"Neue Phase der Pandemie" - Experte warnt vor zwei Dingen
Der Epidemiologe Jeremy Farrar erklärt in einem Interview, dass die Corona-Pandemie nie vorbei sein werde. „Jetzt sind die Dinge viel komplexer. Wir treten gerade in eine neue Phase der Pandemie ein", so der Experte.
SARS-CoV-2 und die Laborursprungshypothese - Ist was dran?
Zur Zeit kochen einmal wieder die Behauptungen hoch, dass jemand gezeigt habe, dass das Pandemie-verursachende Virus SARS-CoV-2 aus einem chinesischen Labor stamme. Da solche Behauptungen immer wieder aufkommen, möchte ich mit Euch nicht nur im Detail auf ein bestimmtes Preprint eingehen, sondern die Sache etwas allgemeiner betrachten. Und ja, das
Nicht die Impfung, sondern Covid-19 macht Männer unfruchtbar
Eine Untersuchung fand keinen Zusammenhang zwischen Impfung und Geburtenrate. Forscher haben zudem Impfstoff-mRNA in Muttermilch nachgewiesen, sie sei aber unbedenklich
Studiensammlung 🧵: #LongCOVID und das GehirnMit Bitte um Retweet, bitte tragt Maske und schützt Euch 🙏💛🧠🌈1/x— LangzeitCOVID (@LangzeitC) October 2, 2022
SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination and Myocarditis in a Nordic Cohort Study of 23 Million Residents
This cohort study conducted using nationwide registers assesses the risks of myocarditis and pericarditis after SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA vaccinations in a combined population of 23.1 million individuals across Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
Studie zur Verminderung Lebenserwartung während SARS-CoV2-Pandemie. TL;DR: Am ausgeprägtesten in ost-europäischen Ländern und den USA. Klare Korrelation mit Impfquote. Wer sich impfen lässt, lebt länger (und besser, Langzeitfolgen sind auch kein Spass).https://t.co/21n5HZ7Rdb pic.twitter.com/HXiO5fWDsH— Jan Hartmann (@pelagicbird) October 18, 2022
Lasting Lung Damage Seen in Children and Teens after COVID
September 20, 2022 — Children and adolescents who have either recovered from COVID-19 or have long COVID show persistent lung damage on MRI, according to a
Background Long COVID occurs in lower frequency in children and adolescents than in adults. Morphologic and free-breathing phase-resolved functional low-field MRI may identify persistent pulmonary manifestations after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Purpose To characterize both morphologic and functional changes of lung parenchyma on low-field MRI in children and adolescents with post COVID-19 compared with healthy controls. Materials and Methods Between August and December 2021, a cross-sectional, prospective clinical trial using low-field MRI was performed in children and adolescents from a single academic medical center. The primary outcome was the frequency of morphologic changes on MRI. Secondary outcomes included MRI-derived functional proton ventilation and perfusion parameters. Clinical symptoms, the duration from positive RT-PCR test and serological parameters were compared with imaging results. Nonparametric tests for pairwise and corrected tests for groupwise comparisons were applied to assess differences in healthy controls, recovered participants and with long COVID. Results A total of 54 participants post COVID-19 infection (mean age, 11 years ±3 [SD], 56 males) and 9 healthy controls (mean age, 10 years ±3 [SD], 70 males) were included: 29 (54%) in the COVID-19 group had recovered from infection and 25 (46%) were classified as having long COVID on the day of enrollment. Morphologic abnormality was identified in one recovered participant. Both ventilated and perfused lung parenchyma (V/Q match) was reduced from 81±6.1% in healthy controls to 62±19% (P =.006) in the recovered group and 60±20% (P=.003) in the long COVID group. V/Q match was lower in post COVID patients with infection less than 180 days (63±20%, P=.03), 180 to 360 days (63±18%, P=0.03) and 360 days ago (41±12%, P
Addiction drug shows promise lifting long COVID brain fog, fatigue
Lauren Nichols, a 34-year-old logistics expert for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Boston, has been suffering from impaired thinking and focus, fatigue, seizures, headache and pain since her COVID-19 infection in the spring of 2020.
