Jan 14, Reuters - The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID 19. They have research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and has yet to be certified by peer review.
Many people could still be infectious after 5 days of quarantine.
After a five day quarantine, about a third of people infected with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID 19 might still be infectious, according to new data. PCR tests detect virus particles but can't tell whether they are infectious or just inactive remnants. A new test was used by researchers using samples from March through November 2020. In sequential samples from 176 people with positive PCR tests, the researchers looked for genetic material that the virus produces when it is actively making copies of itself and still transmissible. The study leader Lorna Harries of the University of Exeter Medical School in England said 30 percent of people still had clinically relevant levels of potentially active virus in the past five days. After a 10 day quarantine, one in 10 people could still be infectious, her team reported on Thursday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. The researchers said that some people retained these levels for up to 68 days. There was nothing clinically remarkable about these people, which means we wouldn't be able to predict who they are, Harries said in a news release. The study was conducted before the Delta and Omicron coronaviruses variants began circulating last year. The researchers intend to conduct larger trials to confirm their findings. In facilities where onward transmission would be particularly problematic, they suggest it may be prudent to obtain molecular evidence of remission to prevent ongoing transmission. E-cigarette users infected with the coronavirus may be more likely than non-vapers to have COVID 19 symptoms, according to research published in the Journal of Primary Care Community Health. The researchers compared 289 vapers with 1,445 people of similar ages and gender who neither vaped nor smoked tobacco, all of whom had tested positive for the coronaviruses on PCR tests. The inflammation caused by the coronavirus and the inflammation induced by vaping can worsen the likelihood of inflammation throughout the body, with a resulting increase in symptoms, Vassallo and his colleagues suggested.
An experimental drug that was originally developed to treat influenza is showing promise against SARS-CoV-2 and might defend against COVID 19 from two different directions, researchers said. The zapnometinib or ATR 002 could possibly curb the proliferation of the virus in cells and also reduce the exaggerated immune response that contributes to critical illness in severe cases of COVID- 19, test tube experiments indicated. The German Institute of Drugs and Medicinal Products approved Atriva Therapeutics on Thursday to test the drug in people, based on the data published in the journal Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. This is the first time that a drug has been shown to have a dual action against COVID 19, co-author Stephan Ludwig of the University of Muenster said in a news release. Ludwig said that positive results from the still-ongoing clinical study in humans could lead to emergency approval this year.