COVID-19 Summary: Increased risk of diabetes, antibodies in children last for 6 months

In this week’s summary, efforts to find the latest scientific research and cures and vaccines for coronavirus have continued the immune system’s memory one year after COVID-19, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes after infection. Over the past 6 months suggesting antibodies in children after suffering from the virus.

Immune system memory persists

One year after being infected with the coronavirus, if few antibodies in the blood are detected, the immune system should continue to “remember” the virus and react to some extent when it re-encounters, Chinese studies suggest. doing.

Researchers surveyed 141 people who were infected with the virus in early 2020 and provided blood samples 12 months later. None of them were vaccinated in the meantime.According to a report released Wednesday, most people still had low levels of antibodies, and most people under the age of 60 still had some antibodies that could neutralize the virus. ..

However, the reaction of so-called memory B cells and memory T cells is still apparent and destroyed by new variants in all, including patients who have lost neutralizing antibodies, regardless of the age or severity of the original infection. It was never done. “Researchers have said that these defenses cannot prevent infection, but they do help prevent severe illness.

“Current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are primarily focused on neutralizing antibodies,” the researchers said. “These data highlight the importance of broad B-cell and T-cell immunity in future vaccine strategies targeting SARS-CoV-2.”

Increased risk of type 2 diabetes

Two studies show that you may be at increased risk of developing diabetes for up to a year after you are diagnosed with COVID-19.

One study used data from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to track more than 181,000 adults with COVID-19 in the first year after recovery. Comparing these patients to more than 8 million people who are not infected with the coronavirus, researchers found that every 1,000 new cases of diabetes in COVID-19 patients 12 months later than those who were not infected. I found that there are many people.

There were an additional 12 people in the COVID-19 group per 1000 people who started taking diabetes medications. Overall, 2 out of 100 people with COVID-19 developed diabetes the following year. This is Ziyad Al-Aly from VA St. Louis Healthcare System. Said on twitter..

After considering other risk factors, such as how often subjects in both groups see a doctor, his team was converted to a 40% higher risk after COVID-19. Reported on Monday at The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology..

Al-Aly was at increased risk of diabetes for Reuters, even in people with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 and those who do not have other risk factors for diabetes.

In another study of 35,865 people with COVID-19 Published on Diabetologia last weekResearchers have found a 28% higher risk of developing diabetes compared to the group of non-COVID upper respiratory tract infections.

Almost all new cases in both studies are type 2 diabetes and may be controlled by weight loss or dietary changes. The authors all recommend that survivors of COVID-19 with diabetic symptoms such as excessive thirst and pollakiuria should see a doctor.

Antibodies in children for the past 6 months

According to new data, most children and adolescents who have COVID-19 antibody after SARS-CoV-2 infection usually still have the antibody in their blood after more than half a year.

Beginning in October 2020, Texas researchers have recruited 218 subjects between the ages of 5 and 19. Each provided three blood samples at 3-month intervals. More than 90% were unvaccinated when they enrolled in the study.

Initial blood tests showed that infection-related antibodies showed recovery from COVID-19 in one-third of children. Reported online on Friday in Pediatrics.. Six months later, 96% of people who had antibodies still had antibodies.

This study was designed to detect the presence of antibodies, which are only one element of the defense of the immune system, not the amount of antibodies. The level of protection is unknown even for those who have antibodies. Researchers did not find any difference in whether the child was asymptomatic, the severity of the symptoms, when infected with the virus, or by weight or gender.

“It was the same for everyone,” Sarah Messiah of the Dallas Public Health School said in a statement. “Some parents … think they are currently protected and do not need to be vaccinated just because their children have been infected with COVID-19,” Messiah said. “We have great tools available to give children more protection by vaccination.”

Small study Published at JAMA Network Open earlier this month Most children infected with the coronavirus subsequently suggested that they did not have antibodies in their blood. They found that even though the viral load was similar in the two groups, only 37% of children appeared to develop antibodies compared to 76% of adults.

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