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Last Update: 18 - 01 - 2023 (628506 entries)
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| Title | Venue | Year | Impact | Source | |
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| 1 | Safety and Efficacy of Imatinib for Hospitalized Adults with COVID-19: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial OBJECTIVES: Primary Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral administration of imatinib combined with the Best Conventional Care (BCC) versus placebo plus BCC in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Hypothesis: Addition of imatinib to the BCC will provide a superior clinical outcome for patients with COVID-19 compared with BCC plus placebo. This hypothesis is on the basis of 1) intralysosomal entrapment of imatinib will increase endosomal pH and effectively decrease SARS-CoV-2/cell fusion, 2) kinase inhibitory activity of imatinib will interfere with budding/release or replication of SARS-CoV-2, and 3) because of the critical role of mechanical ventilation in the care of patients with ARDS, imatinib will have a significant clinical impact for patients with critical COVID-19 infection in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). TRIAL DESIGN: This is an individual patient-level randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-parallel arm phase 3 study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of imatinib for the treatment of hospitalized adults with COVID-19. Participants will be followed for up to 60 days from the start of study drug administration. This trial will be conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and the Good Clinical Practice guidelines of the International Conference on Harmonization. PARTICIPANTS: Inclusion Criteria: Patients may be included in the study only if they meet all of the following criteria: 1) Ability to understand and willingness to sign a written informed consent document. Informed consent must be obtained prior to participation in the study. For patients who are too unwell to provide consent such as patients on invasive ventilator or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), their Legally Authorized Representative (LAR) can sign the informed consent, 2) Hospitalized patients ≥18 years of age, 3) Positive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for SARS-CoV-2 in the respiratory tract sample (oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)) by Center for Disease Control or local laboratory within 7 days of randomization, 4) Women of childbearing potential must agree to use at least one primary form of contraception for the duration of the study. Exclusion Criteria: Patients meeting any of the following criteria are not eligible for the study: 1) Patients receiving any other investigational agents in a clinical trial. Off-label use of agents such as hydroxychloroquine is not an exclusion criterion, 2) Pregnant or breastfeeding women, 3) Patients with significant liver or renal dysfunction at the time of screening as defined as: 3.1) Direct bilirubin >2.5 mg/dL, 3.2) AST, ALT, or alkaline phosphatase >5x upper limit of normal, 3.3) eGFR ≤30 mL/min or requiring renal replacement therapy, 4) Patients with significant hematologic disorder at screen as defined as: 4.1) Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) <500/μL, 4.2) Platelet <20,000/μL, 4.3) Hemoglobin <7 g/dL, 5) Uncontrolled underlying illness including, but not limited to, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, uncontrolled active seizure disorder, or psychiatric illness/social situations that per site Principal Investigator’s judgment would limit compliance with study requirements, 6) Known allergy to imatinib or its component products, 7) Any other clinical conditions that in the opinion of the investigator would make the subject unsuitable for the study. Both men and women of all races and ethnic groups are eligible for this trial. University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD is the initiating site. The study may be opened in other centers on the basis of the accrual rate or the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Imatinib: All doses of imatinib should be administered with a meal and a large glass of water. Imatinib can be dissolved in water or apple juice for patients having difficulty swallowing. In this study, patients with confirmed positive COVID-19 tests receive imatinib for a total of 14 days; 400 mg orally daily Days 1-14. Imatinib 400 mg tablets will be encapsulated using size 000 capsules and cellulose microcrystalline filler. For patients on ventilator or ECMO, imatinib will be given as oral suspension (40 mg/mL). To make the oral suspension, imatinib tablets will be crushed and mixed in Ora-sweet solution to yield a concentration of 40 mg/mL suspension by pharmacy. Additionally, in the absence of supportive microbiological testing results, we confirm that the in-use stability period for the prepared imatinib suspensions will be 24 hours at room temperature or 7 days at refrigerated conditions. The pharmacy staff will follow the American Society Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) guidelines for handling hazardous drugs. Placebo: The matching placebo will be packaged by Investigational Drug Service Pharmacy at University of Maryland Medical Center. The placebos will be prepared using size 000 capsules and cellulose microcrystalline filler. Imatinib 400 mg capsules and placebo capsules will be identical form and color. For patients on ventilator or ECMO, placebo will be given as oral suspension with similar process for making imatinib suspension. Concomitant Medications/supportive care: In both arms, patients can receive concomitant available local standard of care antipyretics, antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals and anti-inflammatory including hydroxychloroquine at the discretion of the treating physician as necessary. For other drug-drug interactions particularly with CYP P450, the treating physician should consider the risk and benefit of drug administration based on available information. Co-administration of off-label immunomodulatory treatments for COVID-19 including but not limited to corticosteroids, sarilumab, clazakizumab, tocilizumab, and anakinra will be allowed but may affect interpretability of study outcomes. The timing, dosing, and duration of these treatments will be meticulously collected, including any of these treatments that may be used for participants who experience progression of COVID-19 disease after study enrollment. Two analyses will be performed, the primary analysis will compare the primary endpoint in the two trial arms irrespective of any other treatment; the second analysis will be stratified for co-administration of immunomodulatory drugs. MAIN OUTCOMES: The primary endpoint is the proportion of patients with a two-point improvement at Day 14 from baseline using the 8-category ordinal scale. The ordinal scale is an evaluation of the clinical status at the first assessment of a given study day. The scale is as follows: 1) Not hospitalized, no limitations on activities; 2) Not hospitalized, limitation on activities and/or requiring home oxygen; 3) Hospitalized, not requiring supplemental oxygen – no longer requires ongoing medical care; 4) Hospitalized, not requiring supplemental oxygen - requiring ongoing medical care (COVID-19 related or otherwise); 5) Hospitalized, requiring supplemental oxygen; 6) Hospitalized, on non-invasive ventilation or high flow oxygen devices; 7) Hospitalized, on invasive mechanical ventilation or ECMO; 8) Death. The secondary endpoints include: All-cause mortality at Day 28, All-cause mortality at Day 60, Time to a 2-point clinical improvement difference over baseline, Duration of hospitalization, Duration of ECMO or invasive mechanical ventilation (for subjects who are on ECMO or mechanical ventilation at Day 1), Duration of ICU stay (for subjects who are in ICU at Day 1), Time to SARS-CoV-2 negative by RT-PCR, Proportion of patients with negative oropharyngeal or nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR on days 5, 10, 14, 21, and 28 after starting treatment, Proportion of subjects with serious adverse events, Proportion of subjects who discontinue study drug due to adverse events. The exploratory endpoints include: Determine the impact of treatment arms on IL-6 levels, Obtain blood/peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) for storage to look at transcriptomics in severe disease, Association of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) with severity of illness, Mean change in the ordinal scale from baseline, Time to an improvement of one category from admission using an ordinal scale, Duration of hospitalization, Duration of new oxygen use, Number of oxygenation free days, Duration of new mechanical ventilation, Number of ventilator free days. RANDOMIZATION: Eligible patients will be uniformly randomized in 1:1 ratio to receive either imatinib or placebo for 14 days. Both groups will receive the BCC. The randomized treatment allocations use stratified, permuted block randomization with a variable block size; blocks are generated using a validated random number generator. In order to balance the severity of the respiratory illness between the two arms, randomization will be stratified based on radiographic findings and oxygen requirements: 1) Severe disease: evidence of pneumonia on chest X-ray or CT scan OR chest auscultation (rales, crackles), and SpO(2) ≤92% on ambient air or PaO(2)/FiO(2) <300 mmHg, and requires supplemental oxygen administration by nasal cannula, simple face mask, or other similar oxygen delivery device; 2) Critical disease: requires supplemental oxygen delivered by non-rebreather mask or high flow cannula OR use of invasive or non-invasive ventilation OR requiring treatment in an intensive care unit, use of vasopressors, extracorporeal life support, or renal replacement therapy. BLINDING (MASKING): The participants, caregivers, and the statistician are blinded to group assignment. The only people who are not blinded are Site Pharmacists. Blinding will be performed via a specific randomization process. Centralized, concealed randomization will be executed by the Primary Site’s Pharmacist. Data on eligible consented cases will be submitted electronically on the appropriate on-study form to the pharmacy, where the patient is randomized to imatinib or placebo. Imatinib 400 mg capsules and placebo capsules will be identical form and color. For patients on ventilator or ECMO, placebo will be given as oral suspension with similar process for making imatinib suspension. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMIZED (SAMPLE SIZE): The trial is designed as a double-blind, two-parallel arm, randomized controlled trial with a uniform (1:1) allocation ratio to: Arm A) Imatinib or Arm B) Placebo. Patients in both arms will receive the BCC per local institutional standards at the discretion of the treating physician. Group sample sizes of 102 in Arm A and 102 in Arm B achieve 80.6% power to detect a difference between the group proportions of 0.20. The proportion in Arm A (imatinib treatment arm) is assumed to be 0.30 under the null hypothesis and 0.50 under the alternative hypothesis. The proportion in Arm B (placebo control arm) is 0.30. The test statistic used is the two-sided Fisher's Exact Test. The significance level of the test is targeted at 0.05. The significance level actually achieved by this design is α=0.0385. The power of the test is calculated using binomial enumeration of all possible outcomes. The primary analysis will be conducted using an intention to treat principle (ITT) for participants who at least receive one dose of study drug or placebo. The sample size is not inflated for dropouts. All patients will be evaluable irrespective of the clinical course of their disease. TRIAL STATUS: Current protocol version is 1.2 from May 8, 2020. The recruitment started on June 15, 2020 and is ongoing. We originally anticipated that the trial would finish recruitment by mid 2021. We are aware of the enrollment requirement of approximately 200 patients, which is required to provide scientific integrity of the results. We are also aware of the fact that enrolling this number of patients in a single-site at University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) may take longer than expected, particularly taken into account other competing studies. For this reason, we are actively considering opening the protocol in other sites. After identification of other sites, we will fulfill all regulatory requirements before opening the protocol in other sites. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04394416. First Posted: May 19, 2020; Last Update Posted: June 4, 2020. FDA has issued the “Study May Proceed” Letter for this clinical trial under the Investigational New Drug (IND) number 149239. FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary information accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s13063-020-04819-9. | Trials | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 2 | Beyond the black stump: rapid reviews of health research issues affecting regional, rural and remote Australia N/A | Med J Aust | 2020 | CORD-19 | |
| 3 | Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China Summary Background A recent cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China, was caused by a novel betacoronavirus, the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). We report the epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics and treatment and clinical outcomes of these patients. Methods All patients with suspected 2019-nCoV were admitted to a designated hospital in Wuhan. We prospectively collected and analysed data on patients with laboratory-confirmed 2019-nCoV infection by real-time RT-PCR and next-generation sequencing. Data were obtained with standardised data collection forms shared by WHO and the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium from electronic medical records. Researchers also directly communicated with patients or their families to ascertain epidemiological and symptom data. Outcomes were also compared between patients who had been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and those who had not. Findings By Jan 2, 2020, 41 admitted hospital patients had been identified as having laboratory-confirmed 2019-nCoV infection. Most of the infected patients were men (30 [73%] of 41); less than half had underlying diseases (13 [32%]), including diabetes (eight [20%]), hypertension (six [15%]), and cardiovascular disease (six [15%]). Median age was 49·0 years (IQR 41·0–58·0). 27 (66%) of 41 patients had been exposed to Huanan seafood market. One family cluster was found. Common symptoms at onset of illness were fever (40 [98%] of 41 patients), cough (31 [76%]), and myalgia or fatigue (18 [44%]); less common symptoms were sputum production (11 [28%] of 39), headache (three [8%] of 38), haemoptysis (two [5%] of 39), and diarrhoea (one [3%] of 38). Dyspnoea developed in 22 (55%) of 40 patients (median time from illness onset to dyspnoea 8·0 days [IQR 5·0–13·0]). 26 (63%) of 41 patients had lymphopenia. All 41 patients had pneumonia with abnormal findings on chest CT. Complications included acute respiratory distress syndrome (12 [29%]), RNAaemia (six [15%]), acute cardiac injury (five [12%]) and secondary infection (four [10%]). 13 (32%) patients were admitted to an ICU and six (15%) died. Compared with non-ICU patients, ICU patients had higher plasma levels of IL2, IL7, IL10, GSCF, IP10, MCP1, MIP1A, and TNFα. Interpretation The 2019-nCoV infection caused clusters of severe respiratory illness similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and was associated with ICU admission and high mortality. Major gaps in our knowledge of the origin, epidemiology, duration of human transmission, and clinical spectrum of disease need fulfilment by future studies. Funding Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission. | Lancet | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 4 | Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of four different strategies for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in the general population (CoV-Surv Study): a structured summary of a study protocol for a cluster-randomised, two-factorial controlled trial OBJECTIVES: In this cluster-randomised controlled study (CoV-Surv Study), four different “active” SARS-CoV-2 testing strategies for general population surveillance are evaluated for their effectiveness in determining and predicting the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections in a given population. In addition, the costs and cost-effectiveness of the four surveillance strategies will be assessed. Further, this trial is supplemented by a qualitative component to determine the acceptability of each strategy. Findings will inform the choice of the most effective, acceptable and affordable strategy for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, with the most effective and cost-effective strategy becoming part of the local public health department’s current routine health surveillance activities. Investigating its everyday performance will allow us to examine the strategy’s applicability to real time prevalence prediction and the usefulness of the resulting information for local policy makers to implement countermeasures that effectively prevent future nationwide lockdowns. The authors would like to emphasize the importance and relevance of this study and its expected findings in the context of population-based disease surveillance, especially in respect to the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In Germany, but also in many other countries, COVID-19 surveillance has so far largely relied on passive surveillance strategies that identify individuals with clinical symptoms, monitor those cases who then tested positive for the virus, followed by tracing of individuals in close contact to those positive cases. To achieve higher effectiveness in population surveillance and to reliably predict the course of an outbreak, screening and monitoring of infected individuals without major symptoms (about 40% of the population) will be necessary. While current testing capacities are also used to identify such asymptomatic cases, this rather passive approach is not suitable in generating reliable population-based estimates of the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers to allow any dependable predictions on the course of the pandemic. To better control and manage the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, current strategies therefore need to be complemented by an active surveillance of the wider population, i.e. routinely conducted testing and monitoring activities to identify and isolate infected individuals regardless of their clinical symptoms. Such active surveillance strategies will enable more effective prevention of the spread of the virus as they can generate more precise population-based parameters during a pandemic. This essential information will be required in order to determine the best strategic and targeted short-term countermeasures to limit infection spread locally. TRIAL DESIGN: This trial implements a cluster-randomised, two-factorial controlled, prospective, interventional, single-blinded design with four study arms, each representing a different SARS-CoV-2 testing and surveillance strategy. PARTICIPANTS: Eligible are individuals age 7 years or older living in Germany’s Rhein-Neckar Region who consent to provide a saliva sample (all four arms) after completion of a brief questionnaire (two arms only). For the qualitative component, different samples of study participants and non-participants (i.e. eligible for study, but refuse to participate) will be identified for additional interviews. For these interviews, only individuals age 18 years or older are eligible. