Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Whether breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections after vaccination are related to the level of postvaccine circulating antibody is unclear. ⋯ Ascend Clinical Laboratory.
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The warning by the Italian Medicines Agency on the high shortage of azithromycin in the country in January 2022 represents a paradigmatic lesson learnt from improper use of antibiotics during COVID-19 pandemic.
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Postgraduate medicine · Mar 2022
Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection and risk factors in a cohort of close contacts.
Many factors might affect SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but their relevance is not well established. The objectives were to assess the secondary attack rate (SAR) and the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission from confirmed index cases to their close contacts in household and non-household settings. ⋯ The risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection was considerable among close contacts of infected persons. The higher risk associated with household contacts, immigrants, older index cases, close contacts with lower income level and comorbidities should be considered to address preventive interventions.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Mar 2022
Randomized Controlled TrialOutcome of SARS CoV-2 inpatients treated with convalescent plasma: One-year of data from the Veneto region (Italy) Registry.
Convalescent plasma (CP) has been used worldwide to contrast SARS-CoV-2 infection. Since April 2020, it has also been used in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in the Veneto region (Italy), along with all the other available drugs and therapeutic tools. Here we report data analysis and clinical results in 1,517 COVID-19 inpatients treated with CP containing high-titre neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (CCP). Mortality after 30 days of hospitalization has been considered primary outcome, by comparing patients treated with CCP vs all COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals of the Veneto region in a one-year period (from April 2020 to April 2021). ⋯ To overcome the difficulties of setting up a randomized controlled study in an emergency period, a data collection from a large series of patients with severe COVID-19 admitted to CCP therapy with well-defined inclusion criteria has been implemented in the Veneto region. Our results have shown that in patients with severe COVID-19 early treatment with CCP might contribute to a favourable outcome, with a reduced mortality, in absence of relevant adverse events.
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The current era of COVID-19 is characterized by emerging variants of concern, waning vaccine- and natural infection-induced immunity, debate over the timing and necessity of vaccine boosting, and the emergence of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection. As a result, there is an ongoing need for research to promote understanding of the immunology of both natural infection and prevention, especially as SARS-CoV-2 immunology is a rapidly changing field, with new questions arising as the pandemic continues to grow in complexity. The next phase of COVID-19 immunology research will need focus on clearer characterization of the immune processes defining acute illness, development of a better understanding of the immunologic processes driving protracted symptoms and prolonged recovery (ie, post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection), and a growing focus on the impact of therapeutic and prophylactic interventions on the long-term consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this review, we address what is known about the long-term immune consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection and propose how experience studying the translational immunology of other infections might inform the approach to some of the key questions that remain.