Featured Headlines
What we know about COVID-19 immunity – Nature
What little we know about COVID-19 immunity, what we can intelligently guess at — and how decision makers can work with it. Plus: the United States halts funding to the World Health Organization, and mathematician and ‘Game of Life’ designer John Conway has died from COVID-19.
Almost 60% of Chest X-Rays ‘Normal’ in COVID-19 – Med Page Today
Imaging study may be inadequate to diagnose COVID-19 in an ambulatory care setting, research suggests [Related Study]
Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1 – NEJM
A novel human coronavirus that is now named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (formerly called HCoV-19) emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and is now causing a pandemic.1 We analyzed the aerosol and surface stability of SARS-CoV-2 and compared it with SARS-CoV-1, the most closely related human coronavirus.2
Relief from social distancing could unleash the virus anew – Nature
Cases of COVID-19 are likely to surge after current social-distancing measures are eased, according to models.
SARS-CoV-2 Contamination of Air, Surfaces Examined in ICU, Wards – Physicians Weekly
Considerable severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) contamination of air and object surfaces is reported in intensive care units (ICUs) and general coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) wards (GW), according to a study published online April 10 in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Related Study]
Coronavirus deaths in U.S. nursing homes soar to more than 5,500 – NBC News
By far the largest increase was in New York state, where the death count rose from 1,330 last week to 3,060 as of Wednesday.
What Does Covid-19 Do to Your Brain? – Wired
Scientists are racing to figure out why some patients also develop neurological ailments like confusion, stroke, seizure, or loss of smell.[Related Study]
COVID-19 and African Americans – JAMA
Much has been published in leading medical journals about the phenomenon of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The resulting condition, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has had a societal effect comparable only to the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. As the flow of clinical science has better informed the contemporary narratives, more is being learned about which individuals and groups experience the most dire complications. Researchers have emphasized older age, male sex, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, concomitant cardiovascular diseases (including coronary artery disease and heart failure), and myocardial injury as important risk factors associated with worse outcomes; specifically, case-fatality rates vary over 100%.1-3 These data sourced from China and Europe have not been replicated in the US, but the US experience may nevertheless represent similarly distressing outcomes in these highest-risk phenotypes.
A Comparison Of Lockdown UK With Non-Lockdown Sweden – zerohedge
Sweden remains the only major Western country that has not imposed a strict lockdown on its citizens to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak
Surveillance
Official Reporting for April 16, 2020
| WHO SITREP #86 | ECDC | Country Data | Johns Hopkins | |
| Confirmed Cases | 1,914,916 | 2,029,930 | 2,101,164 |
| Deaths | 123,010 | 136,320 | 140,773 |
Total deaths: 24,582
Travel Related: 6,814
Close Contact: 14,728
Under Investigation: 583,848
Total Cases: 605,390
Surveillance Headlines
USA
Indiana: COVID-19 cases jump up to 8,955 positive cases, 436 deaths Wednesday – WPTA
ICELAND
Iceland SARS-CoV-2 Screening Effort Finds Lower Infection Incidence in Children, Women – Genomeweb [Related Study]
AFRICA
South Africa flattens its coronavirus curve—and considers how to ease restrictions – Science
EUROPE
Ukraine: registers 397 new COVD-19 cases, eight earlier diagnosed people died – Interfax
Science and Tech
Model quantifies the impact of quarantine measures on Covid-19’s spread – MIT
A machine learning algorithm combines data on the disease’s spread with a neural network, to help predict when infections will slow down in each country. [Related pre-pub study]
Neurologic Features in Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection – NEJM
Six patients were excluded because of paralytic neuromuscular blockade when neurologic data were collected or because they had died without a neurologic examination having been performed. In all 58 patients, reverse-transcriptase–polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assays of nasopharyngeal samples were positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The median age of the patients was 63 years, and the median Simplified Acute Physiology Score II at the time of neurologic examination was 52 (interquartile range, 37 to 65, on a scale ranging from 0 to 163, with higher scores indicating greater severity of illness). Seven patients had had previous neurologic disorders, including transient ischemic attack, partial epilepsy, and mild cognitive impairment.
Droplets and Aerosols in the Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 – NEJM
Breathing and talking also produce smaller and much more numerous particles, known as aerosol particles, than those visualized in the laser experiment of Anfinrud and colleagues.2-4 Certain persons called “super spreaders” produce many more aerosol particles than other persons. The diameters of these particles are in the micron range. These particles are too small to settle because of gravity, but they are carried by air currents and dispersed by diffusion and air turbulence.
Vaccine
Johnson & Johnson Plans To Commence Trial Production Of COVID-19 Vaccine At Its Netherlands Based Facility: Plans To Supply 1 Billion Doses Globally –
Diagnostics
COVID-19 testing leans heavily on reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technology. Although RT-PCR is currently the most sensitive method for detecting viral RNA—such as the viral RNA unleashed by COVID-19’s viral particles—it is showing signs of strain. With RT-PCR, reagent supplies can be overstretched, trained personnel can be overtasked, and processing times can be overlong.
What Do Antibody Tests For SARS-CoV-2 Tell Us About Immunity? – The Scientist
Studies from serum samples could transform our understanding of the spread of COVID-19, but what antibodies alone say about immunity is not yet clear. [Related Study]
Published Research
Prominent Changes in Blood Coagulation of Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection – Clin Chem Lab Med
Laboratory Abnormalities in Patients with COVID-2019 Infection – Clin Chem Lab Med
COVID-19: Consider Cytokine Storm Syndromes and Immunosuppression – Clin Chem Lab Med
SARS-CoV-2 shedding and infectivity – Lancet
Pre-Pub (not yet peer reviewed, should not be regarded as conclusive)
Supply Chain Impact
South Dakota Meat Plant Is Now Country’s Biggest Coronavirus Hot Spot – New York Times
Refugees from around the world worked at the Smithfield pork factory in Sioux Falls. Now they face mounting illness and the sudden loss of their jobs.
Infection Prevention
How Many Times Can an N95 Mask Be Sanitized and Reused? Med Page Today
Number of safe reuses varies by decontamination method [Related Pre-Pub Study]
Coping in Quarantine
Thank you readers for your contributions, please keep them coming! I am lucky to be on a farm, and not feeling the walls close in during this strange time of quarantine.