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Of the four surveillance strategies to be assessed and compared, Strategy A1 is considered the gold standard for prevalence estimation and used to determine bias in other arms. To determine the cost-effectiveness, each strategy is compared to status quo, defined as the currently practiced passive surveillance approach. Strategy A1: Individuals (one per household) receive information and study material by mail with instructions on how to produce a saliva sample and how to return the sample by mail. Once received by the laboratory, the sample is tested for SARS-CoV-2 using Reverse Transcription Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP). Strategy A2: Individuals (one per household) receive information and study material by mail with instructions on how to produce their own as well as saliva samples from each household member and how to return these samples by mail. Once received by the laboratory, the samples are tested for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-LAMP. Strategy B1: Individuals (one per household) receive information by mail on how to complete a brief pre-screening questionnaire which asks about COVID-19 related clinical symptoms and risk exposures. Only individuals whose pre-screening score crosses a defined threshold, will then receive additional study material by mail with instructions on how to produce a saliva sample and how to return the sample by mail. Once received by the laboratory, the saliva sample is tested for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-LAMP. Strategy B2: Individuals (one per household) receive information by mail on how to complete a brief pre-screening questionnaire which asks about COVID-19 related clinical symptoms. Only individuals whose pre-screening score crosses a defined threshold, will then receive additional study material by mail with instructions how to produce their own as well as saliva samples from each household member and how to return these samples by mail. Once received by the laboratory, the samples are tested for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-LAMP. In each strategy, RT-LAMP positive samples are additionally analyzed with qPCR in order to minimize the number of false positives. MAIN OUTCOMES: The identification of the one best strategy will be determined by a set of parameters. Primary outcomes include costs per correctly screened person, costs per positive case, positive detection rate, and precision of positive detection rate. Secondary outcomes include participation rate, costs per asymptomatic case, prevalence estimates, number of asymptomatic cases per study arm, ratio of symptomatic to asymptomatic cases per study arm, participant satisfaction. Additional study components (not part of the trial) include cost effectiveness of each of the four surveillance strategies compared to passive monitoring (i.e. status quo), development of a prognostic model to predict hospital utilization caused by SARS-CoV-2, time from test shipment to test application and time from test shipment to test result, and perception and preferences of the persons to be tested with regard to test strategies. RANDOMISATION: Samples are drawn in three batches of three continuous weeks. Randomisation follows a two-stage process. First, a total of 220 sampling points have been allocated to the three different batches. To obtain an integer solution, the Cox-algorithm for controlled rounding has been used. Afterwards, sample points have been drawn separately per batch, following a probability proportional to size (PPS) random sample. Second, for each cluster the same number of residential addresses is randomly sampled from the municipal registries (self-weighted sample of individuals). The 28,125 addresses drawn per municipality are then randomly allocated to the four study arms A1, A2, B1, and B2 in the ratio 5 to 2.5 to 14 to 7 based on the expected response rates in each arm and the sensitivity and specificity of the pre-screening tool as applied in strategy B1 and B2. Based on the assumptions, this allocation should yield 2500 saliva samples in each strategy. Although a municipality can be sampled by multiple batches and the overall number of addresses per municipality might vary, the number of addresses contacted in each arm is kept constant. BLINDING (MASKING): The design is single-blinded, meaning the staff conducting the SARS-CoV-2 tests are unaware of the study arm assignment of each single participant and test sample. SAMPLE SIZES: Total sample size for the trial is 10,000 saliva samples equally allocated to the four study arms (i.e. 2,500 participants per arm). For the qualitative component, up to 60 in-depth interviews will be conducted with about 30 study participants (up to 15 in each arm A and B) and 30 participation refusers (up to 15 in each arm A and B) purposefully selected from the quantitative study sample to represent a variety of gender and ages to explore experiences with admission or rejection of study participation. Up to 25 asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 positive study participants will be purposefully selected to explore the way in which asymptomatic men and women diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 give meaning to their diagnosis and to the dialectic between feeling concurrently healthy and yet also being at risk for transmitting COVID-19. In addition, 100 randomly selected study participants will be included to explore participants’ perspective on testing processes and implementation. TRIAL STATUS: Final protocol version is “Surveillance_Studienprotokoll_03Nov2020_v1_2” from November 3, 2020. Recruitment started November 18, 2020 and is expected to end by or before December 31, 2020. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial is currently being registered with the German Clinical Trials Register (Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien), DRKS00023271 (https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial. HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00023271). Retrospectively registered 30 November 2020. FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol. | Trials | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 5 | A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (inactivated, Vero cell): a structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial OBJECTIVES: The primary objective is to evaluate the efficacy of an inactivated and aluminium hydroxide adsorbed SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (Sinovac, China) in voluntary participants after 14 days of the second dose against RT-PCR confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 cases. The secondary objectives include evaluating the efficacy after at least one dose of the vaccine against RT-PCR confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 cases; the efficacy of two doses of the vaccine on the rates of hospitalization and death; the safety of the vaccine including adverse reactions up to one year after the 2(nd) dose of vaccination; and the immunogenicity of the vaccine and its duration up to 120 days. TRIAL DESIGN: This is a phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled case driven clinical trial to assess the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. The study is planned to be carried out within two separate cohorts in voluntary participants aged between 18-59 years old. The first cohort includes healthcare professionals actively working in healthcare units, who are assumed to have higher risk of acquiring COVID-19, and the second cohort includes other immunocompetent subjects in the same age group, who are at a regular risk for COVID-19 disease. In Cohort 1, healthcare professionals will be randomized to receive two intramuscular doses of investigational product or the placebo in a 1:1 ratio and they will be monitored for 12 months by active surveillance of COVID-19. In Cohort 2, immunocompetent subjects will be randomized to receive vaccine or the placebo in a 2:1 ratio. PARTICIPANTS: Healthcare professionals of both genders, including medical doctors, nurses, cleaners, hospital technicians, and administrative personnel who work in any department of a healthcare unit and immunocompetent individuals of both genders are included. Pregnant (confirmed by positive beta-hCG test) and breastfeeding women as well as those intending to become pregnant within three months after vaccination are excluded. Other exclusion criteria include history of COVID-19 test positivity (PCR or immunoglobulin test results), any form of immunosuppressive therapy including corticosteroids within 6 months, history of bleeding disorders, asplenia, and administration of any form of immunoglobulins or blood products within 3 months. Exclusion criteria for the second dose include any serious adverse events related with the vaccine, anaphylaxis or hypersensitivity after vaccination, or any confirmed or suspected autoimmune or immunosuppressive disease (including HIV infection). Participants are only included after signing the voluntary informed consent form, ensuring cooperation in visits, undergoing screening for evaluation, and conforming to all the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All clinical sites are located in Turkey. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: The vaccine was manufactured by Sinovac Research & Development Co., Ltd. It is a preparation made from a novel coronavirus (strain CZ02) grown in the kidney cell cultures (Vero Cell) of the African green monkey and contains inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus, aluminium hydroxide, disodium hydrogen phosphate, sodium dihydrogen phosphate, and sodium chloride. A dose of 0.5 mL contains 600 SU of SARS-CoV-2 virus antigen. The placebo contains aluminium hydroxide, disodium hydrogen phosphate, sodium dihydrogen phosphate, and sodium chloride (0.5mL/dose). Scheduled visits and additional unscheduled weekly visits will be performed for the first 13 weeks and neutralizing antibody test, IgG test, T-Cell activation test, pregnancy test, and RT-PCR tests along with total antibody test will be performed. Adverse events and serious adverse events during the follow-up will be recorded on diary cards. Diary cards will collect information on the timing and severity of COVID-19 symptoms and solicited adverse events recorded by the subjects during one-year follow-up period. All serious adverse events will be managed and necessary treatment will be ensured according to the local regulations. All serious adverse events following vaccination will be reported to the ethics committee, the Ministry of Health, and the study sponsor within 24 hours of detection. MAIN OUTCOMES: The primary efficacy endpoint is the incidence of symptomatic cases of COVID-19 disease confirmed by RT-PCR two weeks after the second dose of vaccination. Secondary efficacy endpoints are the incidence of hospitalization/mortality rates among one or two dose regimens, duration of immunogenicity rates up to 120 days, the seroconversion rate, the seropositivity rate, neutralizing antibody titer, and IgG levels 14 days after each dose of vaccination. The primary safety endpoint is the severity and frequency of local and systemic adverse reactions during the period of one week after vaccination. The study would be terminated if more than 15% of the subjects have grade ≥3 adverse events related to vaccination including local reactions. RANDOMISATION: Eligible subjects will be randomized at their Study Day 0 to two study groups using an Interactive Web Response System (IWRS; developed by Omega CRO, Ankara, Turkey) in both risk groups. The IWRS system customizes the randomization algorithm. After enrolment in the study, each participant will be randomly assigned to either of the two treatment arms at a ratio of 1:1 in the high-risk group and at a ratio of 2:1 in the normal risk group. Each enrolled participant will be assigned to a code and will receive the treatment labelled with the code. BLINDING (MASKING): The trial is a double-blind study to avoid introducing bias. The blinding may be broken by the investigator in the event of a medical emergency in which knowledge of the identity of the study vaccine is critical for management of the subject’s immediate treatment. The Data and Safety Monitoring Board is to be contacted in case of breaking the blinding for a study object. The blood samples will be taken from both placebo and vaccinated groups, in order not to break the blinding. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMISED (SAMPLE SIZE): The study is planned to be carried out with two separate cohorts. The Cohort 1 includes healthcare professionals working in healthcare units and the Cohort 2 consists of immunocompetent subjects having normal risk for COVID-19 disease. The Cohort 2 will be initiated after the evaluation of the interim safety report of the Cohort 1 by the Data and Safety Monitoring Board. Both cohorts will be followed-up via RT-PCR to confirm symptomatic COVID-19 cases. If the clinical efficacy of the vaccine is shown in the Cohort 1 or 2, the subjects randomized into the placebo arm will also be vaccinated. In the Cohort 1, 588 subjects should be included in both arms with the assumption that the risk of infection with COVID-19 will be 5% for the placebo arm and 2% for the vaccine arm in the high-risk group. Considering 10% of drop-out rate and 5% of seropositivity or PCR positivity at baseline, 680 subjects should be screened at both arms of the Cohort 1. Group sample sizes of 7545 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and 3773 placebo suits at a two-sided 95% confidence interval for the difference in population proportions with a width equal to 1.0%, when the estimated incidence rate for vaccinated group is 1.0% and the estimated incidence rate for placebo group is 2.0%. Drop-out rate is assumed to be 10% and seropositivity or PCR positivity at baseline is assumed to be 5%; accordingly, 13000 participants are needed to be enrolled totally in both cohorts. The remaining 11640 subjects will be screened in the Cohort 2 and eligible subjects will be randomized at a ratio of 2:1. TRIAL STATUS: Protocol version 6.0 – 15 October 2020. Recruitment started on 15.09.2020 and is expected to end on February 2022. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04582344. Registered 8 October 2020 FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol of the trial is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05180-1. | Trials | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 6 | THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS N/A | Turk Psikiyatri Derg | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 7 | A prospective, randomized, single-blinded, crossover trial to investigate the effect of a wearable device in addition to a daily symptom diary for the remote early detection of SARS-CoV-2 infections (COVID-RED): a structured summary of a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial OBJECTIVES: It is currently thought that most—but not all—individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 develop symptoms, but that the infectious period starts on average two days before the first overt symptoms appear. It is estimated that pre- and asymptomatic individuals are responsible for more than half of all transmissions. By detecting infected individuals before they have overt symptoms, wearable devices could potentially and significantly reduce the proportion of transmissions by pre-symptomatic individuals. the algorithm using Ava bracelet data when coupled with self-reported Daily Symptom Diary data (Wearable + Symptom Data Algo; experimental condition); the algorithm using self-reported Daily Symptom Diary data alone (Symptom Only Algo; control condition). In addition, we will determine which of the two algorithms has superior performance characteristics for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection including early or asymptomatic infection as confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 virus testing. TRIAL DESIGN: The trial is a randomized, single-blinded, two-period, two-sequence crossover trial. All subjects will participate in an initial Learning Phase (varying from 2 weeks to 3 months depending on enrolment date), followed by two contiguous 3-month test phases, Period 1 and Period 2. Each subject will undergo the experimental condition (the Wearable + Symptom Data Algo) in one of these periods and the control condition (Symptom Only Algo) in the other period. The order will be randomly assigned, resulting in subjects being allocated 1:1 to either Sequence 1 (experimental condition first) or Sequence 2 (control condition first). Based on demographics, medical history and/or profession, each subject will be stratified at baseline into a high-risk and normal-risk group within each sequence. PARTICIPANTS: The trial will be conducted in the Netherlands. A target of 20,000 subjects will be enrolled. Based on demographics, medical history and/or profession, each subject will be stratified at baseline into a high-risk and normal-risk group within each sequence. This results in approximately 6,500 normal-risk individuals and 3,500 high-risk individuals per sequence. Subjects will be recruited from previously studied cohorts as well as via public campaigns and social media. All data for this study will be collected remotely through the Ava COVID-RED app, the Ava bracelet, surveys in the COVID-RED web portal, and self-sampling serology and PCR kits. During recruitment, subjects will be invited to visit the COVID-RED web portal (www.covid-red.eu). After successfully completing the enrolment questionnaire, meeting eligibility criteria and indicating interest in joining the study, subjects will receive the subject information sheet and informed consent form. Subjects can enrol in COVID-RED if they comply with the following inclusion and exclusion criteria. Resident of the Netherlands. At least 18 years old. Informed consent provided (electronic). Willing to adhere to the study procedures described in the protocol. Must have a smartphone that runs at least Android 8.0 or iOS 13.0 operating systems and is active for the duration of the study (in the case of a change of mobile number, study team should be notified). Be able to read, understand and write Dutch. Previous positive SARS-CoV-2 test result (confirmed either through PCR/antigen or antibody tests; self-reported). Previously received a vaccine developed specifically for COVID-19 or in possession of an appointment for vaccination in the near future (self-reported). Current suspected (e.g., waiting for test result) COVID-19 infection or symptoms of a COVID-19 infection (self-reported). Participating in any other COVID-19 clinical drug, vaccine, or medical device trial (self-reported). Electronic implanted device (such as a pacemaker; self-reported). Pregnant at time of informed consent (self-reported). Suffering from cholinergic urticaria (per the Ava bracelet’s User Manual; self-reported). Staff involved in the management or conduct of this study. