Report on peer review article This report provides reassuring data that the few symptomatic post-vaccination infections in studied health care worker were mild; moreover, those with asymptomatic infections could alternatively...
Delayed large local reactions may be less commonly recognized or reported in Black indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) vaccine recipients than in White recipients. Such reactions may result in...
Peer review article This study showed that there is no difference in pulmonary function as measured by function tests before and after COVID-19 infection in non-critically ill classified patients. There...
Opinion piece With nearly 31 million reported COVID-19 cases and 410 000 deaths, India is one of the countries with the heaviest burden of COVID-19 cases and deaths. There is...
Peer review article A high prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies (ones that attack cell membrane) has been reported in case series of patients with neurological manifestations and COVID-19; however, the pathogenicity...
Peer review article ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Oxford/AstraZeneca) was well tolerated, showing favourable safety and immunogenicity in people with HIV, including heightened immunogenicity in SARS-CoV-2 baseline-seropositive participants. People with HIV showed cross-reactive...
Opinion piece The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened an already unacceptable global burden of disease for respiratory cancers, as well as highlighting substantial global health inequities, which continue...
Peer review article Robust expert consensus process to identify research priorities for long COVID in the context of airways disease, taking into account the views of a large group of...
Twenty months into the Covid-19 pandemic, and many countries in East Asia are now looking forward past the current “zero covid” policy that has characterised the pre-vaccine phase, and towards...
Eight notable variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been found since September 2020. This video explainer describes them all.
Adults who have been fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 can carry the same viral load of the delta variant as those who are unvaccinated, a preliminary analysis of UK data suggests
A World Health Organisation mission to study the Covid-19 pandemic’s origins in China, which announced in February that the possibility that the virus had escaped from a laboratory needed no...
Report on 2 peer review articles and 6 pre-release peer review articles Peer review article Although COVID-19 duration is usually short in children, some children experience prolonged illness. SARS-CoV-2 variants...
CDC is actively investigating reports of people developing myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) after receiving a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna). Most of these people fully recover, but...
The Delta variant is more contagious Some data suggest the Delta variant might cause more severe illness than previous strains in unvaccinated persons. Unvaccinated people remain the greatest concern Fully...
Report on 4 peer review articles and 2 prerelease peer review articles Adolescents vaccinated with 2 doses of mRNA-1273 (Moderna) had immunogenicity and vaccine efficacy comparable to young adults, with...
The World Health Organization is working with researchers to address the urgent need to streamline data collection and reporting on Post COVID-19 condition, also known as ‘long COVID’. A significant...
Following the publication of the WHO-China joint report of the phase one studies on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in March 2021, WHO has outlined the next series of...
Despite a viral Facebook post's claim, we found no evidence of Dr. Anthony Fauci saying anything about any variants that could avoid detection
Posts circulating on Facebook and Instagram claim the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stop using its COVID-19 test because it cannot differentiate between the COVID virus and flu...
WHAT WAS CLAIMED There is no Delta variant test. OUR VERDICT Genetic analysis of positive tests allow scientists to identify different variants of Covid-19, including the Delta variant.
Report on peer review article Certain people develop a very fast rate of viral growth in their noses. Finding out what causes this is important. In addition to enhancing our...
Report on peer review article This nationwide study provides evidence that COVID-19 is a risk factor for heart attack and stroke. We need to learn how long this risk persists...
Opinion piece As children return to schools, these institutions could play an even more important part in delivering healthy nutrition, and physical and food education. Importantly, there is an opportunity...
Case study of COVID-19 linked fungal infection. COVID-19 followed by mucormycosis carries a very high mortality rate and timely detection, antifungal therapy, and aggressive surgical debridement remain key factors in...
Peer review article Individuals identified as being at high risk of COVID-19 in-hospital mortality (older individuals and those with chronic comorbidities and people with HIV, particularly those not on antiretrovirals)...
Peer review article This study sought to establish the long-term effects of Covid-19 following hospitalisation. 55% of participants reported not feeling fully recovered. 93% reported persistent symptoms, with fatigue the...
Opinion piece In South America, strained and underfunded health systems, deep social inequalities and increasing poverty, slow vaccination rates and increased spread of new variants are leading to a surge...
Peer review article SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with clotting and complications on small blood vessels. The cause of clotting in the disease is incompletely understood. It appears there may be...
Epidemiologists are adjusting their expectations for the future course of the pandemic after data from a recent outbreak in Massachusetts in the US suggest that while vaccination remains highly protective...
Report on peer review article Most children who test positive for covid-19 and experience symptoms recover within a week, although a small proportion are unwell for more than four weeks,...
Based on the available information to date, the risk of animals spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to people is considered to be low. We are still learning about...
The Delta variant is highly contagious, nearly twice as contagious as previous variants. In two different studies from Canada and Scotland, patients infected with the Delta variant were more likely...
Weekly COVID-19 deaths in Africa reached a record peak in the week that ended on 1 August, marking the highest seven-day toll since the onset of the pandemic in the...
WHAT WAS CLAIMED Covid-19 barely mutated before vaccines were rolled out. OUR VERDICT This is untrue. All four variants of concern, designated as such by the World Health Organisation, were...
WHAT WAS CLAIMED 80% of children in England are not being tested for coronavirus. OUR VERDICT This is based on data which only includes tests reported, not the number of...
WHAT WAS CLAIMED A Lisbon court found only 152 deaths have been caused by Covid-19 in Portugal. OUR VERDICT False. A Lisbon court found doctors from the Ministry of Justice...
WHAT WAS CLAIMED Death rates in England and Wales are lower than previous years, which proves Covid-19 hasn’t killed or is killing anyone. OUR VERDICT While death rates in England...
WHAT WAS CLAIMED Young people are not at risk from Covid-19 at all. OUR VERDICT Incorrect. Both children and young adults face a very low risk of death or serious...
WHAT WAS CLAIMED The average age of Covid-19 deaths is higher than the average life expectancy, which means that people who get Covid live longer. OUR VERDICT This isn’t how...
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has detected a confirmed case with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, also known as lineage B.1.617.2. The variant was detected in a traveler to...
Viral variants of concern may emerge with dangerous resistance to the immunity generated by the current vaccines to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Moreover, if some variants of concern have...
This guideline covers vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT - blood clotting events)), a syndrome which has been reported in rare cases after COVID-19 vaccination. VITT may also be called...
The SARS-COV-2 Delta variant of concern is spreading quickly across Europe and has now become the dominant strain across much of the region, according to new data.
