Covid19-Sources

Nature Neuroscience - A novel study led by scientists in Lübeck, Germany, shows that SARS-CoV-2-infected brain endothelial cells undergo cell death due to the cleavage of NEMO by the viral...

Background: Long-term health sequelae of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are a major public health concern. However, evidence on post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (post COVID-19) is still limited, particularly for children and adolescents. Utilizing comprehensive healthcare data on more than 45 percent of the German population from January 2019 through December 2020, we investigated post COVID-19 in children/adolescents and adults. Methods: From a total of 38 million individuals, we identified all patients with laboratory confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 through June 30, 2020. A control cohort was assigned using 1:5 exact matching on age, sex, and propensity score matching on prevalent medical conditions. COVID-19 and control cohorts were followed for incident morbidity outcomes documented at least three months after the date of COVID-19 diagnosis, which was used as the index date for both groups. Overall, 96 pre-defined outcomes were aggregated into 13 diagnosis/symptom complexes and three domains (physical health, mental health, physical/mental overlap domain). We used Poisson regression to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95%-confidence intervals (95%-CI). Results: The study population included 157,134 individuals (11,950 children/adolescents and 145,184 adults) with confirmed COVID-19. COVID-19 and control cohort were well-balanced regarding covariates. For all health outcomes combined, incidence rates (IRs) in the COVID-19 cohort were significantly higher than those in the control cohort in both children/adolescents (IRR=1.30, 95%-CI=[1.25-1.35], IR COVID-19=436.91, IR Control=335.98) and adults (IRR=1.33, 95%-CI=[1.31-1.34], IR COVID-19=615.82, IR Control=464.15). The relative magnitude of increased documented morbidity was similar for the physical, mental, and physical/mental overlap domain. In the COVID-19 cohort, incidence rates were significantly higher in all 13 diagnosis/symptom complexes in adults and in ten diagnosis/symptom complexes in children/adolescents. IRR estimates were similar for the age groups 0-11 and 12-17. Incidence rates in children/adolescents were consistently lower than those in adults. Among the specific outcomes with the highest IRR and an incidence rate of at least 1/100 person-years in the COVID-19 cohort in children and adolescents were malaise/fatigue/exhaustion (IRR=2.28, 95%-CI=[1.71-3.06], IR COVID-19=12.58, IR Control=5.51), cough (IRR=1.74, 95%-CI=[1.48-2.04], IR COVID-19=36.56, IR Control=21.06), and throat/chest pain (IRR=1.72, 95%-CI=[1.39-2.12], IR COVID-19=20.01, IR Control=11.66). In adults, these included dysgeusia (IRR=6.69, 95%-CI=[5.88-7.60], IR COVID-19=12.42, IR Control=1.86), fever (IRR=3.33, 95%-CI=[3.01-3.68], IR COVID-19=11.53, IR Control=3.46), and dyspnea (IRR=2.88, 95%-CI=[2.74-3.02], IR COVID-19=43.91, IR Control=15.27). Conclusions: This large, matched cohort study indicates substantial new-onset post COVID-19 morbidity in pediatric and adult populations based on routine health care documentation. Further investigation is required to assess the persistence and long-term health impact of post COVID-19 conditions, especially in children and adolescents. ### Competing Interest Statement AV, FT, JJ, JS, JW, MR, MS, and ON report institutional funding for parts of this project from the German BMBF. Unrelated to this study, FT reports payments for lectures from Dresden International University. JA reports grants from the Federal State of Saxony. Unrelated to this study, JS reports grants for investigator-initiated research from the German GBA, the BMG, BMBF, EU, Federal State of Saxony, Novartis, Sanofi, ALK, and Pfizer. He also participated in advisory board meetings for Sanofi, Lilly, and ALK. MB reports payment for data analysis which is presented in this paper from DAK‐Gesundheit. Unrelated to this study, MB reports grants from German GBA and Sanofi Pasteur and consulting fees from Janssen‐Cilag. He participated in an advisory board for GSK. NT is member of the Steering Committee of the German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (DGPI) and is the DGPI-mandated person for the pediatric expert group on long-COVID in children and adolescents. SB is Head of Analytics and Data Science at AOK PLUS, Dresden, Germany. Unrelated to this study, STSCH reports payments for a guest lecture at TU Berlin. The other authors declare that they have no competing interest. ### Funding Statement AV, FT, JJ, JS, JW, MR, MS, and ON report institutional funding for parts of this project from the German BMBF (grant number: 01KX2021). ### 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 ethics committee of the TU Dresden approved this study (approval number: BO-EK (COVID)-482102021). 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 Individual-level data are not publicly available due to legal and data protection restrictions. Aggregate statistics are available upon reasonable request to the authors.

Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy - <ArticleTitle Language="En" xml:lang="en">SARS-CoV-2 crosses the blood–brain barrier...

Our finding on #SARSCoV2 and the brain´s microvasculature was published in @NatureNeuro today. We used cells, animal models, and #COVID19 patients samples to show that the virus kills brain endothelial cells, possibly explaining neurological symptoms: https://t.co/ZV9SHqef8V.

(1) Nachdem ich mich heute bei der dpa zu Langzeitfolgen bei Impfungen geäußert habe, fühlen sich viele Menschen dazu berufen, mir per Email die 'Wahrheit' mitzuteilen. Daher hier mal ein 🧵 Spoiler: Vor Langzeitfolgen der COVID-19 Impfung muss man keine Angst haben!

Referent: Herr Prof. Dr. Michael Meyer-Hermann (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH in Braunschweig)Thema: Die Rolle mathematischer Vorhersagen i...

Mehr Literatur https://t.co/ptLArSSMa4 https://t.co/YEVINSCUh6 https://t.co/IIi0yW3akr https://t.co/JAH3hd0Mt4 https://t.co/MKSczQoEVN https://t.co/YmXkxSuD4b

This cross-sectional study examines rates of cognitive impairment among patients who survived COVID-19 and whether the care setting was associated with cognitive impairment rates.

BEST BOOSTER? Mix it up — but depends which you had first. Switching vaccine for the booster seems to be the best—Pfizer to Moderna booster, Moderna to Pfizer for booster, and J&J should switch to Moderna / Pfizer booster. HT to @ScientistSwanda. #COVID19 #BoosterShots #vaccinate https://t.co/Yw0R6atC7i

COVID-19 vaccination did not impair fertility, early pregnancy outcomes or sperm quality, according to findings from three studies presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Scientific Congress & Expo.“We all know firsthand how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of health care,” Devora Aharon, MD, a fellow in reproductive endocrinology and infertility

Und die Wirksamkeit? Die Kinder machen auf die 10ug Impfung sogar noch etwas mehr Antikörper als die 12-18J auf die 30ug Impfung! Auch mehr neutralisierende Antikörper gegen Delta! https://t.co/OST94nR5Uk

Grandiose neue Daten zu Boost mit 3.Dosis BioNTech. 1. Klinische Daten: Placebokontrollierte Phase 3-Studie zeigt nochmalige (!) 95.6%ige Reduktion von symptomatischer Infektion durch Delta bei 3x Geimpften im Vgl. zu 2x Geimpften. https://t.co/MewlICh9en

Die Autoren zeigen, dass Makrophagen (zur Aufnahme von Partikeln fähige Immunzellen) von COVID-Patienten nach Kontakt mit dem Spike-Protein spezielle Zellorganellen (das Inflammasom) bilden, welches einen Botenstoff (IL-1beta) spaltet u freisetzt. https://t.co/eMPMnjOchE

SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to hyperinflammatory syndromes in a subset of patients. We show that human primary macrophages require genome-wide transcriptional modifications for pro-inflammatory signal...

IL-1beta is one of a family of proinflammatory cytokines thought to be involved in many acute and chronic diseases. Although it is considered to participate in wound repair, no major role has been attributed to IL-1beta in tissue fibrosis. We used adenoviral gene transfer to transiently overexpress …

This cohort study uses data from a primary school in Belgium to examine the possible role of children in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Julius C Enssle, Julia Campe, Amelie Schwenger, Eliza Wiercinska, Helen Hellstern, Ralf Dürrwald, Michael A Rieger, Sebastian Wolf, Olivier Ballo, Björn Steffen

This systematic review estimates organ system–specific frequency and evolution of postacute sequelae of COVID-19 infection.

During the pandemic it has become clear that severe acure respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) causes not just respiratory disease, but can affect multiple organs and tissues. Of note is the involvement of the CNS and PNS, and the fact that this involvement is independent from the severity of the respiratory disease. Acute and subacute neurological complications of SARS-CoV-2 infections are reported in up to 85% of patients, including those with severe COVID-19, but also in otherwise minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic people.