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: All subjects will be instructed to complete the Daily Symptom Diary in the Ava COVID-RED app daily, wear their Ava bracelet each night and synchronise it with the app each day for the entire period of study participation. Provided with wearable sensor and/or self-reported symptom data within the last 24 hours, the Ava COVID-RED app’s underlying algorithms will provide subjects with a real-time indicator of their overall health and well-being. Subjects will see one of three messages, notifying them that: no seeming deviations in symptoms and/or physiological parameters have been detected; some changes in symptoms and/or physiological parameters have been detected and they should self-isolate; or alerting them that deviations in their symptoms and/or physiological parameters could be suggestive of a potential COVID-19 infection and to seek additional testing. We will assess intraperson performance of the algorithms in the experimental condition (Wearable + Symptom Data Algo) and control conditions (Symptom Only Algo). MAIN OUTCOMES: The trial will evaluate the use and performance of the Ava COVID-RED app and Ava bracelet, which uses sensors to measure breathing rate, pulse rate, skin temperature, and heart rate variability for the purpose of early and asymptomatic detection and monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in general and high-risk populations. Using laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections (detected via serology tests, PCR tests and/or antigen tests) as the gold standard, we will determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for each of the following two algorithms to detect first-time SARS-CoV-2 infection including early or asymptomatic infection: the algorithm using Ava Bracelet data when coupled with the self-reported Daily Symptom Diary data, and the algorithm using self-reported Daily Symptom Diary data alone. In addition, we will determine which of the two algorithms has superior performance characteristics for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection including early or asymptomatic infection as confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 virus testing. The protocol contains an additional seventeen secondary outcomes which address infection incidence rates, health resource utilization, symptoms reported by SARS-CoV-2 infected participants, and the rate of breakthrough and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections among individuals vaccinated against COVID-19. PCR or antigen testing will occur when the subject receives a notification from the algorithm to seek additional testing. Subjects will be advised to get tested via the national testing programme, and report the testing result in the Ava COVID-RED app and a survey. If they cannot obtain a test via the national testing programme, they will receive a nasal swab self-sampling kit at home, and the sample will be tested by PCR in a trial-affiliated laboratory. In addition, all subjects will be asked to take a capillary blood sample at home at baseline (Month 0), and at the end of the Learning Phase (Month 3), Period 1 (Month 6) and Period 2 (Month 9). These samples will be used for SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody testing in a trial-affiliated laboratory, differentiating between antibodies resulting from a natural infection and antibodies resulting from COVID-19 vaccination (as vaccination will gradually be rolled out during the trial period). Baseline samples will only be analysed if the sample collected at the end of the Learning Phase is positive, and samples collected at the end of Period 1 will only be analysed if the sample collected at the end of Period 2 is positive. When subjects obtain a positive PCR/antigen or serology test result during the study, they will continue to be in the study but will be moved into a so-called “COVID-positive” mode in the Ava COVID-RED app. This means that they will no longer receive recommendations from the algorithms but can still contribute and track symptom and bracelet data. The primary analysis of the main objective will be executed using data collected in Period 2 (Month 6 through 9). Within this period, serology tests (before and after Period 2) and PCR/antigen tests (taken based on recommendations by the algorithms) will be used to determine if a subject was infected with SARS-CoV-2 or not. Within this same time period, it will be determined if the algorithms gave any recommendations for testing. The agreement between these quantities will be used to evaluate the performance of the algorithms and how these compare between the study conditions. RANDOMISATION: All eligible subjects will be randomized using a stratified block randomization approach with an allocation ratio of 1:1 to one of two sequences (experimental condition followed by control condition or control condition followed by experimental condition). Based on demographics, medical history and/or profession, each subject will be stratified at baseline into a high-risk and normal-risk group within each sequence, resulting in equal numbers of high-risk and normal-risk individuals between the sequences. BLINDING (MASKING): In this study, subjects will be blinded as to study condition and randomization sequence. Relevant study staff and the device manufacturer will be aware of the assigned sequence. The subject will wear the Ava bracelet and complete the Daily Symptom Diary in the Ava COVID-RED app for the full duration of the study, and they will not know if the feedback they receive about their potential infection status will only be based on data they entered in the Daily Symptom Diary within the Ava COVID-RED app or based on both the data from the Daily Symptom Diary and the Ava bracelet. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMISED (SAMPLE SIZE): 20,000 subjects will be recruited and randomized 1:1 to either Sequence 1 (experimental condition followed by control condition) or Sequence 2 (control condition followed by experimental condition), taking into account their risk level. This results in approximately 6,500 normal-risk and 3,500 high-risk individuals per sequence. TRIAL STATUS: Protocol version: 1.2, dated January 22(nd), 2021 Start of recruitment: February 22(nd), 2021 End of recruitment (estimated): April 2021 End of follow-up (estimated): December 2021 TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial has been registered at the Netherlands Trial Register on the 18(th) of February, 2021 with number NL9320 (https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/9320) FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05241-5. | Trials | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 8 | A prospective, randomized, single-blinded, crossover trial to investigate the effect of a wearable device in addition to a daily symptom diary for the Remote Early Detection of SARS-CoV-2 infections (COVID-RED): a structured summary of a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial OBJECTIVES: It is currently thought that most—but not all—individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 develop symptoms, but the infectious period starts on average 2 days before the first overt symptoms appear. It is estimated that pre- and asymptomatic individuals are responsible for more than half of all transmissions. By detecting infected individuals before they have overt symptoms, wearable devices could potentially and significantly reduce the proportion of transmissions by pre-symptomatic individuals. Using laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections (detected via serology tests [to determine if there are antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 in the blood] or SARS-CoV-2 infection tests such as polymerase chain reaction [PCR] or antigen tests) as the gold standard, we will determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for the following two algorithms to detect first time SARS-CoV-2 infection including early or asymptomatic infection: • The algorithm using Ava bracelet data when coupled with self-reported Daily Symptom Diary data (Wearable + Symptom Data Algo; experimental condition) • The algorithm using self-reported Daily Symptom Diary data alone (Symptom Only Algo; control condition) In addition, we will determine which of the two algorithms has superior performance characteristics for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection including early or asymptomatic infection as confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 virus testing. TRIAL DESIGN: The trial is a randomized, single-blinded, two-period, two-sequence crossover trial. The study will start with an initial learning phase (maximum of 3 months), followed by period 1 (3 months) and period 2 (3 months). Subjects entering the study at the end of the recruitment period may directly start with period 1 and will not be part of the learning phase. Each subject will undergo the experimental condition (the Wearable + Symptom Data Algo) in either period 1 or period 2 and the control condition (Symptom Only Algo) in the other period. The order will be randomly assigned, resulting in subjects being allocated 1:1 to either sequence 1 (experimental condition first) or sequence 2 (control condition first). Based on demographics, medical history and/or profession, each subject will be stratified at baseline into a high-risk and normal-risk group within each sequence. PARTICIPANTS: The trial will be conducted in the Netherlands. A target of 20,000 subjects will be enrolled. Based on demographics, medical history and/or profession, each subject will be stratified at baseline into a high-risk and normal-risk group within each sequence. This results in approximately 6500 normal-risk individuals and 3500 high-risk individuals per sequence. Subjects will be recruited from previously studied cohorts as well as via public campaigns and social media. All data for this study will be collected remotely through the Ava COVID-RED app, the Ava bracelet, surveys in the COVID-RED web portal and self-sampling serology and PCR kits. More information on the study can be found in www.covid-red.eu. During recruitment, subjects will be invited to visit the COVID-RED web portal. After successfully completing the enrolment questionnaire, meeting eligibility criteria and indicating interest in joining the study, subjects will receive the subject information sheet and informed consent form. Subjects can enrol in COVID-RED if they comply with the following inclusion and exclusion criteria: Inclusion criteria: • Resident of the Netherlands • At least 18 years old • Informed consent provided (electronic) • Willing to adhere to the study procedures described in the protocol • Must have a smartphone that runs at least Android 8.0 or iOS 13.0 operating systems and is active for the duration of the study (in the case of a change of mobile number, the study team should be notified) • Be able to read, understand and write Dutch Exclusion criteria: • Previous positive SARS-CoV-2 test result (confirmed either through PCR/antigen or antibody tests; self-reported) • Current suspected (e.g. waiting for test result) COVID-19 infection or symptoms of a COVID-19 infection (self-reported) • Participating in any other COVID-19 clinical drug, vaccine or medical device trial (self-reported) • Electronic implanted device (such as a pacemaker; self-reported) • Pregnant at the time of informed consent (self-reported) • Suffering from cholinergic urticaria (per the Ava bracelet’s user manual; self-reported) • Staff involved in the management or conduct of this study INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: All subjects will be instructed to complete the Daily Symptom Diary in the Ava COVID-RED app daily, wear their Ava bracelet each night and synchronize it with the app each day for the entire period of study participation. Provided with wearable sensor and/or self-reported symptom data within the last 24 h, the Ava COVID-RED app’s underlying algorithms will provide subjects with a real-time indicator of their overall health and well-being. Subjects will see one of three messages, notifying them that no seeming deviations in symptoms and/or physiological parameters have been detected; some changes in symptoms and/or physiological parameters have been detected and they should self-isolate; or alerting them that deviations in their symptoms and/or physiological parameters could be suggestive of a potential COVID-19 infection and to seek additional testing. We will assess the intraperson performance of the algorithms in the experimental condition (Wearable + Symptom Data Algo) and control conditions (Symptom Only Algo). Note that both algorithms will also instruct to seek testing when any SARS-CoV-2 symptoms are reported in line with those defined by the Dutch national institute for public health and the environment ‘Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu’ (RIVM) guidelines. MAIN OUTCOMES: The trial will evaluate the use and performance of the Ava COVID-RED app and Ava bracelet, which uses sensors to measure breathing rate, pulse rate, skin temperature and heart rate variability for the purpose of early and asymptomatic detection and monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in general and high-risk populations. Using laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections (detected via serology tests, PCR tests and/or antigen tests) as the gold standard, we will determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for each of the following two algorithms to detect first-time SARS-CoV-2 infection including early or asymptomatic infection: the algorithm using Ava bracelet data when coupled with the self-reported Daily Symptom Diary data and the algorithm using self-reported Daily Symptom Diary data alone. In addition, we will determine which of the two algorithms has superior performance characteristics for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection including early or asymptomatic infection as confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 virus testing. The protocol contains an additional twenty secondary and exploratory objectives which address, among others, infection incidence rates, health resource utilization, symptoms reported by SARS-CoV-2-infected participants and the rate of breakthrough and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections among individuals vaccinated against COVID-19. PCR or antigen testing will occur when the subject receives a notification from the algorithm to seek additional testing. Subjects will be advised to get tested via the national testing programme and report the testing result in the Ava COVID-RED app and a survey. If they cannot obtain a test via the national testing programme, they will receive a nasal swab self-sampling kit at home, and the sample will be tested by PCR in a trial-affiliated laboratory. In addition, all subjects will be asked to take a capillary blood sample at home at baseline (between month 0 and 3.5 months after the start of subject recruitment), at the end of the learning phase (month 3; note that this sampling moment is skipped if a subject entered the study at the end of the recruitment period), period 1 (month 6) and period 2 (month 9). These samples will be used for SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody testing in a trial-affiliated laboratory, differentiating between antibodies resulting from a natural infection and antibodies resulting from COVID-19 vaccination (as vaccination will gradually be rolled out during the trial period). Baseline samples will only be analysed if the sample collected at the end of the learning phase is positive, or if the subject entered the study at the end of the recruitment period, and samples collected at the end of period 1 will only be analysed if the sample collected at the end of period 2 is positive. When subjects obtain a positive PCR/antigen or serology test result during the study, they will continue to be in the study but will be moved into a so-called COVID-positive mode in the Ava COVID-RED app. This means that they will no longer receive recommendations from the algorithms but can still contribute and track symptom and bracelet data. The primary analysis of the main objective will be executed using the data collected in period 2 (months 6 through 9). Within this period, serology tests (before and after period 2) and PCR/antigen tests (taken based on recommendations by the algorithms) will be used to determine if a subject was infected with SARS-CoV-2 or not. Within this same time period, it will be determined if the algorithms gave any recommendations for testing. The agreement between these quantities will be used to evaluate the performance of the algorithms and how these compare between the study conditions. RANDOMIZATION: All eligible subjects will be randomized using a stratified block randomization approach with an allocation ratio of 1:1 to one of two sequences (experimental condition followed by control condition or control condition followed by experimental condition). Based on demographics, medical history and/or profession, each subject will be stratified at baseline into a high-risk and normal-risk group within each sequence, resulting in approximately equal numbers of high-risk and normal-risk individuals between the sequences. BLINDING (MASKING): In this study, subjects will be blinded to the study condition and randomization sequence. Relevant study staff and the device manufacturer will be aware of the assigned sequence. The subject will wear the Ava bracelet and complete the Daily Symptom Diary in the Ava COVID-RED app for the full duration of the study, and they will not know if the feedback they receive about their potential infection status will only be based on the data they entered in the Daily Symptom Diary within the Ava COVID-RED app or based on both the data from the Daily Symptom Diary and the Ava bracelet. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMIZED (SAMPLE SIZE): A total of 20,000 subjects will be recruited and randomized 1:1 to either sequence 1 (experimental condition followed by control condition) or sequence 2 (control condition followed by experimental condition), taking into account their risk level. This results in approximately 6500 normal-risk and 3500 high-risk individuals per sequence. TRIAL STATUS: Protocol version: 3.0, dated May 3, 2021. Start of recruitment: February 19, 2021. End of recruitment: June 3, 2021. End of follow-up (estimated): November 2021 TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Netherlands Trial Register on the 18(th) of February, 2021 with number NL9320 (https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/9320) FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05643-5. | Trials | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 9 | Travel-related control measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid review N/A | Cochrane Database Syst Rev | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 10 | Virtualized clinical studies to assess the natural history and impact of gut microbiome modulation in non-hospitalized patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 a randomized, open-label, prospective study with a parallel group study evaluating the physiologic effects of KB109 on gut microbiota structu OBJECTIVES: These 2 parallel studies (K031 and K032) aim to evaluate the safety of KB109 in addition to supportive self-care (SSC) compared with SSC alone in outpatients with mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). KB109 is a novel synthetic glycan that was formulated to modulate the gut microbiome composition and metabolic output in order to increase beneficial short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production in the gut. The K031 study is designed to evaluate the safety of KB109 and characterize its impact on the natural progression of COVID-19 in patients with mild to moderate disease. The K032 study is evaluating the effect of KB109 on the gut microbiota structure and function in this same patient population. Additionally, both studies are evaluating measures of health care utilization, quality of life (QOL), laboratory indices, biomarkers of inflammation, and serological measures of immunity in patients who received SSC alone or with KB109. Noteworthy aspects of these outpatient studies include study design measures aimed at limiting in-person interactions to minimize the risk of infection spread, such as use of online diaries, telemedicine, and at-home sample collection. STUDY DESIGN: K031 and K032 are randomized, controlled, open-label, clinical food studies. PARTICIPANTS: Inclusion Criteria: • Adults ≥18 years of age • Patients willing and able to give informed consent • Screening/randomization telemedicine visit within 2 days of testing positive test for COVID-19 ○ In K031 study, symptomatic patients at COVID-19 testing must report new or worsening symptoms at baseline that have not been present for more than 5 days ▪ Cardinal COVID-19 symptoms include fever, chills/repeated shaking with chills, cough, shortness of breath, headache, muscle pain, anosmia/ageusia, and sore throat. The 5 additional symptoms include gastrointestinal (GI) disturbance/symptoms (other than diarrhea), diarrhea, fatigue, nasal congestion, and chest tightness ○ In K031, at COVID-19 testing, pre-symptomatic patients must report new cardinal COVID-19 symptoms within 7 days of a positive test and they must be screened and randomized within 5 days of developing symptoms • Mild to moderate COVID-19 and self-reported outpatient management ○ In K032, mild to moderate COVID-19 was defined as having the following symptoms for no more than 72 hours before COVID-19 testing: a self- reported fever or cough (new or exacerbated) or presence of at least 2 of the following: anosmia, sore throat, or nasal congestion • Ability to adhere to the study visit schedule and other protocol requirements • Consistent internet or cell phone access with a data plan and access to a smartphone, tablet, or computer • The K031 and K032 studies are currently being conducted at 17 clinical institutions throughout the United States. Exclusion Criteria: • In the primary investigator’s (PI) judgement, patients likely to require hospitalization for COVID-19 • Patients who are hospitalized for in-patient treatment or currently being evaluated for potential hospitalization at the time of informed consent for conditions other than COVID-19 • History of chronic lung disease