Covid19-Sources

DMZ – GESUNDHEIT / WISSEN ¦ David Aebischer ¦ In den letzten Monaten ist uns eine besorgniserregende Tendenz aufgefallen: Die Verharmlosung des Coronavirus, die nicht nur unter Experten und Politikern, sondern auch in den Medien zunehmend Raum zu finden scheint. Während die Welt weiterhin mit den Auswirkungen der Pandemie zu kämpfen hat, scheint die Ernsthaftigkeit des Virus in einigen Kreisen in den Hintergrund zu rücken. Diese Entwicklung wirft wichtige Fragen auf und fordert zum Nachdenken über die Auswirkungen und Herausforderungen auf, denen wir in diesem neuen Stadium der Pandemie gegenüberstehen. Um sicherzustellen, dass unsere Berichterstattung sachlich, unaufgeregt und auf Fakten basiert, haben wir erneut Expertenrat eingeholt und uns mit unseren dringenden Fragen an den renommierten Prof. Antoine Flahault, MD, PhD, Epidemiologe und Direktor des Instituts für globale Gesundheit in Genf, gewandt. DMZ: In welchem Maße stellen Sie eine Tendenz zur Verharmlosung des Coronavirus innerhalb der Expertengemeinschaft fest? Prof. Antoine Flahault: Die durch COVID-19 verursachte übermäßige Sterblichkeit wird bisher auf weltweit über 27 Millionen Todesfälle geschätzt (https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/excess-deaths-cumulative-economist-single-entity), und sowohl die Expertengemeinschaft als auch die Bevölkerung und die politischen Führer haben offenbar nicht aus einer solchen Tragödie gelernt. Die Welt wollte die Seite wenden, sobald die WHO im letzten Frühling das Ende der „gesundheitliche Notlage internationaler Tragweite“ erklärt hat. Natürlich haben wir den Gesundheitsnotstand verlassen, der zu Beginn der Pandemie strenge Einschränkungen unserer Bewegungen und unserer öffentlichen Freiheiten auferlegte. Dennoch bleibt COVID-19 für einige nach wie vor eine gefürchtete und tödliche Krankheit, und das SARS-CoV-2 breitet sich nach wie vor aktiv auf dem Planeten aus, in allen Ländern, wobei es anhaltende Formen verursacht, die als Langzeit-COVID bezeichnet werden und die wir schlecht behandeln können. Es mutiert auch weiterhin in raschem Tempo und erzeugt neue Varianten, die zu neuen Wellen von Neuinfektionen, Krankenhauseinweisungen und Todesfällen zu jeder Jahreszeit führen.

In late 2023, a lineage of SARS-CoV-2 emerged and was named the BA.2.86 variant. BA.2.86 is phylogenetically distinct from other Omicron sublineages identified so far, displaying an accumulation of over 30 amino acid mutations in its spike protein. Here, we performed multiscale investigations to reveal the virological characteristics of the BA.2.86 variant. Our epidemic dynamics modeling suggested that the relative reproduction number of BA.2.86 is significantly higher than that of EG.5.1. Experimental studies showed that four clinically-available antivirals were effective against BA.2.86. Although the fusogenicity of BA.2.86 spike is similar to that of the parental BA.2 spike, the intrinsic pathogenicity of BA.2.86 in hamsters was significantly lower than that of BA.2. Since the growth kinetics of BA.2.86 is significantly lower than that of BA.2 in both in vitro cell cultures and in vivo , it is suggested that the attenuated pathogenicity of BA.2.86 is due to its decreased replication capacity. ### Competing Interest Statement Jumpei Ito has consulting fees and honoraria for lectures from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Kei Sato has consulting fees from Moderna Japan Co., Ltd. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and honoraria for lectures from Gilead Sciences, Inc., Moderna Japan Co., Ltd., and Shionogi & Co., Ltd.

A common trait amongst severely affected COVID-19 patients is lung damage and respiratory failure, the most common cause of death.1,2 In addition, the persistence of lung lesions in COVID-19 survivors could be related to prolonged symptoms.2 Lung disease begins with an initial stage of early epithelial lesions, edema, and endothelial inflammation, followed by diffuse alveolar damage, before the onset of proliferation and fibrosis.1,2 Because epigenetic shifts are underpin many human diseases,3 these chemical modifications could be linked to COVID-19 lung pathology. Our data suggest that DNA methylation signatures in the blood of COVID-19 patients provides clinical value.4,5 Thus, we sought to characterize the DNA methylation landscape of lung tissues from COVID-19 patients, to unveil targets of epigenetic dysregulation that can explain the described histopathological findings.

