Materials

Amy L. Bellinghausen, Robert L. Owens: Recovering from COVID ARDS and post-intensive care syndrome, in: The Lancet. Respiratory Medicine vol. 10 (15. Juli 2022) issue 10, pp. 932-933, online in: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(22)00265-X. In their article, the two authors focus on Beatrice Garcia Diaz, who suffered from a lung disease due to SARS-CoV-2 and whose recovery was extremely difficult. Garcia Diaz developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and later struggled with the consequences of the intensive life support treatment required. She was initially hospitalized for pneumonia and respiratory failure and received non-invasive positive pressure ventilation. Beginning on the tenth day of her […]

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 […]

Ziyad Al-Aly, Benjamin Bowe, Yan Xie: Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 Reinfection [Preprint] (June, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1749502/v1. Abstract First infection with SARS-CoV-2 is associated with increased risk of acute and post-acute death and sequelae in the pulmonary and extrapulmonary organ systems. However, whether reinfection adds to the risk incurred after the first infection is not clear. In their Study, the authors used the national health care databases of the US Department of Veterans Affairs to build a cohort of people with first infection (n = 257,427), reinfection (2 or more infections, n = 38,926), and a non-infected control group (n = 5,396,855) to estimate risks and 6-month […]

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 […]

Xiaoliang Sunney Xie, Yunlong Cao et al: BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 escape antibodies elicited by Omicron infection, in: bioRxiv (June 14, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.30.489997. Abstract SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sublineages BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 exhibit higher transmissibility over BA.2. The new variants’ receptor binding and immune evasion capability require immediate investigation. In this study, coupled with Spike structural comparisons, the authors show that BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5 exhibit comparable ACE2-binding affinities to BA.2. Importantly, BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5 display stronger neutralization evasion than BA.2 against the plasma from 3-dose vaccination and, most strikingly, from post-vaccination BA.1 infections. To delineate the underlying antibody evasion […]

Gretchen Vogel: New Subvariants are masters of immune evasion, in: Science 376, Issue 6594 (May 13, 2022), pp. 679-680, online in: https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.adc9448. In her article, Gretchen Vogel highlights the immune invasion of the Omicron sublines. While the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants caused a surge in cases in South Africa, the BA.2.12.1 subvariant is spreading on the East Coast of the United States. All three variants, like earlier Omikron versions, have the remarkable ability to evade immunity acquired through vaccination or infection. However, vaccinations and previous infections at least protect against severe disease in most cases, so while the new strains […]

Ana Cecilia Ulloa, Sarah A. Buchan, Nick Daneman, Kevin A. Brown: Early estimates of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant severity based on a matched cohort study, Ontario [Preprint], Canada, in: medRxiv (January 2, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.24.21268382. Abstract While it was evident in January 2022 that Omicron is rapidly replacing Delta, largely due to immune escape, it was less clear how the severity of Omicron compares to Delta. In Ontario, the authors sought to examine hospitalization and death associated with Omicron, as compared to cases infected with Delta. The authors conducted a matched cohort study, considering time to hospitalization or death as […]

The PHOSP-COVID Collaborative Group: Clinical characteristics with inflammation profiling of long COVID and association with 1-year recovery following hospitalisation in the UK: a prospective observational study, in: The Lancet Respiratory Medicine (published online: April 23, 2022), online in: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(22)00127-8. Summary Background No effective pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions exist for patients with long COVID. The authors aimed to describe recovery 1 year after hospital discharge for COVID-19, identify factors associated with patient-perceived recovery, and identify potential therapeutic targets by describing the underlying inflammatory profiles of the previously described recovery clusters at 5 months after hospital discharge. Methods The Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study […]

Yan Xie, Ziyad Al-Aly: Risks and burdens of incident diabetes in long COVID: a cohort study, in: The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology Vol. 10, Issue 5 (May 2022), pp. 311-321, online in: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(22)00044-4. Summary Background There is growing evidence suggesting that beyond the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection, people with COVID-19 could experience a wide range of post-acute sequelae, including diabetes. However, the risks and burdens of diabetes in the post-acute phase of the disease have not yet been comprehensively characterised. To address this knowledge gap, the authors aimed to examine the post-acute risk and burden of incident diabetes in […]

Vivek Naranbhai et al.: T cell reactivity to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is preserved in most but not all prior infected and vaccinated individuals, in: medRxiv, online in: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.04.21268586. Abstract The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) contains mutations that mediate escape from infection- and vaccine-induced antibody responses, although the extent to which these substitutions in spike and non-spike proteins affect T cell recognition is unknown. In their article the authors show that T cell responses in individuals with prior infection, vaccination, both prior infection and vaccination, and boosted vaccination are largely preserved to Omicron spike and non-spike proteins. However, the authors […]