COVID, Volume 2, Issue 4 (April 2022) – 7 articles

In November of 2021, a recently evolved variant of SARS-CoV-2, omicron, was discovered. In just one month, omicron has spread to more than 89 countries resulting in a rapid rise in cases and a new wave of infections. With over 46 mutations, omicron brings concern to the public health and may be able to infect at a greater capacity than previous strains. Although able to infect double vaccinated and previously infected individuals, the booster vaccine may prove promising. However, more research is needed to fully elucidate the key function of each mutation and to better develop effective drugs. Marine resources may be a promising drug discovery avenue to investigate. For example, compounds such as natural bromotyrosines and inorganic polyphosphate have been shown to have multiple mechanisms of action against viruses, like SARS-CoV-2. Through viral entry blockade and preventing viral replication and protein synthesis, metabolites produced from marine organisms may be promising against the evolving SARS-CoV-2. The present review highlights key features of the omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant, summarizes key studies and reports on omicron viral infection and examines the potential for intervention using renewable marine resources. Full article

Public trust in governmental policies concerning public health measures is often now questioned. This is an acute problem with respect to vaccinations and particularly true regarding concerns around vaccination of children. Vaccination against COVID-19 is a particularly acute issue with many conspiracy theories circulating. These can almost certainly be countered by a strong evidence base. However, what if a policy is not based on strong evidence but on a judgement call? There is a strong evidence base concerning the beneficial and lifesaving attributes of immunization of adult and particularly vulnerable elderly groups against COVID-19. But what about young children? Here the benefit of immunization is not borne out by any publicly available data and would appear to be led by opinion, not evidence. The language used and vague statements giving a public justification for childhood vaccination COVID-19 immunization could be interpreted as misleading. Given a prevailing mistrust of government public health mandates, could these policies discourage childhood immunization and cost lives of children from other diseases? Full article

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic remained a major public health concern despite a large-scale deployment of vaccines. One of the vaccines is CoronaVac, an inactivated vaccine. The efficacy of the vaccine was estimated at 50.7–83.5% in clinical trials. However, the real-world efficacy often differed. This study described CoronaVac post-vaccination reactogenicity and immunogenicity. Serum was collected on days 0, 28, 56 and 84 from participants who received CoronaVac in March–May 2021. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor binding domain was measured using an Elecsys^® quantitative assay. Participants were interviewed for adverse events (AEs) one week after vaccination. Reported AEs were fatigue, fever, runny nose, headache, muscle pain, pain at injection site, and paresthesia. Females reported more incidents than males. However, the frequency was similar between immunologically naïve and pre-immune participants. In the naïve group, the antibody titer was 61.7 ± 84.2 U/mL (mean ± SD) on day 28 and increased to 99.3 ± 91.9 U/mL on day 56. The titer peaked on day 56 across all age groups, but a reduction of 18.0–26.3% was observed on day 84. A titer-boosting effect was observed in pre-immune participants with a baseline titer of 139.0 ± 101.0 U/mL, which increased to 206.7 ± 77.4 U/mL on day 28, and remained steady until day 84. Hence, CoronaVac elicited an antibody response in naïve and pre-immune participants, with mild AEs. Full article

The availability of accurate information has proved fundamental to managing health crises. This research examined pandemic data provided by 198 countries worldwide two years after the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in Wuhan, China. We compiled and reevaluated the consistency of daily COVID-19 infections with Benford’s Law. It is commonly accepted that the distribution of the leading digits of pandemic data should conform to Newcomb-Benford’s expected frequencies. Consistency with the law of leading digits might be an indicator of data reliability. Our analysis shows that most countries have disseminated partially reliable data over 24 months. The United States, Israel, and Spain spread the most consistent COVID-19 data with the law. In line with previous findings, Belarus, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Pakistan, and Chile published questionable epidemic data. Against this trend, 45 percent of countries worldwide appeared to demonstrate significant BL conformity. Our measures of Benfordness were moderately correlated with the Johns Hopkins Global Health Security Index, suggesting that the conformity to Benford’s law may also depend on national health care policies and practices. Our findings might be of particular importance to policymakers and researchers around the world. Full article

