Covid19-Sources

Based on its genetic profile and preliminary in vitro and epidemiological data, the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is predicted to evade immune res

High COVID-19 vaccination rates were expected to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in populations by reducing the number of possible sources for transmission and thereby to reduce the burden of COVID-19 disease. Recent data, however, indicate that the epidemiological relevance of COVID-19 vaccinated individuals is increasing. In the UK it was described that secondary attack rates among household contacts exposed to fully vaccinated index cases was similar to household contacts exposed to unvaccinated index cases (25% for vaccinated vs 23% for unvaccinated).

The COVID-19 infection fatality rate was low for citizens younger than 51 years without comorbidity (3.36 per 100000 infections). The infection fatality rate in

Die Mundhöhle spielt eine große Rolle bei Covid-19-Infektionen. Was eine gute Zahn- und Mundhygiene bewirken kann

Leaked research conducted by Israeli hospital indicates that third shot yields more antibodies, and that these antibodies are also better at preventing disease

1) Excellent work from an Austrian team around @janinekimpel and Doro von Laer. Same results as @sigallab and @CiesekSandra for Omicron neutralization but more data from heterologous prime-boost vaccination and convalescent individuals.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic shock waves across the globe. Much research addresses direct health implications of an infection, but to date little is known about how this shapes lasting economic effects. This paper estimates the workplace productivity effects of COVID-19 by studying performance of soccer players after an infection. We construct a dataset that encompasses all traceable infections in the elite leagues of Germany and Italy. Relying on a staggered difference-in-differences design, we identify negative short- and longer-run performance effects. Relative to their pre- infection outcomes, infected players’ performance temporarily drops by more than 6%. Over half a year later, it is still around 5% lower. The negative effects appear to have notable spillovers on team performance. We argue that our results could have impor- tant implications for labor markets and public health in general. Countries and firms with more infections might face economic disadvantages that exceed the temporary pandemic shock due to potentially long-lasting reductions in productivity.

Die Schweizer Strategie müsse nicht nur die Belegung der Intensivstationen, sondern die Anzahl Infektionen im Visier haben, fordert Neurologin Maja Strasser.

Summary 1 mRNA-1273 vaccine efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 Delta wanes over time; however, there are limited data on the impact of durability of immune responses on protection. Here, we immunized rhesus macaques and assessed immune responses over one year in blood, upper and lower airways. Serum neutralizing titers to Delta were 280 and 34 reciprocal ID50 at weeks 6 (peak) and 48 (challenge), respectively. Antibody binding titers also decreased in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Four days after Delta challenge, virus was unculturable in BAL and subgenomic RNA declined by ~3-log10 compared to control animals. In nasal swabs, sgRNA was reduced by 1-log10 and virus remained culturable. Anamnestic antibodies (590-fold increased titer) but not T cell responses were detected in BAL by day 4 post-challenge. mRNA-1273-mediated protection in the lungs is durable but delayed and potentially dependent on anamnestic antibody responses. Rapid and sustained protection in upper and lower airways may eventually require a boost.

Aktuell wird viel über den nachlassenden Immunschutz geredet. Was bedeutet das? Ja, der Schutz vor Infektion lässt 6 Monate nach der 2. Impfung nach. ABER: Schutz vor schwerer Erkrankung ist auch 1 Jahr später noch vorhanden! https://t.co/y3sPEWyTHf https://t.co/7Vcnr3GSCJ

Lungen der geimpften Tiere zeigen deutlich weniger Schaden nach Infektion als die ungeimpften Tiere. Daher: Booster für Schutz vor Infektion notwendig; Schutz vor schwerer Erkrankung hält aber deutlich länger! Nur mit hoher Impfquote bekommen wir schwere Verläufe in den Griff!

In a prospective study >35,000 people with Pfizer or AZ vaccination, 27% with Prior Covid https://t.co/kukquPfD0Z —3 shots are "essential to maintain protection" for people without Prior Covid —Most durable protection was from hybrid immunity: Prior Covid + 1 or 2 shots https://t.co/PcLIxXTZOG

2,311,282 people were included in the study, of whom 164,046 (7.1%) were admitted and 53,156 (2.3%) died within 28 days. There was significant variation in the case hospitalisation and mortality risk over time, peaking in December 2020-February 2021, which remained after adjustment for individual risk factors. Older age groups, males, those resident in more deprived areas, and those with obesity had higher odds of admission and mortality. Of risk factors examined, severe mental illness and learning disability had the highest odds of admission and mortality.

