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 Genetic profiles may predict COVID-19 risk
Large-scale genetic screening to identify populations vulnerable to
COVID-19 may well be possible, according to researchers in France.
In laying out their hypothesis in the journal Trends in Genetics,
they described two opposing enzyme processes that occur when the
coronavirus enters the body. One process contributes to infection by
helping the virus break into cells. The other - an opposite process
- protects the body by keeping the virus away from its target cells.
Among individuals, they said, genetic differences affect the
strength of these infection and protection mechanisms, with some
people having genes that predispose them to infection and others
having genes that strengthen the body's protective process. If a
genetic risk score were developed based on the information in the
genetic databases the researchers analyzed, then populations at risk
for severe COVID-19 "could be characterized by specific genetic
profiles," study co-author Gerard Milano of Antoine Lacassagne
Cancer Center in Nice told Reuters. (https://bit.ly/3fYZA7W)
Nursing homes may be safer when workers live-in
Compared to nursing homes in France where staff members came and
went during the coronavirus pandemic, facilities where workers chose
to confine themselves with residents had a lower rate of coronavirus
infections among residents and staff and fewer COVID-19 deaths among
residents, research showed. In many countries, nursing homes have
experienced large numbers of COVID-19 deaths, with the elderly often
particularly vulnerable to the illness. Researchers compared 17
nursing homes where staff stayed with residents and 9,513 nursing
homes where staff members left when shifts ended. Coronavirus
infections developed in one self-confining facility (6%) and in
4,599 of the other facilities (48%), they reported on Thursday in
the journal JAMA Network Open. In facilities where the staff
self-confined, the COVID-19 rate among residents was 0.4%, compared
to nearly 4% at the other homes. Residents at facilities where staff
members self-confined also were nearly 80% less likely to die of
COVID-19. Furthermore, rates of possible or confirmed COVID-19 were
2% among staff members who self-confined, compared with 8% among
those who went home every day. The findings "suggest that
self-confinement of staff members with residents may help protect
nursing home residents," the researchers said. "The staff members
did something out of the ordinary by confining themselves with the
residents" and "putting aside their personal lives by staying in the
facility for several weeks, night and day," study co-author Dr. Joel
Belmin of Pitie-Salpetriere-Charles Foix Hospital in Paris told
Reuters. (https://bit.ly/2Y3NlRo)
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Virus transmission risk high within households
The greatest risk of coronavirus transmission is among people who live together,
a study from China indicated. Early this year, researchers in China traced 3,410
close contacts of 391 COVID-19 patients to determine the rate at which infected
individuals transmitted the virus. The so-called secondary attack rate was 0.1%
on public transportation and 1.0% in healthcare settings - where mask wearing
was mandatory - but it was 10.3% in households. Secondary attack rates increased
as patients' symptoms became more severe. Overall, patients' risk of infecting
others increased nearly five-fold if they were coughing up phlegm or mucus.
Secondary attack rates in other countries might be different because China
implemented strict quarantines and other measures to control the coronavirus
outbreak. "However," the researchers wrote on Thursday in the journal Annals of
Internal Medicine, "the risk for secondary infection via household contact was
still highest compared with other contact settings because people spent more
time at home, which led to more frequent and longer unprotected exposure."
(https://bit.ly/2Y38ICt)
No effects on placenta seen with late-pregnancy COVID-19
Coronavirus infection late in pregnancy does not appear to affect the
microscopic structure of the placenta, which is the key organ for pregnancy and
fetal growth. Researchers examined third-trimester placentas from 21 women with
COVID-19 and 20 women who had negative coronavirus test results. Compared to
placentas from women who tested negative for the virus, placentas from infected
women showed no differences in cells or tissue structure, or in blood flow
issues, the authors reported in a paper posted on the website medRxiv on
Wednesday ahead of peer review. There were also no significant differences in
placental weight or in the relationship between placental and fetal weight, two
indicators of how well the placenta is functioning. While coronavirus infections
that occur earlier in pregnancy might have greater impacts on the placenta, "our
study suggests that COVID-19 infection during late pregnancy (third trimester)
might not produce demonstrable pathology," study co-author Dr. Mai He of
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine told Reuters. (https://bit.ly/3gXi4an)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3a5EyDh in an external browser for a Reuters graphic on
vaccines and treatments in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Linda Carroll; Editing by Will Dunham)
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