During the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, the immunogenicity of the virus for various autoimmune complications has been observed. To date, a few reports have been published that raise the possibility of new onset myasthenia gravis (MG) associated with COVID-19 infection. We report a case of a 65-year-old male who developed his initial myasthenic presentation with mild dysarthria 14 days after COVID-19 infection symptomatic onset. His bulbar symptoms, diplopia, and ptosis progressed considerably over the next 1.5 months before he was diagnosed with non-thymomatous MG. Serological tests showed a high concentration of anti-acetylcholine receptor and anti-titin antibodies. He responded well to treatment with pyridostigmine and intravenous immunoglobulin. Reasonable latency from COVID-19 infection and gradual evolvement of myasthenic symptoms makes the causative association probable in this case. To our knowledge, this is the first report of anti-titin antibodies in new-onset MG associated with COVID-19 infection. In the article, we analyze the previously reported cases and summarize the information published to date. We discuss the possible immunological mechanisms behind new onset autoimmune disease following a viral infection and the associated features that raise the suspicion for such a possibility. We also hint at structural homologies between SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and titin epitopes. Full article

Since 2019, COVID-19 began spreading globally and has significantly affected peoples’ daily lifestyles. The public was asked to stay at home for constant quarantine and community containment starting on 23 January 2020. To assess the circadian rhythms and sleep changes and their influential factors during the COVID-19 outbreak, a questionnaire was administered to 451 Chinese participants during 20–31 January 2020. The changes in circadian rhythm, sleep–wake cycle, dining, and exercise of the participants and their correlation with negative emotions were analyzed. Furthermore, the effects of three factors (holiday, quarantine, and concerns regarding the pandemic situation) on these changes were assessed. We found that 34.6% of the participants reported circadian rhythm disturbance. Moreover, 67.2% presented negative emotions (worry, fear, downheartedness, anxiety, depression, and stupefaction) regarding the pandemic situation, among which worry was the most prevalent. Gender and age were significant factors for changes in the circadian phases and emotions. There was a correlation between circadian rhythm alterations and negative emotions. In addition, holiday, quarantine, and concerns regarding the pandemic situation had significant effects on circadian rhythms and sleep in a substantial part of the population. Regression analysis demonstrated reciprocal influences between many of these variables. Our findings suggest that circadian rhythms, sleep, and negative emotions in the normal population need to be considered during the pandemic period and that the adjustment of circadian rhythms could help promote sleep, restore emotions and improve public health. Full article

Gut microflora dysbiosis affects the majority of individuals after COVID-19, contributing to both gastro-intestinal (GI) and non-GI symptoms. Natural phytochemicals have reported anti-viral properties and favourable effects on inflammatory and oxidative pathways, both important for tissue damage post-viral pneumonia. This study involved 147 participants with symptomatic COVID-19, randomised to receive a placebo (P) or a phytochemical-rich concentrated food capsule (PC) in addition to a pre/probiotic lactobacillus capsule. Participants taking the PC had an almost two-fold reduction in mean fatigue scores compared to P [p = 0.02], a three-fold reduction in cough score and more than a double improvement in overall well-being scores [p = 0.02]. Two (1.5%) participants reported mild, increased bloating which they felt was attributable to the capsules, although GI symptoms improved in 25 of 31 participants (82%) who reported them at baseline. Sedentary, older, previously hospitalised men with GI symptoms had a statistically significantly improvement among those given the probiotic. Although some participants with early disease would have improved spontaneously, such a rapid improvement observed in the majority of participants, who had been suffering for an average of 108 days, was clinically relevant and welcomed, especially among those more likely to have pre-existing gut dysbiosis. We are now evaluating whether this blend could also enhance antibody titres post-COVID-19 vaccination. Full article