Category: Covid-19

In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Brigham and Womens Hospital and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard have found the new mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to be highly effective in producing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in pregnant and lactating women. The study also demonstrated the vaccines confer protective immunity to newborns through breast milk and the placenta.

The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG), looked at 131 women of reproductive age (84 pregnant, 31 lactating and 16 non-pregnant), all of whom received one of the two new mRNA vaccines: Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna. The vaccine-induced titers or antibody levels were equivalent in all three groups. Reassuringly, side effects after vaccination were rare and comparable across the study participants.

This news of excellent vaccine efficacy is very encouraging for pregnant and breastfeeding women, who were left out of the initial COVID-19 vaccine trials, said Andrea Edlow, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at MGH, director of the Edlow Lab in the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology and co-senior author of the new study. Filling in the information gaps with real data is key especially for our pregnant patients who are at greater risk for complications from COVID-19. This study also highlights how eager pregnant and lactating individuals are to participate in research.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, individuals who are pregnant are more likely to become severely ill with COVID-19, require hospitalization, intensive care or ventilation and may be at increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes. The team also compared vaccination-induced antibody levels to those induced by natural infection with COVID-19 in pregnancy, and found significantly higher levels of antibodies from vaccination.

Vaccine-generated antibodies were also present in all umbilical cord blood and breast milk samples taken from the study, showing the transfer of antibodies from mothers to newborns.

We now have clear evidence the COVID vaccines can induce immunity that will protect infants, said Galit Alter, core member of the Ragon Institute and co-senior author of the study. We hope this study will catalyze vaccine developers to recognize the importance of studying pregnant and lactating individuals, and include them in trials. The potential for rational vaccine design to drive improved outcomes for mothers and infants is limitless, but developers must realize that pregnancy is a distinct immunological state, where two lives can be saved simultaneously with a powerful vaccine. We look forward to studying all vaccine platforms in pregnancy as they become available.

The study was also able to provide insight into potential differences between the immune response elicited by the Pfizer vaccine compared to the Moderna vaccine, finding the levels of mucosal (IgA) antibodies were higher after the second dose of Moderna compared to the second dose of Pfizer.

This finding is important for all individuals, since SARS-CoV-2 is acquired through mucosal surfaces like the nose, mouth and eyes, said Kathryn Gray, an obstetrician at Brigham and Womens Hospital and a first author of the paper. But it also holds special importance for pregnant and lactating women because IgA is a key antibody present in breast milk.

Grays co-first authors on the study are Evan Bordt of MGH and Caroline Atyeo of the Ragon Institute.

Funding for the study included grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the Gates Foundation, the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness (MassCPR) and the Musk Foundation.

Visit link:

Study shows COVID-19 vaccinated mothers pass antibodies to newborns - Harvard Gazette

Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association jointly announced today the latest COVID-19 testing results conducted under MLBs COVID-19 Health Monitoring & Testing Plan.The independent Utah laboratory has reported thefollowing results during the past week:

Weekly Monitoring Testing:

Total Monitoring Testing To Date:

Total Testing (Monitoring + Intake Testing):

See the article here:

Weekly COVID-19 testing results announced - MLB.com

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) Health officials are warning residents of a spike in coronavirus cases in Hillsborough County.

The Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County released a statement Thursday saying the area has seen both the average number of COVID-19 cases per day and the percent positivity climb over the past two weeks.

Between March 14 and March 20, Hillsborough health officials identified 2,360 new cases, a 12.5% increase from the previous week when they reported 2,097 new cases. The percent positivity also increased to 7.8%.

Health leaders said the largest increase in cases was in the 25 to 34 age group.

Hospitalizations only ticked up slightly, 0.5% from the week before.

The spike in cases comes as testing rates remain stable statewide and Florida opens vaccine eligibility to more adults.

According to the health department, more than 296,000 people in Hillsborough County have already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

We want to get this over with, we want to stay safe and stay protected and still get our shots at the same time, a local grandmother told 8 On Your Side.

Im often asked are we turning the corner? My response is more like we are at the corner. Whether or not we are going to be turning that corner still remains to be seen, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert and director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

To track the number of coronavirus cases in your county, visit the Florida Department of Healths COVID-19 dashboard.

