Since the discovery of the virus that causes COVID-19, the daily news cycle has been about how pathogens spread, what bugs do to the body, and what solutions eventually end up. Is full of updates. Pandemic..
However, keeping up to date with the latest Coronavirus news can be difficult. To keep you informed, Live Science has created a short list of this week’s outstanding news stories—these are really our attention.
Relation: The worst epidemic and pandemic 20 in history
Reinfection confirmed
The researchers First confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection A man from Hong Kong. The news was originally published in a press release from the University of Hong Kong on August 24th and the formal study was published in the journal on August 25th. Clinical infection.. But don’t panic. Experts called the case an “textbook example of how immunity works.”
The 33-year-old patient was first diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 26 and had mild symptoms such as cough and fever at the time. The man was released from the hospital on 14 April after a negative test result. Virus The virus that infects the man a second time makes some genetic differences in the first virus, suggesting that the man was infected with a new variant of the virus. Like all viruses. In addition, it mutated subtly over time. However, his body did not show symptoms of the disease for the second time, so his body Immunity Against pathogens.
“This is a good example of how primary infections can prevent disease from subsequent infections, but more research is needed to understand the range of consequences from reinfections.” I wrote on Twitter..
Two more reinfections have been confirmed in Europe and one in the United States since the news was published. New York Times reported.. Similar to the Hong Kong case, two European cases had mild symptoms during the second infection. However U.S. patient develops severe symptoms Scientists are investigating several theories as to why. It is not yet known how reinfections commonly occur, how often people develop serious symptoms a second time, or what these trends mean for vaccine development. That information can only come from further research.
CDC changes testing guidelines
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 test guidance changed suddenlyThose who have had contact with infected people said they do not necessarily need testing if they do not belong to a high-risk group or show symptoms of the disease.
Prior to the change, the CDC recommended that all close contacts of people who tested positive for COVID-19 also be tested, provided the virus was known to be susceptible to infection. Spread before symptoms appear, And testing close contacts Suppress outbreak.. Dr. Brett Guilloire, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told CNN that the new guidelines should encourage the “appropriate” use of tests, and the He said it was not aimed at reducing. However, public health officials say this guidance directly conflicts with scientific evidence.
Krys Johnson, associate professor of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Temple University, Pennsylvania, said, “Unless we plan to require separation of all known contacts of COVID-19, these test recommendations are scientifically significant. I will not do it.” The US needs to test, especially as schools and colleges resume More Many people are asymptomatic of the virus, she said.
In response to protests from public health officials, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of CDC, clarified the new guidance on August 27, saying: “All confirmed or possible close contact with COVID-19 patients. May need to be considered for testing, but should be prioritized if there are symptoms.” People, people at risk of severe infections, and people at high risk of exposure. However, as of this announcement, the official guidance on the CDC website has not changed.
Plasma approval
Last week we had the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Do not allow the use of plasma Treat COVID-19 patients without additional data from clinical trials. This week the FDA Emergency use permit for treatment There is no additional data at hand.
Emergency licenses allow physicians to administer unapproved treatment “when there is no appropriate, approved and available alternative,” and patients do not have to be enrolled in a clinical trial to receive treatment, According to the FDA website.. However, infectious disease specialists and public health authorities have found that convalescent plasma therapy antibodyAbundant plasma from people who have recovered from the disease — we haven’t gotten the mark of this approval.
Scientists need to conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to demonstrate that plasma helps recovery in patients with COVID-19, with participants receiving either plasma or standard treatment randomly. I will. You can then compare the results evenly between the two groups. Given that the supply of eligible plasma and the number of people with COVID-19 vary from region to region, organizing plasma RCTs has proven difficult.
Approval of treatments may make recruiting patients for these trials more difficult as many RCTs to plasma are ongoing. Patients with RCT will receive either plasma or standard treatment randomly, but patients treated under emergency permit will not be eligible for this randomization. Guaranteeing plasma outside the RCT can make participation in the study difficult.
When the RCT derails, it becomes difficult to gather solid evidence that plasma therapy is effective.
Originally published in Live Science.
