A new study published in Frontiers in Immunology identifies a biological mechanism linking COVID-19 lung injury to increased adenocarcinoma risk...
Dr. Thao Ly Phan[/caption]
Thao-Ly Phan, MD, MPH
Medical Director, Nemours Children's Health
Professor of Pediatrics
Thomas Jefferson University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been extensively studied in adults, but there has been limited exploration of its effects on children and adolescents. While several studies have described weight gain trends in children during the pandemic, less is known about how having a diagnosis of COVID-19 contributed to these trends. Our study drew on the NIH’s National Clinical Cohort Collaborative database, a real-world database of electronic health data from over 90 institutions across the country. We used this dataset’s unique features to compare a diverse group of more than 11,000 children diagnosed with COVID-19 to a matched cohort of children without a diagnosis of COVID-19.
Dr. Fain[/caption]
Sean B. Fain, Ph.D.
Professor and
Vice Chair for Research
Department of Radiology
Affiliate Appointments BME and ECE
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This study uses MRI to investigate connections between lung and brain function. We employ an advanced MRI technique that uses hyperpolarized xenon gas as a contrast agent. This approach allows us to image which parts of the lung are effectively inhaling xenon gas and which parts are not (i.e. ventilation).
Additionally, xenon provides insights into lung gas exchange (i.e. oxygen transfer into and out of the blood), as it freely diffuses into alveolar tissue and binds to red blood cells. Using this technology, we hypothesized that the severity of lung injury in individuals with Long COVID would correlate with the degree of cognitive dysfunction and brain imaging.
Dr. Jaswa[/caption]
Eleni G. Jaswa, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor, Ob/Gyn, Reproductive Science
UCSF
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Some infections during pregnancy have been associated with abnormal neurodevelopment in children. This is likely due to the infection itself, or the maternal immune system response to infection. We sought to determine whether maternal COVID-19 infection during pregnancy, a now common occurrence, was associated with changes in children's neurodevelopment out to 24-months-old, compared to control children not exposed to maternal COVID-19 in utero.
Dr. Hazen[/caption]
Stanley Hazen, MD, PhD
Chair, Cardiovascular & Metabolic Sciences
Lerner Research Institute
CoSection head, Preventive Cardiology & Cardiovascular Rehabilitation
Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute
Cleveland Clinic
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: One of the unique features of COVID is that in some subjects, there unfortunately appear to be long term adverse effects that can occur following resolution of the acute infection. These studies add to the growing body of data showing that COVID-19 infection can enhance risk for experiencing adverse cardiac events (heart attack, stroke, and death) over time.
COVID-19 is a virus that devastated the healthcare systems around the globe. The main reason for this devastation was the speed of the spreading. Because it was spreading so fast, hospitals weren’t able to accommodate so many patients.
We needed to figure out a better approach to dealing with the pandemic. So, this is where most of the people on Earth stood together by being apart. We were in lockdown, but our scientists and governments collaborated more on finding the right solution.
John W. Ayers, PhD MA
Vice Chief of Innovation | Assoc. ProfessorIn late 2022, X introduced Community Notes. This novel approach empowers volunteer, independent, anonymous, and ideologically diverse contributors to identify posts containing misinformation and to rectify misinformation by appending informative "notes" to suspect posts. The process is controlled by the public, instead of decision-makers at the company. Most importantly the system is open-sourced so it can be studied by external scientists.
Dr. Attur[/caption]
Mukundan G. Attur, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The study investigates the potential protective effects of a genetic variant of IL1RN against inflammation and severe outcomes, particularly in COVID-19. Previous research indicates that carriers of this genetic variant may experience less severe radiographic knee osteoarthritis and decreased inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Given the emergence of cytokine release syndrome in COVID-19 patients, the researchers sought to understand whether the same genetic variant could offer protection against inflammation and potential death in COVID-19 cases.
Prof. Hampshire[/caption]
Prof. Adam Hampshire Ph.D.
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Brain Sciences
Professor in Restorative Neurosciences
Imperial College London
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Cognitive symptoms after coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), are well-recognized. Whether objectively measurable cognitive deficits exist and how long they persist are unclear.