Adults attending the ED with an Omicron infection had more severe outcomes compared with patients with seasonal influenza, particularly among unvaccinated indiv

Recently a claim that the efficacy of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is only 12% went viral. It's a slasher stat. Even when it appears to be dead it rises again.

Genf – Als Folge der Coronapandemie ist die Zahl der neuen Tuberkuloseerkrankungen voriges Jahr auf geschätzte 10,6 Millionen gestiegen. Das teilte die... #WHO #Tuberkulose

Correspondence from The New England Journal of Medicine — Association of SARS-CoV-2 Infection during Early Weeks of Gestation with Situs Inversus

Despite considerable progress, it remains unclear why some patients admitted for COVID-19 develop adverse outcomes while others recover spontaneously. Clues may lie with the predisposition to hypoxemia or unexpected absence of dyspnea (‘silent ...

Radiotranscriptomic analysis of CT angiography scans introduces a potentially powerful new platform for the development of non-invasive imaging biomarkers. Application of this platform in routine CT pulmonary angiography scans done in patients with COVID-19 produced the radiotranscriptomic signature C19-RS, a marker of cytokine-driven inflammation driving systemic activation of coagulation and responsible for adverse clinical outcomes, which predicts in-hospital mortality and might allow targeted therapy.

To date, over 770 million confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and approximately 6.9 million deaths related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been globally recorded (https://covid19.who.int/). The concern for global health security has been mainly driven by both short-term and long-term severe complications of infection, including cardiovascular manifestations, respiratory failure, and post-intensive care syndrome (a spectrum of psychiatric, cognitive, and/or physical disability; https://bestpractice.bmj.com/topics/en-us/3000168/complications).

Nature Cardiovascular Research - Eberhardt et al. show that SARS-CoV-2 infects human coronary lesions where it preferentially targets plaque macrophages, triggering plaque inflammation and...

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the textAn ongoing outbreak of pneumonia associated with the severe acute respiratory coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Epidemiologic evidence suggests that patients with comorbidities ...

The longer-term effects of COVID-19 on lung physiology remain poorly understood. Here, a new technique, computed cardiopulmonography (CCP), was used to study two COVID-19 cohorts (MCOVID and C-MORE-LP) at both ∼6 and ∼12 mo after infection. CCP is comprised of two components. The first is collection …

DMZ – INTERNATIONAL ¦ Lena Wallner ¦ Die jüngste wöchentliche Bewertung der COVID-19-Situation in Schweden, für die Daten der 44. Woche (30. Oktober - 5. November 2023) analysiert wurden, zeigt einen anhaltenden Anstieg der Infektionsraten. Die Steigerungen betreffen sowohl bestätigte Fälle als auch die Belegung der Krankenhäuser, die Zahl der neu aufgenommenen Intensivpatienten und die Todesfälle aufgrund von COVID-19. Dieser Trend ist in mehreren Regionen des Landes zu beobachten. Impfaufruf für Risikogruppen und Ältere: Es wird betont, dass es nun an der Zeit ist, dass Personen in Risikogruppen sowie alle, die 65 Jahre oder älter sind, sich sowohl gegen Influenza als auch gegen COVID-19 impfen lassen. Eine wichtige Empfehlung gilt auch für Personen im Alter von 50-64 Jahren, die bisher nicht gegen COVID-19 geimpft wurden. Die Impfung bleibt der effektivste Schutz gegen schwerwiegende Erkrankungen in diesen Gruppen. Statistiken für Woche 44 Getestete Personen: 8.819 (+21% im Vergleich zur Vorwoche) Positiv getestete Proben: 32% (Anstieg gegenüber der Vorwoche um 4%) Bestätigte Fälle: 2.731 (Anstieg um 37% gegenüber der Vorwoche) Andere bedenkliche Entwicklungen Zunahme der Fälle in Pflegeeinrichtungen und bei Personen mit Heimunterstützung Neue Intensivpatienten: 22 (erheblicher Anstieg gegenüber dem Durchschnitt der letzten drei Wochen) Todesfälle: 86 (Woche 43) und 81 (Woche 44) Varianten von SARS-CoV-2 Die Omikron-Variante zirkuliert weiterhin in Schweden, und es werden neue Untergruppen mit Mutationen beobachtet, die das Virus resistenter machen könnten. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt den Untergruppen innerhalb von XBB, die weiterhin dominieren. Die Europäische Zentrale für die Prävention und die Kontrolle von Krankheiten (ECDC) fordert eine verstärkte Überwachung von Virusvarianten innerhalb von XBB mit charakteristischen Mutationen.