Peer review article SARS-CoV-2 lineage P.1 (Gamma variant) might escape neutralisation by antibodies generated in response to polyclonal stimulation (where multiple types of white blood cell can target the same...
Peer review article In South Africa, the second wave was associated with higher incidence of COVID-19, more rapid increase in admissions to hospital, and increased in-hospital mortality. Although some of...
Peer review article Pre-existing mental disorders, in particular psychotic and mood disorders, and exposure to antipsychotics and anxiolytics were associated with COVID-19 mortality in both crude and adjusted models. Although...
Peer review article This study identified key differences between those with a primary neurological disorder versus those with PIMS-TS (an inflamatory syndrome). Compared with patients with a primary neurological disorder,...
Peer review article Orphanhood and caregiver deaths are a hidden pandemic resulting from COVID-19-associated deaths. Accelerating equitable vaccine delivery is key to prevention. Psychosocial and economic support can help families...
Peer review article People with rheumatic disease maintained therapy and followed public health advice to mitigate the risks of COVID-19. Substantial employment status changes occurred, with potential implications for health-care...
Peer review article The strong association of anosmia (loss of smell) and ageusia (loss of taste) with self-reported positive SARS-CoV-2 test was consistently observed, supporting its validity as a reliable...
Peer review article Findings suggest that COVID-19 is a risk factor for acute myocardial infarction (heart attacks) and ischaemic stroke (the most common type of stroke). This indicates that acute...
India’s fourth “serosurvey” of the covid pandemic has found neutralising antibodies to the novel coronavirus in 67.6% of people aged over 6, suggesting that more than two in three people...
The delta variant of covid-19 is causing an escalating crisis in Indonesia, two months after it swept through India. Indonesia’s case numbers have risen sharply for the past month and...
Covid-19 has not only killed more than four million people worldwide but has also left at least one million orphans, a study published in the Lancet has estimated. In England...
Experts generally agree with that assessment that the virus was not created in the Wuhan facility, but some worry that it does not rule out the possibility of a wild...
Report on 5 peer review articles Prevention efforts need to focus on highly impacted older age groups and also on Hispanic/Latino, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic AI/AN, and non-Hispanic populations, where a...
Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of illness, some people experience post-COVID conditions. Post-COVID conditions are a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems people...
Report on 8 peer review articles It is unknown how neutralising antibody production correlates with protection from infection. BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) has been found to prevent symptomatic COVID-19 in persons ≥80...
Report on 4 peer review articles Coincident with rising prevalence and transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, positive cases continue to increase in England, with younger populations experiencing the largest...
People with HIV may have concerns and questions about COVID-19, including the risk of serious illness and vaccine safety. CDC will continue to provide updated information as it becomes available.
Report on 7 peer review articles The Black/White COVID-19 mortality ratio (in the US) has been declining and the driving force for the observed mortality convergence appears to be changes...
It found that the risk of developing severe or fatal COVID-19 was 30% greater in people living with HIV (PLHIV) compared to people without HIV infection. Underlying conditions such as...
COVID-19 cases have risen for eight straight weeks, topping 6 million on 13 July 2021. Over the past month, Africa recorded an additional 1 million cases. This is the shortest...
Around 7.7 million African children missed out on vital first doses of Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis, Measles and Polio vaccines in 2020. The nearly 10% rise in missed vaccinations on the previous year...
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has detected a confirmed case with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, also known as lineage B.1.617.2. The variant was detected in a traveler to...
Viral variants of concern may emerge with dangerous resistance to the immunity generated by the current vaccines to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Moreover, if some variants of concern have...
This guideline covers vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT - blood clotting events)), a syndrome which has been reported in rare cases after COVID-19 vaccination. VITT may also be called...
The SARS-COV-2 Delta variant of concern is spreading quickly across Europe and has now become the dominant strain across much of the region, according to new data.
Peer review article SARS-CoV-2 lineage P.1 (Gamma variant) might escape neutralisation by antibodies generated in response to polyclonal stimulation (where multiple types of white blood cell can target the same...
Peer review article This study identified key differences between those with a primary neurological disorder versus those with PIMS-TS (an inflamatory syndrome). Compared with patients with a primary neurological disorder,...
Peer review article In South Africa, the second wave was associated with higher incidence of COVID-19, more rapid increase in admissions to hospital, and increased in-hospital mortality. Although some of...
Peer review article Pre-existing mental disorders, in particular psychotic and mood disorders, and exposure to antipsychotics and anxiolytics were associated with COVID-19 mortality in both crude and adjusted models. Although...
Peer review article Orphanhood and caregiver deaths are a hidden pandemic resulting from COVID-19-associated deaths. Accelerating equitable vaccine delivery is key to prevention. Psychosocial and economic support can help families...
Peer review article The strong association of anosmia (loss of smell) and ageusia (loss of taste) with self-reported positive SARS-CoV-2 test was consistently observed, supporting its validity as a reliable...
Peer review article People with rheumatic disease maintained therapy and followed public health advice to mitigate the risks of COVID-19. Substantial employment status changes occurred, with potential implications for health-care...
Peer review article Findings suggest that COVID-19 is a risk factor for acute myocardial infarction (heart attacks) and ischaemic stroke (the most common type of stroke). This indicates that acute...
The delta variant of covid-19 is causing an escalating crisis in Indonesia, two months after it swept through India. Indonesia’s case numbers have risen sharply for the past month and...
Covid-19 has not only killed more than four million people worldwide but has also left at least one million orphans, a study published in the Lancet has estimated. In England...
India’s fourth “serosurvey” of the covid pandemic has found neutralising antibodies to the novel coronavirus in 67.6% of people aged over 6, suggesting that more than two in three people...
Experts generally agree with that assessment that the virus was not created in the Wuhan facility, but some worry that it does not rule out the possibility of a wild...
Report on 5 peer review articles Prevention efforts need to focus on highly impacted older age groups and also on Hispanic/Latino, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic AI/AN, and non-Hispanic populations, where a...
Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of illness, some people experience post-COVID conditions. Post-COVID conditions are a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems people...
Report on 8 peer review articles It is unknown how neutralising antibody production correlates with protection from infection. BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) has been found to prevent symptomatic COVID-19 in persons ≥80...
Report on 4 peer review articles Coincident with rising prevalence and transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, positive cases continue to increase in England, with younger populations experiencing the largest...
People with HIV may have concerns and questions about COVID-19, including the risk of serious illness and vaccine safety. CDC will continue to provide updated information as it becomes available.