Continuous evolution of Omicron has led to numerous subvariants that exhibit growth advantage over BA.5. Such rapid and simultaneous emergence of variants with enormous advantages is unprecedented. Despite their rapidly divergent evolutionary courses, mutations on their receptor-binding domain (RBD) converge on several hotspots, including R346, K356, K444, L452, N460K and F486. The driving force and destination of such convergent evolution and its impact on humoral immunity established by vaccination and infection remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that these convergent mutations can cause striking evasion of convalescent plasma, including those from BA.5 breakthrough infection, and existing antibody drugs, including Evusheld and Bebtelovimab. BR.2, CA.1, BQ.1.1, BM.1.1.1, and especially XBB, are the most antibody-evasive strain tested, far exceeding BA.5 and approaching SARS-CoV-1 level. To delineate the origin of the convergent evolution, we determined the escape mutation profiles and neutralization activity of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) isolated from BA.2 and BA.5 breakthrough-infection convalescents. Importantly, due to humoral immune imprinting, BA.2 and especially BA.5 breakthrough infection caused significant reductions in the epitope diversity of neutralizing antibodies and increased proportion of non-neutralizing mAbs, which in turn concentrated humoral immune pressure and promoted the convergent RBD evolution. Additionally, the precise convergent RBD mutations and evolution trends of BA.2.75/BA.5 subvariants could be inferred by integrating the neutralization-weighted DMS profiles of mAbs from various immune histories (3051 mAbs in total). Moreover, we demonstrated that as few as five additional convergent mutations based on BA.5 or BA.2.75 could completely evade most plasma samples, including those from BA.5 breakthrough infection, while retaining sufficient hACE2-binding affinity. These results suggest that current herd immunity and BA.5 vaccine boosters may not provide sufficiently broad protection against infection. Broad-spectrum SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and NAb drugs development should be of high priority, and the constructed convergent mutants could serve to examine their effectiveness in advance. ### Competing Interest Statement X.S.X and Y.C. are co-founders of Singlomics Biopharmaceuticals and listed as inventors on patents related to DXP-604, SA55, and SA58. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.
Why scientists are keeping an eye on two new Omicron subvariants and what they could mean for Ontario
The BA.5 subvariant still accounts for more than 90 per cent of all COVID-19 cases in Ontario but experts are now keeping a close eye on the spread of two other subvariants which they say could end up factoring into the next wave of the pandemic.
ARE-Wochenbericht
Kalenderwoche 39 (26.9. bis 2.10.2022)
Zusammenfassende Bewertung der epidemiologischen LageMit diesem ARE-Wochenbericht endet die Berichterstattung für die Saison 2021/22. Ab der nächsten
Woche beginnt die wöchentliche Berichterstattung für die neue Saison 2022/23.
Die Aktivität der akuten Atemwegserkrankungen (ARE-Raten) in der Bevölkerung (GrippeWeb) ist in der
39. KW 2022 im Vergleich zur Vorwoche leicht gestiegen. Die Werte liegen aktuell deutlich über den
Werten der Vorsaisons. Im ambulanten Bereich (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Influenza) wurden in der 39. KW
bundesweit deutlich mehr Arztbesuche wegen ARE als in der Vorwoche registriert. Die Zahl der Arzt-
besuche liegt über dem Niveau der Vorjahre (seit 2006) um diese Zeit.
Im NRZ für Influenzaviren wurden in der 39. KW 2022 in insgesamt 59 (58 %) der 101 eingesandten
Sentinelproben respiratorische Viren identifiziert, darunter 32 (32 %) Proben mit Rhinoviren, jeweils zwölf
(12 %) mit SARS-CoV-2 bzw. mit Parainfluenzaviren (PIV), sechs (6 %) mit Influenzaviren, drei (3 %) mit
Respiratorischen Synzytialviren (RSV) und eine (1 %) Probe mit humanen saisonalen Coronaviren (hCoV).
Humane Metapneumoviren (hMPV) wurden nicht nachgewiesen.
Im Rahmen der ICD-10-Code basierten Krankenhaussurveillance (ICOSARI) ist die Zahl schwerer
akuter respiratorischer Infektionen (SARI) in der 39. KW 2022 insgesamt leicht gesunken und liegt weiter-
hin auf dem Niveau der vorpandemischen Jahre. Der Anteil der mit schwerer Atemwegserkrankung
hospitalisierten Patienten mit einer COVID-19-Diagnose ist im Vergleich zur Vorwoche stabil geblieben
und lag in der 39. KW bei 29 %.
Die für diese Jahreszeit außergewöhnlich hohe ARE-Aktivität ist auf die Ko-Zirkulation verschiedener
Atemwegserreger zurückzuführen, darunter hauptsächlich Rhinoviren, aber auch SARS-CoV-2 und Para-
influenzaviren. Zunehmend werden auch Influenzaviren und RSV nachgewiesen.
Elevated vascular transformation blood biomarkers in Long-COVID indicate angiogenesis as a key pathophysiological mechanism - Molecular Medicine
Background Long-COVID is characterized by prolonged, diffuse symptoms months after acute COVID-19. Accurate diagnosis and targeted therapies for Long-COVID are lacking. We investigated vascular transformation biomarkers in Long-COVID patients. Methods A case–control study utilizing Long-COVID patients, one to six months (median 98.5 days) post-infection, with multiplex immunoassay measurement of sixteen blood biomarkers of vascular transformation, including ANG-1, P-SEL, MMP-1, VE-Cad, Syn-1, Endoglin, PECAM-1, VEGF-A, ICAM-1, VLA-4, E-SEL, thrombomodulin, VEGF-R2, VEGF-R3, VCAM-1 and VEGF-D. Results Fourteen vasculature transformation blood biomarkers were significantly elevated in Long-COVID outpatients, versus acutely ill COVID-19 inpatients and healthy controls subjects (P
RKI - Influenza - Wie hoch ist die Wirksamkeit der Influenza-Impfung?
