In a recent Special Feature, Medical News Today investigate how SARS-CoV-2 impacts the heart and the cardiovascular system at large. We dive into the research and speak with doctors about their observations in hospital settings.
In a press release, Enlivex Therapeutics outline the results of a recent trial investigating the benefits of their drug — Allocetra — for people with severe or critical COVID-19. The results are encouraging, but the study has important limitations.
The phase 2 clinical trial included data from just 21 people. All participants had severe or critical COVID-19. By day 28, none had died, and 19 of the 21 had left the hospital.
Prof. Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom, who was not involved in the study, adds some context:
“The results here are not from a randomized or controlled trial; it is effectively an observational study. Even though the results look encouraging […] the results are statistically compatible with a mortality rate of over 20%.”
He calls for randomized controlled trials that compare Allocetra, which is not yet licensed, with dexamethasone, which is relatively cost effective, easily available, and proven to be effective in similar patients.
COVID-19 rates have spiked in the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere and in summer months in the Southern Hemisphere. However, a new study suggests that the current winter peaks result from relaxing control measures — not changing climatic conditions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) have announced that they are granting the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine emergency approval. Millions of doses are now likely to be sent to the world’s most vulnerable people as part of COVAX, which is a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
According to a recent study in mice, molnupiravir (EIDD-2801) halts the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in grafts of human lung tissue. The drug also prevented infection when administered 12 hours before exposure to the virus. Clinical trials of the drug are ongoing
According to a recent review, 53% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 experience at least one gastrointestinal symptom at some time during their illness. In a recent Special Feature, Medical News Today round up the existing evidence on the gastrointestinal symptoms in COVID-19.
In the United Kingdom, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have just released data showing that people with disabilities account for six out of 10 COVID-19 deaths.
The data cover the entire period of the pandemic up to November 20, 2020. During this time, 30,296 of 50,888 people who died had disabilities. Of the total study population, only 17.2% were living with disabilities, which suggests that the pandemic affects this group of people to a disproportionate degree.
The data also show that men with disabilities were 3.1 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared with men without disabilities. Among women with disabilities, this risk was 3.5 times greater.