Michael S. Piepenbrink, Jun-Gyu Park et al.: Potent universal beta-coronavirus therapeutic activity mediated by direct respiratory administration of a Spike S2 domain-specific human neutralizing monoclonal antibody, in: PLOS Pathogens Vol. 18, Issue 7 (July 21, 2022) p. e101691, online in: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010691. Abstract Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) marks the third novel β-coronavirus to cause significant human mortality in the last two decades. Although vaccines are available, too few have been administered worldwide to keep the virus in check and to prevent mutations leading to immune escape. To determine if antibodies could be identified with universal coronavirus activity, plasma from […]
Monthly archives: November 2022
Jeremy Samuel Faust, Benjamin Renton, Alexander Junxiang Chen, Chengan Du, Chenxue Liang, Shu-Xia Li, Zhenqiu Lin, Harlan M. Krumholz: The uncoupling of all-cause excess mortality from Covid-19 cases and associated hospitalizations in late winter and spring of 2022 in a highly vaccinated state, in: medRxiv (July 12, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.07.22277315. Abstract Introduction Since March 2020, all-cause excess mortality—the number of all-cause deaths exceeding the baseline number of expected deaths—has been observed in waves coinciding with Covid-19 outbreaks in the United States. The authors described high levels of excess mortality in Massachusetts during the initial 8-week Omicron wave. However, whether […]
Anna-Lisa Sorg, Selina Becht, Marietta Jank u. a.: Association of SARS-CoV-2 Seropositivity With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and/or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Among Children and Adolescents in Germany, in: JAMA Network Open Vol. 5, Issue 9 (September 27, 2022) p. e2233454, online in: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.33454. Key Points The authors asked, if SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity is associated with symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis and/or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in children and adolescents. In their cross-sectional study of hospital-based SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys in Germany the authors compared seropositive and seronegative children and adolescents and identified an excess of possible ME/CFS symptoms with serological evidence of preceding SARS-CoV-2 infection. This association almost […]
Siwen Wang, Luwei Quan, Jorge E. Chavarro et al.: Associations of Depression, Anxiety, Worry, Perceived Stress, and Loneliness Prior to Infection With Risk of Post–COVID-19 Conditions, in: JAMA Psychiatry Vol. 79 (2022) Issue 11, p. 1081-1091, online in: https://www.doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.2640. Abstract Few risk factors for long-lasting (4 weeks) COVID-19 symptoms have been identified. The study’s objective was. to determine whether high levels of psychological distress before SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by depression, anxiety, worry, perceived stress, and loneliness, are prospectively associated with increased risk of developing post–COVID-19 conditions (sometimes called long COVID). This prospective cohort study used data from three large ongoing, […]
Ruofan Li, Michael Mor, Bingting Ma, Alex E. Clark, Joel Alter, Michal Werbner, Jamie Casey Lee, Sandra L. Leibel, Aaron F. Carlin, Moshe Dessau, Meital Gal-Tanamy, Ben A. Croker, Ye Xiang, Natalia T. Freund: Conformational flexibility in neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by naturally elicited anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, in: Communications Biology Vol. 5 (2022) Issue 1, Article No. 789, online in: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03739-5. Abstract As new variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to emerge, it is important to assess the cross-neutralizing capabilities of antibodies naturally elicited during wild type SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the present study, the authors evaluate the activity of nine anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), […]
Robert Koch-Institut (ed.): Quartalsbericht der Corona-KiTa-Studie. 7. Quartalsbericht (II/2022) [Quarterly Report of the Corona-KiTa Study. 7th Quarterly Report (II/2022)] April 2022, Munich May 5, 2022, online in: https://corona-kita-studie.de/quartalsberichte-der-corona-kita-studie. The 7th Quarterly Report of the Corona-KiTa-Study addresses the pandemic in child day care (Kindertagesstätte, KiTa). The study, which was conducted by researchers from the German Youth Institute (Deutsches Jugendinstitut, DJI) and the Robert Koch Institute (Robert Koch-Institut, RKI), focuses on openings and closures, the implementation of protective measures, and suspected cases and cases of infection during the 4th and 5th waves of the pandemic.
Audrée Lemieux, Graham A. Colby, Alexandre J. Poulain, Stéphane Aris-Brosou: Viral spillover risk increases with climate change in High Arctic lake sediments, in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Biological Science Vol. 289, Issue 1985 (October 26, 2022) 20221073, online in: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1073. Abstract The host spectrum of viruses is quite diverse, as they can sustainedly infect a few species to several phyla. When confronted with a new host, a virus may even infect it and transmit sustainably in this new host, a process called ‘viral spillover’. However, the risk of such events is difficult to quantify. As climate change is […]