The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the new coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Experts recommend against antibody drugs in pediatric COVID-19
To date, antibody therapies for COVID-19 should not be used to treat new coronavirus infections in children or adolescents, “including those at high risk of progression to hospitalization or severe illness,” according to a panel of experts from 29 hospitals. from North America who analyzed the available evidence.
The antibody drugs – bamlanivimab from Eli Lilly and Co and the combination of casirivimab plus imdevimab from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc – were approved in November by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use in certain groups of adolescents and adults with mild COVID the moderate -19.
But in a paper published Sunday in the Journal of the Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, the panel said: “The COVID-19 course in children and adolescents is usually easy and there is no high-quality evidence to support high-risk groups. There is no evidence of the safety and efficacy of monoclonal antibody therapy for the treatment of COVID-19 in children or adolescents, limited evidence of modest benefit in adults, and evidence of potential harm. “
Disinfection during a pandemic endangers asthma
Increased cleansing by people with asthma during the pandemic may trigger rashes of their disease, a new report suggests. Researchers who studied 795 American adults with asthma in May-September found that the proportion of those who disinfected surfaces with bleach at least five times a week increased by 155% after the pandemic began.
The use of disinfectant wipes, sprays and other liquids has also increased, the researchers reported in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
After considering other behaviors and risk factors, the higher chances of having uncontrolled asthma were associated with increased household use of disinfectant wipes, disinfectant sprays, bleach solutions and water and other disinfectants.
The study does not show that the increased frequency of disinfection caused uncontrolled asthma. However, the authors say, people with asthma need safer cleaning options.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that asthmatics ask someone else to clean and disinfect surfaces and stay in another room when cleaning or disinfecting products are used and immediately thereafter.
He also said that soap and water may be enough for surfaces and objects that are rarely touched.
The news shows too rosy a picture of blood treatment
News of critically ill patients with COVID-19 treated with a state-of-the-art procedure known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO may present an unrealistic picture of the results, a study suggests.
During ECMO, blood is pumped out of the body by a machine that removes carbon dioxide and adds oxygen before bringing the blood back into the body. In a review of media reports on the ECMO treatment of COVID-19, doctors found that 92% of the patients in the story survived, while the average survival rates after ECMO in large studies ranged from 53% in children. at 63% in young and middle-aged people. elderly adults.
Patients receiving ECMO treatment “remain at a substantial risk” of complications and death, but most news reports of patients with COVID-19 treated with ECMO did not address these risks, the researchers said Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
They say acknowledging the exaggerated benefit suggested by media reports could help doctors in the intensive care unit, patients and families have more realistic discussions about the prognosis after ECMO.
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