Die Wirksamkeit der Influenza-Impfung kann in jeder Saison sehr unterschiedlich sein und sich auch hinsichtlich der einzelnen Virustypen sowie -subtypen unterscheiden. Die Impfeffektivität hängt dabei von verschiedenen Faktoren ab. Hierzu gehören beispielsweise das Alter des Impflings, frühere Influenza-Infektionen oder -Impfungen oder auch die Art des verwendeten Impfstoffes.
Age-stratified infection fatality rate of COVID-19 in the non-elderly informed from pre-vaccination national seroprevalence studies
The infection fatality rate (IFR) of COVID-19 among non-elderly people in the absence of vaccination or prior infection is important to estimate accurately, since 94% of the global population is younger than 70 years and 86% is younger than 60 years. In systematic searches in SeroTracker and PubMed (protocol: ), we identified 40 eligible national seroprevalence studies covering 38 countries with pre-vaccination seroprevalence data. For 29 countries (24 high-income, 5 others), publicly available age-stratified COVID-19 death data and age-stratified seroprevalence information were available and were included in the primary analysis. The IFRs had a median of 0.035% (interquartile range (IQR) 0.013 - 0.056%) for the 0-59 years old population, and 0.095% (IQR 0.036 - 0.125%,) for the 0-69 years old. The median IFR was 0.0003% at 0-19 years, 0.003% at 20-29 years, 0.011% at 30-39 years, 0.035% at 40-49 years, 0.129% at 50-59 years, and 0.501% at 60-69 years. Including data from another 9 countries with imputed age distribution of COVID-19 deaths yielded median IFR of 0.025-0.032% for 0-59 years and 0.063-0.082% for 0-69 years. Meta-regression analyses also suggested global IFR of 0.03% and 0.07%, respectively in these age groups. The current analysis suggests a much lower pre-vaccination IFR in non-elderly populations than previously suggested. Large differences did exist between countries and may reflect differences in comorbidities and other factors. These estimates provide a baseline from which to fathom further IFR declines with the widespread use of vaccination, prior infections, and evolution of new variants. Highlights *Across 31 systematically identified national seroprevalence studies in the pre-vaccination era, the median infection fatality rate of COVID-19 was estimated to be 0.035% for people aged 0-59 years people and 0.095% for those aged 0-69 years. *The median IFR was 0.0003% at 0-19 years, 0.003% at 20-29 years, 0.011% at 30-39 years, 0.035% at 40-49 years, 0.129% at 50-59 years, and 0.501% at 60-69 years. *At a global level, pre-vaccination IFR may have been as low as 0.03% and 0.07% for 0-59 and 0-69 year old people, respectively. *These IFR estimates in non-elderly populations are lower than previous calculations had suggested. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The work of John Ioannidis is supported by an unrestricted gift from Sue and Bob O Donnell. The work of Angelo Maria Pezzullo in this research has been supported by the European Network Staff Exchange for Integrating Precision Health in the Healthcare Systems project (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange no. 823995). Cathrine Axfors has received funding outside this work from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation s Postdoctoral Fellowship (KAW 2019.0561) and postdoctoral grants from Uppsala University (E o R Borjesons stiftelse; Medicinska fakultetens i Uppsala stiftelse for psykiatrisk och neurologisk forskning), The Sweden-America Foundation, Foundation Blanceflor, Swedish Society of Medicine, and Marta och Nicke Nasvells fond. The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or decision to submit the manuscript for publication. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes 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 The protocol, data, and code used for this analysis will be made available at the Open Science Framework upon publication: https://osf.io/xvupr
Arthritis urica: Sterblichkeitsrisiko durch COVID-19 ist bei Gicht erhöht, vor allem für Frauen
Das Vorliegen einer Gicht und allgemein einer rheumatischen Erkrankung wurde bislang nicht als eigenständiger Risikofaktor für einen schweren Verlauf mit Todesfolge bei einer COVID-19-Erkrankung angesehen. Analysen der Daten einer britischen Biobank,...
Persistent neurological symptoms affect a substantial fraction of people after COVID-19 and represent a major component of long COVID. Here, Monje and Iwasaki review what is understood about the neurobiological underpinnings of long COVID cognitive symptoms.
As Omicron mutates wildly the virus shows first signs of convergent evolution
Over the last couple of months researchers tracking emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants have started noticing something strange. No one new variant has looked like taking over but instead a variety of different subvariants seemed to be accumulating the same mutations.
Tolerability and immunogenicity of an intranasally-administered adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccine: An open-label partially-randomised ascending dose phase I trial
This formulation of intranasal ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 showed an acceptable tolerability profile but induced neither a consistent mucosal antibody response nor a strong systemic response.