More:

Daily COVID-19 cases on the rise in Hillsborough County, officials say - WFLA

The City of Somerville Office of Veterans Services, in partnership with the Revere Office of Veterans Services and the VA Boston Healthcare System, have announced a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for Veterans of all ages. The clinic will take place on Saturday, April 3, from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Beachmont Post 6712 located at 150 Bennington Street, Revere, MA 02151.

To be eligible, Veterans must be enrolled in the VA Healthcare. Veterans currently not enrolled can enroll by calling the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare at 877-222-8387, or they can enroll on-site the day of the vaccination clinic. There are no additional eligibility criteria. Vaccines will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis and no registration or sign-up is required.

It was imperative that we create a multi-faceted strategy to reach the Veterans population by bringing vaccinations directly into impacted communities and offering an exclusive COVID-19 clinic for Veterans of all ages, said Somerville Director of Veterans Services Ted Louis-Jacques. This partnership is indicative of the fundamental changes that can happen when you provide access, break down barriers, and close equity gaps for the people who need it most.

Marc Silvestri, Director of Veterans Services for the City of Revere, added, I know firsthand how challenging the last year has been, but now with the vaccine, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am proud to be working in collaboration with the VA Boston and VFW post 6712 in Beachmont to bring a vaccination clinic to Revere. We have been working diligently to make this happen, and its an honor to work together in vaccinating our Veterans. As leaders and trusted members of the community, we need to lead by example and get vaccinated. I am excited for April 3rd and hope to see you there!

The Moderna and Janssen (Johnson and Johnson) vaccine will be offered at the clinic. Individuals who receive the Moderna vaccine will be scheduled to receive the second dose on May 1, 2021. A second dose is not needed for the Janssen vaccine.

For further details or questions, contact Ted Louis-Jacques, City of Somerville Director of Veterans Services at [emailprotected]. The City of Somerville is also available to help those who face barriers to accessing vaccines including needing transportation or language assistance. If you are currently eligible to receive a vaccine and need help accessing the vaccine, please call 311 (617-666-3311).

Continued here:

Cities of Somerville and Revere Announce COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic for Veterans, April 3 - City of Somerville

PALMER, Mass. (WWLP) Some say we are nearing the end of this pandemic, but the fight is still far from over.

Coronavirus has pushed back in Massachusetts, a state that saw a spike in red communities, going from 20 to 32 in the last week.

From Tuesday to Wednesday, Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer went from 7 to 11 COVID-19 patientsand this comes as Palmer, Monson and Lee join Chicopee and Southwick as the only western Massachusetts red communities.

Going back into the red is concerning for Palmer businesses, that have overcome a lot, just to get to this point.

Weve been in business since July of 2001 and weve never seen anything this bad before, said Fabio Montefusco, Kitchen Manager of Apollo Pizzeria Restaurant. But we are doing the best we can, thats it. We just have to adapt to what the world brings us these days.

Health officials are urging residents to double down on mask wearing, and social distancing, to stop the spread and evolution of the virus.

Whatever decision you make right now, is also a decision that affects the people around you, said Dr. Armando Paez, Chief of Baystate Medical Centers Infectious Diseases Division. If you let it slide, and let the variants become the dominant strain thats circulating, theres a chance the vaccines may not work.

Dr. Paez also said recent data indicates that the virus is spreading more through younger residents.

See the rest here:

Palmer and Monson are back in the red zone for COVID-19 risk - WWLP.com

Spores of the fungus Aspergillus can be deadly if they enter the lungs of a person with a compromised immune systemor a COVID-19 infection.

By Nathaniel ScharpingMar. 22, 2021 , 12:05 PM

Sciences COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation.

COVID-19 brings thousands of people into hospitals every daybut their coronavirus infections are not always the direct reason they die. Dangerous secondary infections by opportunistic pathogens are common in intensive care units, and physicians are raising the alarm about a particular microbial threat to COVID-19 patients: a common fungus known asAspergillus.

Emerging evidence suggests that infection with SARS-CoV-2and possibly the drugs used to treat itmakes COVID-19 patients especially vulnerable toAspergillus. The threat, which also surfaced during the 2009 flu pandemic, is leading some researchers to urge more careful fungal surveillance of the sickest COVID-19 patients and treatment with antifungal drugs.

Aspergillus is ubiquitousyou cant avoid it, says George Thompson, an infectious disease physician at the University of California, Davis. Members of its genus produce spores that can float in the air, and we breathe in hundreds to thousands or more [of them] per day, he says.

