People who contract the novel coronavirus emit high amounts of virus very early on in their infection, according to a new study from Germany that helps to explain the rapid and efficient way in which the virus has spread around the world. At the same time, the study suggests that while people with mild infections can still test positive by throat swabs for days and even weeks after their illness, those who are only mildly sick are likely not still infectious by about 10 days after they start to experience symptoms. The study, by scientists in Berlin and Munich, is one of the first outside China to look at clinical data from patients who have been diagnosed with Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and one of the first to try to map when people infected with the virus can infect others. It was published Monday on a preprint server, meaning it
IT / Stiinta
In the months since the novel coronavirus rose from a regional crisis to a global threat, drug makers large and small have scrambled to advance their best ideas for thwarting a pandemic. Some are repurposing old antivirals. Some are mobilizing tried-and-true technologies, and others are pressing forward with futuristic approaches to human medicine. Here’s a guide to some of the most talked-about efforts to treat or prevent coronavirus infection, with details on the science, history, and timeline for each endeavor. Gilead Sciences Approach: Treatment Stage: Phase 3 Gilead’s remdesivir, an intravenous treatment, has already been used to treat one infected patient in the U.S. and will soon be deployed in a pair of large, late-stage studies in Asia. Later this month, Gilead will recruit about 1,000 patients diagnosed with the coronavirus to determine whether multiple doses of remdesivir can reverse the
It has been two months since China announced a previously unknown virus had been identified as the cause of a new outbreak in the city of Wuhan. In the weeks since then, the coronavirus — now called SARS-CoV2 — has raced around the globe, igniting major outbreaks in Iran, South Korea, Italy, Japan and now, it seems, Seattle. There are still many, many questions about this virus and the disease it causes, Covid-19. But in a matter of mere weeks, a number of features of the disease have come into focus, through extraordinarily rapid sharing of research. “Eight weeks into Covid-19, there’s quite a lot that we are learning,” Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads the World Health Organization’s emerging diseases and zoonoses unit, said in a recent interview. (Zoonoses are diseases that jump to people from animals.) Kerkhove spoke to STAT after returning to the agency’s headquarters in Geneva after two weeks
HANGZHOU (XINHUA) - Chinese researchers have recently found the coronavirus in tears and conjunctival secretions from one patient infected with the virus. A research team from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine conducted a study on samples collected from 30 patients who were confirmed to be infected with the virus from Jan 26 to Feb 9 at the hospital. Among them, two samples of tear and conjunctival secretions obtained from one patient with conjunctivitis tested positive for the new virus, while 58 samples from other patients showed negative results. Dr Shen Ye, deputy head of the hospital, said that through antiviral treatment, the patient's conjunctivitis has improved with negative results in the eyes. The study suggests that there is a risk of coronavirus transmission via the eyes, and the respiratory tract may not be the only way to spread the virus, Dr Shen said. It also
(Reuters) - U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield told the U.S. Congress on Thursday that his agency is aggressively evaluating how long coronavirus can survive and be infectious on surfaces. “On copper and steel its pretty typical, it’s pretty much about 2 hours,” Redfield said at a House of Representatives hearing on the government response to the fast-spreading virus. “But I will say on other surfaces - cardboard or plastic - it’s longer, and so we are looking at this.” He said infections contracted from surfaces rather than through the air could have contributed to the outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Still, Redfield said he did not think surface transmission would impact cargo shipments. Redfield also said the mortality of the virus could be lower outside of China. “We don’t have the data, but I at least suspect if you look at the mortality rate of this disease outside of China,
Researches at Israel’s Ministries of Science and Technology and Agriculture told reporters on Thursday that the anti-coronavirus vaccine for fowls they developed in the past four years can be adapted for humans. They estimate that it would take around two months for preclinical tests and a third month to be ready for vaccinating humans – if it is approved by international medical monitoring authorities. The researchers confirm finding close genetic similarities between the virus infecting fowls and the strain currently raising fears of a global human pandemic. Their transmission mechanisms are identical, say the Israeli research teams, which are led by Prof. Yaakov Pitkovsky, Dr. Hen Katz and Dr. Ehud Shahar. source: debka
Team of Taiwanese scientists develops 1st self-produced antigen for Wuhan coronavirus within 10 days. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As scientists rush to develop treatment and vaccines for the Wuhan coronavirus, a team of Taiwanese scientists has developed the country's first self-produced antigen for the virus in 10 days. A research team at Academia Sinica completed gene synthesis and entered the stage of antigen production within 10 days, a process that usually takes six weeks, reported Liberty Times. Academia Sinica said that with the new antigen in hand, it can begin testing for antibodies and can also aid in the development of a vaccine and drugs to treat the disease. The antigen could not come at a moment too soon as it was quickly put to use to confirm whether a suspected carrier of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) had indeed been infected. In order to test whether the first person to die from the
Yan Bai, MD1; Lingsheng Yao, MD2; Tao Wei, MD3; et alFei Tian, MD4; Dong-Yan Jin, PhD5; Lijuan Chen, PhD1; Meiyun Wang, MD, PhD Author Affiliations
Article Information 1Department of Medical Imaging, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China 2Department of Radiology, Anyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Anyang, Henan, China 3Department of Radiology and Interventional, the Fifth People's Hospital of Anyang, Anyang, Henan, China 4Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, China 5Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China JAMA.