with chronic hypoxia • History of documented cirrhosis or end-stage liver disease • Ongoing requirement for oxygen therapy • Shortness of breath in resting position • Diagnosis of sleep apnea requiring bilevel positive airway pressure (BIPAP)/continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) • Female patients who are pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or lactating • Concurrent use of immunomodulatory agent within 12 months; systemic antibiotics, antifungals, or antivirals for treatment of active infection within 28 days; systemic immunosuppressive therapy within 3 months; or drugs or other compounds that modulate GI motility (eg, stool softeners, laxatives, or fiber supplements) taken currently, or within 7 days. Antacid (histamine 2 blockers and proton pump inhibitors) and antidiarrheal agents are not prohibited • History of GI surgery (6 months prior to randomization), including but not limited to bariatric surgery and bowel resection, or history of, or active GI disease(s) that may affect assessment of tolerability, including but not limited to inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, autoimmune disease, or GI malignancy • Participation in an interventional clinical trial or use of any investigational agent within 30 days before randomization • Clinically significant or uncontrolled concomitant medical condition that would put the patient at risk or jeopardize the objectives of the study in the opinion of the PI • In the opinion of the PI, patient unlikely for any reason to be able to comply with study procedures • Contraindications, sensitivities, or known allergy to the use of the study product or its components INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Patients will be randomized (1,1) to receive either SSC and KB109 or SSC alone. During SSC, patients should follow the steps as instructed by their healthcare provider to care for themselves and protect other people in the home and community from potentially contracting COVID-19. Management of COVID-19-related symptoms with over-the-counter cough, cold, and anti-pyretic medications by patients is permitted in accordance with the medications’ respective drug facts label or as instructed by the patient’s healthcare provider. Following randomization, patients assigned to receive KB109 and SSC will receive a Kaleido Biosciences, Inc at-home study kit including a thermometer, pulse oximeter, and KB109. During the Intake Period (days 1–14), KB109 will be reconstituted in water by the patient and consumed by the patient twice daily (at least 8 hours apart), following an up-titration dosing schedule: Days 1 to 2: 9 g twice daily for a total daily dose of 18 g Days 3 to 4: 18 g twice daily for a total daily dose of 36 g Days 5 to 14: 36 g twice daily for a total daily dose of 72 g During the intake period, patients will record their daily COVID-19–related symptoms, selected COVID-19 signs (as self-measured using the provided thermometer and pulse oximeter), responses to questions related to QOL measures, health care use measures, and concomitant medications taken in the previous 24 hours. Wellness visits by telephone will be conducted between days 1 and 14 to follow up on patient’s health status and to ascertain compliance with KB109 and completion of questions. On day 14, all patients will undergo a telemedicine visit where the following will be conducted: abbreviated physical examination, assessment of safety and other protocol-specified measures of health, and an evaluation of whether follow-up treatment is recommended owing to a progression of COVID-19 symptoms. If feasible, blood samples for clinical chemistries, biomarkers and serological measure of immunity, and nasal/oropharyngeal swabs for quantitative viral load assessments will be collected. Beginning on day 15, patients in both groups will enter the follow-up period (days 15–35) where COVID-19 signs, symptoms, and health care use indices will be collected. Wellness visits by telephone will be conducted on days 21, 28, and 35 to follow-up on the patient’s health status. On day 35, all patients will undergo a telemedicine visit where the same information as the day 14 telemedicine visit will be collected, including any blood samples. MAIN OUTCOMES: The primary outcome for the K031 and K032 studies is to evaluate the safety of KB109 in addition to SSC compared with SSC alone in outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 by assessing the number of patients experiencing KB109-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) during the study. K031 will also evaluate duration of symptoms among outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19. This will be as an assessment made during the intake and/or follow-up periods of the following: • Time to resolution of the 13 overall and the 8 cardinal COVID-19–related symptoms from day 1 until the day at which the composite score of the 13 overall and 8 cardinal COVID-19–related symptoms becomes 0 or 1 and remains at 0 or 1 for the rest of the intake period and for the follow-up period • Proportion of patients with a reduction from baseline in each of the 13 overall COVID-19–related symptoms • Proportion of patients in whom symptoms (present at baseline) become absent for each of the 13 overall COVID-19–related symptoms • Change from baseline in the overall composite score of the 13 overall COVID-19–related symptoms and the 8 cardinal COVID-19–related symptoms • Time to resolution of fever (defined as from day 1 until the day at which a patient’s daily maximum temperature achieves and remains below 100.4°F without antipyretic medication) • Proportion of patients with oxygen saturation <95% and <98% on days 14 and 35 • Measures collected from the health care provider wellness visits • Proportion of patients experiencing hospital admissions (all cause and COVID-19–related) • Health care use K032 will evaluate the effect of KB109 in addition to SSC compared with SSC alone on the gut microbiota structure and function in outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19. Before days 1, 14, and 35, microbiota structure (eg, magnitude of change in gut microbiome structure, composition of gut microbiome) will be analysed by methods such as nucleic acid sequencing and gut microbiome function will be analysed via levels of stool inflammatory biomarkers (eg, lipocalin) and gut microbiome metabolites (eg, SCFA). The health of outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 will be evaluated during the intake and follow- up periods by: measures of QOL; measures collected from the healthcare provider wellness visits; the proportion of patients experiencing hospital admissions; health care use, the proportions of patients with oxygen saturation <95% and <98%, and the proportion of patients with temperature below 100.4 °F without an anti-pyretic medication. Potential exploratory outcome measures may include: changes from baseline (day 1) in laboratory measures, specific biomarkers of infection, serology, inflammation (eg, D-dimer, lipocalin, cytokines, IgM/IgG sero-conversion, and neutralization assays), and viral load in outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 in the presence and absence of KB109. RANDOMISATION: All patients deemed eligible for the studies will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to KB109 in addition to SSC or SSC alone group using an interactive response technology system. Randomization will be stratified by study site/center, age groups (≥18–<45 years, ≥45–<65 years, ≥65 years), and comorbidity status (yes, no). BLINDING (MASKING): These studies are open-label; therefore, no blinding is necessary. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMISED (SAMPLE SIZE): K031 will enroll approximately 350 to 400 (175–200 patients per group) whereas K032 will enroll approximately 50 patients (25 per group). STUDY STATUS: K031 protocol version 4, December 9, 2020; recruitment started in August, 2020, and the study is estimated to be completed in March 2021. This study is active and enrollment was completed in January, 2021. K032 protocol version 2, June 30, 2020; recruitment is estimated to start in July, 2020. This study is recruiting and the study is estimated to be completed in March 2021. STUDY REGISTRATION: K031 is registered with the US National Library of Medicine, Identifier NCT04414124 as of June 4, 2020. K032 is registered with the US National Library of Medicine, Identifier NCT04486482 as of July 24, 2020. FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocols are attached as additional files (Additional files 1 and 2), accessible from the ClinicalTrials.gov website. In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocols. The study protocols have been reported in accordance with the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Clinical Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) guidelines (Additional files 3 and 4). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05157-0. | Trials | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 11 | THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS N/A | Turk Psikiyatri Derg | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 12 | Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study BACKGROUND: Since December, 2019, Wuhan, China, has experienced an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 have been reported but risk factors for mortality and a detailed clinical course of illness, including viral shedding, have not been well described. METHODS: In this retrospective, multicentre cohort study, we included all adult inpatients (≥18 years old) with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from Jinyintan Hospital and Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital (Wuhan, China) who had been discharged or had died by Jan 31, 2020. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory data, including serial samples for viral RNA detection, were extracted from electronic medical records and compared between survivors and non-survivors. We used univariable and multivariable logistic regression methods to explore the risk factors associated with in-hospital death. FINDINGS: 191 patients (135 from Jinyintan Hospital and 56 from Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital) were included in this study, of whom 137 were discharged and 54 died in hospital. 91 (48%) patients had a comorbidity, with hypertension being the most common (58 [30%] patients), followed by diabetes (36 [19%] patients) and coronary heart disease (15 [8%] patients). Multivariable regression showed increasing odds of in-hospital death associated with older age (odds ratio 1·10, 95% CI 1·03–1·17, per year increase; p=0·0043), higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (5·65, 2·61–12·23; p<0·0001), and d-dimer greater than 1 μg/mL (18·42, 2·64–128·55; p=0·0033) on admission. Median duration of viral shedding was 20·0 days (IQR 17·0–24·0) in survivors, but SARS-CoV-2 was detectable until death in non-survivors. The longest observed duration of viral shedding in survivors was 37 days. INTERPRETATION: The potential risk factors of older age, high SOFA score, and d-dimer greater than 1 μg/mL could help clinicians to identify patients with poor prognosis at an early stage. Prolonged viral shedding provides the rationale for a strategy of isolation of infected patients and optimal antiviral interventions in the future. FUNDING: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences; National Science Grant for Distinguished Young Scholars; National Key Research and Development Program of China; The Beijing Science and Technology Project; and Major Projects of National Science and Technology on New Drug Creation and Development. | Lancet | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 13 | Health professionals facing the COVID-19 pandemic: What are the mental health risks? RÉSUMÉ Objectifs: La pandémie de la maladie à coronavirus (COVID-19) a provoqué une crise sanitaire majeure et mis en quarantaine la moitié de la population planétaire. En France, elle a provoqué une réorganisation en urgence de l’offre de soins mobilisant les soignants dans un climat d’incertitude. L'objectif du présent article est de faire le point sur les risques associés à l’exposition des soignants au COVID-19 pour leur santé mentale. Méthodes: Les auteurs ont conduit une revue de la littérature internationale tenant compte des données des précédentes épidémies (SARS-CoV-1, H1N1) et des données plus récentes concernant le COVID-19. Résultats: Les caractéristiques de cette pandémie (rapidité de diffusion, connaissances incertaines, sévérité, morts de soignants) ont installé un climat anxiogène. Des facteurs organisationnels peuvent être source de stress : déficit d’équipement de protection individuel, réaffectation de postes, manque de communication, manque de matériels de soins, bouleversement de la vie quotidienne familiale et sociale. D’autres facteurs de risque sont identifiés comme l’absence de soutien, la crainte de contaminer un proche, l’isolement ou la stigmatisation sociale, le haut niveau de stress au travail, ou les patterns d’attachement insécure. Les soignants ont ainsi un risque augmenté d’anxiété, de dépression, d’épuisement, d’addiction et de trouble de stress post-traumatique. Conclusions: Cette crise sanitaire devrait nous aider à mieux comprendre la vulnérabilité des soignants à la souffrance psychologique afin de renforcer les stratégies de prévention primaire et la formation aux enjeux psychologiques des soins, de la relation, et de la gestion des situations de crises sanitaires. ABSTRACT Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major sanitary crisis worldwide. Half of the world has been placed in quarantine. In France, this large-scale health crisis urgently triggered the restructuring and reorganization of health service delivery to support emergency services, medical intensive care units and continuing care units. Health professionals mobilized all their resources to provide emergency aid in a general climate of uncertainty. Concerns about the mental health, psychological adjustment, and recovery of health care workers treating and caring for patients with COVID-19 are now arising. The goal of the present article is to provide an up-to-date information on potential mental health risks associated with exposure of health professionals to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Authors performed a narrative review identifying relevant results in the scientific and medical literature considering previous epidemics of 2003 (SARS-CoV-1) and 2009 (H1N1) with the more recent data about the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlighted most relevant data concerning the disease characteristics, the organizational factors and personal factors that may contribute to developing psychological distress and other mental health symptoms. Results: The disease characteristics of the current COVID-19 pandemic provoked a generalized climate of wariness and uncertainty, particularly among health professionals, due to a range of causes such as the rapid spread of COVID-19, the severity of symptoms it can cause in a segment of infected individuals, the lack of knowledge of the disease, and deaths among health professionals. Stress may also be caused by organizational factors, such as depletion of personal protection equipment, concern about not being able to provide competent care if deployed to new area, concern about rapidly changing information, lack of access to up-to-date information and communication, lack of specific drugs, the shortage of ventilators and intensive care unit beds necessary to care for the surge of critically ill patients, and significant change in their daily social and family life. Further risk factors have been identified, including feelings of being inadequately supported, concerns about health of self, fear of taking home infection to family members or others, and not having rapid access to testing through occupational health if needed, being isolated, feelings of uncertainty and social stigmatization, overwhelming workload, or insecure attachment. Additionally, we discussed positive social and organizational factors that contribute to enhance resilience in the face of the pandemic. There is a consensus in all the relevant literature that health care professionals are at an increased risk of high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder, which could have long-term psychological implications. Conclusions: In the long run, this tragic health crisis should significantly enhance our understanding of the mental health risk factors among the health care professionals facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporting information such as this is essential to plan future prevention strategies. Protecting health care professionals is indeed an important component of public health measures to address large-scale health crisis. Thus, interventions to promote mental well-being in health care professionals exposed to COVID-19 need to be immediately implemented, and to strengthen prevention and response strategies by training health care professionals on mental help and crisis management. | Encephale | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 14 | A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019 In December 2019, a cluster of patients with pneumonia of unknown cause was linked to a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China. A previously unknown betacoronavirus was discovered through the use of unbiased sequencing in samples from patients with pneumonia. Human airway epithelial cells were used to isolate a novel coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV, which formed a clade within the subgenus sarbecovirus, Orthocoronavirinae subfamily. Different from both MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, 2019-nCoV is the seventh member of the family of coronaviruses that infect humans. Enhanced surveillance and further investigation are ongoing. (Funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China and the National Major Project for Control and Prevention of Infectious Disease in China.) | N Engl J Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 15 | Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 in China BACKGROUND: Since December 2019, when coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) emerged in Wuhan city and rapidly spread throughout China, data have been needed on the clinical characteristics of the affected patients. METHODS: We extracted data regarding 1099 patients with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 from 552 hospitals in 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in mainland China through January 29, 2020. The primary composite end point was admission to an intensive care unit (ICU), the use of mechanical ventilation, or death. RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 47 years; 41.9% of the patients were female. The primary composite end point occurred in 67 patients (6.1%), including 5.0% who were admitted to the ICU, 2.3% who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation, and 1.4% who died. Only 1.9% of the patients had a history of direct contact with wildlife. Among nonresidents of Wuhan, 72.3% had contact with residents of Wuhan, including 31.3% who had visited the city. The most common symptoms were fever (43.8% on admission and 88.7% during hospitalization) and cough (67.8%). Diarrhea was uncommon (3.8%). The median incubation period was 4 days (interquartile range, 2 to 7). On admission, ground-glass opacity was the most common radiologic finding on chest computed tomography (CT) (56.4%). No radiographic or CT abnormality was found in 157 of 877 patients (17.9%) with nonsevere disease and in 5 of 173 patients (2.9%) with severe disease. Lymphocytopenia was present in 83.2% of the patients on admission. CONCLUSIONS: During the first 2 months of the current outbreak, Covid-19 spread rapidly throughout China and caused varying degrees of illness. Patients often presented without fever, and many did not have abnormal radiologic findings. (Funded by the National Health Commission of China and others.) | N Engl J Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 16 | Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the resulting coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) have afflicted tens of millions of people in a worldwide pandemic. Safe and effective vaccines are needed urgently. METHODS: In an ongoing