Wearing face masks and maintaining social distance are familiar to many people around the world during the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Evidence suggests that these are effective ways to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, it is not clear how exactly the risk of infection is affected by wearing a mask during close personal encounters or by social distancing without a mask. Our results show that face masks significantly reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to social distancing. We find a very low risk of infection when everyone wears a face mask, even if it doesn’t fit perfectly on the face. Previously published data were used for this work (https://aerosol.ds.mpg.de/). All other study data are included in the article and/or [ SI Appendix ][1]. [1]: https://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.2110117118/-/DCSupplemental

To introduce the perspective of patients who have PASC with vibrations and tremors as a prominent component, we leveraged the efforts by [Survivor Corps][1], a grassroots COVID-19 patient advocacy group, to gather information from people in their Facebook group suffering from vibrations and tremors. Survivor Corps collected 140 emails and 450 Facebook comments from members. From the emails, we identified 22 themes and 7 broader domains based on common coding techniques for qualitative data and the constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis. Facebook comments were analyzed using Word Clouds to visualize frequency of terms. The respondents’ emails reflected 7 domains that formed the basis of characterizing their experience with vibrations and tremors. These domains were: (1) symptom experience, description, and anatomic location; (2) initial symptom onset; (3) symptom timing; (4) symptom triggers or alleviators; (5) change from baseline health status; (6) experience with medical establishment; and (7) impact on people’s lives and livelihood. There were 22 themes total, each corresponding to one of the broader domains. The Facebook comments Word Cloud revealed that the 10 most common words used in comments were: tremors (64), covid (55), pain (51), vibrations (43), months (36), burning (29), feet (24), hands (22), legs (21), back (20). Overall, these patient narratives described intense suffering, and there is still no diagnosis or treatment available. ### Competing Interest Statement In the past three years, Harlan Krumholz received expenses and/or personal fees from UnitedHealth, IBM Watson Health, Element Science, Aetna, Facebook, the Siegfried and Jensen Law Firm, Arnold and Porter Law Firm, Martin/Baughman Law Firm, F-Prime, and the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases in Beijing. He is a co-founder of Refactor Health and HugoHealth, and had grants and/or contracts from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medtronic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Johnson & Johnson, and the Shenzhen Center for Health Information. ### Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: IRB of Yale University waived ethical approval for this work. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All deidentified data in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors. [1]: https://www.survivorcorps.com/