An emergence of evidence suggests that severe COVID-19 is associated with an increased risk of developing breast and gastrointestinal cancers. The aim of this research was to assess the risk of heart tumors development in patients who have had COVID-19. Methods: A comparative analysis of 173 heart tumors was conducted between 2016 and 2023. Immunohistochemical examination with antibodies against spike SARS-CoV-2 was performed on 21 heart tumors: 10 myxomas operated before 2020 (the control group), four cardiac myxomas, one proliferating myxoma, three papillary fibroelastomas, two myxofibrosarcomas, one chondrosarcoma resected in 2022–2023. Immunohistochemical analysis with antibodies against CD34 and CD68 was also conducted on the same 11 Post-COVID period heart tumors. Immunofluorescent examination with a cocktail of antibodies against spike SARS-CoV-2/CD34 and spike SARS-CoV-2/CD68 was performed in 2 cases out of 11 (proliferating myxoma and classic myxoma). Results: A 1.5-fold increase in the number of heart tumors by 2023 was observed, with a statistically significant increase in the number of myxomas. There was no correlation with vaccination, and no significant differences were found between patients from 2016–2019 and 2021–2023 in terms of gender, age, and cardiac rhythm dis-orders. Morphological examination revealed the expression of spike SARS-CoV-2 in tumor cells, endothelial cells, and macrophages in 10 out of 11 heart tumors. Conclusion: The detection of SARS-CoV-2 persistence in endothelium and macrophages as well as in tumor cells of benign and malignant cardiac neoplasms, the increase in the number of these tumors, especially cardiac myxomas, after the pandemic by 2023 may indicate a trend toward an increased risk of cardiac neoplasms in COVID-19 patients, which re-quires further research on this issue and a search for new evidence.

The etiologic mechanisms of post-acute medical morbidities and unexplained symptoms (Long COVID) following SARS-CoV-2 infection are incompletely understood. There is growing evidence that viral persistence and immune dysregulation may play a major role. We performed whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in a cohort of 24 participants at time points ranging from 27 to 910 days following acute SARS-CoV-2 infection using a novel radiopharmaceutical agent, [18F]F-AraG, a highly selective tracer that allows for anatomical quantitation of activated T lymphocytes. Tracer uptake in the post-acute COVID group, which included those with and without Long COVID symptoms, was significantly higher compared to pre-pandemic controls in many anatomical regions, including the brain stem, spinal cord, bone marrow, nasopharyngeal and hilar lymphoid tissue, cardiopulmonary tissues, and gut wall. Although T cell activation tended to be higher in participants imaged closer to the time of the acute illness, tracer uptake was increased in participants imaged up to 2.5 years following SARS-CoV-2 infection. We observed that T cell activation in spinal cord and gut wall was associated with the presence of Long COVID symptoms. In addition, tracer uptake in lung tissue was higher in those with persistent pulmonary symptoms. Notably, increased T cell activation in these tissues was also observed in many individuals without Long COVID. Given the high [18F]F-AraG uptake detected in the gut, we obtained colorectal tissue for in situ hybridization SARS-CoV-2 RNA and immunohistochemical studies in a subset of participants with Long COVID symptoms. We identified cellular SARS-CoV-2 RNA in rectosigmoid lamina propria tissue in all these participants, ranging from 158 to 676 days following initial COVID-19 illness, suggesting that tissue viral persistence could be associated with long-term immunological perturbations. ### Competing Interest Statement MJP reports consulting fees for Gilead Sciences and AstraZeneca, outside the submitted work. TJH reports consulting fees for Roche and Regeneron outside the submitted work. ### Funding Statement PET-imaging and peripheral blood immune testing was supported by a Merck Investigator Studies Program Grant (to TJH). PET-imaging Gut biopsy collection and testing was supported by grants from the PolyBio Research Foundation (to TJH, HV and MJP). This work was also supported by NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grants (3R01AI141003-03S1, R01AI158013, K23AI157875, and K24AI145806); the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Department of Medicine and Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine. ### 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 University of California, San Francisco Institutional Review Board. 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, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors

The presented seroprevalence study focused on specific antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the second survey conducted among SAS employees. Its realization enabled monitoring of the impact of booster vaccination doses and the spread of the Omicron variant in a defined group of people. The total seropositivity of the involved SAS employees in autumn 2022 was 96.04%. In the group of vaccinated participants (1,189) the seropositivity rate was 99.5%, while among unvaccinated participants (176) it was 72.73%. By October 2022, when the study was conducted, 65.05% (888) of the participants have had a positive PCR/Ag test for SARS-CoV-2 at least once. Based on the presence of antibodies against the nucleoprotein (NCP) of SARS-CoV-2 it was proven, that 27.39% of participants (25.12% of vaccinated; 51.22% of non-vaccinated) who have never had a positive PCR/Ag test for SARS-CoV-2, overcame the COVID-19. According to self-assessment of the disease course, it was shown that a severe course occurred in 6.31% of the participants who overcame the disease without prior vaccination and in 1.44% of the participants who overcame COVID-19 after completing the baseline vaccination scheme. The most significant finding of the study is the evidence of significantly lower levels of specific antibodies after overcoming the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, and thus its reduced immunogenicity compared to ancestral virus and earlier variants of concern.

Patients with post-COVID condition suffer from fatigue, limited exercise capacity, and post-exertional malaise. Post-exertional malaise is the worsening of symptoms after physical or mental exertion, which reduces the efficacy of most forms of rehabilitation. This article presents the current understanding in the pathophysiology of post-COVID condition, particularly the underlying causes of post-exertional malaise.

A former minister for health in England wrote to me that “The COVID-19 inquiry will make us the laughing stock in the eyes of the world.” But it is worse than that. The level of criminal incompetence exposed by recent witnesses to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, has proven that many, if not most, of over 230 000 deaths were preventable. Amid the claims of extreme misogyny, profanity, and chaos that litter the evidence is a story of complete government breakdown.

Introduction: Changes to sperm quality and decline in reproductive function have been reported in COVID-19-recovered males. Further, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has caused the resurgences of COVID-19 cases globally during the last 2 years. These variants show increased infectivity and transmission along with immune escape mechanisms, which threaten the already burdened healthcare system. However, whether COVID-19 variants induce an effect on the male reproductive system even after recovery remains elusive.Methods: We used mass-spectrometry-based proteomics approaches to understand the post-COVID-19 effect on reproductive health in men using semen samples post-recovery from COVID-19. The samples were collected between late 2020 (1st wave, n = 20), and early-to-mid 2021 (2nd wave, n = 21); control samples were included (n = 10). During the 1st wave alpha variant was prevalent in India, whereas the delta variant dominated the second wave.Results: On comparing the COVID-19-recovered patients from the two waves with control samples, using one-way ANOVA, we identified 69 significantly dysregulated proteins among the three groups. Indeed, this was also reflected by the changes in sperm count, morphology, and motility of the COVID-19- recovered patients. In addition, the pathway enrichment analysis showed that the regulated exocytosis, neutrophil degranulation, antibacterial immune response, spermatogenesis, spermatid development, regulation of extracellular matrix organi...

Background: Cognitive impairment is the most common and disabling manifestation of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2. There is an urgent need for the application of more stringent methods for evaluating cognitive outcomes in research studies. Objective: To determine whether cognitive decline emerges with the onset of COVID-19 and whether it is more pronounced in patients with Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 or severe COVID-19. Methods: This longitudinal cohort study compared the cognitive performance of 276 patients with COVID-19 to that of 217 controls across four neuroinflammation or vascular disease-sensitive domains of cognition using data collected both before and after the pandemic starting in 2015. Results: The mean age of the COVID-19 group was 56.04 (SD=6.6) years, while that of the control group was 58.1 (SD=7.3) years. Longitudinal models indicated a significant decline in cognitive throughput ((B=-0.168, P=.001) following COVID-19, after adjustment for pre-COVID-19 functioning, demographics, and medical factors. The effect sizes were large; the observed changes in throughput were equivalent to 10.6 years of normal aging and a 59.8% increase in the burden of mild cognitive impairment. Cognitive decline worsened with coronavirus disease 2019 severity and was concentrated in participants reporting post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: COVID-19 was most likely associated with the observed cognitive decline, which was worse among patients with PASC or severe COVID-19. Monitoring patients with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 for declines in the domains of processing speed and visual working memory and determining the long-term prognosis of this decline are therefore warranted. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study was funded by CDC/NIOSH-5 U01OH012275-02-00 (Drs. Luft and Morozova) and CDC-75D30122c15522 (Drs. Luft) and by NIH/NIA R01 AG049953 (Dr. Clouston) ### 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 study was reviewed by the Stony Brook University CORIHS Ethics review Board. 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, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data include sensitive private health information. As such, data can be accessed upon receipt of a written request to the corresponding author and the completion of a data use agreement.