multinational, placebo-controlled, observer-blinded, pivotal efficacy trial, we randomly assigned persons 16 years of age or older in a 1:1 ratio to receive two doses, 21 days apart, of either placebo or the BNT162b2 vaccine candidate (30 μg per dose). BNT162b2 is a lipid nanoparticle–formulated, nucleoside-modified RNA vaccine that encodes a prefusion stabilized, membrane-anchored SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike protein. The primary end points were efficacy of the vaccine against laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 and safety. RESULTS: A total of 43,548 participants underwent randomization, of whom 43,448 received injections: 21,720 with BNT162b2 and 21,728 with placebo. There were 8 cases of Covid-19 with onset at least 7 days after the second dose among participants assigned to receive BNT162b2 and 162 cases among those assigned to placebo; BNT162b2 was 95% effective in preventing Covid-19 (95% credible interval, 90.3 to 97.6). Similar vaccine efficacy (generally 90 to 100%) was observed across subgroups defined by age, sex, race, ethnicity, baseline body-mass index, and the presence of coexisting conditions. Among 10 cases of severe Covid-19 with onset after the first dose, 9 occurred in placebo recipients and 1 in a BNT162b2 recipient. The safety profile of BNT162b2 was characterized by short-term, mild-to-moderate pain at the injection site, fatigue, and headache. The incidence of serious adverse events was low and was similar in the vaccine and placebo groups. CONCLUSIONS: A two-dose regimen of BNT162b2 conferred 95% protection against Covid-19 in persons 16 years of age or older. Safety over a median of 2 months was similar to that of other viral vaccines. (Funded by BioNTech and Pfizer; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04368728.) | N Engl J Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 17 | The impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Greek population: Suicidal ideation during the first and second lockdown N/A | Psychiatriki | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 18 | Clinical Characteristics of 138 Hospitalized Patients With 2019 Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia in Wuhan, China N/A | JAMA | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 19 | SARS-CoV-2 Cell Entry Depends on ACE2 and TMPRSS2 and Is Blocked by a Clinically Proven Protease Inhibitor The recent emergence of the novel, pathogenic SARS-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in China and its rapid national and international spread pose a global health emergency. Cell entry of coronaviruses depends on binding of the viral spike (S) proteins to cellular receptors and on S protein priming by host cell proteases. Unravelling which cellular factors are used by SARS-CoV-2 for entry might provide insights into viral transmission and reveal therapeutic targets. Here, we demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 uses the SARS-CoV receptor ACE2 for entry and the serine protease TMPRSS2 for S protein priming. A TMPRSS2 inhibitor approved for clinical use blocked entry and might constitute a treatment option. Finally, we show that the sera from convalescent SARS patients cross-neutralized SARS-2-S-driven entry. Our results reveal important commonalities between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV infection and identify a potential target for antiviral intervention. | Cell | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 20 | Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease cases at a screening clinic during the early outbreak period: a single-center study INTRODUCTION. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, and has since spread globally, resulting in the ongoing 2019–2020 corona virus pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the original SARS-CoV. It is thought to have a zoonotic origin. The virus is primarily spread between people during close contact, often via small droplets produced by coughing, sneezing or talking. People may also become infected by touching a contaminated surface and then touching their face. COVID-19 patients currently remain the primary source of infection. An epidemiological survey indicated that the general population is susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. The spectrum of this disease ranges from mild to life-threatening. Fever is the most common symptom, although older people and those with comorbidities may experience fever later in the disease. Other common symptoms include cough, loss of appetite, fatigue, shortness of breath, sputum production, and muscle and joint pains. Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea have been observed in varying percentages. Some cases might progress promptly to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and/or multiple organ function failure. Asymptomatic carriers and those in the incubation period may also be infectious. AIM. To determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients presenting with COVID-19 at the screening clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan. METHODOLOGY. In this descriptive study, we analysed data of patients presenting to a newly established Covid-19 screening clinic in Rehman Medical Institute. Anyone who reported with new onset fever and/or cough was tested for SARS-CoV-2 in the screening clinic. We documented and analysed demographic, epidemiological and clinical characteristics, which included age, sex, travel history, clinical features, comorbidities and laboratory data of patients confirmed by real-time reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR at Rehman Medical Institute, Peshawar, Pakistan from 15 March till 21 April 2020. Paired specimens of throat swabs and nasal swabs were obtained from 845 patients, ribonucleic acid (RNA) was extracted and tested for SARS-CoV-2 by the RT-PCR assay. RESULTS. A total of 845 specimens were taken as described above. The positive rate for SARS-CoV-2 was about 14.3%. Male and older population had a significantly higher positive rate. Of the 121 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, the mean age was 43.19 years (sd, 17.57) and the infections were more frequent among male gender accounting for 85 (70.25 %) patients. Common symptoms included fever (88 patients, 72 %), cough (72 patients, 59.5 %) and shortness of breath (69 patients, 57 %). Twenty-two (18 %) patients had recent travel history outside Pakistan in the previous 14 days, the majority of whom had returned back from Saudi Arabia. CONCLUSION. In this single-centre, prospective, descriptive study, fever, cough and shortness of breath were the most common symptoms. Old age (>50 years), chronic underlying comorbidities and travel history may be risk factors. Therefore, we concluded that viral nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) played an important role in identifying SARS-CoV-2 infection in a screening clinic, which helped with isolation and cohorting of these patients. | J Med Microbiol | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 21 | The British variant of the new coronavirus-19 (Sars-Cov-2) should not create a vaccine problem N/A | J Biol Regul Homeost Agents | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 22 | Prevalence of and Risk Factors Associated With Mental Health Symptoms Among the General Population in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic IMPORTANCE: People exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and a series of imperative containment measures could be psychologically stressed, yet the burden of and factors associated with mental health symptoms remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of and risk factors associated with mental health symptoms in the general population in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This large-sample, cross-sectional, population-based, online survey study was conducted from February 28, 2020, to March 11, 2020. It involved all 34 province-level regions in China and included participants aged 18 years and older. Data analysis was performed from March to May 2020. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and acute stress among the general population in China during the COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire–9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder–7, Insomnia Severity Index, and Acute Stress Disorder Scale. Logistic regression analyses were used to explore demographic and COVID-19–related risk factors. RESULTS: Of 71 227 individuals who clicked on the survey link, 56 932 submitted the questionnaires, for a participation rate of 79.9%. After excluding the invalid questionnaires, 56 679 participants (mean [SD] age, 35.97 [8.22] years; 27 149 men [47.9%]) were included in the study; 39 468 respondents (69.6%) were aged 18 to 39 years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the rates of mental health symptoms among the survey respondents were 27.9% (95% CI, 27.5%-28.2%) for depression, 31.6% (95% CI, 31.2%-32.0%) for anxiety, 29.2% (95% CI, 28.8%-29.6%) for insomnia, and 24.4% (95% CI, 24.0%-24.7%) for acute stress. Participants with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 and their family members or friends had a high risk for symptoms of depression (adjusted odds ratios [ORs], 3.27 [95% CI, 1.84-5.80] for patients; 1.53 [95% CI, 1.26-1.85] for family or friends), anxiety (adjusted ORs, 2.48 [95% CI, 1.43-4.31] for patients; 1.53 [95% CI, 1.27-1.84] for family or friends), insomnia (adjusted ORs, 3.06 [95% CI, 1.73-5.43] for patients; 1.62 [95% CI, 1.35-1.96] for family or friends), and acute stress (adjusted ORs, 3.50 [95% CI, 2.02-6.07] for patients; 1.77 [95% CI, 1.46-2.15] for family or friends). Moreover, people with occupational exposure risks and residents in Hubei province had increased odds of symptoms of depression (adjusted ORs, 1.96 [95% CI, 1.77-2.17] for occupational exposure; 1.42 [95% CI, 1.19-1.68] for Hubei residence), anxiety (adjusted ORs, 1.93 [95% CI, 1.75-2.13] for occupational exposure; 1.54 [95% CI, 1.30-1.82] for Hubei residence), insomnia (adjusted ORs, 1.60 [95% CI, 1.45-1.77] for occupational exposure; 1.20 [95% CI, 1.01-1.42] for Hubei residence), and acute stress (adjusted ORs, 1.98 [95% CI, 1.79-2.20] for occupational exposure; 1.49 [95% CI, 1.25-1.79] for Hubei residence). Both centralized quarantine (adjusted ORs, 1.33 [95% CI, 1.10-1.61] for depression; 1.46 [95% CI, 1.22-1.75] for anxiety; 1.63 [95% CI, 1.36-1.95] for insomnia; 1.46 [95% CI, 1.21-1.77] for acute stress) and home quarantine (adjusted ORs, 1.30 [95% CI, 1.25-1.36] for depression; 1.28 [95% CI, 1.23-1.34] for anxiety; 1.24 [95% CI, 1.19-1.30] for insomnia; 1.29 [95% CI, 1.24-1.35] for acute stress) were associated with the 4 negative mental health outcomes. Being at work was associated with lower risks of depression (adjusted OR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.79-0.91]), anxiety (adjusted OR, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.86-0.99]), and insomnia (adjusted OR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.81-0.94]). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The results of this survey indicate that mental health symptoms may have been common during the COVID-19 outbreak among the general population in China, especially among infected individuals, people with suspected infection, and people who might have contact with patients with COVID-19. Some measures, such as quarantine and delays in returning to work, were also associated with mental health among the public. These findings identify populations at risk for mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic and may help in implementing mental health intervention policies in other countries and regions. | JAMA Netw Open | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 23 | mRNA vaccine induced T cells respond identically to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern but differ in longevity and homing properties depending on prior infection status While mRNA vaccines are proving highly efficacious against SARS-CoV-2, it is important to determine how booster doses and prior infection influence the immune defense they elicit, and whether they protect against variants. Focusing on the T cell response, we conducted a longitudinal study of infection-naïve and COVID-19 convalescent donors before vaccination and after their first and second vaccine doses, using a high-parameter CyTOF analysis to phenotype their SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells. Vaccine-elicited spike-specific T cells responded similarly to stimulation by spike epitopes from the ancestral, B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variant strains, both in terms of cell numbers and phenotypes. In infection-naïve individuals, the second dose boosted the quantity and altered the phenotypic properties of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells, while in convalescents the second dose changed neither. Spike-specific T cells from convalescent vaccinees differed strikingly from those of infection-naïve vaccinees, with phenotypic features suggesting superior long-term persistence and ability to home to the respiratory tract including the nasopharynx. These results provide reassurance that vaccine-elicited T cells respond robustly to emerging viral variants, confirm that convalescents may not need a second vaccine dose, and suggest that vaccinated convalescents may have more persistent nasopharynx-homing SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells compared to their infection-naïve counterparts. | Elife | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 24 | The effect of framing and communicating COVID-19 vaccine side-effect risks on vaccine intentions for adults in the UK and the USA: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial OBJECTIVES: 1. Qualitative risk labels: Determine whether attaching a qualitative risk label (e.g. adding very low risk next to the actual numerical risk) impacts individuals' willingness to take a vaccine and their perceptions of its safety. 2. Comparison groups: Determine how framing side-effect risks in comparison to other causes of mortality (COVID-19 mortality and motor vehicle mortality) impacts individuals’ willingness to take a vaccine and their perceptions of its safety. 3. How the comparison risks are presented: Determine whether comparisons to other causes of mortality are presented on an absolute or relative scale impacts individuals’ willingness to take a vaccine and their perceptions of its safety. Secondarily, we will also randomize a subset of individuals to receive the status-quo framing, where the vaccine side-effect risks are presented like how they were presented in the media. We will then compare vaccine intentions and perceptions of vaccine safety between the status-quo and the pooled intervention group samples to provide some insight into how harmful the status-quo framing was. Ultimately, we believe that our results will provide the some of the first experimental evidence on how the communication of COVID-19 vaccine risks may impact the public's willingness to be vaccinated and can inform future efforts to increase vaccination rates. TRIAL DESIGN: Our study is an online-based randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the effect of different vaccine side-effect framings on COVID-19 vaccine intentions and perceived safety for a hypothetical COVID-19 vaccine. Using a factorial design, we will experimentally assess the impact of 3 risk framing strategies, varying whether the risk is presented: (1) with a qualitative label, (2) whether the risk is presented with a comparison risk, and (3) for comparison cases, whether the comparison is in absolute or relative terms. We will also randomize a portion of respondents to a status quo framing where the side effect risk mimics the media's communication in early April 2021. PARTICIPANTS: This will be an online study setting. We will use Prolific to recruit participants and host our study on the Gorilla platform. To be eligible, participants must be 18 years old or over (male, female, or other), have current residence in the US or UK, and be able to speak English. Participants will be excluded from the study if they do not meet our inclusion criteria. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Our study content will consist of five pages presented to individuals online. Page 1 will explain the purpose of the study and contain the consent information. Page 2 will contain basic sociodemographic questions, including participants' age, sex, and schooling level. Page 3 will set up the experiment by telling individuals that we will describe a hypothetical new COVID-19 vaccine and that we would like to know how likely they would be to take the vaccine and how safe they think the vaccine is. On this page, we will also encourage individuals to respond truthfully and remind them that their answers are confidential and cannot be linked back to any personal identifying information. Page 4 will be the main experimental slide, where we will present individuals with information on the vaccine, varying how the vaccination risk is communicated based on which experimental framing arm they are randomized to. We will factorially randomize across the following factors in the following order (separately by country). First, we will determine whether individuals are randomized to the status quo framing, or the intervention framings (1500 respondents to the status quo, and 4500 to the intervention). Among those randomized to the intervention framing, we will randomize (equal allocation) whether the side effect is presented without a comparison, with a comparison to COVID-19 mortality, or with a comparison to motor vehicle mortality. We will then factorially randomize (equal allocation) whether the risk is presented with a qualitative risk label or not (e.g. very low risk). To ensure that the factors are independent of one another, we will do this by randomizing individuals to the risk labels within strata of the comparison group factor. Lastly, among those randomized to the comparison group, we will factorially randomize whether the risk is presented as an absolute or relative comparison. As previously, we will ensure independence by doing this randomization within strata of comparison group*risk labelling. This entire design is visualized in the full protocol. The experimental text for each arm is: Arm 1: With regards to side effects, so far 8 individuals have developed potentially life-threatening blood clots. This is among the approximately 7 million adults that have received the vaccine so far. Arm 2: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots. Arm 3: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots (very low risk). Text for USA participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots. As a reference, 170 out of every 100,000 unvaccinated Americans died of COVID-19 based on data from the past year. Text for UK participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots. As a reference, 108 out of every 100,000 unvaccinated individuals in the UK died of COVID-19 based on data from the past year. Text for USA participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots. As a reference, this is 1/170th of the risk of COVID-19 mortality among unvaccinated Americans based on data from the past year. Text for UK participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots. As a reference, this is 1/108th of the risk of COVID-19 mortality among unvaccinated individuals in the UK based on data from the past year. Text for USA participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots (very low risk). As a reference, 170 out of every 100,000 unvaccinated Americans died of COVID-19 based on data from the past year. Text for UK participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots (very low risk). As a reference, 108 out of every 100,000 unvaccinated individuals in the UK died of COVID-19 based on data from the past year. Text for USA participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots (very low risk). As a reference, this is 1/170th of the risk of COVID-19 mortality among unvaccinated Americans based on data from the past year. Text for UK participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots (very low risk). As a reference, this is 1/108th of the risk of COVID-19 mortality among unvaccinated individuals in the UK based on data from the past year. Text for USA participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots. As