The immune system can cause extensive damage to COVID-19.Dogs can detect human coronavirus

(Reuters)-The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific research on the new coronavirus and efforts to find cures and vaccines for the virus-induced disease COVID-19.

The immune system can widely self-attack with COVID-19

Antibodies are supposed to attack invading bacteria, but severely ill COVID-19 patients mistakenly attack not only their tissues and organs, but even the proteins that fight the virus produced by the immune system, the so-called I have autoantibodies. Scientists studied 194 COVID-19 patients, including 55 with severe illness, and 30 virus-free controls. Autoantibodies produced by the immune system have been found to occur frequently in the most ill patients, damaging connective tissues such as the central nervous system, blood vessels, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. They also found a high prevalence of autoantibodies that interfere with substances involved in the functioning of the immune system itself, including cytokines and other “immunmodulatory” proteins. The “amazing degree of autoantibody reactivity” in these patients indicates that these mistargeted antibodies are the “unique aspect” of COVID-19. The report was posted to medRxiv on Saturday prior to peer review. ((()

Dogs can sniff out COVID-19

According to researchers, trained dogs can identify people with COVID-19, even those who are asymptomatic. In a preliminary study released Thursday at PLoS One, dogs that sniffed armpit sweat swab samples would know which samples were from COVID-19 patients and which were negative for the new coronavirus. Is done. The study was conducted in March. More recently, researchers have validated the findings in additional trials, said Dominique Grand Jean, research leader at the Alfort Veterinary School in France. According to Grand Jean, dogs can identify infected individuals with 85% to 100% accuracy and rule out infections with 92% to 99% accuracy. “It takes a tenth of a second for a trained dog to say’yes’or’no’,” he said. Training can take 3-8 weeks, depending on whether the dog is already trained for odor detection. According to Grand Jean, COVID-19 detection dogs have already been deployed at airports in the United Arab Emirates. According to the organizers, on Wednesday, the International K9 Working Group on UAE and COVID-19 will host a virtual workshop on the use of these trained dogs, with 25 countries attending. ((()

COVID-19 is not associated with Guillain-Barré Syndrome

COVID-19 is not associated with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a potentially paralyzing disorder, a large UK study shows. In GBS, the immune system mistakenly attacks the nerves of the feet, hands, and limbs. A small study suggests a link between COVID-19 and GBS. However, when researchers compared the number of GBS cases recorded in the UK National Health Service database from 2016 to 2019 with the number recorded in the first half of 2020, the annual incidence during a pandemic was 40% to 50. It turned out to be% lower. “There can be no causal link between COVID-19 and GBS,” Stephen Keddy of University College London said in a statement. His team also reported in the journal Brain on Monday that they also searched for new coronavirus gene or protein structures that could trigger an immune response that causes GBS, but could not find them. This is good news for vaccine development. “Most COVID-19 vaccinations are based on peplomer (of the coronavirus) and produce antibodies that provoke complex immune responses to combat infection,” Keddy said. “The concern that COVID vaccination may cause a significant number of GBS is therefore almost certainly unfounded,” as the researchers found nothing in the virus known to cause GBS. He said. ((()

Antibiotics azithromycin does not help with severe COVID-19

According to the results of clinical trials, the antibiotic azithromycin was unable to help severely ill adults infected with the new coronavirus. Based on the results, the research leader said that the only COVID-19 patients who should be given antibiotics are those with a bacterial infection. Conducted in 176 hospitals across the UK, the study enrolled more than 9,000 patients, tested multiple drugs, and found drugs that were more effective than standard hospital care in the treatment of COVID-19. I checked if it was. According to preliminary data published at medRxiv on Monday prior to peer review, patients randomly assigned to receive azithromycin than those who received standard treatment for death, length of hospital stay, or ventilator needs. It wasn’t good. “More than 75% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are prescribed antibiotics,” the researchers point out. “No harm was detected in individual patients treated with azithromycin, but there is a risk of harm at the social level due to the widespread use of antibiotics,” the researchers said. They concluded that the widespread use of antibiotics in patients with COVID-19 “should be generally questioned.” ((()

Open tmsnrt.rs/3a5EyDh In an external browser with Reuters graphics on vaccines and treatments under development.