Prof. Takeshi[/caption]
Prof. Takeshi Asai
Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, University of Tsukuba,
Tsukuba Japan
Faculty of Physical Education, International Pacific University
Okayama, Japan
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, contact and droplet transmission were considered the main routes of infection. However, it was later demonstrated that airborne transmission is an important route. Therefore, accumulating real-world data on airborne transmission was deemed crucial.
Dr. Yousaf[/caption]
Anna Rosemarie Yousaf MD
CDC: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare but serious complication following SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 illness in children characterized by fever and multiple organ inflammation.
This study looks at data from children with MIS-C reported to CDC’s national MIS-C surveillance system and compares the characteristics of children who died to children who survived.
Dr. Sood[/caption]
Neeraj Sood, PhD
Verna and Peter Dauterive Hall
University Park Campus
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We conducted this study to inform school COVID-19 policies.
The main findings are that the median duration of infectivity after a positive COVID-19 test in children is 3 days. The median duration of infectivity does not vary with vaccination. 
Response: In 2021, USDA launched a plan to investigate exposure of wild white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to SARS-CoV-2, a zoonotic virus and the virus that causes COVID-19. Researchers found that 40% of the blood samples tested had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. This initial study suggested that SARS-CoV-2 could be transmitted from humans to deer, and that deer could potentially serve as a reservoir for the virus.
To better understand the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer, a team of researchers conducted a larger study to collect and analyze respiratory samples from free-ranging white-tailed deer in the United States. The study identified SARS-CoV-2 sequences in white-tailed deer across nearly half of the states in the U.S. The researchers also found that deer could be infected with multiple SARS-CoV-2 lineages, and that these lineages could be transmitted from deer to deer.
In addition, the researchers found three cases of potential virus transmission from white-tailed deer back to humans. This raises concerns about the potential for the virus to continue to evolve in an animal reservoir, and the possibility of future spillover events.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: I became interested in dog's sense of smell several years ago while doing therapy dog demonstrations at the California Science Center in Los Angeles during a special traveling exhibit "Dogs! A Science Tail." (Now at the Orlando Science Center). I did a lot of research on this topic and taught children about it through the Los Angeles Public Library using my Great Pyrenees therapy dogs. Then, COVID broke out and I expanded my research into any work being done to possibly utilize scent dogs for screening and testing for COVID. I found only a few such studies. However, I fortuitously met Heather Junqueira of BioScent, Inc. (in Florida) online and she was beginning to successfully teach her beagles to detect COVID-related odors. She agreed to co-author a peer-reviewed review paper with me. That led to our first paper -
Dickey, T, Junqueira, H. Toward the use of medical scent dogs for COVID-19 screening. J Osteopath Med 2021;1(2): 141-148. https://doi.org/10.1515/jom-2020-0222
When the COVID pandemic began to wane at the beginning of this year, I felt that it would be the perfect time to do this comprehensive follow-up review to see how far COVID scent dog research had progressed. To our amazement, research efforts had increased by almost tenfold and involved over 400 scientists using over 31,000 samples (including sniffings) from over 30 countries and that 29 peer reviewed papers had been published.
Heather’s inspiration for doing scent dog work came when her father contracted cancer and she wanted to find better diagnostics. She has since been successful in detecting non-small cell lung cancer with her trained beagles as well as COVID.
Dr. Lessa[/caption]
Fernanda Lessa, MD, MPH
Chief, CDC’s International Infection Control Program
Co-author of the paper
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Data from low- and middle-income countries on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antibiotic use among outpatients are sparse.
This study evaluated the changes in prescribing rates of antibiotics commonly prescribed for respiratory tract infections by outpatient providers among adults in Brazil. We observed increases during the pandemic in outpatient prescriptions of azithromycin and ceftriaxone of up 360% and 90%, respectively, based on age and sex.
Dr. Gandhi[/caption]
Manoj Gandhi, MD PhD
Senior Medical Director of Genetic Testing Services, Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Dr. Gandhi has been working to advance the quality of medical care globally. Using his knowledge of Clinical Medicine and Molecular Biology/Pathology, he is focused on bridging these two fields and bringing innovative solutions that help advance science, the practice of medicine with the ultimate goal of impacting patient lives, whether it be in Infectious Diseases or Oncology or Personalized Medicine. This approach allows him to explore creative ways to utilize technology to help better identify diseases and improve the direction and value of treatment.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the most common STIs prevalent in the US and worldwide today?
