The virus does not threaten the blood supply in the United States.High Vitamin D levels are not protected from COVID-19

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

Coronavirus does not threaten US blood supply

Current guidelines for screening U.S. blood donors for COVID-19 symptoms and a history of recent infections effectively protect blood supplies from contamination with the new coronavirus, researchers say. I will. In a study conducted for the National Institutes of Health, researchers tested approximately 18,000 “minipool” blood samples. That is, blood samples pooled from a total of approximately 258,000 donors nationwide. According to a report published in Transfusion magazine, only three minipools contained genetic material from the virus. Virus levels were low in all three. According to the researchers, the virus material was non-infectious in one mini-pool that could be tested for infectivity. “Other studies have shown that in rare cases where blood samples are positive, transfusion-induced infections have not occurred,” said co-author Sonia Buckle of the University of California, San Francisco. “Therefore, as long as current screening is used, it seems safe to receive blood as a transfusion recipient and continue donating blood without fear of COVID-19 infection.” ()

High Vitamin D levels are not protected from COVID-19

Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to an increased risk of COVID-19 and more serious illnesses, but no studies have demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency is actually the cause. A study published in PLoS Medicine on Tuesday suggests that increasing vitamin D levels with supplements has no effect. The researchers studied more than 1.2 million Europeans from 11 countries, some of whom had genetic mutations that naturally increased vitamin D levels. People with these mutations. Coronavirus infection, hospitalization, or severe COVID-19, researchers reported. Their results suggest that raising vitamin D levels in people with deficiency probably does not help fight coronavirus, and we believe that randomized trials testing vitamin D supplementation are worthwhile. Is not … However, other experts still want to see such exams, especially those of African and other non-European ancestry.)

Immune system workarounds help patients with COVID-19 blood cancer

In blood cancer patients who are deficient in antibody-producing cells, new studies show that other immune cells can be supplemented to help fight the coronavirus. Blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Patients often lack immune cells that make antibodies, called B cells, especially after treatment with certain drugs. Without sufficient B cells and antibodies, they are at serious risk of COVID-19. However, other immune cells, called T cells, learn to recognize and attack the virus. Patients with hematological malignancies who participated in this study were more likely to die of COVID-19 than those with or without solid tumors. However, among patients with hematological malignancies, those with high levels of CD8 T cells were more than three times more likely to survive than those with low levels of CD8 T cells. The authors speculate that the response of CD8 T cells to the COVID-19 vaccine may protect patients with hematological malignancies in the absence of a typical antibody response. “This study helps advise patients while waiting for more vaccine-specific studies,” co-author Dr. Erin Bange of the University of Pennsylvania said in a statement. The patient’s response to the vaccine “is likely not as strong as friends and family who do not have blood cancer, but can still save lives,” Banji added.https://go.nature.com/2STOVWf)

In some long-term cases of coronavirus infection, air is trapped in the lungs

Some survivors of COVID-19 with persistent respiratory symptoms have a condition called “air trapping” in which the inhaled air is blocked in the small airways of the lungs and cannot be exhaled. The researchers investigated 100 COVID-19 survivors who had respiratory problems such as coughing and shortness of breath, even after an average of more than two months after diagnosis. Overall, 33 people were hospitalized, 16 of whom needed intensive care. The amount of lung area showing so-called ground-glass opacities on imaging (a typical sign of lung damage from COVID-19) was higher in the hospitalized group than in mildly ill patients. Intensive care required. However, the severity of COVID-19 made little difference to the average percentage of lungs affected by air trapping. 25.4% of non-hospitalized patients, 34.5% of patients admitted without intensive care, and 27.2% of critically ill patients. In contrast, that percentage was 7.3% in the group of healthy volunteers. According to a report posted to medRxiv on Saturday prior to peer review, air trapping was primarily confined to the patient’s narrowest airways. The authors stated that the “long-term consequences” of small airway disorders in these patients were “unknown.”)

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