Those spores normally dont harm us. Aspergillus infections were typically considered a threat only to immunocompromised patients, such as those undergoing cancer treatments or bone marrow transplants. But in 2009, doctors saw a spike in previously healthy people who succumbed to Aspergillus. They had all first become sick with a new, pandemic strain of the influenza virus H1N1.

For reasons scientists still dont completely understand, influenza infections appear to make the fungus more deadly in people with a seemingly normal immune system. In a 2016 review of 57 cases of Aspergillus infections in influenza patients reported since 1963, Nancy Crum-Cianflone, an infectious disease specialist at Scripps Mercy Hospital, found that about half of the co-infected patients died.

Now, something similar may be happening with COVID-19. Just as H1N1 was a severe strain of influenza, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is an especially dangerous form of coronavirus, Crum-Cianflone says. That could help explain why it leaves COVID-19 patients vulnerable to new threats.

Data on Aspergillus infections in people with COVID-19 are still sparse, but case reports point to worrying trends. One study from Germany found that one-quarter of critically ill COVID-19 patients also had Aspergillus infections. Another study of COVID-19 patients on ventilators found probable Aspergillus in one-third of them.

It's not uncommon for COVID-19 patients to be infected with other harmful microbes. But Aspergillus may be the deadliest threat among them, says Adilia Warris, a medical mycologist at the University of Exeter. She points to a recent study of 186 COVID-19 patients from around the world who also had Aspergillus. It found that slightly more than 50% of them died, and roughly one-third of those deaths were linked to Aspergillus infections.

Thompson estimates that anywhere between 2% and 10% of severely ill COVID-19 patients at his hospital also have an Aspergillus infection. Its obviously a minority of patients, he says. But the complications of a secondary infection are generally pretty substantial.

Doctors say there are a few reasons why having COVID-19 might be an especially strong risk factor for an Aspergillus infection. One is that while COVID-19 can send parts of the immune system into overdrive, it also depletes certain immune cells, leaving a patient less able to fight off other infections. The extreme damage to cells lining the lung also impairs the organs ability to clear out respiratory pathogens like Aspergillus, Thompson says.

The way physicians treat COVID-19 could also heighten the risk of an Aspergillus infection. The steroid dexamethasone, shown to improve survival rates among severely ill COVID-19 patients, calms an overactive immune response that can lead to dangerous inflammation and organ damage. But immunosuppressive steroids are a double-edged sword, Crum-Cianflone says, leaving the door open to other infections. A recent observational study of four COVID-19 patients with likely Aspergillus infections noted that three of them had received higher steroid doses than was recommendedall of them died.

If doctors could easily identify Aspergillus infections, available antifungal drugs could fight them. But because the fungus can cause nonspecific symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath that are already common in COVID-19 patients, doctors don't always look for it. A bronchoscopy, in which doctors snake a tube from the nose or mouth into the lungs, is the best way of taking lung samples for analysis. But the procedure isnt typically done on COVID-19 patients for fear of spreading viral particles. And even a positive test may not mean the fungus is doing damage; Aspergillus can also be present in the lungs as a harmless colonizer.

As a preventive measure, Crum-Cianflone has begun giving severely ill COVID-19 patients antifungal drugs after their third week of hospitalization, even if they havent tested positive for Aspergillus. But even that strategy has risks. Overusing these compounds could lead to drug-resistant strains of Aspergillus becoming more common, Warris notes.

Recently, in The Lancet, an international group of physicians and medical mycology societies laid out recommendations for diagnosing Aspergillus infections in COVID-19 patients, including doing lung imaging scans and taking samples from the lungs at regular interval for testing. The hope is that the guidelines will help COVID-19 doctors know whether theyre battling one deadly pathogen, or two.

Go here to read the rest:

Common fungus emerges as threat to hospitalized COVID-19 patients - Science Magazine

Womens immune systems are different for a variety of reasons, Dr. Kelly-Jones explained. We think it boils down to two X chromosomes. The X chromosome has a lo tof immune responsive areas on it. Usually, when you have two Xes, some of those immune responses get inactivated, but in many women they dont. So, their immune response is more robust compared to mens immune response.

