Emi Takashita et al.: Efficacy of Antiviral Agents against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Subvariant BA.2, in: New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 386, Issue 15 (April 14, 2022) pp. 1475-1477, online in: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2201933. In their letter to the editor, the authors report on their study looking at the efficacy of monoclonal antibodies against the omicron subvariants. They conclude that both etesevimab and bamlanivimab have lost neutralizing activity against the omicron subvariant BA.2. Imdevimab, which had no neutralizing activity against BA.1, however, has neutralizing activity against BA.2. Casirivimab inhibited BA.2 but not BA.1 or BA.1.1. Tixagevimab and cilgavimab neutralized BA. 2 with […]
Monthly archives: July 2022
7 posts
Oliver J. Watson et al.: Global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination: a mathematical modelling study, in: The Lancet Infectious Diseases (published online June 23, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00320-6. Summary Background The first COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial setting was administered on Dec 8, 2020. To ensure global vaccine equity, vaccine targets were set by the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility and WHO. However, due to vaccine shortfalls, these targets were not achieved by the end of 2021. The authors aimed to quantify the global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination programmes. Methods A […]
Sven Rohleder u. a.: Area-level socioeconomic deprivation, non-national residency, and Covid-19 incidence: A longitudinal spatiotemporal analysis in Germany Summary, in: eClincalMedicine (June 13, 2022), online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101485. Summary Background Socioeconomic conditions affect the dynamics of the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors analysed the association between area-level socioeconomic deprivation, proportion of non-nationals, and incidence of Covid-19 infections in Germany. Methods Using linked nationally representative data at the level of 401 German districts from three waves of infection (January-2020 to May-2021), the authors fitted Bayesian spatiotemporal models to assess the association between socioeconomic deprivation, and proportion of non-nationals with Covid-19 incidence, controlling for age, […]
Daichi Yamasoba u. a.: Sensitivity of novel SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants, BA.2.11, BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 to therapeutic monoclonal antibodies [Preprint], in: bioRxiv. The Preprint Server for Biology (May 3, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.03.490409. Abstract In May 2022, Omicron BA.2 variant was the most dominant variant in the world. Thereafter, Omicron subvariants have emerged and some of them began outcompeting BA.2 in multiple countries. For instance, Omicron BA.2.11, BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/5 subvariants are becoming dominant in France, the USA and South Africa, respectively. In this study, the authors evaluated the sensitivity of these new Omicron subvariants (BA.2.11, BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/5) to […]
John E. Bowen et al.: Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 neutralizing activity elicited by a comprehensive panel of human vaccines [Preprint], in: bioRxiv. The Preprint Server for Biology (March 16, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.15.484542. Abstract At the time of publication of the study, the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant of concern comprises three sublineages designated BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3, with BA.2 steadily replacing the currently globally dominant BA.1. The authors show that the large number of BA.1 and BA.2 spike mutations severely dampen plasma neutralizing activity elicited by infection or seven clinical vaccines, with cross-neutralization of BA.2 being consistently more potent than that […]
Khadija Khan et al.: Omicron sub-lineages BA.4/BA.5 escape BA.1 infection elicited neutralizing immunity, in: medRxiv (May 1, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.29.22274477. Abstract The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant first emerged as the BA.1 sub-lineage, with extensive escape from neutralizing immunity elicited by previous infection with other variants, vaccines, or combinations of both. Two new sub-lineages, BA.4 and BA.5, were emerging in South Africa with changes relative to BA.1, including L452R and F486V mutations in the spike receptor binding domain. The authors isolated live BA.4 and BA.5 viruses and tested them against neutralizing immunity elicited to BA.1 infection in participants who were […]
Nicole P. Hachmann u. a.: Neutralization Escape by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variants BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5 [Preprint], in: medRxiv.org (May 19, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.16.22275151. Abstract Multiple lineages of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) have emerged, and BA.1 and BA.2 have demonstrated substantial escape from neutralizing antibodies (NAbs). BA.2.12.1 has now become dominant in the United States, and BA.4 and BA.5 have become dominant in South Africa. The authors’ data show that BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5 substantially escape NAbs induced by both vaccination and infection. Moreover, BA.4/BA.5 NAb titers, and to lesser extent BA.2.12.1 NAb titers, were lower than BA.1 and BA.2 […]