Articles: sars-cov-2.
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JACC. CardioOncology · Jun 2020
ReviewCOVID-19 Clinical Trials: A Primer for the Cardiovascular and Cardio-Oncology Communities.
The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in a proliferation of clinical trials designed to slow the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Many therapeutic agents that are being used to treat patients with COVID-19 are repurposed treatments for influenza, Ebola, or for malaria that were developed decades ago and are unlikely to be familiar to the cardiovascular and cardio-oncology communities. Here, we provide a foundation for cardiovascular and cardio-oncology physicians on the front line providing care to patients with COVID-19, so that they may better understand the emerging cardiovascular epidemiology and the biological rationale for the clinical trials that are ongoing for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
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The Journal of infection · Jun 2020
Coronavirus disease 2019 in elderly patients: Characteristics and prognostic factors based on 4-week follow-up.
To investigate the characteristics and prognostic factors in the elderly patients with COVID-19. ⋯ High proportion of severe to critical cases and high fatality rate were observed in the elderly COVID-19 patients. Rapid disease progress was noted in the dead with a median survival time of 5 days after admission. Dyspnea, lymphocytopenia, comorbidities including cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and acute respiratory distress syndrome were predictive of poor outcome. Close monitoring and timely treatment should be performed for the elderly patients at high risk.
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Journal of virology · Jun 2020
Computational Inference of Selection Underlying the Evolution of the Novel Coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.
The novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that recently emerged in China is thought to have a bat origin, as its closest known relative (BatCoV RaTG13) was described previously in horseshoe bats. We analyzed the selective events that accompanied the divergence of SARS-CoV-2 from BatCoV RaTG13. To this end, we applied a population genetics-phylogenetics approach, which leverages within-population variation and divergence from an outgroup. ⋯ In practical terms, the level of constraint provides indications about which proteins/protein regions are better suited as possible targets for the development of antivirals or vaccines. We also detected limited signals of positive selection in three viral ORFs. However, we warn that, in the absence of knowledge about the chain of events that determined the human spillover, these signals should not be necessarily interpreted as evidence of an adaptation to our species.