The Abbott Coronavirus test is accurate. Breast milk of infected mothers may protect infants

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

Highly accurate new coronavirus antibody test

According to a study published Friday in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, the new antibody test is very accurate in determining whether people are infected with the novel coronavirus. Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine have found that the test produced by Abbott Laboratories has a specificity of 99.9% and a sensitivity of 100%. This suggests that a healthy person is unlikely to be mistakenly diagnosed as infected and that there is virtually no chance. False negative readout. Abbott’s tests have been approved by the FDA for emergency use, and the company has already shipped more than 10 million tests to hospitals and laboratories. (Link: reut.rs/2xIdOdk )

Coronavirus antibodies in breast milk may protect infants

Studies show that the milk of infected mothers may contain antibodies to new coronaviruses that may protect the baby. “Lactating mothers infected with the new coronavirus need to continue breastfeeding after COVID-19 illness. (Other researchers) show that milk-borne infection does not occur. The antibody is almost certain to exist, and Rebecca Powell of the Ikern School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, New York, who led the study, told Reuters that it would “protect the baby from infection.” Her team’s report posted to the preprint server medRxiv on Friday has not yet been peer reviewed or published in a medical journal. ()

Hydroxychloroquine shows no benefit to hospitalized coronavirus patients

A large observational study of coronavirus patients in hospital showed that an old malaria drug advocated by US President Donald Trump as a “game changer” in the fight against the hydroxychloroquine-virus-the need for respiratory support and their death as well. Risk did not diminish, according to a report published Thursday in the New England Medical Journal.

“There was no association between taking this drug and the possibility of death or intubation,” said Dr. Neil Schulger, principal investigator at the New York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center. I told Reuters. “People who got the drugs didn’t seem to have anything to go wrong with,” the researchers noted, because the patients in the study were not randomly assigned to receive hydroxychloroquine or placebo. Randomized trials, the gold standard for new treatment trials, should continue. (Link: reut.rs/2WHgjoZ ))

Life-threatening syndrome develops in some children after coronavirus exposure

Rarely life-threatening conditions develop in some children after exposure to a new coronavirus that researchers call “ a child’s multisystem inflammatory syndrome that may be associated with COVID-19 ” doing. Doctors are looking at a group of very young children with disabilities that can attack multiple organs, compromise cardiac function, and weaken the arteries of the heart. A British doctor reported Thursday in a lancet said that children would have fever, rash, conjunctivitis, swelling of the legs, arm and leg pain, and “serious” gastrointestinal tract, even if they didn’t initially have a positive response to coronavirus. He said he has symptoms. Although this syndrome is rare, it can rapidly progress to serious illnesses that require mechanical ventilation. (Link: reut.rs/3cj848U ))

Coronavirus may survive in sperm

A Chinese researcher who tested 38 male sperm infected with COVID-19 found that 6 or 16% had the new coronavirus in their semen. This suggests that the virus, officially known as SARS-CoV-2, is unlikely to be transmitted, scientists said. Some men had already recovered from the disease.

“If we can prove that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted sexually … (it could be an important part of prevention),” said a doctor at Shanju City Hospital in China on Thursday JAMA Network Writing more openly, needing more research. (Link: reut.rs/2WhI2h0 )

Poor nasal swab technique may explain some false-negative coronavirus tests

According to Canadian researchers, some of the reasons for some false-negative coronavirus tests-tests that do not detect the virus in people who are actually infected-are partly because people who use nasopharyngeal swabs test samples Maybe because we didn’t collect it. They re-analyzed samples from patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and found negative or uncertain test results with less than expected human DNA. To properly use the nasopharyngeal swabs and obtain high quality specimens, “training and specialization is required as the swab must be inserted … to a depth of approximately 7 cm (2.76 inches) and then rotated and pulled out. Knowledge is required, “says Simon Fraser’s University of The Blina Bram Burnaby, British Columbia, and colleagues. Their study, submitted to the preprint server medRxiv on Friday, has not yet been peer-reviewed and published in medical journals. ( )

Coronavirus epidemics are more affected by public health measures than climate

According to data collected in March from 144 regions of the world, temperature and latitude do not appear to be associated with the new epidemic of coronaviruses, and humidity levels only have a minor effect. By contrast, public health measures such as social distance, school closures, and home evacuation made a difference and were strongly associated with a reduction in epidemics, announced Friday by Dr. Peter Juni and CMAJ at the University of Toronto. A colleague found in the report (Canada Medical Association Journal).

“The significant impact of public health interventions needs to be carefully weighed against potential economic and psychosocial harm when deciding when and how to lift restrictions,” Juni’s team said. The report concluded. ( )