a reference, 12 out of every 100,000 Americans died in a motor vehicle accident based on data from the past year. Text for UK participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots. As a reference, 2.6 out of every 100,000 individuals in the UK died in a motor vehicle accident based on data from the past year. Text for USA participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots. As a reference, this is 1/12th of the risk of dying in a motor vehicle accident based on data from the past year. Text for UK participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots. As a reference, this is almost 1/4th of the risk of dying in a motor vehicle accident based on data from the past year. Text for USA participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots (very low risk). As a reference, 12 out of every 100,000 Americans died in a motor vehicle accident based on data from the past year. Text for UK participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots (very low risk). As a reference, 2.6 out of every 100,000 individuals in the UK died in a motor vehicle accident based on data from the past year. Text for USA participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots (very low risk). As a reference, this is 1/12th of the risk of dying in a motor vehicle accident based on data from the past year. Text for UK participants: With regards to side effects, 1 out of 100,000 vaccinated individuals may develop serious blood clots (very low risk). As a reference, this is nearly 1/4th of the risk of dying in a motor vehicle accident based on data from the past year. The risk information will be presented on a single page along with the two main outcome questions. Lastly, for individuals that reported that they are unlikely or unsure about whether they would take the vaccine, the final page will ask them their reason (question based on a recently published study of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy). MAIN OUTCOMES: Our primary outcome is individuals' willingness to take the hypothetical COVID-19 vaccine. We will measure this outcome by asking, How likely would you be to take this vaccine? allowing individuals to choose from a four-point Likert response of Unlikely, Unsure leaning towards unlikely, Unsure leaning towards likely, Very likely. This outcome variable, including the categories and phrasing, is based on a recently published study on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy conducted by researchers with the Vaccine Hesitance Project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Our secondary outcome is individuals' perceived safety of the vaccine. We will assess this outcome by asking individuals, How safe do you feel this vaccine is? allowing them to choose answers ranging from 1-10 where 1 is extremely unsafe, and 10 is extremely safe. Both outcomes will be measured at the time of the questionnaire. Participants can take up to 45 min to complete the questions but will not be able to go back and change their responses after submitting their questionnaire. RANDOMIZATION: Using a web-based randomization algorithm, Gorilla will randomly allocate participants to each of the experimental arms. Gorilla allows for two randomization options - independent randomization of each individual based on a probability draw and balanced randomization, which randomizes without replacement such that among groups of respondents a fixed proportion will end up in each experimental arm. We will use the balanced randomization option to ensure that our experimental arms are balanced. Participants will be randomized based on the allocations described above. BLINDING: Because Prolific handles the interaction between the study investigators and participants, the participants will be completely anonymous to the study investigators. The outcome measures will be self-reported and submitted anonymously. All persons in the study team will be blinded to the group allocation. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMIZED: We will randomize 6000 participants per country for a total sample of 12000 individuals. TRIAL STATUS: The protocol version number is 1.0 and the date is July 14, 2021. Recruitment is expected to begin on 26 July 2021 and end by August 10, 2021. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study and its outcomes were registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (www.drks.de) on July 12th, 2021: #DRKS00025551. FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Full_Protocol_20Jul2021) In the interest of expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13063-021-05484-2. | Trials | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 25 | A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin Since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) 18 years ago, a large number of SARS-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoVs) have been discovered in their natural reservoir host, bats(1–4). Previous studies have shown that some bat SARSr-CoVs have the potential to infect humans(5–7). Here we report the identification and characterization of a new coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which caused an epidemic of acute respiratory syndrome in humans in Wuhan, China. The epidemic, which started on 12 December 2019, had caused 2,794 laboratory-confirmed infections including 80 deaths by 26 January 2020. Full-length genome sequences were obtained from five patients at an early stage of the outbreak. The sequences are almost identical and share 79.6% sequence identity to SARS-CoV. Furthermore, we show that 2019-nCoV is 96% identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus. Pairwise protein sequence analysis of seven conserved non-structural proteins domains show that this virus belongs to the species of SARSr-CoV. In addition, 2019-nCoV virus isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of a critically ill patient could be neutralized by sera from several patients. Notably, we confirmed that 2019-nCoV uses the same cell entry receptor—angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2)—as SARS-CoV. | Nature | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 26 | Interventions to support the resilience and mental health of frontline health and social care professionals during and after a disease outbreak, epidemic or pandemic: a mixed methods systematic review N/A | Cochrane Database Syst Rev | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 27 | Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses N/A | Cochrane Database Syst Rev | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 28 | Baseline Characteristics and Outcomes of 1591 Patients Infected With SARS-CoV-2 Admitted to ICUs of the Lombardy Region, Italy N/A | JAMA | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 29 | Safety and immunogenicity of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: a preliminary report of a phase 1/2, single-blind, randomised controlled trial BACKGROUND: The pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) might be curtailed by vaccination. We assessed the safety, reactogenicity, and immunogenicity of a viral vectored coronavirus vaccine that expresses the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: We did a phase 1/2, single-blind, randomised controlled trial in five trial sites in the UK of a chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein compared with a meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) as control. Healthy adults aged 18–55 years with no history of laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection or of COVID-19-like symptoms were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 at a dose of 5 × 10(10) viral particles or MenACWY as a single intramuscular injection. A protocol amendment in two of the five sites allowed prophylactic paracetamol to be administered before vaccination. Ten participants assigned to a non-randomised, unblinded ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 prime-boost group received a two-dose schedule, with the booster vaccine administered 28 days after the first dose. Humoral responses at baseline and following vaccination were assessed using a standardised total IgG ELISA against trimeric SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, a muliplexed immunoassay, three live SARS-CoV-2 neutralisation assays (a 50% plaque reduction neutralisation assay [PRNT(50)]; a microneutralisation assay [MNA(50), MNA(80), and MNA(90)]; and Marburg VN), and a pseudovirus neutralisation assay. Cellular responses were assessed using an ex-vivo interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assay. The co-primary outcomes are to assess efficacy, as measured by cases of symptomatic virologically confirmed COVID-19, and safety, as measured by the occurrence of serious adverse events. Analyses were done by group allocation in participants who received the vaccine. Safety was assessed over 28 days after vaccination. Here, we report the preliminary findings on safety, reactogenicity, and cellular and humoral immune responses. The study is ongoing, and was registered at ISRCTN, 15281137, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04324606. FINDINGS: Between April 23 and May 21, 2020, 1077 participants were enrolled and assigned to receive either ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (n=543) or MenACWY (n=534), ten of whom were enrolled in the non-randomised ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 prime-boost group. Local and systemic reactions were more common in the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 group and many were reduced by use of prophylactic paracetamol, including pain, feeling feverish, chills, muscle ache, headache, and malaise (all p<0·05). There were no serious adverse events related to ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. In the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 group, spike-specific T-cell responses peaked on day 14 (median 856 spot-forming cells per million peripheral blood mononuclear cells, IQR 493–1802; n=43). Anti-spike IgG responses rose by day 28 (median 157 ELISA units [EU], 96–317; n=127), and were boosted following a second dose (639 EU, 360–792; n=10). Neutralising antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 32 (91%) of 35 participants after a single dose when measured in MNA(80) and in 35 (100%) participants when measured in PRNT(50). After a booster dose, all participants had neutralising activity (nine of nine in MNA(80) at day 42 and ten of ten in Marburg VN on day 56). Neutralising antibody responses correlated strongly with antibody levels measured by ELISA (R(2)=0·67 by Marburg VN; p<0·001). INTERPRETATION: ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 showed an acceptable safety profile, and homologous boosting increased antibody responses. These results, together with the induction of both humoral and cellular immune responses, support large-scale evaluation of this candidate vaccine in an ongoing phase 3 programme. FUNDING: UK Research and Innovation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Thames Valley and South Midland's NIHR Clinical Research Network, and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner site Gießen-Marburg-Langen. | Lancet | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 30 | Efficacy and Safety of the mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine BACKGROUND: Vaccines are needed to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and to protect persons who are at high risk for complications. The mRNA-1273 vaccine is a lipid nanoparticle–encapsulated mRNA-based vaccine that encodes the prefusion stabilized full-length spike protein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes Covid-19. METHODS: This phase 3 randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled trial was conducted at 99 centers across the United States. Persons at high risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection or its complications were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive two intramuscular injections of mRNA-1273 (100 μg) or placebo 28 days apart. The primary end point was prevention of Covid-19 illness with onset at least 14 days after the second injection in participants who had not previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2. RESULTS: The trial enrolled 30,420 volunteers who were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either vaccine or placebo (15,210 participants in each group). More than 96% of participants received both injections, and 2.2% had evidence (serologic, virologic, or both) of SARS-CoV-2 infection at baseline. Symptomatic Covid-19 illness was confirmed in 185 participants in the placebo group (56.5 per 1000 person-years; 95% confidence interval [CI], 48.7 to 65.3) and in 11 participants in the mRNA-1273 group (3.3 per 1000 person-years; 95% CI, 1.7 to 6.0); vaccine efficacy was 94.1% (95% CI, 89.3 to 96.8%; P<0.001). Efficacy was similar across key secondary analyses, including assessment 14 days after the first dose, analyses that included participants who had evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection at baseline, and analyses in participants 65 years of age or older. Severe Covid-19 occurred in 30 participants, with one fatality; all 30 were in the placebo group. Moderate, transient reactogenicity after vaccination occurred more frequently in the mRNA-1273 group. Serious adverse events were rare, and the incidence was similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The mRNA-1273 vaccine showed 94.1% efficacy at preventing Covid-19 illness, including severe disease. Aside from transient local and systemic reactions, no safety concerns were identified. (Funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; COVE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04470427.) | N Engl J Med | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 31 | Controlled, double-blind, randomized trial to assess the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine chemoprophylaxis in SARS CoV2 infection in healthcare personnel in the hospital setting: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 infection presents a high transmission in the group of health professionals in Spain (12-15% infected). Currently there is no accepted chemoprophylaxis but hydroxychloroquine (HDQ) is known to inhibit the coronavirus in vitro. Our hypothesis is that oral administration of hydroxychloroquine to healthcare professionals can reduce the incidence and prevalence of infection as well as its severity in this group. METHODS: Design: Prospective, single center, double blind, randomised, controlled trial (RCT). Participants: Adult health-care professionals (18-65 years) working in areas of high exposure and high risk of transmission of SARS-COV-2 (COVID areas, Intensive Care Unit –ICUs-, Emergency, Anesthesia and all those performing aerosol-generating procedures) will be included. Exclusion criteria include previous infection with SARS CoV2 (positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR or IgG serology), pregnancy or lactation, any contraindication to hydroxychloroquine or evidence of unstable or clinically significant systemic disease. INTERVENTIONS: Patients will be randomized (1:1) to receive once-daily oral Hydroxychloroquine 200mg for two months (HC group) or placebo (P group) in addition to the protective measures appropriate to the level of exposure established by the hospital. A serological evaluation will be carried out every 15 days with PCR in case of seroconversion, symptoms or risk exposure. Primary outcome is the percentage of subjects presenting infection (seroconversion and/or PCR +ve) by the SARS-Cov-2 virus during the observation period. Additionally, both the percentage of subjects in each group presenting Pneumonia with severity criteria (Curb 65 ≥2) and that of subjects requiring admission to ICU will be determined. DISCUSSION: While awaiting a vaccine, hygiene measures, social distancing and personal protective equipment are the only primary prophylaxis measures against SARS-CoV-2, but they have not been sufficient to protect our healthcare professionals. Some evidence of the in vitro efficacy of hydroxychloroquine against this virus is known, along with some clinical data that would support the study of this drug in the chemoprophylaxis of infection. However, there are still no data from controlled clinical trials in this regard. If our hypothesis is confirmed, hydroxychloroquine can help professionals fight this infection with more guarantees. PARTICIPANTS: This is a single-center study that will be carried out at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital. 450 health professionals working at the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla in areas of high exposure and high risk of transmission of SARS COV2 (COVID hospital areas, Intensive Care Unit, Emergency, Anesthesia and all those performing aerosol-generating procedures) will be included. Inclusion criteria: 1) Health professionals aged between 18 and 65 years (inclusive) at the time of the first screening visit; 2) They must provide signed written informed consent and agree to comply with the study protocol; 3) Active work in high exposure areas during the last two weeks and during the following weeks. Exclusion criteria: 1) Previous infection with SARS CoV2 (positive coronavirus PCR or positive serology with SARS Cov2 negative PCR and absence of symptoms); 2) Current treatment with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine; 3) Hypersensitivity, allergy or any contraindication for taking hydroxychloroquine, in the technical sheet; 4) Previous or current treatment with tamoxifen or raloxifene; 5) Previous eye disease, especially maculopathy; 6) Known heart failure (Grade III to IV of the New York Heart Association classification) or prolonged QTc; 7) Any type of cancer (except basal cell) in the last 5 years; 6) Refusal to give informed consent; 8) Evidence of any other unstable or clinically significant untreated immune, endocrine, hematological, gastrointestinal, neurological, neoplastic or psychiatric illness; 9) Antibodies positive for the human immunodeficiency virus; 10) Significant kidney or liver disease; 11) Pregnancy or lactation. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: 1. Intervention: (n = 225): One 200 mg hydroxychloroquine sulfate coated tablet once daily for two months. 2. Comparator (control group) (n = 225): One hydroxychloroquine placebo tablet (identical to that of the drug) once daily for two months. MAIN OUTCOMES: number and percentage of healthcare personnel presenting symptomatic and asymptomatic infection (see “Diagnosis of SARS CoV2 infection” below) by the SARS-Cov2 virus during the study observation period (8 weeks) in both treatment arms; number and percentage of healthcare personnel in each group presenting with Pneumonia with severity criteria (Curb 65 ≥2) and number and percentage of healthcare personnel requiring admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in both treatment arms. DIAGNOSIS OF SARS COV2 INFECTION: Determination of IgA, IgM and IgG type antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 using the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 ELISA kit (EUROIMMUN Medizinische Labordiagnostika AG, Germany) every two weeks. In cases of seroconversion, a SARS-CoV-2 PCR will be performed to rule out / confirm an active infection (RT-PCR in One Step: RT performed with mastermix (Takara) and IDT probes, following protocol published and validated by the CDC Evaluation of COVID-19 in case of SARS-CoV-2 infection RANDOMISATION: Participants will be allocated to intervention and comparator groups according to a balanced randomization scheme (1: 1). The assignment will be made through a computer-generated numeric sequence for all participants BLINDING (MASKING): Both participants and investigators responsible for recruiting and monitoring participants will be blind to the assigned arm. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMISED (SAMPLE SIZE): Taking into account the current high prevalence of infection in healthcare personnel in Spain (up to 15%), to detect a difference equal to or greater than 8% in the percentage estimates through a two-tailed 95% CI, with a statistical power of 80% and a dropout rate of 5%, a total of 450 participants will need to be included (250 in each arm). TRIAL STATUS: The protocol approved by the health authorities in Spain (Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products “AEMPS”) and the Ethics and Research Committee of Cantabria (CEIm Cantabria) corresponds to version 1.1 of April 2, 2020. Currently, recruitment has not yet started, with the start scheduled for the second week of May 2020. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Eudra CT number: 2020-001704-42 (Registered on 29 March 2020) FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol. The study protocol has been reported in accordance with the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Clinical Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) guidelines (Additional file 2). | Trials | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 32 | Emerging Variants of SARS-CoV-2 And Novel Therapeutics Against Coronavirus N/A | N/A | 2022 | LitCov | |
