Tulane Outbreak Daily – July 15, 2020

Featured Headlines

First Coronavirus Vaccine Tested in Humans Shows Early Promise – New York Times

The vaccine, developed by government scientists and Moderna, a biotech company, appeared safe and provoked an immune response in 45 people in a study. [Another story by Emory Univ on Moderna Vaccine] [Another article from NIH on Moderna Vaccine]

Prepare for a winter covid-19 spike now, say medical experts – MIT Technology Review

We should prepare now for a potential new wave of coronavirus cases this winter, according to the UK’s Academy of Medical Sciences. Health-care systems tend to struggle in winter anyway because infectious diseases spread faster as we spend more time in poorly ventilated indoor spaces, and because conditions like asthma, heart attacks, and stroke tend to be exacerbated in colder temperatures. But if you factor a potential winter rise in covid-19 infections that could be worse than the initial outbreak, a backlog of patients with other conditions, and exhausted frontline workers, health-care systems could be pushed beyond their limit, the academy has warned in a new report. [Related full report from the UK Academy of Medical Sciences]

A Texas ICU nurse is hospitalized with Covid-19 after testing negative – CNN

An ICU nurse in Texas has found herself in the position of some of the very same patients she’s spent the last few weeks treating — hospitalized with Covid-19 even after testing negative for the virus.

How Contact Tracing Breaks the Chain of COID-19 Transmission – Johns Hopkins

One COVID-19 patient could lead to thousands of new cases. Contact tracers use calls, texts, and personal persuasion to prevent that from happening.

Finding COVID-19 Cases Among the Dead: ‘It May Help the Living’ -MedPageToday

The number of deaths reported to the office of Connecticut’s chief medical examiner, James Gill, MD, spiked 137% in April, mostly due to COVID-19. Now, Gill sees a handful of cases each day, but there are more nuances to his investigations, with some patients experiencing lingering COVID-19 symptoms for weeks, or even months.

Fauci Says Young People Are ‘Inadvertently’ Spreading Covid-19 – Bloomberg

Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S., warned young people who gamble they can go out to bars and socialize thinking that even if they get sick, it won’t be a severe case of Covid-19, they are “inadvertently propagating the pandemic.”

CDC study recommends mask mandates to battle coronavirus after tracking infected stylists at Missouri hair salon – CNBC

Policies that require face coverings ought to be widely considered to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, a new study published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concludes.

A COVID-19 Success Story In Rwanda: Free Testing, Robot Caregivers – NPR

In some places in the world right now, getting tested for COVID-19 remains difficult or nearly impossible. In Rwanda, you might just get tested randomly as you’re going down the street.

Anthony Fauci discusses challenges of COVID-19, reasons for hope during Stanford Medicine event – Stanford Medicine

During the discussion, which was streamed live online, Minor called attention to the critical role that Fauci has played as a voice of authority about the pandemic, thanking him for his guidance and contributions during this crisis. “In fact, a recent poll showed that Americans cite Dr. Fauci as the most relied-upon official for information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic — and for very good reasons,” Minor said.

The Pandemic Could Get Much, Much Worse. We Must Act Now. – New York Times/John Barry

When you mix science and politics, you get politics. With the coronavirus, the United States has proved politics hasn’t worked. If we are to fully reopen both the economy and schools safely — which can be done — we have to return to science. To understand just how bad things are in the United States and, more important, what can be done about it requires comparison. At this writing, Italy, once the poster child of coronavirus devastation and with a population twice that of Texas, has recently averaged about 200 new cases a day when Texas has had over 9,000. Germany, with a population four times that of Florida, has had fewer than 400 new cases a day. On Sunday, Florida reported over 15,300, the highest single-day total of any state.

Clinical Considerations

Amount of SARS-Cov-2 receptor is increased in patients with pre-existing cardiac conditions – Medical.net

Nearly 20% of all COVID-19-associated deaths are from cardiac complications, yet the mechanisms from which these complications arise have remained a topic of debate in the cardiology community. One hypothesis centers on the infection of the heart itself, but the understanding of which cells may be infected is unclear.

The many faces of interstitial pneumonia: a case of presumed SARS-CoV-2 infection – Docwire

We present the case of an oncology patient admitted to our hospital during the current COVID-19 pandemic with clinical and radiological features strongly suggestive of interstitial pneumonia. Multiple laboratory tests were negative for SARS-CoV-2 (polymerase chain reaction testing of nasopharyngeal swabs, and of induced sputum and stool samples, investigation of serum immunoglobulins G and M). In the setting of an immunocompromised status due to recent chemotherapy cycles for lung adenocarcinoma and prolonged corticosteroid therapy (due to frequent exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in recent months), we actively searched for the pathological agent and found it to be Pneumocystis jirovecii.

