Featured Headlines
Fauci warns of virus variant risks, but voices confidence in vaccines – New York Times
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, addressing reporters from the White House for the first time in months, warned Thursday that the nation is “still in a very serious situation” because of the coronavirus pandemic, but he said that so far, vaccines appear effective against new variants of the virus circulating in the United States.
Officials warn of threat to Europe from variant COVID-19 – CIDRAP
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today raised the risk of spread of new SARS-CoV-2 variants to very high, as COVID-19 activity in the United Kingdom, where the B117 variant is dominant, keeps a tight hold despite the country’s third lockdown,
The Science Behind Coronavirus Series III: Mutations – Los Angeles Times
In the third installment of the Los Angeles Times series “The Science Behind Coronavirus,” Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the executive chairman of the Los Angeles Times, examines the pandemic’s newest threat: a second wave of global infections fueled by mutations to the virus. The mutations, as Dr. Soon-Shiong explains, raise critical questions about the potential for re-infection by new variants, and pose the problem that therapies and vaccines may not be as effective as hoped.
Across the United States, prominent epidemiologists are divided over whether the country has reached a turning point in the fight against the coronavirus, though they agreed on one thing: The U.S. epidemic is not close to over, and people cannot let down their guard.
Emerging Coronavirus Variants May Pose Challenges to Vaccines – Medical News Today
Laboratory studies of mutations circulating in South Africa suggest they may dodge some of the body’s immune responses.
Full ICUs May Double Death Risk of COVID-19 – Medical News Today
Mortality risk for hospitalized COVID-19 patients tracked with intensive care unit (ICU) demand, a study affirmed. Across the 88 U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals with at least 10 COVID-19 ICU patients, the proportion of COVID-19 patients who died rose from 22.9% in March 2020 to a peak of 25.0% in April, then progressively fell to under 13% by July and August (P<0.001).
Infectious U.K. Covid-19 Variant Detected In 60 Countries, WHO Says – Forbes
Amid warnings of a “catastrophic moral failure” over the unequal distribution of Covid-19 vaccines around the world, the World Health Organization said Wednesday that the contagious coronavirus variant initially identified in the U.K. has been detected in at least 60 countries, up ten from the week before.
SARS-CoV-2 Household Transmission: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis – Infectious Disease Advisor
A meta-analysis of 54 studies found that the estimated secondary attack rate for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in households was 16.6%, higher than the observed rates for both SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
Vaccine Headlines
Nearly 12,000 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines spoiled en route to Michigan – Detroit Free Press
Twenty-one shipments of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine were spoiled because of temperature control issues during delivery to Michigan, state health officials said Tuesday.
Vaccine Shortage Puts Americans on the Road in Search of Shots – Bloomberg
People in the U.S. finally are traveling again, though not all these trips are for business or rest and relaxation. Instead, some are engaging in vaccine tourism.
Clinical Considerations
Men More Likely to Test Positive for SARS-CoV-2, Die From COVID-19 – Practice Update
Men are more likely to test positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and to have complications of COVID-19, according to a study published online Jan. 13 in PLOS ONE.
Large Study Finds High Burden of Acute Brain Dysfunction in Severe COVID-19 – Medical Page Today
-82% of patients were comatose for median of 10 days and 55% showed delirium for median of 3 days
SARS-CoV-2 Needs Cholesterol to Invade Cells and Form Mega Cells – Howard Hughes Medical Institute
People taking cholesterol-lowering drugs may fare better than others if they catch the novel coronavirus. A new study hints at why: the virus relies on the fatty molecule to get past the cell’s protective membrane.
The molecular properties of CD8+ T cells that respond to SARS-CoV-2 infection are not fully known. Here, we report on the single-cell transcriptomes of >80,000 virus-reactive CD8+ T cells, obtained using a modified Antigen-Reactive T cell Enrichment (ARTE) assay, from 39 COVID-19 patients and 10 healthy subjects. COVID-19 patients segregated into two groups based on whether the dominant CD8+ T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 was ‘exhausted’ or not. SARS-CoV-2-reactive cells in the exhausted subset were increased in frequency and displayed lesser cytotoxicity and inflammatory features in COVID-19 patients with mild compared to severe illness.
About half of the patients recovering from SARS-CoV-2 have persistent symptoms and reduced lung function as long as 2 months after infection. This is common even in younger SARS-CoV-2 convalescents with few comorbidities.
Official Reporting for January 22, 2021
World Health Organization
Weekly Epi Update January 19, 2020
Confirmed Cases: 95 612 831
Deaths: 2 066 176
ECDC
Confirmed Cases: 94 582 873
Deaths: 2 036 713
Johns Hopkins
Confirmed Cases: 97,475,579
Deaths: 2,088,783
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Total cases: 24,323,846 (+188,156 New Cases)
Total deaths: 404,689 (+4,383 New Deaths)
Science and Tech
Designing in a pandemic to fight a pandemic – MIT Tech Review
The capstone senior design class in biological engineering, 20.380 (Biological Engineering Design), took on its most immediate challenge ever.
Therapeutics
Bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) significantly reduced the risk of contracting symptomatic COVID-19 among residents and staff of long-term care facilities, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced. The Phase 3 BLAZE-2 COVID-19 prevention trial – conducted in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) – enrolled residents and staff at skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, commonly referred to as nursing homes, across the U.S.
Psychological and Sociological Impact
Why Medical Tourism Is Drawing Patients, Even in a Pandemic – New York Times
The coronavirus pandemic has devastated medical tourism, but pent-up demand remains for affordable treatment in foreign lands.
Published Research
Residual symptoms and lower lung function in patients recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection – European Respiratory Journal
The Basics of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission – NCCEH
Neuropathology associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection – The Lancet
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
None Today
Coping in 2020 (and probably most of 2021)
What Are You Most Excited For In A Post-Pandemic World? – NPR
Hugs, travel and seeing the smiling faces beneath one another’s masks are just a few of life’s pleasures many of us have lost during the pandemic. But with vaccines being rolled out, those dreams are a step closer to reality.