Researchers have highlighted a link between cases of COVID-19 that include neurological symptoms with biological markers of Alzheimer’s disease.

A Review discusses the scientific basis of and factors controlling airborne transmission of respiratory viruses including coronavirus.

The COVID-19 mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (Comirnaty) is highly immunogenic and effective in preventing severe illness.1 Studies have indicated decreasing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody concentrations, but largely stable vaccine efficacy and effectiveness 6 months after vaccination.2,3 The emergence of variants of concern (VOCs), such as the delta (B.1.617.2) VOC, has raised concerns about waning protection, particularly in high-risk populations such as older people, who display lower immune responses to BNT162b2 vaccination than younger adults.

Correspondence from The New England Journal of Medicine — SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization with BNT162b2 Vaccine Dose 3

Following severe adverse reactions to the AstraZeneca ChAdOx1-S-nCoV-19 vaccine1,2, European health authorities have recommended that patients under the age of 55 who received one dose of ChAdOx1-S-nCoV-19 vaccine receive a second dose of Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine as a booster. However, the effectiveness and the immunogenicity of this vaccination regimen have not been formally tested. Here, we show that the heterologous ChAdOx1-S-nCoV-19/BNT162b2 combination confers better protection against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection than the homologous BNT162b2/BNT162b2 combination in a real-world observational study of healthcare workers (n=13121). To understand the underlying mechanism, we conducted a longitudinal survey of the anti-spike immunity conferred by each vaccine combination. Both combinations induced strong anti-spike antibody (Ab) responses but sera from heterologous vaccinated individuals displayed a stronger neutralizing activity, regardless of the SARS-CoV-2 variant. This enhanced neutralizing potential was correlated with increased frequencies of switched and activated memory B cells recognizing the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain (RBD). The ChAdOx1-S-nCoV-19 vaccine induced a weaker IgG response but a stronger T cell response than the BNT162b2 vaccine after the priming dose, which could explain the complementarity of both vaccines when used in combination. The heterologous vaccination regimen could therefore be particularly suitable for immune compromised individuals.

Protection offe red by COVID-19 vaccines wanes over time, requi ring an eval uation of different boos ti ng s trategies to revert suc h a trend and enhance the quanti ty and quality of Spike-s pecific humoral and cellu lar i mmune responses . T hes e immunolo gic al parameters in homologous or heterologous vaccination boosts have thus far been studied for mRNA and ChAdO x1 nCoV-19 vaccines, but knowledge on indi viduals who received a s ingle dose of Ad26.COV2.S is lacking. We studied Spike-specific humoral and cellular immun ity in Ad26.CO V2.S vac cinated individuals (n=55) who were eith er pr imed with Ad26.COV2.S only (n=13), or boosted with a homologous (Ad26.COV2.S, n=28) or heterol ogous (BNT162b2, n=14) second dose. W e compared our findings with the res ul ts found in i ndiv iduals vaccinated with a single (n=16) or double (n=44) dos e of BN T162b2. W e obs erved tha t a strategy of heterologous vaccination enhanc ed the quanti ty and breadth of b oth, Spike-specific humoral and cellular immunity in Ad26.CO V2.S vaccinated. In contras t, the impa ct of h omol ogous boost was quanti tati vely minimal in Ad26.COV2.S vacc inate d and Spike-speci fic antibodies and T cells were narrowly focus ed to the S1 region. Al though a direct ass ociation between quantity and quality of immuno logic al parameters and in vivo protec ti on has not been demonstrated, the immunol og ical features of Spike-spec ifi c humora l and cellular immune r esponses s upport the utili zation of a heter ologous s trategy of vacc ine boos t in individuals who receiv ed Ad26.COV2.S vaccination.

Auch nach überstandener Covid-19-Erkrankung fühlen sich viele Menschen noch nicht wieder richtig gesund. Forscher wollen wissen, wie viele Genesene von Long Covid betroffen sind und unter welchen Symptomen sie genau leiden und liefern Erkenntnisse.

Die 10-Jahres-Sterblichkeit nach einer durch Viren ausgelösten Myokarditis ist hoch. Deutsche Kardiologen haben nun untersucht, welche Patienten besonders gefährdet sind.

New Canadian data suggests the strategy to delay and mix second doses of COVID-19 vaccines led to strong protection from infection, hospitalization and death — even against the highly contagious delta variant — that could provide lessons for the world.

This cohort study examines the spread of COVID-19 infection within family members living in the same residence with different levels of immunity.