COVID-19 and Acute Kidney Injury – DocWire

COVID-19 is essentially an acute respiratory illness that in some patients, especially vulnerable groups, can be fatal. High-risk patients include the elderly and the immunocompromised or immunosuppressed, as well as those with a history of chronic pulmonary disease, asthma, and diabetes. Recent reports in the media suggest a spike in kidney failure, placing a significant strain on the availability of dialysis spots and dialysis machines in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. How common is kidney failure and what causes it?

First baby reported to get coronavirus from mom in womb, study finds. Experts say cases are ‘exceedingly rare.’ – USA Today

The first confirmed case of a mother transmitting the coronavirus to her unborn baby has been reported in France, according to a case study published Tuesday. French doctors said in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications that a 23-year-old woman was admitted to the Antoine Béclère hospital in Paris with a fever and a cough when she more than 35 weeks pregnant. [Related Study in Nature]

Official Reporting for July 15, 2020

World Health Organization

SITREP #175

Confirmed Cases: 12,964,809

Deaths: 570,288

ECDC

Confirmed Cases: 13,299,163

Deaths: 578,319

Johns Hopkins

Confirmed Cases: 13,397,167

Deaths: 580,388

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Total cases: 3,416,428
Total deaths: 135,991

Surveillance Headlines

UNITED STATES

Nevada: Nevada official traces new high in COVID-19 cases to July 4 – KUTV

Georgia: Cases of coronavirus disease surging along Georgia’s coast – Atlanta Journal Constitution

Los Angeles, California: LA County Reports Single-Day Record Of New COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations – Los Angeles News

North Carolina: Record day in NC for COVID-19 hospitalizations drives need for convalescent plasma – WLOS News

Alaska: COVID-19 infections in Alaska are on the rise among younger adults – Alaskapublic.org

Colorado: Coronavirus In Colorado: Jeffco Issues Mandatory Mask Order – CBS Denver

Texas: Coronavirus update San Antonio, July 14: Hospitals have started using refrigerated trucks for bodies – KSAT News

Missouri: Missouri sets new record for daily COVID-19 cases – Missouri News

Florida: Florida Breaks Its Record for Most Coronavirus Deaths in a Day – New York Times

Ohio: Ohio reports 1,142 additional COVID-19 cases; hospitalizations and ICU cases up – Ohio News

Idaho: Experts alarmed by Idaho COVID-19 trend – Idaho State Journal

Kentucky: Kentucky suffers second-worst day for new coronavirus cases – Courier Journal

AUSTRALIA

Australia Grapples With New Surge In Coronavirus Cases – NPR

ASIA

Hong Kong: HSBC, StanChart Urge Hong Kong Staff to Work at Home as Virus Spikes – Bloomberg

Science and Tech

Is there a relationship between blood type and covid-19 infection? – MIT Technology Review

Since early in the pandemic, there’s been an interest in learning whether blood type has anything to do with who is more likely to get infected by the coronavirus or how bad the effects will be. Here’s what we know so far: Early evidence: As far back as March, Chinese researchers analyzed blood types in 2,173 infected individuals from Wuhan and Shenzhen and compared those results with surveys of blood types from healthy populations in the same region. They found that 38% of the covid-19 patients had type A blood, compared with just 31% of the healthy people surveyed. By contrast, type O blood seemed to lead to a reduced risk, with 26% of the infected cases versus 34% of healthy people. And type A patients accounted for a larger proportion of covid-related deaths than any other blood type. Another study at Columbia University found similar trends: type A individuals were 34% more likely to test positive for the coronavirus, while those with type O or AB blood had a lower probability of testing positive.

Vaccine

mRNA Vax Against COVID-19 Passes First Hurdle – MedPageToday

Moderna’s mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 produced an immune response in healthy adult volunteers and was mostly well-tolerated, interim findings from a phase I dose-escalation trial found.

Published Research

SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell immunity in cases of COVID-19 and SARS, and uninfected controls – Nature

The emerging spectrum of COVID-19 neurology: clinical, radiological and laboratory findings – Brain/Journal of Neurology

Headache and impaired consciousness level associated with SARS-CoV-2 in CSF: A case report – Neurology

Follow-up study of the pulmonary function and related physiological characteristics of COVID-19 survivors three months after recovery – The Lancet

Three Patients with COVID-19 and Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Wuhan, China, January–February 2020 – CDC

Pre-Pub (not yet peer reviewed, should not be regarded as conclusive)

None Today

Coping in Quarantine

Twitter ushers in July with funny new memes that capture our anxiety as we fear what’s next – Fast Company

From FB today, and fitting!