Report on 7 peer review articles The Black/White COVID-19 mortality ratio (in the US) has been declining and the driving force for the observed mortality convergence appears to be changes...
It found that the risk of developing severe or fatal COVID-19 was 30% greater in people living with HIV (PLHIV) compared to people without HIV infection. Underlying conditions such as...
COVID-19 cases have risen for eight straight weeks, topping 6 million on 13 July 2021. Over the past month, Africa recorded an additional 1 million cases. This is the shortest...
Around 7.7 million African children missed out on vital first doses of Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis, Measles and Polio vaccines in 2020. The nearly 10% rise in missed vaccinations on the previous year...
Report on peer review article This nationwide study provides evidence that COVID-19 is a risk factor for heart attack and stroke. We need to learn how long this risk persists...
Report on peer review article Certain people develop a very fast rate of viral growth in their noses. Finding out what causes this is important. In addition to enhancing our...
Opinion piece As children return to schools, these institutions could play an even more important part in delivering healthy nutrition, and physical and food education. Importantly, there is an opportunity...
Peer review article Individuals identified as being at high risk of COVID-19 in-hospital mortality (older individuals and those with chronic comorbidities and people with HIV, particularly those not on antiretrovirals)...
Peer review article This study sought to establish the long-term effects of Covid-19 following hospitalisation. 55% of participants reported not feeling fully recovered. 93% reported persistent symptoms, with fatigue the...
Opinion piece In South America, strained and underfunded health systems, deep social inequalities and increasing poverty, slow vaccination rates and increased spread of new variants are leading to a surge...
Case study of COVID-19 linked fungal infection. COVID-19 followed by mucormycosis carries a very high mortality rate and timely detection, antifungal therapy, and aggressive surgical debridement remain key factors in...
Peer review article SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with clotting and complications on small blood vessels. The cause of clotting in the disease is incompletely understood. It appears there may be...
Report on peer review article Most children who test positive for covid-19 and experience symptoms recover within a week, although a small proportion are unwell for more than four weeks,...
Epidemiologists are adjusting their expectations for the future course of the pandemic after data from a recent outbreak in Massachusetts in the US suggest that while vaccination remains highly protective...
Based on the available information to date, the risk of animals spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to people is considered to be low. We are still learning about...
The Delta variant is highly contagious, nearly twice as contagious as previous variants. In two different studies from Canada and Scotland, patients infected with the Delta variant were more likely...
Weekly COVID-19 deaths in Africa reached a record peak in the week that ended on 1 August, marking the highest seven-day toll since the onset of the pandemic in the...
Claim: A government document showing that 60-70% of Covid deaths over the summer will be among the vaccinated is proof that vaccines are intended for genocide. Verdict: False.
Claim: Covid-19 has a survival rate of 99.998%. Verdict: While there is no completely accurate statistic, based on the sheer number of people who died from Covid-19 we know the...
The higher viral load seen in Alpha infected cases provides a virologic explanation for this variant's dominance; going forward, similar analytic data will be needed for the Delta variant as...
Viral variants of concern may emerge with dangerous resistance to the immunity generated by the current vaccines to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
The aim of this threat assessment brief is to assess potential public health implications of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant of concern for the European Union and European...
Three suggestions given regarding the neuropsychological effects of COVID-19.
Neuromuscular disorders after COVID-19 might have substantial implications for patient recovery and utilisation of physical rehabilitation healthcare resources.
Invasive mould disease (IMD) might affect up to a third of critically ill patients with COVID-19. Clinicians and pathologists alike should stay vigilant to the possibility of IMD as a...
Patients with lineage B.1.1.7 (Alpha - UK) were at increased risk of CCU admission and 28-day death rate compared with patients with non-B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2. Our findings emphasise the importance of...
Infection with the Alpha variant (UK) was associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation compared with that of other lineages in an analysis adjusted for covariates.
While persisting lung damage may be substantial for some, for many, morbidity and mortality after covid-19 are influenced most by pre-existing conditions, infection severity, and the extra-pulmonary complications of SARS-CoV-2.
Many patients with “long” COVID are experiencing extreme fatigue, a situation that has re-polarised approaches to treatment and rehabilitation.
Public Health England said that the data showed there was a higher risk of hospital admission for patients with the delta variant compared with the alpha variant, but its analysis...
Around a third of people in England who developed covid-19 went on to experience long term symptoms sometimes called “long covid,” a UK study has found.
The number of people assessed as facing the imminent possibility of starvation without food assistance now stands at 41 million, up from 27 million in 2019, according to the joint...
Report on 6 peer review articles and 4 pre-release peer review articles
Report on 7 peer review articles and 1 pre-release peer review articles
Implementing prevention and control practices that eliminate, reduce, and manage factors that cause or contribute to public health workers’ poor mental health might improve mental health outcomes during emergencies.
Africa is facing a fast-surging third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, with cases spreading more rapidly and projected to soon overtake the peak of the second wave the continent witnessed at...
The 6 month outcomes of children with pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 are reassuring, aside from the persistence of physical deconditioning and psychological effects.
An editorialist notes that long COVID is putting undue strain on healthcare services, which had already been considerably burdened by the pandemic
Data on sputum, nasopharyngeal swabs, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid indicate that prolonged detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA is rare and limited to a few weeks. By contrast, SARS-CoV-2 RNA persisted in...
Opinion piece: Pandemic responses that do not recognise the importance of sex and gender will always be less equitable and less effective.
Opinion piece: It is vital that clinicians actively screen for and address alcohol misuse to ensure these patients have ready access to alcohol counselling and addiction treatments.
The findings show a syndrome causing multiple bodily systems to become inflamed in COVID-19 patients is distinguishable from Kawasaki disease.
Death from COVID-19 was associated with age, indigenous ethnicity, poor geopolitical region, and pre-existing medical conditions.
Report on 6 peer review articles and 4 pre-release peer review articles.
An editorialist notes that long COVID is putting undue strain on healthcare services, which had already been considerably burdened by the pandemic
The 6 month outcomes of children with pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 are reassuring, aside from the persistence of physical deconditioning and psychological effects.
Data on sputum, nasopharyngeal swabs, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid indicate that prolonged detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA is rare and limited to a few weeks. By contrast, SARS-CoV-2 RNA persisted in...
Opinion piece: Pandemic responses that do not recognise the importance of sex and gender will always be less equitable and less effective.
The findings show a syndrome causing multiple bodily systems to become inflamed in COVID-19 patients is distinguishable from Kawasaki disease.
Opinion piece: It is vital that clinicians actively screen for and address alcohol misuse to ensure these patients have ready access to alcohol counselling and addiction treatments.
