CORONAVIRUS RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: 1-MINUTE READS
Autopsies point the finger at immune response
An autopsy-based study of 11 people who died from COVID-19 shows a mismatch between viral hotspots in the body and sites of inflammation and organ damage. This suggests that immune responses, rather than the virus itself, are responsible for death. The survey of 37 anatomical sites, including the lungs, found that some tissues harboured the virus but were not inflamed, whereas others were damaged but did not contain high levels of SARS-CoV-2.
Reference: medRxiv preprint (not yet peer reviewed)
In Spain, one million hidden asymptomatic cases
Europe’s largest effort to identify people who have been infected by the new coronavirus has found that roughly one-third of them did not show symptoms. Researchers tested more than 61,000 people from randomly selected households across Spain for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Nationwide, some 5% of people tested positive, of which around 1 in 3 were asymptomatic. On the basis of their results, the researchers estimate that roughly one million infected people could have gone undetected because they did not show symptoms.
Reference: Lancet paper
Frequent testing is key to reopening campuses
Researchers modelled the effect of a variety of testing strategies on the number of infections that would arise among 5,000 students during an 80-day semester, assuming that 5 new cases would be imported each week, each infected student would infect 2.5 others and those who tested positive would be isolated. Testing students every 2 days with a rapid and relatively cheap test would keep infections to around 135 over the semester, and cost US$470 per student per term. However, testing only weekly would result in an explosive growth in infections.
Reference: medRxiv preprint (not yet peer reviewed)
Anatomy of a superspreading event
Mobile-phone and credit-card data helped to identify hundreds of coronavirus infections linked to a fast-moving outbreak that began in the popular Itaewon nightclub district in Seoul. Researchers identified more than 60,000 people who had visited the area after it reopened on 30 April. More than 40,000 were tested and 246 were infected — including several that were 3, 4 or even 5 steps along the transmission chain from club-goers.
Reference: Emerging Infectious Diseases paper
Virus might have reached the United States in December
Models suggest that, in California and New York, SARS-CoV-2 might have begun circulating as early as December 2019. Infections spread across the country from late January to early March but were largely undetected. Researchers analysed air traffic, commuting patterns and other data to understand how and when the coronavirus took hold.
Reference: medRxiv preprint (not yet peer reviewed)
Get more of Nature’s continuously updated selection of the must-read papers and preprints on COVID-19.
An autopsy-based study of 11 people who died from COVID-19 shows a mismatch between viral hotspots in the body and sites of inflammation and organ damage. This suggests that immune responses, rather than the virus itself, are responsible for death. The survey of 37 anatomical sites, including the lungs, found that some tissues harboured the virus but were not inflamed, whereas others were damaged but did not contain high levels of SARS-CoV-2.
Reference: medRxiv preprint (not yet peer reviewed)
In Spain, one million hidden asymptomatic cases
Europe’s largest effort to identify people who have been infected by the new coronavirus has found that roughly one-third of them did not show symptoms. Researchers tested more than 61,000 people from randomly selected households across Spain for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Nationwide, some 5% of people tested positive, of which around 1 in 3 were asymptomatic. On the basis of their results, the researchers estimate that roughly one million infected people could have gone undetected because they did not show symptoms.
Reference: Lancet paper
Frequent testing is key to reopening campuses
Researchers modelled the effect of a variety of testing strategies on the number of infections that would arise among 5,000 students during an 80-day semester, assuming that 5 new cases would be imported each week, each infected student would infect 2.5 others and those who tested positive would be isolated. Testing students every 2 days with a rapid and relatively cheap test would keep infections to around 135 over the semester, and cost US$470 per student per term. However, testing only weekly would result in an explosive growth in infections.
Reference: medRxiv preprint (not yet peer reviewed)
Anatomy of a superspreading event
Mobile-phone and credit-card data helped to identify hundreds of coronavirus infections linked to a fast-moving outbreak that began in the popular Itaewon nightclub district in Seoul. Researchers identified more than 60,000 people who had visited the area after it reopened on 30 April. More than 40,000 were tested and 246 were infected — including several that were 3, 4 or even 5 steps along the transmission chain from club-goers.
Reference: Emerging Infectious Diseases paper
Virus might have reached the United States in December
Models suggest that, in California and New York, SARS-CoV-2 might have begun circulating as early as December 2019. Infections spread across the country from late January to early March but were largely undetected. Researchers analysed air traffic, commuting patterns and other data to understand how and when the coronavirus took hold.
Reference: medRxiv preprint (not yet peer reviewed)
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