Journal of Neurology - Fatigue is a frequent and one of the most debilitating symptoms in post-COVID syndrome (PCS). Recently, we proposed that fatigue is caused by hypoactivity of the...

Background and purpose “Brain fog” is a frequent and disabling symptom that can occur after SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, its clinical characteristics and the relationships among brain fog and obje...

To investigate whether COVID-19 infection was associated with increased risk for incident respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections and associated diseases among young children that might have contributed to the 2022 surge of severe paediatric RSV ...

The endothelium is part of your vascular system, and it plays an important role in maintaining your health. Here is a 🧵 about what the endothelium is, what it does, how SARS-CoV-2 harms it, and what that means for your health. (1/n) pic.twitter.com/OR3ttywSy3— David Lingenfelter, PhD (@dlingenfelter) August 23, 2023

Even patients with mild COVID symptoms could face a higher risk of developing heart disease and stroke

European Journal of Human Genetics - A comprehensive SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 review, Part 2: host extracellular to systemic effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Abstract Background: Children (

The COVID-19 disease is an ongoing global health concern. Although vaccination provides some protection, people are still susceptible to re-infection. Ostensibly, certain populations or clinical groups may be more vulnerable. Factors causing these differences are unclear and whilst socioeconomic and cultural differences are likely to be important, human genetic factors could influence susceptibility. Experimental studies indicate SARS-CoV-2 uses innate immune suppression as a strategy to speed-up entry and replication into the host cell. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the impact of variants in immunity-associated human proteins on susceptibility to COVID-19. In this work, we analysed missense coding variants in several SARS-CoV-2 proteins and its human protein interactors that could enhance binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2. We curated a dataset of 19 SARS-CoV-2: human protein 3D-complexes, from the experimentally determined structures in the Protein Data Bank and models built using AlphaFold2-multimer, and analysed impact of missense variants occurring in the protein-protein interface region. We analysed 468 missense variants from human proteins and 212 variants from SARS-CoV-2 proteins and computationally predicted their impacts on binding affinities to SARS-CoV-2 proteins, using 3D-complexes. We predicted a total of 26 affinity-enhancing variants from 14 human proteins implicated in increased binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2. These include key-immunity associated genes (TOMM70, ISG15, IFIH1, IFIT2, RPS3, PALS1, NUP98, RAE1, AXL, ARF6, TRIMM, TRIM25) as well as important spike receptors (KREMEN1, AXL and ACE2). We report both common (e.g., Y13N in IFIH1) and rare variants in these proteins and discuss their likely structural and functional impact, using information on known and predicted functional sites. Potential mechanisms associated with immune suppression implicated by these variants are discussed. Occurrence of certain predicted affinity-enhancing variants should be monitored as they could lead to increased susceptibility and reduced immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in individuals/populations carrying them. Our analyses aid in understanding the potential impact of genetic variation in immunity-associated proteins on COVID-19 susceptibility and help guide drug-repurposing strategies. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

The COVID-19 pandemic caught policy makers, government agencies, school management and facility managers largely off-guard, prompting a review of existing ventilation standards in relation to the mitigating of airborne viral diseases. In light of new guidance in ASHRAE standard 241-2023 ‘Control of Infectious Aerosols’ this paper examines the relative airborne viral prophylaxis benefit of seven different ventilation scenarios, involving natural, mechanical and hybrid ventilation systems. The research aims to assess the relative merits of each approach considering current guidance in European Norm (EN 16798-1) and International Standard (ISO 17772-1) in contrast to the increased minimum equivalent clean airflow rates for classrooms in ASHRAE 241. The results of this analysis show that increased minimum equivalent clean airflow rates have a marked effect on reducing the airborne viral transmission risk. However, even with the best performing ventilation system the risk of at least one individual becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (after an 8 h long exposure period) was 30% (assuming that one infectious individual was present in a classroom of 20 unmasked, immunologically naïve students). By using a combined strategy involving universal FFP2 masking and ventilation the group infection risk level was dramatically reduced to 2–7% (depending on the ventilation type and flowrate) highlighting the importance of layered prophylaxis strategies at times of elevated community transmission.