COVID-19 has been associated with many neurological complications including stroke, delirium and encephalitis. Furthermore, many individuals experience a protracted post-viral syndrome which is dominated by neuropsychiatric symptoms, and is seemingly unrelated to COVID-19 severity. The true frequency and underlying mechanisms of neurological injury are unknown, but exaggerated host inflammatory responses appear to be a key driver of severe COVID-19 more broadly. We sought to investigate the dynamics of, and relationship between, serum markers of brain injury (neurofilament light [NfL], Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein [GFAP] and total Tau) and markers of dysregulated host response including measures of autoinflammation (proinflammatory cytokines) and autoimmunity. Brain injury biomarkers were measured using the Quanterix Simoa HDx platform, cytokine profiling by Luminex (R&D) and autoantibodies by a custom protein microarray. During hospitalisation, patients with COVID-19 demonstrated elevations of NfL and GFAP in a severity-dependant manner, and there was evidence of ongoing active brain injury at follow-up 4 months later. Raised NfL and GFAP were associated with both elevations of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the presence of autoantibodies; autoantibodies were commonly seen against lung surfactant proteins as well as brain proteins such as myelin associated glycoprotein, but reactivity was seen to a large number of different antigens. Furthermore, a distinct process characterised by elevation of serum total Tau was seen in patients at follow-up, which appeared to be independent of initial disease severity and was not associated with dysregulated immune responses in the same manner as NfL and GFAP. ### Competing Interest Statement HZ has served at scientific advisory boards and/or as a consultant for Abbvie, Alector, Annexon, AZTherapies, CogRx, Denali, Eisai, Nervgen, Pinteon Therapeutics, Red Abbey Labs, Roche, Samumed, Siemens Healthineers, Triplet Therapeutics, and Wave, has given lectures in symposia sponsored by Cellectricon, Fujirebio, Alzecure and Biogen, and is a co-founder of Brain Biomarker Solutions in Gothenburg AB (BBS), which is a part of the GU Ventures Incubator Program. MG has received research grants from Gilead Sciences and Janssen-Cilag and honoraria as speaker and/or scientific advisor from Amgen, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline/ViiV, Janssen-Cilag, MSD, Novocure, and Novo Nordic SRI is a coapplicant and receives royalties on patent application WO/210/046716 (U.K. patent no., PCT/GB2009/051441) entitled Neurological Autoimmune Disorders (licensed for the development of assays for LGI1 and other VGKC-complex antibodies) and Diagnostic Strategy to improve specificity of CASPR2 antibody detection. (PCT/G82019 /051257). SRI has received honoraria and/or research support from UCB, Immunovant, MedImmun, Roche, Cerebral therapeutics, CSL Behring, ONO Pharma and ADC therapeutics. VFJN holds a grant from Roche Pharmaceuticals on proteomic biomarkers in traumatic brain injury. EB serves on the scientific advisory board of Sosei Hepatares and as a consultant for GSK. MT is the founder and CEO of Cambridge Protein Arrays Ltd. DKM reports grants, personal fees, and nonfinancial support from GlaxoSmithKline Ltd.; grants, personal fees, and other from NeuroTrauma Sciences; grants and personal fees from Integra Life Sciences; personal fees from Pfizer Ltd.; grants and personal fees from Lantmannen AB; from Calico Ltd.; personal fees from Pressura Neuro Ltd.; and others from Cortirio Ltd., outside the submitted work. AJC received honoraria and travel expenses from Genzyme (a Sanofi company) until September 2017. VFJN reports personal fees from Neurodiem, outside the submitted work. ### Funding Statement EN, DKM and AC are supported by Brain Research UK. HZ is a Wallenberg Scholar supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (#2018-02532), the European Research Council (#681712), Swedish State Support for Clinical Research (#ALFGBG-720931), the Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), USA (#201809-2016862), the AD Strategic Fund and the Alzheimers Association (#ADSF-21-831376-C, #ADSF-21-831381-C and #ADSF-21-831377-C), the Olav Thon Foundation, the Erling-Persson Family Foundation, Stiftelsen for Gamla Tjanarinnor, Hjarnfonden, Sweden (#FO2019-0228), the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 860197 (MIRIADE), and the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL. MG is supported by the Swedish State Support for Clinical Research ( ALFGBG-717531) and by grants from the SciLifeLab National COVID-19 Research Program, financed by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW 2020.0182 and 2020.0241). GB is supported by a sabbatical grant from PASPA-DGAPA-UNAM, Mexico. SRI is supported by a Wellcome Trust Fellowship [104079/Z/14/Z], a Medical Research Council Fellowship [MR/V007173/1], BMA Research Grants- Vera Down grant (2013) and Margaret Temple (2017), Epilepsy Research UK (P1201), the Fulbright UK-US commission (MS-Society research award) and by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. For the purpose of Open Access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. VFJN is an Academy of Medical Sciences / The Health Foundation Clinician Scientist. EB is supported by an NIHR Senior Investigator award DKM is supported by an NIHR Senior Investigator Award and European Union 7th Framework program We would like to thank Addenbrookes Charitable Trust and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre for their funding, and the NIHR Cambridge Clinical Research Facility outreach team for enrollment of patients. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This study was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (2020 01771) and the East of England Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee (17/EE/0025); via the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre). Healthy controls were recruited through the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (prior to the COVID 19 pandemic) and all provided written consent (approved by East of England Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee 17/EE/0025). Data from a small positive control group consisting of patients with acute traumatic brain injury were included as a reference for the magnitude of brain injury biomarker elevations (approved by East of England Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee REC 97/290). I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon request to the authors

Infektionsgefahr nur noch im Promille-Bereich: Eine neue Studie zeigt, wie effektiv FFP2-Masken sind - wenn sie korrekt getragen werden. Ohne Maske und selbst mit viel Abstand beträgt das Ansteckungsrisiko dagegen fast 100 Prozent.

In einem gerade erschienenen Preprint wird eine erhöhten Re-Infektionsrate in Südafrika, ausgelöst durch die Omicron Variante, berichtet. Das wäre ein deutlicher Hinweis auf Immune Escape, es bleiben aber weiterhin Fragen, v.a. im Hinblick auf Impfschutz. https://t.co/GMUmfFMJBQ https://t.co/ahK4LpumFP

Original Article from The New England Journal of Medicine — Comparative Effectiveness of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 Vaccines in U.S. Veterans

I slightly favor reverse zoonosis for a few reasons: 1. The lineage is old and undetected circulation in immunocompromised patient(s) for this long seems unlikely 2. SARS-CoV-2 is a generalist virus and we have seen human>animal>human transmission happen in e.g., mink .. 17/

In the USA and Germany, high-level officials have used the term pandemic of the unvaccinated, suggesting that people who have been vaccinated are not relevant in the epidemiology of COVID-19. Officials’ use of this phrase might have encouraged one scientist to claim that “the unvaccinated threaten the vaccinated for COVID-19”.1 But this view is far too simple.

