Daily curated COVID-19 literature
WP11 - The objective of this work package is to respond to requests concerning the current scientific knowledge on SARS-CoV-2. Based on the latest scientific literature the team will compile findings and give advice when needed
150 publications
2020-05-22
SARS-CoV-2 infection protects against rechallenge in rhesus macaques
Expert Summary: The understanding of immune response against SARS-COV2 is essential for the development of vaccines. However, the degree of immunological memory development in SARS-COV2 infection remains to be examined. This study found that, using rhesus macaque models, that SARS-COV2 successfully infects respiratory organs of rhesus macaques. Re-challenging the animals that have been previously infected with SARS-COV2 developed protective immunity resulting in 5 log10 medial viral load reduction.
DNA vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques
Expert Summary: In this study, the authors developed a series of DNA vaccine candidates expressing different forms of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein and evaluated them in 35 rhesus macaques. Vaccinated animals developed humoral and cellular immune responses, including neutralizing antibody titers comparable to those found in convalescent humans and macaques infected with SARS-CoV-2. They the vaccine encoding the full-length S protein led to >3.1 and >3.7 log10 reductions in median viral loads in bronchoalveolar lavage and nasal mucosa, respectively, as compared with sham controls. This study reports the ...
Prevalence of putative invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in critically ill patients with COVID-19
Expert Summary: About 5% of patients with COVID-19 require ICU management. These patients are at high risk of developing secondary infections including invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) which leads to enhanced illness severity and mortality. An algorithm to discriminate Aspergillus spp colonization from putative IPA was developed for patients in ICU based on 3 mycological criteria combining culture from respiratory specimens and galactomannan detection in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and serum. The authors believe that IPA is more probable if 2 mycological criteria are met.
Organoids of human airways to study infectivity and cytopathy of SARS-CoV-2
Expert Summary: The authors recommend the use of human airway organoids as a model to study SARS-CoV-2 replication kinetics, tropism and host response. They could be used in different context for example in co-culture with different immune cells to study the immune response to the virus and to explore the activity of immunomodulatory drugs. The organoids could also be used to discover antiviral drugs predicting their potential measuring viral load by RT-PCR or the number of cells infected by immunofluorescence.
2020-05-19
Delayed diagnosis of COVID-19 in a 34-year-old man with atypical presentation
Expert Summary: The authors present a man who developed rapidly progressive pulmonary disease and, following two negative NP tests, was diagnosed with COVID-19 based on bronchoscopic biopsy and BAL after 9 days of illness. This case represents a presentation of COVID-19 with atypical features, including sudden onset with a mild cytokine storm profile, apparent early response to antibiotics followed by rapid clinical worsening, and two negative RT-PCR tests of NP swabs, which delayed the diagnosis of COVID-19.
Potent neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 identified by high-throughput single-cell sequencing of convalescent patients' B cells
Expert Summary: The authors identify 14 SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies using high-throughput single-cell RNA and VDJ sequencing of antigen-enriched B cells from 60 convalescent patients. The most potent antibody has proved strong therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy in hACE2-transgenic mice infected by SARS-CoV-2.
Cross-neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by a human monoclonal SARS-CoV antibody
Expert Summary: The authors describe multiple monoclonal antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 S identified from memory B cells of an individual who was infected with SARS-CoV in 2003. One antibody, named S309, shows a potent neutralization effect.
Susceptible supply limits the role of climate in the early SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
Expert Summary: This study used a climate-dependent epidemic model to simulate the SARS-COV2 pandemic probing different scenarios based on current knowledge of coronavirus biology. The authors found that variations in weather may be important for endemic infections but only modestly impact pandemic size during the pandemic stage.