| 33 | Kinetics and Persistence of the Cellular and Humoral Immune Responses to BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine in SARS-CoV-2-Naive and -Experienced Subjects: Impact of Booster Dose and Breakthrough Infections N/A | Front Immunol | 2022 | LitCov | |
| 34 | Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study BACKGROUND: In December, 2019, a pneumonia associated with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emerged in Wuhan, China. We aimed to further clarify the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 2019-nCoV pneumonia. METHODS: In this retrospective, single-centre study, we included all confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV in Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital from Jan 1 to Jan 20, 2020. Cases were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR and were analysed for epidemiological, demographic, clinical, and radiological features and laboratory data. Outcomes were followed up until Jan 25, 2020. FINDINGS: Of the 99 patients with 2019-nCoV pneumonia, 49 (49%) had a history of exposure to the Huanan seafood market. The average age of the patients was 55·5 years (SD 13·1), including 67 men and 32 women. 2019-nCoV was detected in all patients by real-time RT-PCR. 50 (51%) patients had chronic diseases. Patients had clinical manifestations of fever (82 [83%] patients), cough (81 [82%] patients), shortness of breath (31 [31%] patients), muscle ache (11 [11%] patients), confusion (nine [9%] patients), headache (eight [8%] patients), sore throat (five [5%] patients), rhinorrhoea (four [4%] patients), chest pain (two [2%] patients), diarrhoea (two [2%] patients), and nausea and vomiting (one [1%] patient). According to imaging examination, 74 (75%) patients showed bilateral pneumonia, 14 (14%) patients showed multiple mottling and ground-glass opacity, and one (1%) patient had pneumothorax. 17 (17%) patients developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and, among them, 11 (11%) patients worsened in a short period of time and died of multiple organ failure. INTERPRETATION: The 2019-nCoV infection was of clustering onset, is more likely to affect older males with comorbidities, and can result in severe and even fatal respiratory diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome. In general, characteristics of patients who died were in line with the MuLBSTA score, an early warning model for predicting mortality in viral pneumonia. Further investigation is needed to explore the applicability of the MuLBSTA score in predicting the risk of mortality in 2019-nCoV infection. FUNDING: National Key R&D Program of China. | Lancet | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 35 | COVID-19 vaccines: comparison of biological, pharmacological characteristics and adverse effects of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Vaccines N/A | Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 36 | Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention N/A | JAMA | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 37 | Characterization of SARS-CoV-2-Specific Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses Induced by Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccines in a Real-World Setting While the immunogenicity of inactivated vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has been characterized in several well-conducted clinical trials, real-world evidence concerning immune responses against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) raised by such vaccines is currently missing. Here, we comprehensively characterized various parameters of SARS-CoV-2-specific cellular and humoral immune responses induced by inactivated COVID-19 vaccines in 126 individuals under real-world conditions. After two doses of vaccination, S-receptor binding domain IgG (S-RBD IgG) and neutralizing antibody (NAb) were detected in 87.06% (74/85) and 78.82% (67/85) of individuals, respectively. Female participants developed higher concentrations of S-RBD IgG and NAb compared to male vaccinees. Interestingly, a longer dosing interval between the first and second vaccination resulted in a better long-term SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG response. The frequencies of CD4+ T cells that produce effector cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α) in response to stimulation with peptide pools corresponding to the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S), nucleocapsid (N) or membrane (M) protein were significantly higher in individuals received two doses of vaccine than those received one dose of vaccine and unvaccinated individuals. S, N, or M-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses were detectable in 95.83% (69/72) and 54.16% (39/72) of double-vaccinated individuals, respectively. The longitudinal analysis demonstrated that CD4+ T cell responses recognizing S, N, and M waned quickly after a single vaccine dose, but were boosted and became more sustained following a second dose. Overall, we provide a comprehensive characterization of immune responses induced by inactivated COVID-19 vaccines in real-world settings, suggesting that both humoral and cellular SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity are elicited in the majority of individuals after two doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines. | Front Immunol | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 38 | The need for holistic, longitudinal and comparable, real-time assessment of the emotional, behavioral and societal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across nations N/A | Psychiatriki | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 39 | A cross-national study of factors associated with women's perinatal mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic Pregnant and postpartum women face unique challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic that may put them at elevated risk of mental health problems. However, few large-scale and no cross-national studies have been conducted to date that investigate modifiable pandemic-related behavioral or cognitive factors that may influence mental health in this vulnerable group. This international study sought to identify and measure the associations between pandemic-related information seeking, worries, and prevention behaviors on perinatal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. An anonymous, online, cross-sectional survey of pregnant and postpartum women was conducted in 64 countries between May 26, 2020 and June 13, 2020. The survey, available in twelve languages, was hosted on the Pregistry platform for COVID-19 studies (https://corona.pregistry.com) and advertised in social media channels and online parenting forums. Participants completed measures on demographics, COVID-19 exposure and worries, information seeking, COVID-19 prevention behaviors, and mental health symptoms including posttraumatic stress via the IES-6, anxiety/depression via the PHQ-4, and loneliness via the UCLA-3. Of the 6,894 participants, substantial proportions of women scored at or above the cut-offs for elevated posttraumatic stress (2,979 [43%]), anxiety/depression (2,138 [31%], and loneliness (3,691 [53%]). Information seeking from any source (e.g., social media, news, talking to others) five or more times per day was associated with more than twice the odds of elevated posttraumatic stress and anxiety/depression, in adjusted models. A majority of women (86%) reported being somewhat or very worried about COVID-19. The most commonly reported worries were related to pregnancy and delivery, including family being unable to visit after delivery (59%), the baby contracting COVID-19 (59%), lack of a support person during delivery (55%), and COVID-19 causing changes to the delivery plan (41%). Greater worries related to children (i.e., inadequate childcare, their infection risk) and missing medical appointments were associated with significantly higher odds of posttraumatic stress, anxiety/depression and loneliness. Engaging in hygiene-related COVID-19 prevention behaviors (face mask-wearing, washing hands, disinfecting surfaces) were not related to mental health symptoms or loneliness. Elevated posttraumatic stress, anxiety/depression, and loneliness are highly prevalent in pregnant and postpartum women across 64 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Excessive information seeking and worries related to children and medical care are associated with elevated symptoms, whereas engaging in hygiene-related preventive measures were not. In addition to screening and monitoring mental health symptoms, addressing excessive information seeking and women’s worries about access to medical care and their children’s well-being, and developing strategies to target loneliness (e.g., online support groups) should be part of intervention efforts for perinatal women. Public health campaigns and medical care systems need to explicitly address the impact of COVID-19 related stressors on mental health in perinatal women, as prevention of viral exposure itself does not mitigate the pandemic’s mental health impact. | PLoS One | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 40 | A Reminder of Skin Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic N/A | Acta Dermatovenerol Croat | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 41 | Risk factors and disease profile of post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection in UK users of the COVID Symptom Study app: a prospective, community-based, nested, case-control study BACKGROUND: COVID-19 vaccines show excellent efficacy in clinical trials and effectiveness in real-world data, but some people still become infected with SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination. This study aimed to identify risk factors for post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection and describe the characteristics of post-vaccination illness. METHODS: This prospective, community-based, nested, case-control study used self-reported data (eg, on demographics, geographical location, health risk factors, and COVID-19 test results, symptoms, and vaccinations) from UK-based, adult (≥18 years) users of the COVID Symptom Study mobile phone app. For the risk factor analysis, cases had received a first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine between Dec 8, 2020, and July 4, 2021; had either a positive COVID-19 test at least 14 days after their first vaccination (but before their second; cases 1) or a positive test at least 7 days after their second vaccination (cases 2); and had no positive test before vaccination. Two control groups were selected (who also had not tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 before vaccination): users reporting a negative test at least 14 days after their first vaccination but before their second (controls 1) and users reporting a negative test at least 7 days after their second vaccination (controls 2). Controls 1 and controls 2 were matched (1:1) with cases 1 and cases 2, respectively, by the date of the post-vaccination test, health-care worker status, and sex. In the disease profile analysis, we sub-selected participants from cases 1 and cases 2 who had used the app for at least 14 consecutive days after testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cases 3 and cases 4, respectively). Controls 3 and controls 4 were unvaccinated participants reporting a positive SARS-CoV-2 test who had used the app for at least 14 consecutive days after the test, and were matched (1:1) with cases 3 and 4, respectively, by the date of the positive test, health-care worker status, sex, body-mass index (BMI), and age. We used univariate logistic regression models (adjusted for age, BMI, and sex) to analyse the associations between risk factors and post-vaccination infection, and the associations of individual symptoms, overall disease duration, and disease severity with vaccination status. FINDINGS: Between Dec 8, 2020, and July 4, 2021, 1 240 009 COVID Symptom Study app users reported a first vaccine dose, of whom 6030 (0·5%) subsequently tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cases 1), and 971 504 reported a second dose, of whom 2370 (0·2%) subsequently tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (cases 2). In the risk factor analysis, frailty was associated with post-vaccination infection in older adults (≥60 years) after their first vaccine dose (odds ratio [OR] 1·93, 95% CI 1·50–2·48; p<0·0001), and individuals living in highly deprived areas had increased odds of post-vaccination infection following their first vaccine dose (OR 1·11, 95% CI 1·01–1·23; p=0·039). Individuals without obesity (BMI <30 kg/m(2)) had lower odds of infection following their first vaccine dose (OR 0·84, 95% CI 0·75–0·94; p=0·0030). For the disease profile analysis, 3825 users from cases 1 were included in cases 3 and 906 users from cases 2 were included in cases 4. Vaccination (compared with no vaccination) was associated with reduced odds of hospitalisation or having more than five symptoms in the first week of illness following the first or second dose, and long-duration (≥28 days) symptoms following the second dose. Almost all symptoms were reported less frequently in infected vaccinated individuals than in infected unvaccinated individuals, and vaccinated participants were more likely to be completely asymptomatic, especially if they were 60 years or older. INTERPRETATION: To minimise SARS-CoV-2 infection, at-risk populations must be targeted in efforts to boost vaccine effectiveness and infection control measures. Our findings might support caution around relaxing physical distancing and other personal protective measures in the post-vaccination era, particularly around frail older adults and individuals living in more deprived areas, even if these individuals are vaccinated, and might have implications for strategies such as booster vaccinations. FUNDING: ZOE, the UK Government Department of Health and Social Care, the Wellcome Trust, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UK Research and Innovation London Medical Imaging and Artificial Intelligence Centre for Value Based Healthcare, the UK National Institute for Health Research, the UK Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation, and the Alzheimer's Society. | Lancet Infect Dis | 2022 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 42 | The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence Summary The December, 2019 coronavirus disease outbreak has seen many countries ask people who have potentially come into contact with the infection to isolate themselves at home or in a dedicated quarantine facility. Decisions on how to apply quarantine should be based on the best available evidence. We did a Review of the psychological impact of quarantine using three electronic databases. Of 3166 papers found, 24 are included in this Review. Most reviewed studies reported negative psychological effects including post-traumatic stress symptoms, confusion, and anger. Stressors included longer quarantine duration, infection fears, frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies, inadequate information, financial loss, and stigma. Some researchers have suggested long-lasting effects. In situations where quarantine is deemed necessary, officials should quarantine individuals for no longer than required, provide clear rationale for quarantine and information about protocols, and ensure sufficient supplies are provided. Appeals to altruism by reminding the public about the benefits of quarantine to wider society can be favourable. | Lancet | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 43 | Factors Associated With Mental Health Disorders Among University Students in France Confined During the COVID-19 Pandemic IMPORTANCE: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and quarantine measures have raised concerns regarding their psychological effects on populations. Among the general population, university students appear to be particularly susceptible to experiencing mental health problems. OBJECTIVES: To measure the prevalence of self-reported mental health symptoms, to identify associated factors, and to assess care seeking among university students who experienced the COVID-19 quarantine in France. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This survey study collected data from April 17 to May 4, 2020, from 69 054 students living in France during the COVID-19 quarantine. All French universities were asked to send an email to their students asking them to complete an online questionnaire. The targeted population was approximately 1 600 000 students. EXPOSURE: Living in France during the COVID-19 quarantine. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The rates of self-reported suicidal thoughts, severe distress, stress, anxiety, and depression were assessed using the 22-item Impact of Events Scale–Revised, the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale, the 20-item State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (State subscale), and the 13-item Beck Depression Inventory, respectively. Covariates were sociodemographic characteristics, precariousness indicators (ie, loss of income or poor quality housing), health-related data, information on the social environment, and media consumption. Data pertaining to care seeking were also collected. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 69 054 students completed the survey (response rate, 4.3%). The median (interquartile range) age was 20 (18-22) years. The sample was mainly composed of women (50 251 [72.8%]) and first-year students (32 424 [47.0%]). The prevalence of suicidal thoughts, severe distress, high level of perceived stress, severe depression, and high level of anxiety were 11.4% (7891 students), 22.4% (15 463 students), 24.7% (17 093 students), 16.1% (11 133 students), and 27.5% (18 970 students), respectively, with 29 564 students (42.8%) reporting at least 1 outcome, among whom 3675 (12.4%) reported seeing a health professional. Among risk factors identified, reporting at least 1 mental health outcome was associated with female gender (odds ratio [OR], 2.10; 95% CI, 2.02-2.19; P < .001) or nonbinary gender (OR, 3.57; 95% CI, 2.99-4.27; P < .001), precariousness (loss of income: OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.22-1.33; P < .001; low-quality housing: OR, 2.30; 95% CI, 2.06-2.57; P < .001), history of psychiatric follow-up (OR, 3.28; 95% CI, 3.09-3.48; P < .001), symptoms compatible with COVID-19 (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.49-1.61; P < .001), social isolation (weak sense of integration: OR, 3.63; 95% CI, 3.35-3.92; P < .001; low quality of social relations: OR, 2.62; 95% CI, 2.49-2.75; P < .001), and low quality of the information received (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.49-1.64; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The results of this survey study suggest a high prevalence of mental health issues among students who experienced quarantine, underlining the need to reinforce prevention, surveillance, and access to care. | JAMA Netw Open | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 44 | Human and novel coronavirus infections in children: a review N/A | Paediatr Int Child Health | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 45 | Measures implemented in the school setting to contain the COVID-19 pandemic N/A | Cochrane Database Syst Rev | 2022 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 46 | Vaccine effectiveness of the first dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and BNT162b2 against SARS-CoV-2 infection in residents of long-term care facilities in England (VIVALDI): a prospective cohort study BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in older adults living in long-term care facilities is uncertain. We investigated the protective effect of the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca non-replicating viral-vectored vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19; AZD1222) and the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA-based vaccine (BNT162b2) in residents of long-term care facilities in terms of PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection over time since vaccination. METHODS: The VIVALDI study is a prospective cohort study that commenced recruitment on June 11, 2020, to investigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission, infection outcomes, and immunity in residents and staff in long-term care facilities in England that provide residential or nursing care for adults aged 65 years and older. In this cohort study, we included long-term care facility residents undergoing routine asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 testing between Dec 8, 2020 (the date the vaccine was first deployed in a long-term care facility), and March 15, 2021, using national testing data linked within the COVID-19 Datastore. Using Cox proportional hazards regression, we estimated the relative hazard of PCR-positive infection at 0–6 days, 7–13 days, 14–20 days, 21–27 days, 28–34 days, 35–48 days, and 49 days and beyond after vaccination, comparing unvaccinated and vaccinated person-time from the same cohort of residents, adjusting for age, sex, previous infection, local SARS-CoV-2 incidence, long-term care facility bed capacity, and clustering by long-term care facility. We also compared mean PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values for positive swabs obtained before and after vaccination. The study is registered with ISRCTN, number 14447421. FINDINGS: 10 412 care home residents aged 65 years and older from 310 LTCFs were included in this analysis. The median participant age was 86 years (IQR 80–91), 7247 (69·6%) of 10 412 residents were female, and 1155 residents (11·1%) had evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. 