Death from COVID-19 was associated with age, indigenous ethnicity, poor geopolitical region, and pre-existing medical conditions.
Report on 6 peer review articles and 4 pre-release peer review articles.
This systematic analysis really constitutes more of a large case series than a robust meta-analysis because of the highly heterogeneous nature of the original studies.
Report on 5 patients who presented blood clotting issues after the Ad26.COV2 J&J vaccine. The patients were health care workers who were 32 to 54 years of age.
This study is limited by its focus on a selected group of young, competitive athletes, but it still has value in giving us a ballpark estimate of COVID-19 myocarditis incidence.
The frequency and nature of antimicrobial use are concerning as this could give rise to future strains being antibiotic-resistant.
Future efforts need to address the prepandemic as well as the pandemic-related increasing trend of mental health problems in the adolescent population.
There have been two confirmed reinfections among healthy Gambian individuals aged 31 years and 36 years, with a time lag of 5 months and 6 months, respectively.
Another imminent threat has emerged as a challenge to India in the form of coronavirus disease-associated mucormycosis. It is a rare but potentially fatal infection if inadequately treated.
Many communities have struggled to establish inclusive and relevant governance channels that include their unique needs and perspectives.
Findings do not support the anticipated deleterious effect of COVID-19 on access to and use of contraceptive services by women in the earliest stages of the pandemic.
The delta covid-19 variant, which was first detected in India, has overtaken the alpha variant, or UK variant, to make it the most dominant strain circulating in the UK.
Scientific papers suggesting that smokers are less likely to fall ill with covid-19 are being discredited as links to the tobacco industry are revealed.
Report on 6 peer review articles and 3 pre-release peer review articles.
These results add to the now generally accepted belief that vitamin D levels are not associated with risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
It remains to be confirmed whether these SARS-CoV-2 antibodies are protective in patients with Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Peer review article The introduction of COVID-19 containment policies and public information campaigns likely reduced transmission of S pneumoniae, H influenzae, and N meningitidis, leading to a significant reduction in...
The review documents widespread innovation in low and middle-income countries to increase mental illness detection and maintain treatment during lockdowns.
The predicted extra 500,000 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa might not have come to pass, but the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over.
This page provides an overview of the COVID19 disease with a high quality animated video explainer
Since April 2021, increased cases of myocarditis and pericarditis have been reported in the US after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, particularly in adolescents and young adults.
Report on 8 peer review articles and 2 pre-release peer review articles.
Much uncertainty remains about the origins of COVID-19. Scientists who have studied the coronavirus have generally concluded that it resembles naturally occurring viruses.
Claim: The risk of a child dying of Covid-19 is around one in 3.5 million. Verdict: The risk of a child dying of Covid is very low.
Claim: NIH Director Anthony Fauci helped fund the gain of function research at a facility in Wuhan, China, and that research ultimately led to the COVID-19 pandemic. Verdict: Unproven.
This study confirms the excess risk for thrombotic events among Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine recipients, especially for cerebral venous thrombosis.
Several SARS-CoV-2 variants have been identified. This article updates both the variants of interest (VOI) and those of concern (VOC)
A remarkable finding in patients with severe Covid-19 is coagulation abnormalities (blood clotting issues), which have been associated with respiratory deterioration and death.
There are calls for urgent research on long COVID to avoid having millions of adults with long COVID left behind, with an inestimable social and economic impact.
Efforts have uncovered SARS-CoV-2 variants with mutations in the viral spike glycoprotein, which binds the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to facilitate viral entry.
Dynamic, early decisions for treatment (advance directives) in line with the rapidly evolving pandemic situation will add more value to patient with psychosis' autonomy.
In settings of violent conflict, young girls are about 25 times more likely to be out of school than their male counterparts, and the pandemic appears to have exacerbated this...
After the first epidemic peak, Iquitos had one of the highest rates of seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies worldwide. Nevertheless, the city experienced a second wave, which has shown higher transmissibility...
Mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19 is higher in African countries than reported from studies done in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
Compared to the dominant UK variant, we know that the Indian variant is very likely to be more transmissible and that it might be better able to transmit between people...
International organizations have come together to launch a new One Health High-Level Expert Panel to improve understanding of how diseases with the potential to trigger pandemics emerge and spread.
Being older raises the risk of severe Covid-19, but based on the research we have so far, it is not yet clear whether baldness itself has any effect.
Report on peer review article This study confirms that positive baseline anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody status is associated with a lower risk for subsequent SARS-CoV-2 infection.
This report provides the best evidence yet that reinfection can occur in apparently normal hosts and that the reinfecting virus may be similar, if not identical, to the original SARS-CoV-2.
ECDC regularly assesses new evidence on variants detected through epidemic intelligence, rules-based genomic variant screening, or other scientific sources.
Peer review article The absolute risk of severe post-acute complications after SARS-CoV-2 infection not requiring hospital admission is low. However, increases in visits to general practitioners and outpatient hospital visits...
With the exponential growth and without mitigation, estimates suggest India could reach more than 1 million COVID-19 cases per day with over 1 million cumulative COVID-19 deaths by Aug 1,...
Some people’s symptoms of COVID-19 can last longer.The chances of having long-term symptoms do not seem to be linked to how ill you are when you first get COVID-19.
Report on 3 peer review articles on agricultural labour and food supply, the rapid evolution of SARS-Cov-2 mutations and evidence of Pfizer vaccine effectiveness on the South African variants.
Poor mental health during pregnancy affects not only the mother but also her child.
The increased maternal and neonatal risks associated with COVID-19 during pregnancy are delineated in this convincing multinational study. The findings argue strongly for vaccination and continued health measures to prevent...
Each piece of information increases knowledge but we need to agree on common methodologies, generate robust data, and improve our capacity to share, absorb, and process high volumes of research...
An overview of current evidence regarding immuno-inflammatory reactions induced by SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent organ-based consequences suggests several conclusions: i) after infecting the upper respiratory tract, it is capable of subsequently...
The incidence of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) decreased predominantly among women aged 70 years or older during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Having certain underlying health conditions, like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, increased the likelihood of being tested for SARS-CoV-2 even though those conditions were...
Report on 3 peer review articles.
Since the discovery of SARS-CoV-2, three variants of concern (VOC), first identified in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), and Brazil (P.1), have been associated with higher transmissibility and...
COVID-19 is associated with a high incidence of thrombotic (blood-clotting) complications, which can be explained by the complex and unique interplay between coronaviruses and endothelial cells (those which line blood...