Response: By far, the most common STIs in the US and worldwide is Human Papillomavirus (HPV) that can cause cervical cancer in women and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) that is the cause of genital herpes. Outside of these two major causes of STI, the others that are very common are Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Trichomoniasis and Syphilis. It is important to note that the reported cases represent only a subset of the individuals with an infection as many may be asymptomatic and could be spreading these STIs to others. HIV is another STI that is common but usually rests in its own category due to its impact.
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60303" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Zafar Janjua[/caption] Naveed Zafar Janjua, MBBS, MSc, DrPH Executive Director, Data and Analytic Services BC Centre...
Dr. Khullar[/caption]
Dhruv Khullar, M.D., M.P.P.
Director of Policy Dissemination
Physicians Foundation Center for Physician Practice and Leadership
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Economics
Weill Cornell Medicine, NYC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: From prior research, we know that there are racial/ethnic differences in the acute impact of COVID-19, including higher rates of hospitalization and death among Black and Hispanic individuals compared to white individuals. Less is known about whether there are differences in the rates or types of long COVID by race and ethnicity.
Dr. MIller[/caption]
Dr Jessica Miller, PhD
Murdoch Children’s Researcher and
Professor David Burgner,
Murdoch Children’s Group Leader, Infection and Immunity
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Royal Children's Hospital
Victoria Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Early reports following the initial COVID-19 lockdowns showed huge variation in changes to preterm birth and stillbirth rates, deeming it difficult to understand the pattern worldwide. It was uncertain if the observed variations were due to differences in study design and methodology, immediate impacts of lockdowns or changes in health service utilization. Previous reports from single populations or facilities were unlikely to be representative of the population and could not be compared across populations. Lockdowns affected health, social and economic factors that could lead to reductions in preterm birth rates. Changes in hygiene practices and abruptions to traffic following lockdown led to alterations in non-COVID infections and air pollution, which are known to trigger inflammation and contribute to preterm birth.
Given the uncertainty in the earlier reports, we aimed to conduct a rigorous, standardised analysis using high-quality, total-population data from across the world in order to summarize and compare rates across countries. Our large global study included 52 million births between 2015-2020 from 26 countries and represents one of the first large-scale analyses of birth outcomes during the early months of COVID-19.
Kenya Colvin[/caption]
Kenya Colvin, MBS
Department of Medical Education
Scranton, PA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Vaccine hesitancy is a major driver of COVID-19 vaccination disparities between minority and non-Hispanic White communities. Our goal was to understand what factors influenced vaccine hesitancy among individuals in Eastern Pennsylvania to identify more effective ways to promote vaccine uptake within minority communities.
Dr. Piper[/caption]
Brian Piper, PhD MS
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
Center for Pharmacy Innovation & Outcomes
Geisinger School of Graduate Education
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Methadone is an evidence-based treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) and pain. However, this Schedule II opioid can also cause respiratory depression, which can result in lethality. The need for supervised administration is a long-standing source of frustration in the U.S. for many opioid use disorder (OUD) methadone patients. However, there was an accommodation in early 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. This involved extending the take-home supply to up to 28-days for stable patients and 14 days for less stable patients. Prior research found that the implementation of supervised administration in England greatly reduced methadone overdoses [1]. The primary objective of this study [2] from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine was to determine if the relaxation of the take-home rules resulted in more methadone overdoses.
Dr. Lee[/caption]
Amy S. Lee, Ph.D.Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular MedicineUSC/Norris Cancer CenterLos Angeles, CA 90033
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Trying to find stable host cell targets to combat SARS-CoV-2 instead of chasing after the ever-mutating virus.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: When SARS-CoV-2 infects the host cell, it creates stress leading to higher production of GRP78. Blocking GRP78 reduces the ability of the virus to multiple and infect other cells.
