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This week’s summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 reveals a possible way the virus may have traveled further distances and a daily practice that may help curb the load of the virus in the infected.
Wildfire smoke likely helped spread COVID-19
Large wildfires may be linked to increases in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the San Francisco area, according to an article in the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences.
The researchers found that between March and September, increases in smoke particles, other wildfire pollutants, and carbon monoxide levels corresponded to increases in daily COVID-19 diagnoses and total COVID-19 deaths. While correlation does not necessarily mean causation, co-author Sultan Ayoub Meo of King Saud University in Saudi Arabia said that air pollution provides a means for viruses to move through the environment.
These tiny pollution particles, along with the microorganisms they carry, “can easily be inhaled deep into the lungs and cause infections,” Meo said.
“Carbon monoxide is a highly toxic gas that can damage our lungs, resulting as a trigger for an increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the wildfire region,” he told Reuters.
Antiviral Mouthwash May Help Curb Coronavirus Transmission
Mouthwashes with antiviral ingredients could help decrease the transmission of COVID-19 by reducing viral loads in the mouth of infected patients when they cough, sneeze or speak, according to an article in the Journal of Dental Research published Thursday.
Studies have found that mouthwashes containing cetylpyridinium chloride or povidone-iodine can reduce the oral burden of coronavirus; Other promising compounds include hydrogen peroxide, chlorhexidine, cyclodextrin, Citrox, and certain essential oils.
Co-author Dr. Florence Carrouel of Claude Bernard Lyon University in France told Reuters that everyone should use these mouthwashes because people can get infected and not realize it.
While more studies are needed to determine appropriate regimens, she suggests using three doses of antiviral mouthwash the day before a meeting and one dose the morning of the event. COVID-19 patients should use mouthwash regularly for seven to 10 days.
Common cold antibodies can hijack the body’s COVID-19 response
A phenomenon called “antigenic sin” may explain why some COVID-19 patients become critically ill, the researchers say. Because the new virus shares some characteristics with the coronaviruses that cause common colds, the body’s immune response may include antibodies that it previously learned to recognize and attack older viruses. This, in turn, can detract from the body’s ability to fight COVID-19 because antibodies to the common cold do not reliably attack the new virus.
In severely ill COVID-19 patients, the immune response directed at other coronaviruses is higher than in mildly ill patients, the researchers reported in medRxiv prior to peer review. This situation, when the body reacts to a new invader based on its “memory” of previous invaders, has been seen before and is called “original antigenic sin.”
The new vaccines must be able to elicit an immune response against this new virus, not simply stimulate the immune response to common cold viruses, co-author Gijsbert van Nierop of the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands told Reuters.
Powerful drugs for gut diseases seem safe during a pandemic
People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) do not increase their risk of COVID-19 by taking immunosuppressive medications to control their symptoms, according to a study of more than 5,300 patients with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis published Thursday in the medical journal Inflammination. Bowel. Diseases.
“After weighing other known risk factors for COVID-19, including age, race, and other medical issues, we found that immunosuppressive therapy was not associated with an increased risk of COVID-19,” said co-author Dr. Kristin Burke of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School told Reuters.
“Among people with IBD who contracted COVID-19, we also found that the use of immunosuppressive medications did not increase the risk of serious illness, which we define as an illness that requires hospitalization, intensive care unit stay, or death.”
However, as other studies have shown, advanced age and obesity were also risk factors for severe COVID-19 in these patients.