Patients with cancer can be at high risk of severe COVID-19 due to their age, disease, cancer treatment, and medical co-morbidities.
The timing of therapy in COVID-19 is undoubtedly crucial, but outstanding questions include whether certain therapies for rheumatic disease, such as interleukin-6 and Janus kinase 1 inhibition should be used...
Obesity was one of a number of factors rapidly identified as being associated with COVID-19-associated mortality.
People with HIV, even those on antiretroviral therapy with controlled viral load, might be at risk of lower response to COVID-19 immunisation.
Recent large studies suggest that people living with HIV might be more severely ill than those who are HIV-negative.
Based on a UK study of obesity and COVID-19, at a BMI of more than 23 kg/m2, there was an increase in the risk of severe COVID-19 leading to admission...
Although fewer infections were detected by SARS-CoV-2 IgG (antibody) testing among people living with HIV than among those without HIV, people with HIV had more cases of severe COVID-19.
This highlightes the importance of maintaining social distancing and understanding that immunity develops over time, researchers have said
A study in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine helps characterize the risk for SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in a close contact setting.
This large study demonstrates that various neurological or psychiatric disorders develop with a relatively high incidence in the 6 months following acute COVID-19.
Understanding the way the disease affects people over a longer time period and potential therapeutic interventions for this condition is urgently needed.
2 women out of a cohort of 417 persons who had received the second dose of Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna vaccine identified with vaccine breakthrough infection.
Data on the long-term effects of COVID-19 in children and adolescents are needed, and should ideally be nationally representative and include broader demographics.
The exclusions of people with disabilities are social choices, not inevitable consequences of a health condition, and they are not new.
People with a physical disability might be at particular risk for emotional distress, poor quality of life, and low wellbeing during COVID-19 pandemic.
An international survey of individuals with long COVID reported a wide range of symptoms that persisted for months and resulted in substantial disability.
The BMJ hosted a webinar on new variants, discussed what these are, where they come from, and what they might do, as well as what we know about how particular...
Cases of the COVID-19 are surging in Chile despite the country having one of the most successful vaccine rollouts in the world.
UK advice states that COVID-19 spreads “through the air by droplets and smaller aerosols”. Infectious particles can “remain suspended in the air for some time indoors, especially if there is...
Protection conferred by the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine against the P.1 (Brazilian), B.1.427/B.1.429 (Californian), and B.1.351 (South African) variants remains to be determined.
Research monitoring the differences between the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant and other lineages produced results indicating no link between B.1.1.7 prevalence and the type or frequency of symptoms reported by users....
This paper aims to investigate whether increases in the proportion of infections with SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 are associated with differences in symptoms or disease course, reinfection rates, or transmissibility.
Genetic drift and selection pressures (in particular with passive antibody treatments and vaccination) will continue to engender changes in SARS-CoV-2 and might result in the emergence of variants of high...
A paper describing the emergence of the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant of COVID-19, including its key characteristics and clinical severity.
Reducing cases is not only beneficial for decreasing the pressure on health-care systems, but also for lowering the vaccine escape risk.
While reducing the amount of virus circulating in and between individuals might be a key strategy to limit SARS-CoV-2 spread, on the basis of the existing evidence, it seems unlikely...
A 51-year-old woman attended our emergency department with a 3-day history of dyspnoea, fatigue, and cough and was found to have severe thrombocytopenia (abnormally low level of platelets. 11 days...
These findings suggest that the virus is a key driver of pathogenesis (how the disease develops) in severe COVID-19. Some immunological signatures denote an impaired ability to control viral replication...
In high-income and upper-middle-income countries, suicide numbers have remained largely unchanged or declined in the early months of the pandemic compared with the expected levels based on the pre-pandemic period.
Young adults who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 had about one-fifth the risk of subsequent infection compared with those who had not. Although antibodies induced by initial infection are largely...
People infected with SARS-CoV-2 produce many small respiratory particles laden with virus as they exhale. Some of these will be inhaled almost immediately by those within a typical conversational “short...
Claim: Up to week 47 of 2020, there were only 511,883 deaths in England and Wales, 20,000 fewer than the number of deaths in 2019. VERDICT False. Up to and...
Claim: According to NHS data, as of 21st January there have been 4,717 COVID-19 deaths of people between the ages of 0-59 in the UK. Verdict: This is not true....
Claim: Vapers with COVID-19 are up to 17% more likely to transmit the virus. Verdict: The study found this may be the case in a small minority of vapers. However,...
Report on Research article Dementia as risk factor: Adults with dementia have twice the risk for COVID-19 as those without dementia, The team says it's "extremely unlikely" that it resulted...
Opinion piece Monitoring, evaluation, and sustainability frameworks will be needed to assess the added value of NGS (next-generation sequencing - equipment with the ability for high pathogen resolution at increasingly...
Research article Early second wave data (in the UK) show that the number of children and young people being admitted to hospital might be due to the higher prevalence of...
Treatment decisions are regularly based on patients’ degree of frailty measured by the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). This study shows that frail patients of all ages admitted to hospital with...
Research article The extent to which very young children contribute to the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is unclear. On the basis of these findings, there is no evidence for daycare centres...
Research article It is vital to keep track of mutations in the genome of SARS-CoV-2, especially in the spike protein's receptor binding domain (RBD) region, which could potentially impact disease...
Opinion piece “Manaus [a town in Brazil] shows that pursuing herd immunity through natural infection is not a guarantee. And second, even if we could reach it, hundreds of thousands...
Opinion piece COVID-19 does not strike at random—mortality is much higher in elderly people, poorer groups, and ethnic minorities, and its economic effect is also unevenly distributed across the population....
Opinion piece Experts have warned that schools must be reopened with caution, amid emerging evidence from Israel and Italy that more young children are being infected with new variants of...
A useful roundup of scientific information over the last week, newly aligned with the CDC science agenda. Topics covered include peer-reviewed and pre-release publications on; Natural History of SARS-CoV-2 Infection,...
Over 22 300 deaths were reported in Africa in the last 28 days, compared with nearly 16 000 deaths in the previous 28 days. The continent is expected to reach...
Comment on pre-release Researchers studied nearly 130 patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 who had undergone brain MRI. Some 7% of patients had one or more nodules in the light receptor...
Comment on pre-release Males had a larger decline in life expectancy, falling from 76.3 to 75.1. By race, non-Hispanic Black people saw the largest drop, losing 2.7 years of life...