Allison Witman PhD Assistant Professor of Economics Economics & Finance Cameron School of Business University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Yu Wang PhD Assistant Professor Congdon School of Supply Chain, Business Analytics, & Information Systems Cameron School of Business University of North Carolina Wilmington David Cho PhD Assistant Professor of Management California State University, Fullerton
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The COVID-19 pandemic placed tremendous financial pressure on hospitals. Beginning in March of 2020, hospitals cancelled outpatient and elective procedures to accommodate surges in demand from COVID-19 patients. As these procedures account for more than 60% of an average hospital’s revenue, cancellation posed serious challenges to the financial health of hospitals. Revenue from COVID-19 patients may have partially offset these effects, but the American Hospital Association estimated a total loss of $202.6 billion by American hospitals between March and June 2020. In response, the U.S. government created large federal assistance programs aimed to stabilize hospitals’ financial situation as their ability to maintain operations was critical to the health of the nation. Due to differences in hospital characteristics, certain hospitals such as rural hospitals and those serving a higher share of Medicaid and uninsured patients (e.g., safety net hospitals) may have been more financially susceptible to the effects of the pandemic. These hospitals that serve vulnerable patient populations historically have had lower profit margins and were candidates for targeted COVID relief funding (e.g., Safety Net Hospitals Payments, a $10 billion component of the Provider Relief Fund).
Dr. Cosimi[/caption]
Lisa A. Cosimi, MD
Division of Infectious Diseases
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Response: Current CDC COVID-19 isolation guidance allows for ending isolation after day 5 for non-immunocompromised individuals if they are afebrile and with improving symptoms, or if the individual is asymptomatic from the start. It has been proposed that rapid antigen tests (RATs) may assist in determining when individuals are no longer infectious. Specifically, a negative test would be potentially reassuring for an individual not being transmissible, while a positive test could be suggestive of continued infectiousness. However, there is little data about use of RATs in this particular setting and how they may correlate with ongoing risk of transmission as they were developed to be used during the initial diagnosis of infection, not in the later phase.
Dr. Wall[/caption]
Dr Emma Wall
Senior Clinical Research Fellow, UCLH-Crick Legacy study
Consultant Infectious Diseases UCLH
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Since April 2022, both the UK and US have changed their COVID-19 isolation and testing policies. The impact these changes in the guidance and vaccination on community-acquired COVID-19 caused by recent SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) has not been fully tested, including infections with BA.2. We aimed to characterise both symptoms and viral loads over the course of COVID-19 infection in otherwise-healthy, vaccinated, non-hospitalised adults, to assess whether current guidance remains justified. All participants were included in the UCLH-Crick Legacy study, a prospective, observational cohort study of otherwise healthy adults who have been taking part in regular workplace testing for SARS-CoV-2 in London
We sent swabs by same-day courier every other day to all adults who reported a positive PCR or lateral flow test to the study team up to day 10 after the start of each infection. We confirmed which variant caused the infection by PCR and sequencing. All participants completed linked symptom diaries.
We compared symptoms and changes in the amount of virus detected in the nose and throat during infection between study participants reporting COVID-19 caused by VOCs Delta and Omicron BA.1 and BA.2. We then analysed how many of our participants would meet current UK/US isolation guidelines.
Dr. Dryden-Peterson[/caption]
SCOTT DRYDEN-PETERSON, MD
Assistant Professor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Research Affiliate, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Harvard T.H. Chan School Of Public Health
Associate Physician, Medicine, Infectious Diseases
Brigham And Women's Hospital
Research Associate, Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The combination of the antiviral medicine nirmatrelvir and ritonavir (Paxlovid) which boosts antiviral levels was found to reduce the need for hospitalization by nearly 90% among unvaccinated people. Whether nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir can also help vaccinated people was uncertain.
Dr. Taioli[/caption]
Emanuela Taioli, MD, PhD
Director, Institute for Translational Epidemiology
Professor, Population Health Science and Policy
Professor, Thoracic Surgery
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, NY
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: NYC experienced a halt on all elective care from March 22 to June 8, 2020, provoking reduced cancer screening rates, and delayed cancer care and treatment.
We wanted to quantify the effect of the “pause” on cancer stage at diagnosis using lung cancer as an example of a condition where early diagnosis can dramatically modify survival.