Go here to see the original:

Why men and women react differently to COVID-19 and the vaccine - WBTV

How COVID-19 will change retail, home sales, travel and working from home  The Philadelphia Inquirer

Read more:

How COVID-19 will change retail, home sales, travel and working from home - The Philadelphia Inquirer

'); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(""+val.title+""); if (val.poly != "" && val.polyimg != "") { $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append('"+val.ihtml+""); $("#expandable-weather-block .weather-index-alerts").show(); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body h2").css({"font-family":"'Fira Sans', sans-serif", "font-weight":"500", "padding-bottom":"10px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body p").css({"font-size":"14px", "line-height":"24px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body span.wxalertnum").css({"float":"left", "width":"40px", "height":"40px", "color":"#ffffff", "line-height":"40px", "background-color":"#888888", "border-radius":"40px", "text-align":"center", "margin-right":"12px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body b").css("font-size", "18px"); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body li").css({"font-size":"14px", "line-height":"18px", "margin-bottom":"10px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body ul").css({"margin-bottom":"24px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body pre").css({"margin-bottom":"24px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body img").css({"width":"100%", "margin-bottom":"20px", "borderWidth":"1px", "border-style":"solid", "border-color":"#aaaaaa"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).css({"borderWidth":"0", "border-bottom-width":"1px", "border-style":"dashed", "border-color":"#aaaaaa", "padding-bottom":"10px", "margin-bottom":"40px"}); }); } function parseAlertJSON(json) { console.log(json); alertCount = 0; if (Object.keys(json.alerts).length > 0) { $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body ").empty(); } $.each(json.alerts, function(key, val) { alertCount++; $("#mrd-wx-alerts .alert_count").text(alertCount); $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body ").append(''); $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(""+val.title+""); if (val.poly != "" && val.polyimg != "") { $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(''); } else if (val.fips != "" && val.fipsimg != "") { // $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(''); } $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(val.dhtml+"

Instruction

Continued here:

'Breakthrough' cases of COVID-19 are expected, local health experts say - KPTV.com

Here's what you need to know about COVID-19 vaccines in Washington state on Friday, March 26.

Vaccine hesitancy is the next big issue in Washington's fight against COVID-19

As COVID-19 vaccine supplies are expected to ramp up in the state, Washington will shift focus to a new problem: people refusing to get vaccinated.

I am terribly concerned about that, and everyone in public health is concerned about that as well, said state Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah.

Approximately 21% of Washingtonians don't want the COVID-19 vaccine or are unsure if they want it, according to the IHME.

Still, Washington state has less hesitancy than most other states.

New study aims to find out if COVID-19 vaccines prevent transmission

A new study involving thousands of college students in the United States aims to determine whether someone can still carry and transmit thecoronavirusafter theyve received ModernasCOVID-19 vaccine.

The COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), headquartered at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, announced the Prevent COVID U study Friday. The study will involve monitoring an estimated 12,000 students ages 18-26 at 21 universities across the U.S. over a five-month period.

The Prevent COVID U study is designed to determine if Modernas vaccine can prevent symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 infection, limit the virus in the nose and reduce transmission of the virus from a vaccinated person to their close contacts.

VERIFY: Will chemotherapy limit effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine?

People with cancer should consult their personal physician and oncologist. But, in general, anyone with cancer should still get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, doctors say.

Doctors say that experience with other infectious diseases has shown that chemotherapy could reduce or eliminate that immunity from the vaccine. But there's still a chance of having at least partial immunity.

That means, while chemotherapy might limit the vaccine's effectiveness, there is still a reason to get it. And because people fighting cancer are at high risk, they will not be depriving it from someone who needs it more.

'Loophole' allowed ineligible people to get COVID-19 vaccine in Washington

Some people in Washington who are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine have been able to bypass the process by accessing a web appointment link intended for people signing up for their second dose, according to public health departments in the state.

The Washington Department of Health confirmed that such instances have been seen in the state and are highly discouraged.

How to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Washington

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) released an online portal to check your eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine. Use the Phase Finder tool to input personal information like age, health conditions and essential worker status to determine if it's your turn.

As of March 17, Washington is in Phase 1B, tier 2 of vaccination. Eligible people include:

If you are eligible, find a list of vaccine providers on the DOH website and information on how to make an appointment.

Read the rest here:

What you need to know about COVID-19 vaccines in Washington Friday - KING5.com