This risk assessment provides an overall update on the COVID-19 situation in the EU/EEA, including latest data on the situation with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern covered by previous targeted risk...
Peer reviewed article 91 541 adult patients with COVID-19 were discharged during the study period, among which 28 200 (30·8%) in-hospital deaths occurred. In this model, significant predictors of in-hospital death included...
Opinion piece The spread of the virus is probably wider than the numbers reported by official surveillance systems that are based on PCR results. Serology tests detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2,...
COVID-19, the clinical syndrome caused by SARS-CoV-2, has caused a tremendous burden of global morbidity and mortality. COVID-19 is predicted to have a devastating impact on other global infections, most...
Opinion piece The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus will not be eradicated but will become endemic, continuing to circulate in pockets of the global population for years to come and causing outbreaks in...
Opinion piece Experts agree that although signs are encouraging better data are needed. Duncan Robertson, an analyst from Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics, said, “The vaccination rollout data...
Opinion piece In the past three months global attention has turned to the discovery and relative global health risks of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is possible, maybe...
Peer reviewed paper Contrary to expectations, deaths with COVID-19 were common in Lusaka. Most occurred in the community, where testing capacity is lacking.
For some people, COVID-19 can cause symptoms that last weeks or months after the infection has gone. This is sometimes called post-COVID-19 syndrome or "long COVID".
Pre-release paper Expanding capacity for genetic epidemiology in Africa will help strengthen surveillance for the B.1.351 variant as well as early detection of emerging variants that might affect the implementation...
A summary of pre-release peer reviewed medical papers from the last week. From the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, CDC COVID-19 Response, and the CDC Library, Atlanta GA intended...
Report on peer reviewed article Although few patients with COVID-19 also suffer from co-infections at hospital admission, bacterial or fungal infections appear to be quite common in critically ill patients...
NEJM Journal Watch highlighted further evidence linking increased chances of infection for people with the A blood group. A study estimates that the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.7, which was...
A retrospective national epidemiologic study does not support a causal association between COVID-19 and Guillain-Barré Syndrome
Several noncommunicable diseases (NCD) are associated with an increased risk of infection death, suggesting that some of the reported associations with COVID-19 mortality might be non-specific. Only a subset of...
Peer review article Overall in-hospital mortality associated with COVID-19 in Jakarta was lower than reported in high-income countries, probably due to younger age distribution and fewer comorbidities. Deaths occurred across...
Peer review article With pregnant women, globally becoming more vulnerable to COVID-19 exposure because of relaxation of restrictions and setting in of pandemic fatigue, protecting the maternal–fetal from SARS-CoV-2 through...
Opinion piece Highlighting the prevalence of long covid symptoms for people who contracted SARS-CoV-2 but only showed mild symptoms.
Peer review article Underlying respiratory conditions are common in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Regardless of the severity of symptoms at admission and comorbidities, patients with asthma and those...
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the underlying poor metabolic health in our society, with metabolic diseases associated with COVID-19 severity and worse outcomes. A recently published comparative risk assessment...
Taking data from over 160 countries, the report found linear correlations between a country’s COVID-19 mortality and the proportion of adults that are overweight. There is not a single example...
Women account for a slightly smaller proportion of COVID-19 infections and deaths compared with men, a preliminary analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 28 African countries shows. The...
Report on peer review article Although children become infected with SARS-CoV-2 at lower rates and experience milder symptoms than adults, a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) has been described...
Report on peer review article A study on the increased risk to patients already suffering from kidney disease, the higher mortality rates caused by the B1.1.7 variant and the effective...
NEJM Journal Watch’s weekly summaries, commentary, and news on the pandemic. This week NEJM covered COVID-19–related topics including SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools, SOFA scores and mortality, tocilizumab for severe disease,...
Report on peer review article The finding that risk for severe COVID-19–associated illness increases with higher BMI suggests that progressively intensive management of COVID-19 might be needed for patients with...
Opinion piece When patients with gout are not taking immunosuppressants, their comorbidities mean that they have among the highest risk of poor COVID-19-related outcomes of all patients with rheumatic diseases.
Opinion piece The ongoing emergence and rapid dissemination of knowledge around multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is incredibly important for clinical teams around the world to treat their patients...
Opinion piece The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed several challenges in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) management. One of the initial key considerations was the effect of immunosuppression on COVID-19 incidence and...
Opinion piece Initial estimates of the potential effect of SARS-CoV-2 virus in sub-Saharan Africa were catastrophic: fortunately, these predictions have not been met in terms of number of cases, deaths,...
Peer review article The number of SARS-CoV-2 infections is likely to be higher than the confirmed case counts because many infected people have mild or no symptoms, and limitations exist...
Opinion piece The recent, worldwide spread of variants of concern has highlighted the need for global vigilance. Prospective surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 by genome sequencing in Zimbabwe between December, 2020, and...
Report on peer reviewed article Evidence indicates that children continue to be mostly, but not completely, spared the worst outcome of the pandemic, particularly compared with older adults who have...
Opinion piece The clinical presentation and immune profile in those children who are hospitalised seems similar to the disease in adults. An exception to this is the relatively small subset...
Peer reviewed article The probability that the risk of mortality is increased by infection with VOC-202012/01 is high. If this finding is generalisable to other populations, infection with VOC-202012/1 has...
Latest updates on how the CDC is responding to SARS-CoV-2 variants globally.
Research Study A clinical study finds that overweight and obesity were risk factors for invasive mechanical ventilation. Obesity was a risk factor for hospitalization and death, particularly among adults aged
Report on peer reviewed article Research finds that SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is uncommon, but older adults seem at higher risk. The reinfection rate was 8 per 100,000 person among people aged...
Peer review article Using Danish national PCR-test data from 2020, the study estimates protection towards repeat infection with SARS-CoV-2. It found protection against repeat infection was circa 80%, falling to...
Peer review article 6.92% of a cross-sectional sample of the population of Wuhan developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, with 39.8% of this population seroconverting to have neutralising antibodies. The data on...
Report on peer reviewed article This study is an important milestone in the description of SARS-CoV-2 infection and our understanding of immunity in the pandemic. The study detected neutralising antibodies...
The concept of so-called long COVID has gained prominence in recent months, with some patients reporting persistent neurological manifestations, from milder symptoms such as headaches, hyposmia, hypogeusia, and fatigue to...
More than three quarters of Wuhan residents who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies had experienced no COVID-19 symptoms and just under half developed long lasting neutralising antibodies, show results from...
Report of peer reviewed article Recent surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic have documented substantial rates of depression, anxiety, and overall distress in as many as one third of healthcare workers,...