Wuhan coronavirus infection numbers drop as China alters counting system for 6th time. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On Wednesday (Feb. 19), China's National Health Commission (NHC) announced that it is again changing the method by which Wuhan coronavirus infections are tabulated, with patients in Hubei Province being classified in the same way as other patients across the country, significantly reducing the number of cases reported on Thursday. In a notice issued by the NHC on Feb. 6, it wrote that the classification of new Wuhan virus infections will be divided into four categories: "suspected cases," "clinically diagnosed cases," "confirmed cases," and "positive tests." Among these, "positive tests" refers to "asymptomatic infected patients" who test positive for the disease but have no symptoms. Then, on Feb. 13, Hubei suddenly
Marius Gilbert, PhD † Giulia Pullano, MSc Francesco Pinotti, PhD Eugenio Valdano, PhD Chiara Poletto, PhD Prof Pierre-Yves Boëlle, PhD et al.
Summary Background The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has spread from China to 25 countries. Local cycles of transmission have already occurred in 12 countries after case importation. In Africa, Egypt has so far confirmed one case. The management and control of COVID-19 importations heavily rely on a country's health capacity. Here we evaluate the preparedness and vulnerability of African countries against their risk of importation of COVID-19. Methods We used data on the volume of air travel departing from airports in the infected provinces in China and directed to Africa to estimate the risk of importation per
The coronavirus sweeping across China has triggered a burst of research activity aimed at finding a salve for the infectious disease, prompting more than 120 clinical trials that have either gotten underway or are planned in coming weeks, according to new data. As of Wednesday, 124 studies have either commenced or are expected to do so shortly, with all but three taking place in China. At the end of last week, the tally stood at 70 trials as the Chinese government and public health officials from elsewhere explored different avenues for combating the coronavirus, according to the Trial Trove database run by Informa Pharma Intelligence. “As of this moment, you’re looking at 40,000-plus patients being targeted,” said Jake Mathon, an analyst at Informa. “It’s an amazingly fast response and the sheer number of patients involved is pretty staggering.” He noted that
CHICAGO (REUTERS) - Scientists in China who studied nose and throat swabs from 18 patients infected with the new coronavirus say it behaves much more like influenza than other closely related viruses, suggesting it may spread even more easily than previously believed. In at least in one case, the virus was present even though the patient had no symptoms, confirming concerns that asymptomatic patients could also spread the disease. Although preliminary, the findings published on Wednesday (Feb 19) in the New England Journal of Medicine offer new evidence that this Covid-19, which has killed more than 2,000 people, mostly in China, is not like its closely related coronavirus cousins. "If confirmed, this is very important," said Dr Gregory Poland, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who was not
Kaiyuan Sun, PhD Jenny Chen, BSc Cécile Viboud, PhD
Summary
Background As the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) progresses, epidemiological data are needed to guide situational awareness and intervention strategies. Here we describe efforts to compile and disseminate epidemiological information on COVID-19 from news media and social networks. Methods In this population-level observational study, we searched DXY.cn, a health-care-oriented social network that is currently streaming news reports on COVID-19 from local and national Chinese health agencies. We compiled a list of individual patients with COVID-19 and daily province-level case counts between Jan 13 and Jan 31,
Chinese study finds Wuhan coronavirus could do heavy damage to male reproductive system. TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As scientists race to unravel the mysteries of the Wuhan coronavirus in an effort to stem its spread, a Chinese study has found the disease could lead to male infertility. Fan Caibin, a urologist at Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Suzhou Hospital, on Feb. 12 posted the results of a scientific research project which found that the disease not only damages the lungs, but also the kidneys and testes, potentially leading to male infertility. The team summarized the clinical data of three previous studies, which included six patients, 41 patients, and 99 patients, respectively. The study found that kidney dysfunction occurs in 3 to 10 percent of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. In addition, acute damage to the kidneys occurs in seven percent of patients. As for the disease's effect on the male urinary
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