9160 (88·0%) residents received at least one vaccine dose, of whom 6138 (67·0%) received ChAdOx1 and 3022 (33·0%) received BNT162b2. Between Dec 8, 2020, and March 15, 2021, there were 36 352 PCR results in 670 628 person-days, and 1335 PCR-positive infections (713 in unvaccinated residents and 612 in vaccinated residents) were included. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for PCR-positive infection relative to unvaccinated residents declined from 28 days after the first vaccine dose to 0·44 (95% CI 0·24–0·81) at 28–34 days and 0·38 (0·19–0·77) at 35–48 days. Similar effect sizes were seen for ChAdOx1 (adjusted HR 0·32, 95% CI 0·15–0·66) and BNT162b2 (0·35, 0·17–0·71) vaccines at 35–48 days. Mean PCR Ct values were higher for infections that occurred at least 28 days after vaccination than for those occurring before vaccination (31·3 [SD 8·7] in 107 PCR-positive tests vs 26·6 [6·6] in 552 PCR-positive tests; p<0·0001). INTERPRETATION: Single-dose vaccination with BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 vaccines provides substantial protection against infection in older adults from 4–7 weeks after vaccination and might reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission. However, the risk of infection is not eliminated, highlighting the ongoing need for non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent transmission in long-term care facilities. FUNDING: UK Government Department of Health and Social Care. | Lancet Infect Dis | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 47 | Psychiatric and neuropsychiatric presentations associated with severe coronavirus infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis with comparison to the COVID-19 pandemic BACKGROUND: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, coronaviruses caused two noteworthy outbreaks: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), starting in 2002, and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), starting in 2012. We aimed to assess the psychiatric and neuropsychiatric presentations of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. METHODS: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases (from their inception until March 18, 2020), and medRxiv, bioRxiv, and PsyArXiv (between Jan 1, 2020, and April 10, 2020) were searched by two independent researchers for all English-language studies or preprints reporting data on the psychiatric and neuropsychiatric presentations of individuals with suspected or laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infection (SARS coronavirus, MERS coronavirus, or SARS coronavirus 2). We excluded studies limited to neurological complications without specified neuropsychiatric presentations and those investigating the indirect effects of coronavirus infections on the mental health of people who are not infected, such as those mediated through physical distancing measures such as self-isolation or quarantine. Outcomes were psychiatric signs or symptoms; symptom severity; diagnoses based on ICD-10, DSM-IV, or the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders (third edition) or psychometric scales; quality of life; and employment. Both the systematic review and the meta-analysis stratified outcomes across illness stages (acute vs post-illness) for SARS and MERS. We used a random-effects model for the meta-analysis, and the meta-analytical effect size was prevalence for relevant outcomes, I(2) statistics, and assessment of study quality. FINDINGS: 1963 studies and 87 preprints were identified by the systematic search, of which 65 peer-reviewed studies and seven preprints met inclusion criteria. The number of coronavirus cases of the included studies was 3559, ranging from 1 to 997, and the mean age of participants in studies ranged from 12·2 years (SD 4·1) to 68·0 years (single case report). Studies were from China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Canada, Saudi Arabia, France, Japan, Singapore, the UK, and the USA. Follow-up time for the post-illness studies varied between 60 days and 12 years. The systematic review revealed that during the acute illness, common symptoms among patients admitted to hospital for SARS or MERS included confusion (36 [27·9%; 95% CI 20·5–36·0] of 129 patients), depressed mood (42 [32·6%; 24·7–40·9] of 129), anxiety (46 [35·7%; 27·6–44·2] of 129), impaired memory (44 [34·1%; 26·2–42·5] of 129), and insomnia (54 [41·9%; 22·5–50·5] of 129). Steroid-induced mania and psychosis were reported in 13 (0·7%) of 1744 patients with SARS in the acute stage in one study. In the post-illness stage, depressed mood (35 [10·5%; 95% CI 7·5–14·1] of 332 patients), insomnia (34 [12·1%; 8·6–16·3] of 280), anxiety (21 [12·3%; 7·7–17·7] of 171), irritability (28 [12·8%; 8·7–17·6] of 218), memory impairment (44 [18·9%; 14·1–24·2] of 233), fatigue (61 [19·3%; 15·1–23·9] of 316), and in one study traumatic memories (55 [30·4%; 23·9–37·3] of 181) and sleep disorder (14 [100·0%; 88·0–100·0] of 14) were frequently reported. The meta-analysis indicated that in the post-illness stage the point prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder was 32·2% (95% CI 23·7–42·0; 121 of 402 cases from four studies), that of depression was 14·9% (12·1–18·2; 77 of 517 cases from five studies), and that of anxiety disorders was 14·8% (11·1–19·4; 42 of 284 cases from three studies). 446 (76·9%; 95% CI 68·1–84·6) of 580 patients from six studies had returned to work at a mean follow-up time of 35·3 months (SD 40·1). When data for patients with COVID-19 were examined (including preprint data), there was evidence for delirium (confusion in 26 [65%] of 40 intensive care unit patients and agitation in 40 [69%] of 58 intensive care unit patients in one study, and altered consciousness in 17 [21%] of 82 patients who subsequently died in another study). At discharge, 15 (33%) of 45 patients with COVID-19 who were assessed had a dysexecutive syndrome in one study. At the time of writing, there were two reports of hypoxic encephalopathy and one report of encephalitis. 68 (94%) of the 72 studies were of either low or medium quality. INTERPRETATION: If infection with SARS-CoV-2 follows a similar course to that with SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV, most patients should recover without experiencing mental illness. SARS-CoV-2 might cause delirium in a significant proportion of patients in the acute stage. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of depression, anxiety, fatigue, post-traumatic stress disorder, and rarer neuropsychiatric syndromes in the longer term. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust, UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), UK Medical Research Council, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University College London. | Lancet Psychiatry | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 48 | PROTECT Trial: A cluster-randomized study with hydroxychloroquine vs observational support for prevention or early-phase treatment of Coronavirus disease: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial OBJECTIVES: Hydroxychloroquine has shown to have antiviral activity in vitro against coronaviruses, specifically SARS-CoV-2. It is believed to block virus infection by increasing endosomal pH required for virus cell fusion and glycosylation of viral surface proteins. In addition to its antiviral activity, hydroxychloroquine has an immune-modulating activity that may synergistically enhance its antiviral effect in vivo, making it a potentially promising drug for the prevention and the cure of SARS-CoV-19. However, randomized controlled trials are needed to assess whether it can be used safely to treat COVID-19 patients or to prevent infection. The main objective of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine for (I) the prevention of COVID-19 or related symptoms in SARS-CoV-2-exposed subjects, such as as household members/contacts of COVID-19 patients and (II) the treatment of early-phase asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic COVID-19 patients. TRIAL DESIGN: This is a controlled, open label, cluster-randomized, superiority trial with parallel group design. Subjects will be randomized either to receive hydroxychloroquine or to observation (2:1). PARTICIPANTS: SARS-CoV-2-exposed subjects, including household members and/or contacts of COVID-19 patients and healthcare professionals (Group 1) or patients with COVID-19 (positive PCR test on a rhinopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2), asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic in home situations who are not undergoing treatment with any anti COVID-19 medication (Group 2), will be enrolled. Paucisymptomatic patients are defined as patients with a low number of mild symptoms. All subjects must be aged ≥18 years, male or female, must be willing and able to give informed consent and must not have any contraindications to take hydroxychloroquine (intolerance or previous toxicity for hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, bradycardia or reduction in heart rhythm with arrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, retinopathy, congestive heart failure with use of diuretics, favism or glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, diabetes type 1, major comorbidities such as advanced chronic kidney disease or dialysis therapy, known history of ventricular arrhythmia, any oncologic/hematologic malignancy, severe neurological and mental illness, current use of medications with known significant drug-drug interactions, and known prolonged QT syndrome or current use of drugs with known QT prolongation). The study is monocentric and will be conducted at Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) IRCCS. Subjects will be enrolled from a large epidemic region (North-Central Italy). The Public Health Departments of several Italian regions will collaborate by identifying potentially eligible subjects. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: The participants will be randomized (2:1 randomization) to receive either hydroxychloroquine (Arm A) or to Observation (Arm B). Hydroxychloroquine will be administered with the following schedule: Group1: A loading dose hydroxychloroquine 400 mg twice daily on day 1, followed by a weekly dose of hydroxychloroquine 200 mg twice daily on days 8, 15 and 22, for a total of one month of treatment. Group 2: A loading dose hydroxychloroquine 400 mg twice daily on day 1 followed by 200 mg twice daily for a total of 5-7 days. The comparator in this trial is observation given that currently neither treatment is administered to asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic subjects, nor prophylaxis is available for contacts. Hydroxychloroquine will be shipped to subjects within 24 hours of randomization. Given the extraordinary nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, only telephonic interviews will be carried out and electronic Patient Reported Outcomes (ePRO) completed. During treatment, each subject will be contacted every other day for the first week and weekly thereafter (Group 2) or weekly (Group 1) by a study physician to assess early onset of any COVID-19 symptom or any adverse reaction to hydroxychloroquine and to check subject compliance. Furthermore, all subjects will receive periodic ePROs which may be completed through smartphone or tablets to record drug self-administration and onset of any symptom or adverse event. All subjects will be followed up for a total of 6 months by periodic telephonic interviews and ePROs. MAIN OUTCOMES: The primary endpoint/outcome measure for this trial is: for Group 1, the proportion of subjects who become symptomatic and/or swab-positive in each arm within one month of randomization; for Group 2, the proportion of subjects who become swab-negative in each arm within 14 days of randomization. RANDOMIZATION: All household members and/or contacts of each COVID-19 index case, and the COVID-19 patient himself/herself, fulfilling all inclusion criteria will be grouped into a single cluster and this cluster will be randomized (2:1) to either arm A or arm B. Information on each subject will be recorded in specific data records. Randomization lists will be stratified according to the following factors regarding COVID-19 index cases: 1. COVID-19 risk level on the basis of province of residence (high vs. low/intermediate); 2. Index case is a healthcare professional (yes vs.no) 3. Index case with COVID-19 treatment (yes vs. no) An independent statistician not otherwise involved in the trial will generate the allocation sequence, and COVID-19 response teams will be unaware of the allocation of clusters. Randomization will be performed through an interactive web-based electronic data-capturing database. An Independent Data Monitoring Committee has been established. BLINDING (MASKING): This study is open label. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMIZED (SAMPLE SIZE): For Group 1, a sample size of about 2000 SARS-CoV-2-exposed subjects such as household members and/or contacts of COVID-19 patients will take part in the study. Assuming around 1.5-2.0 asymptomatic household members and/or contacts for each COVID-19 patient, we expect to identify approximately 1000-1300 COVID-19 index cases to be randomized. An interim analysis on efficacy is planned using standard alpha-spending function. For Group 2, sufficient power for primary objective (negative swab within 14 days of randomization) will be reached given a sample size of 300 asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic COVID-19 subjects in home situations not treated for COVID-19 (25%-30% of about 1000-1300 expected index cases). Since up to date reduced evidence about COVID-19 infection epidemiology, the continuous update of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, the sample size estimation could be updated after a one third of population will be recruited and eventually modified according to a substantial protocol amendment. An interim analysis at 100 enrolled COVID-19 patients is planned. We have planned a Generalized Estimating Equation analysis, which is more efficient than a cluster level analysis, to take advantage of subject-specific covariates. The above reported sample size analysis is therefore to be considered conservative. TRIAL STATUS: The current version of the PROTECT trial protocol is ‘Final version, 15 April 2020’. The study started on 9(th) May 2020. The first patient was enrolled on 14(th) May 2020. Recruitment is expected to last through September 2020. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The PROTECT trial is registered in the EudraCT database (no. 2020-001501-24) and in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04363827), date of registration 24 April 2020. FULL PROTOCOL: The full PROTECT protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interests of expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this Letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol (Protocol final version, 15(th) April 2020). The study protocol has been reported in accordance with Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Clinical Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) guidelines (Additional file 2). | Trials | 2020 | LitCov and CORD-19 | |
| 49 | Investigating the relationship of COVID-19 related stress and media consumption with schizotypy, depression and anxiety in cross-sectional surveys repeated throughout the pandemic in Germany and the UK N/A | Elife | 2022 | LitCov | |
| 50 | High-Resolution Linear Epitope Mapping of the Receptor Binding Domain of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein in COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Recipients The prompt rollout of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mRNA vaccine is facilitating population immunity, which is becoming more dominant than natural infection-mediated immunity. In the midst of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine deployment, understanding the epitope profiles of vaccine-elicited antibodies will be the first step in assessing the functionality of vaccine-induced immunity. In this study, the high-resolution linear epitope profiles of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine recipients and COVID-19 patients were delineated by using microarrays mapped with overlapping peptides of the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The vaccine-induced antibodies targeting the RBD had a broader distribution across the RBD than that induced by the natural infection. Half-maximal neutralization titers were measured in vitro by live virus neutralization assays. As a result, relatively lower neutralizability was observed in vaccine recipient sera, when normalized to a total anti-RBD IgG titer. However, mutation panel assays targeting the SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern have shown that the vaccine-induced epitope variety, rich in breadth, may grant resistance against future viral evolutionary escapes, serving as an advantage of vaccine-induced immunity. IMPORTANCE Establishing vaccine-based population immunity has been the key factor in attaining herd protection. Thanks to expedited worldwide research efforts, the potency of mRNA vaccines against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now incontestable. The next debate is regarding the coverage of SARS-CoV-2 variants. In the midst of vaccine deployment, it is of importance to describe the similarities and differences between the immune responses of COVID-19 vaccine recipients and naturally infected individuals. In this study, we demonstrated that the antibody profiles of vaccine recipients are richer in variety, targeting a key protein of the invading virus, than those of naturally infected individuals. Vaccine-elicited antibodies included more nonneutralizing antibodies than infection-elicited antibodies, and their breadth in antibody variations suggested possible resilience against future SARS-CoV-2 variants. The antibody profile achieved by vaccinations in naive individuals provides important insight into the first step toward vaccine-based population immunity. | Microbiol Spectr | 2021 | LitCov and CORD-19 |
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(3) Currently tweets of June 23rd to June 29th 2022 have been considered.