Report on peer reviewed article This study suggests a relatively small fraction of symptomatic people with PCR-positive COVID-19 go on to develop chronic, debilitating symptoms. The people who were oldest,...
Report on peer reviewed article Factors expected to influence reinfection rates in patients with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection include general immune status, time from initial infection, prevalence of viral variants, and...
Pre-release of peer review article Neutralising antibody response dynamics in patients who have recovered from COVID-19 vary greatly, and prediction of immune longevity can only be accurately determined at the...
Peer review article This monitoring study in Austrian schools revealed SARS-CoV-2 infection in 0·39%-1·39% of participants and identified associations of regional community incidence and social deprivation with higher prevalence.
Opinion piece In The Lancet, Stephanie Salyer and colleagues' comprehensive and elegant cross-sectional analysis of COVID-19 case counts, response measures, and mortality rates highlights the diversity of the COVID-19 burden...
Peer review article Overall, this retrospective study highlights specific pre-existing conditions that are associated with higher hospitalization rates in COVID-19 patients despite viral clearance and motivates follow-up prospective research into...
Peer review article Analysis showed that the African continent had a more severe second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic than the first, and highlights the importance of examining multiple epidemiological...
Opinion piece Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare inflammatory disorder that usually affects young adults, with a bimodal peak at ages 15–25 years and 36–46 years. Here, we report...
Opinion piece Microvascular disease has been associated with worse outcomes in people with diabetes admitted to hospital for COVID-19. Pre-existing endothelial dysfunction and diffuse microangiopathy, particularly in the pulmonary microcirculation,...
Opinion piece The concept of so-called long COVID has gained prominence in recent months, with some patients reporting persistent neurological manifestations, from milder symptoms such as headaches, hyposmia, hypogeusia, and...
Middle aged women have a higher risk of experiencing a range of debilitating ongoing symptoms, such as fatigue, breathlessness, muscle pain, anxiety, depression, and “brain fog” after hospital treatment for...
Report on peer reviewed article These data indicate that during the second wave of the pandemic in England, children appeared to have a role in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. However,...
Report on peer reviewed article This snapshot of paediatric patients hospitalised with acute or postinfectious COVID-19 or MIS-C describes the commonly occurring neurologic symptoms and highlights that in rare cases...
Report on peer reviewed article The most probable origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was an intermediary animal host, states a joint report from the World Health Organization and experts from...
Report on peer reviewed article These findings from a large and well-performed study demonstrate that cardiac involvement is rare after mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 (
Report on peer reviewed article Patients discharged following a hospital stay for COVID-19 are at increased risk for mortality, readmission, and organ dysfunction, finds a study in the BMJ. The...
In the Technical Report 'Risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission from newly infected individuals with documented previous infection or vaccination', published today, ECDC examines the evidence on the extent previous SARS-CoV-2 infection...
Peer review article The risk of severe COVID-19 in people with asthma is relatively small. People with COPD and interstitial lung disease appear to have a modestly increased risk of...
Experts at the Israeli National Council for Prevention Diagnosis and Treatment of Malignant Disease raised concerns regarding the ability of the vaccine to provoke or enhance immune-related side-effects in patients...
Opinion piece COVID-19 in children and adolescents generally only causes mild symptoms. However, an immune response with persistent fever, inflammation, and single or multiorgan dysfunction, without any microbial cause, but...
Individuals discharged from hospital after Covid-19 had increased rates of multiorgan dysfunction compared with the expected risk in the general population. The increase in risk was not confined to the...
The report of the WHO international team on their Wuhan field visit, from 14 January -10 February 2021, was published today. The WHO’s Director General noted that while the reports...
Report on peer review article The positive findings in this study for risk associated with age and sex strengthen the validity of the negative findings for blood group type. If...
According to a retrospective study in The Lancet Psychiatry, risks for neurologic and psychiatric morbidity are significantly increased in the months after COVID-19 diagnosis. In an update on Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome...
Roughly 15% of patients who had mild COVID-19 symptoms still had symptoms 8 months later, according to a JAMA research letter. The most common prolonged symptoms were anosmia, fatigue, ageusia,...
Findings suggest that B.1.1.7 showed little resistance to the neutralizing activity of convalescent or vaccine serum, whereas B.1.351 showed more resistance to the neutralization of both convalescent serum (by a...
Although viruses can induce rheumatic diseases, the impact of SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, on the development of systemic rheumatic disease is unclear. COVID-19 can cause a hyperinflammatory state, and...
Report on peer review article In the 6 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, about a third of individuals had a neurological or psychiatric disorder, substantially more than comparative figures for influenza....
Pre-release peer review article The study provides evidence for substantial neurological and psychiatric morbidity in the 6 months after COVID-19 infection. Risks were greatest in, but not limited to, patients...
Identifying the contribution of sex and gender to SARS-CoV-2 infection yields important evidence on both biological mechanisms that underlie differences in illness outcomes, and social and structural dynamics that influence...
Report on peer review article The potential role of SARS-CoV-2 in inducing diabetes is likely to be more complex than the mere notion of pancreatic ACE2 expression and β-cell destruction....
Opinion piece As focus shifts to the next phase of research on the origins of SARS-CoV-2, calls for data sharing and more rigorous studies intensify. The publication on March 30,...
Report on peer review article People with obesity have an increased risk of severe COVID-19. A meta-analysis by Popkin and colleagues found that the odds ratio of people with obesity...
Opinion piece During the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence suggests that fewer people are stopping smoking and more ex-smokers are relapsing. This finding is especially concerning because smokers are at a higher...
Opinion piece The WHO’s report on the origin of SARS-CoV-2 was released on March 30. 34 international and Chinese multidisciplinary experts reviewed hundreds of thousands of epidemiological, clinical, and genomic...
Report on peer review article When compared with people who had flu or other respiratory tract infections over the same period, COVID-19 survivors were more likely to have conditions such...
Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks to months of illness, some do not. CDC and experts around the world are working to learn more about short- and...
COVID-19 is spread by droplets from sneezing and coughing. Common symptoms are: fever, new and continuous cough, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, loss of smell, and loss of taste....
COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus, thought to originally be hosted in bats, which emerged in China in 2019. This is mainly a respiratory illness. The most common symptoms are fever,...
This article provides a retrospective on the first months of COVID-19 in Africa. Across Africa, readiness in surveillance, laboratory capacity, case management, and infection prevention has increased (as scored by...