Nature Communications - While SARS-CoV-2 S protein targeting monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are well studied, little is known about N protein-targeting mAbs. Here, Kang et al. provide the crystal...

Nature Communications - Here, in a longitudinal case study, Weigang et al. demonstrate that evolution of SARS-CoV-2 within a persistently infected immunosuppressed patient can result in the...

Modeling and Bayesian inference reveal the time dependence of SARS-CoV-2 interventions on the number of new infections.

Objective To review the evidence on the effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Biosis, Joanna Briggs, Global Health, and World Health Organization COVID-19 database (preprints). Eligibility criteria for study selection Observational and interventional studies that assessed the effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality. Main outcome measures The main outcome measure was incidence of covid-19. Secondary outcomes included SARS-CoV-2 transmission and covid-19 mortality. Data synthesis DerSimonian Laird random effects meta-analysis was performed to investigate the effect of mask wearing, handwashing, and physical distancing measures on incidence of covid-19. Pooled effect estimates with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were computed, and heterogeneity among studies was assessed using Cochran’s Q test and the I2 metrics, with two tailed P values. Results 72 studies met the inclusion criteria, of which 35 evaluated individual public health measures and 37 assessed multiple public health measures as a “package of interventions.” Eight of 35 studies were included in the meta-analysis, which indicated a reduction in incidence of covid-19 associated with handwashing (relative risk 0.47, 95% confidence interval 0.19 to 1.12, I2=12%), mask wearing (0.47, 0.29 to 0.75, I2=84%), and physical distancing (0.75, 0.59 to 0.95, I2=87%). Owing to heterogeneity of the studies, meta-analysis was not possible for the outcomes of quarantine and isolation, universal lockdowns, and closures of borders, schools, and workplaces. The effects of these interventions were synthesised descriptively. Conclusions This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that several personal protective and social measures, including handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing are associated with reductions in the incidence covid-19. Public health efforts to implement public health measures should consider community health and sociocultural needs, and future research is needed to better understand the effectiveness of public health measures in the context of covid-19 vaccination. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42020178692. No additional data available.

Objectives To assess transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in schools mainly kept open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design Population-wide register-based cohort study. Setting Primary and lower secondary schools in Norway have been open during the academic year 2020/2021 with strict infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in place. All identified contacts including student and staff members were urged to get tested following a positive SARS-CoV-2 case in a school. Participants All students and educational staff in Norwegian primary and lower secondary schools from August 2020 to June 2021. Main outcome measures Overall secondary attack rate (SAR14) was operationalized as the number of secondary cases (among students and/or staff) in the school by 14 days after the index case, divided by the number of students and staff members in the school. Moreover, we calculated SAR14-to-students , denoting transmission from all index cases to students only, SAR14-to-school staff , denoting transmission from all index cases to staff members only. We also calculated these measures in stratified samples consisting of student index cases or school staff index cases. Results From August 2020 to June 2021 there were 4,078 index cases, 79% were students and 21% were school staff. In the majority (55%) of schools with an index case, no secondary cases were observed by 14 days, and in 16% of the schools there were only one secondary case within 14 days. Overall SAR14 was found to be 0.33% (95%CI 0.32-0.33). Staff-to-staff transmission (SAR14 0.45%, 95%CI 0.40-0.52) was found to be slightly more common than student-to-student (SAR14 0.33%, 95%CI 0.32-0.34) and student-to-staff (SAR14 0.28%, 95%CI 0.25-0.30) transmission. Conclusions Our results confirm that schools have not been an important arena of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Norway and therefore support that schools can be kept open with IPC measures in place. ### Competing Interest Statement All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: no support from any organisation for the submitted work. PS have received a grant from the OAK Fellowships Programme in Molecular and Environmental Epidemiology (Grant number OCAY-12-356) and have acted as an expert witness in court cases for the National Office for Health Service Appeals. Other than this, no author had financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years or report other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. ### Funding Statement The study was funded by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, which was where the study was conducted. The institute had no direct role in the design and conduct of the study; compilation, analysis, and interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript, and decision to submit the manuscript for publication. No external funding was received. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The emergency preparedness register, BEREDT C19, was established according to the Health Preparedness Act 2-4 and the project was approved by the Ethics Committee of South-East Norway (9th March 2021, #198964). I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes No additional data available. The datasets that support the findings of this study contain sensitive information and cannot be shared by the authors due to privacy laws. Individual-level data for research are generally available within Norway upon application conforming with strict regulations and procedures.

Since the beginning of October, there have been 35 cases of PIMS, which shows up 2-6 weeks after children recover from the coronavirus

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