NEW YORK (Reuters) – The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the new coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines against COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
It seems that vaccinated adults also protect children
New data from Israel, where health officials quickly moved to distribute Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and its partner BioNTech, suggests that adult vaccination also protects unvaccinated people living around it.
About a third of Maccabi Healthcare Services ’1.95 million members, all over the age of 16, had received at least a single dose of vaccine on 30 January. Analyzing the results of 223 communities, the researchers found that as the number of vaccinated adults increased upward, infection rates among unvaccinated MHS members in the same community decreased, especially among children. MHS is the second largest health maintenance organization in Israel.
“While the protection observed against vaccine-associated vaccines is encouraging, additional studies are needed to understand whether and how it can support the prospect of herd immunity and disease eradication,” the researchers concluded in the study published Wednesday in medRxiv before the peer review.
Illinois bar opening event related to 46 cases of COVID-19
An indoor celebration of a bar opening in rural Illinois in February sparked 46 new cases of COVID-19 and broader ramifications, according to a U.S. study that serves as a precaution about how these events may affect local communities.
Four attendees had similar symptoms to COVID-19 that day. Of the 46 party-related coronavirus infections, there were 26 cases among employers, three in staff members and 17 “secondary cases” in people infected by them, according to a report released Monday in the U.S. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of Disease Control and Prevention. Secondary cases included children and residents in long-term care centers.
“The transmission associated with the opening event resulted in a school closure that affected 650 children (9,100 people lost-school days) and the hospitalization of a long-term care center residing with COVID- 19 “, the researchers said. “These findings demonstrate that opening parameters such as bars, where mask wear and physical distancing are difficult, may increase the risk of community-based SARS-CoV-2 transmission,” the researchers said.
Companies should “work with local health officials to promote behaviors and maintain environments that reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and develop strategies to reopen safely to prevent outbreaks in the community, such as modifying designs and operating procedures, ”they said.
Congenital heart disease does not worsen the risks of COVID-19
According to an international study, adults with congenital heart defects are no more likely than the average person to suffer from severe COVID-19 or die from it.
The risk factors associated with poor outcomes in these people are the same as those associated with poor outcomes in the general public: old age, male gender, history of heart failure, irregular heartbeat, kidney problems, diabetes, and need for additional oxygen before becoming infected with the coronavirus, said study co-author Dr. Jamil Aboulhosn of UCLA’s Congenital Heart Center for Adults.
The researchers analyzed data from 1,044 adults with COVID-19 from 58 congenital heart disease centers worldwide. Even people with very complex heart defects did not appear to have an increased risk of severe COVID-19 as long as they no longer had severe signs and symptoms of heart disease, said Aboulhosn, who found the finding “somewhat surprising.” “. The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Patients with stroke with COVID-19 have worse outcomes
A new study shows that among patients who went to a hospital because they suffered a stroke, those who tested positive for COVID-19 were more likely to die there.
Patients with COVID-19 were also more likely to have a more severe stroke and another stroke while they were hospitalized, the researchers reported in the journal Stroke. They studied about 42,000 patients who reached 458 hospitals with ischemic stroke, caused by blockages in the arteries that carry blood to the brain. Approximately 3% of patients tested positive for COVID-19. On average, they arrived at the hospital as quickly as patients without coronavirus infection. After that, things slowed down.
“Probably due to the need to use personal protective equipment and other precautions” by hospital staff, patients with COVID-19 took longer to receive treatments that clotted the clots that reopened clogged vessels. , said the study’s co-author, Dr. Gregg Fonarow, of the University of California, Los Angeles. The study cannot show that delays in treatment caused the worst results. However, Fonarow said that “these findings suggest that stroke protocols need to be further improved to provide more timely diagnosis and treatment to patients with (ischemic stroke) to accelerate care, while protecting health care workers. of the exhibition “.
(Report by Nancy Lapid, Marilynn Larkin and Megan Brooks; edited by Bill Berkrot)
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