On the 12th of October, the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa PGI) was launched to expand access to next-generation sequencing (NGS) tools and expertise across Africa. Next-generation sequencing allows researchers...
The Africa CDC is raising awareness of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 reported in South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK). SARS-CoV-2 is the virus which causes COVID-19. This new...
New variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, are being detected in the African region. These variants appear to transmit more easily, and the new variant recently detected in...
While SARS-CoV-2 spreads mainly through and between humans, transmission has been observed between infected humans and mink, dogs, domestic cats, lions, tigers and raccoon dogs. SARS-CoV-2 has been reported in...
This update provides a summary of the latest developments in scientific knowledge and public health policy from around the world. Highlights on epidemiology are summarised below: - An analysis of...
Detecting and isolating asymptomatic COVID-19 cases is key in limiting the spread of the disease, as asymptomatic people can still transmit SARS-CoV-2. There have been reports from COVID-19 patients of...
The Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) is the proportion of people infected with the virus who will die as a result - this captures asymptomatic and undiagnosed cases through statistical modelling....
Evidence is showing that Africans with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and asthma are more at risk of suffering severe complications or death from COVID-19 infection....
The WHO has analysed data on COVID-19 and comorbidities from 14 African countries and has found that 18.3% of COVID-19 deaths in the African region are among people with diabetes,...
This update provides a summary of the latest developments in scientific knowledge and public health policy from around the world. Highlights on epidemiology are summarised below: - In a large,...
People with HIV in the UK seem to be at increased risk of COVID-19 mortality: A study on COVID-19 patients living with HIV in England found that people living with...
Most people with COVID-19 experience mild or moderate symptoms, however around 10-15% of cases progress to severe disease and around 5% become critically ill. People typically recover from COVID-19 2-6...
This update provides a summary of the latest developments in scientific knowledge and public health policy from around the world. Highlights on epidemiology are summarised below: - Adults over 60...
The WHO advises that masks should be used along with other control measures to help prevent and control the spread of COVID-19. Guidance is provided on the types of masks...
The website: https://covid19.who.int/table provides updates on case numbers and fatalities. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which are known to circulate in animals and humans, some of which can...
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Less common symptoms include loss of taste or smell, aches and pains, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, red...
Review on research article Persistent symptoms after mild illness: One third of patients with mild COVID-19 may report ongoing symptoms 6 months later, according to a small study
Report on research article Most critically ill patients with COVID-19 have moderate-to-severe hypoxemia, and outcomes for patients with in-hospital arrest in the setting of hypoxemic respiratory failure generally are poor.
Report on research articles COVID-19 reinfections confirmed in US; Interleukin-6 (a protein linked to inflammation) inhibitors as a promising therapy for COVID-19 and; further information on the spread of variants.
Report on research article These findings are reassuring in showing that pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 can efficiently transfer anti–spike protein IgG antibodies to their foetuses, thereby helping to protect...
Opinion piece Official report on case of infection and reinfection by two different SARS-CoV-2 strains.
Opinion piece Older age, male sex and increased body-mass index are all linked again to increased chances of severe COVID-19 infections.
Opinion piece The provision of tuberculosis preventive therapy for all forms of tuberculosis should be seen as an emergency measure to combat the devastating effect of COVID-19 on tuberculosis,
Opinion piece It has been found that a diagnosis of poor mental health was associated with an increased risk of COVID-19.
Opinion piece The alarming signals of rising FGM cases are part of a broader context in which the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted women's wellbeing—from increases in domestic violence, to...
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. Many children with...
A round up of recent scientific research and factual reports.
A letter by Min-Chul Kim, M.D., Ph.D. Chung-Ang University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea, Chunguang Cui, M.Sc. Kyeong-Ryeol Shin, M.Sc. Joon-Yong Bae, Ph.D. Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea...
A letter by Teresa Aydillo, Ph.D. Ana S. Gonzalez-Reiche, Ph.D. Sadaf Aslam, B.A. Adriana van de Guchte, M.S. Zenab Khan, B.S. Ajay Obla, Ph.D. Jayeeta Dutta, M.B.A. Harm van Bakel,...
A new infographic from the ECDC showing facts and figures about the three leading variants of the SARS CoV-2 virus.
A briefing paper published on 22 January by the UK Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) highlighted several preliminary analyses showing a possible increase in the...
This update from the CDC shows the numbers of US COVID-19 cases caused by new variants of the virus. New variants (also known as new strains) of the virus randomly...
This statistic is based on a preliminary draft of a large scale study investigating the long-term outcome of COVID-19 patients in the UK who were hospitalized, recovered and released. The...
This is an opinion piece by Perri Klass, M.D., and Adam J. Ratner, M.D., M.P.H from the Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York. They argue that vaccinating...
This study looked at households of all laboratory-confirmed or clinically confirmed COVID-19 cases and laboratory-confirmed asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections identified by the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention between Dec...
A new COVID-19 variant, 501Y.V2, known as the South African variant, has been detected in many countries including Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Comoros, Zambia and in 24 non-African nations. It is...
Review Although HIV-seropositive people are not more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than HIV-seronegative people, they have poorer clinical outcomes, according to a JAMA Network Open report. Researchers studied...
Gaebler at al. assessed humoral memory (the presence of viral fighting protein in the blood stream body fluids) and responses in 87 patients at both 40 days and 6 months...
Research paper Looking at the way SARS-CoV-2 causes disease in people is important in being able to control and fight it. Scientists are looking at the proteins (biological building blocks)...
Opinion piece All viruses mutate. But three variants of SARS-CoV-2 have raised particular concerns. On Jan 21, 2021, the UK New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) issued...
This ecological study highlights the impact of the epidemic spread, national lockdown, and reactive adaptation of intensive care capacities on the spatial distribution of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. It provides...
The mutation E484K, first identified in the South African SARS-CoV-2 variant, has now been identified in the UK fast-spreading variant, prompting fears the virus is evolving further and could become...
News article Around one in four people who had evidence of past COVID-19 infection were completely asymptomatic, while 40% did not have one of the three classic symptoms—fever, persistent dry...
Africa is currently experiencing an increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. As of 27 January 2021, at least 40 countries have experienced a second wave of the pandemic,...
People infected with the new variant of COVID-19 discovered in the England (known as B.1.1.7 or VUI 202012/01) are more likely to have a cough, sore throat, fatigue, or myalgia...
WHO officials have voiced concerns at “vaccine nationalism” which could increase the risk of the coronavirus mutating further by restricting the ability to distribute vaccines globally. They also noted that...
Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time. Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear; sometimes they persist. Variants of the virus...