fertility, at least in the short term www.jpost.com/health-science/covid-19-could-cause-infertility-new-israeli-study-644767?fbclid=IwAR0PKFbpbdfCmuGHor-Xzpw8H_dJzRQQzK5uDZc2NdRXqBFWFAUG51e5z14

More vitamin D studies jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2770157?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=090320

deficiency was common in NHS staff who developed covid symptoms www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.05.20206706v1

Antibody cocktails may reduce covid risk science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/23/science.abe3354

long term effects more common in pregnant women medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-covid-prolonged-effect-pregnancy.html

(sorry it's not the journal link, struggled to find that)

Interesting book on Risk communication

petersandman.com/media/RespondingtoCommunityOutrage.pdf

Study of 30/60 day post mild-covid

www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(20)30606-6/fulltext

How do I know if something is peer-reviewed or not?

@TheSunIsStillShining

Study of 30/60 day post mild-covid

www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(20)30606-6/fulltext

How do I know if something is peer-reviewed or not?

.... If published in any reputable journal, then should normally be peer-reviewed

If not, then it should clearly state "preprint"

Royal Society: Face masks and coverings for the general public: Behavioural knowledge, effectiveness of cloth coverings and public messaging

royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/set-c/set-c-facemasks.pdf?la=en-GB&hash=A22A87CB28F7D6AD9BD93BBCBFC2BB24

• Cloth face coverings are effective in reducing source virus transmission, i.e., outward protection of others, when they are of optimal material and construction (high grade cotton, hybrid and multilayer) and fitted correctly and for source protection of the wearer.

• Socio-behavioural factors are vital to understanding public adherence to wearing face masks and coverings, including public understanding of virus transmission, risk perception, trust, altruism, individual traits, perceived barriers.

• Face masks and coverings cannot be seen in isolation but are part of ‘policy packages’ and it is imperative to review interrelated non-pharmaceutical interventions in tandem including hand hygiene, sanitizers and social distancing when maintaining the 2 metre or 1 metre+ distancing rule is not possible.

• Consistent and effective public messaging is vital to public adherence of wearing face masks and coverings. Conflicting policy advice generates confusion and lack of compliance. Populations without a previous history of mask wearing have rapidly adopted face coverings during the COVID-19 period.

Assessing the Age Specificity of Infection Fatality Rates for COVID-19: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Public Policy Implications

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.23.20160895v6.full.pdf

While the NYC data indicate an IFR of about 1%, seroprevalence estimates from other locations have yielded a wide array of IFR estimates, ranging from about 0·6% in Geneva to levels exceeding 2% in northern Italy.
.....
We find that differences in the age structure of the population and the age-specific prevalence of COVID-19 explain about 90% of the geographical variation in population IFR.
......
These results indicate that COVID-19 is hazardous not only for the elderly but also for middle-aged adults,
for whom
the infection fatality rate is two orders of magnitude greater than the annualized risk of a fatal automobile accident
and
far more dangerous than seasonal influenza.

Communicating personalised risks from COVID-19: guidelines from an empirical study

Authors include Spiegelhalter, but it is about how to communicate risk, rather than any new calculations about risk

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.05.20206961v1.full.pdf

Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Children and Adolescents Compared With Adults

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2771181

"In this systematic review and meta-analysis including 32 studies,
children and adolescents younger than 20 years had 44% lower odds of secondary infection with SARS-CoV-2 compared with adults 20 years and older; this finding was most marked in those younger than 10 to 14 years.

Data were insufficient to conclude whether transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by children is lower than by adults.

.... Preliminary evidence suggests that children have a lower susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with adults,
but the role that children and adolescents play in transmission of this virus remains unclear."

Preprint, suggests no cross neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by antibodies elicited during seasonal coronavirus infection.

Absence of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing activity in pre-pandemic sera from individuals with recent seasonal coronavirus infection.
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.08.20209650v1

Genomic evidence for reinfection with SARS-CoV-2: a case study

A previously healthy 25-year-old man caught Covid twice, the 2nd time much more serious and needing O2 in hospital

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30764-7/fulltext

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-54512034

no known health problems or immune defects that would make him particularly vulnerable to Covid.
.....
▪ 25 March - First wave of symptoms, including sore throat, cough, headache, nausea and diarrhoea
▪ 18 April - He tests positive for the first time
▪ 27 April - Initial symptoms fully resolve
▪ 9 and 26 May - He tests negative for the virus on two occasions
▪ 28 May - He develops symptoms again, this time including fever, headache, dizziness, cough, nausea and diarrhoea
▪ 5 June - He tests positive for the second time, and is hypoxic (low blood oxygen) with shortness of breath

Scientists say the patient caught coronavirus twice,rather than the original infection becoming dormant and then bouncing back.

A comparison of the genetic codes of the virus taken during each bout of symptoms showed they were too distinct to be caused by the same infection.

"Our findings signal that a previous infection may not necessarily protect against future infection"

Reinfection of SARS-CoV-2 in an immunocompromised patient: a case report

An elderly immuno-compromised woman was infected twice and sadly died:

https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa1538/5920950