Moderna vaccine antibodies last at least 6 months; lung transplant can
save some COVID-19 survivors
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[April 12, 2021]
By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) -The following is a roundup of
some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and
efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused
by the virus.
Moderna vaccine antibodies last at least 6 months
A follow-up study of 33 people who received Moderna Inc's COVID-19
vaccine in early trials show the antibodies it induced are still present
six months after the second dose. "Antibody activity remained high in
all age groups," researchers said. They confirmed the findings using
three different tests, according to a report on Tuesday in The New
England Journal of Medicine. Earlier this month, Pfizer Inc and partner
BioNTech SE said their vaccine using similar messenger RNA (mRNA)
technology remained highly effective for at least six months.. The
researchers conducting the Moderna vaccine study will continue to follow
the same volunteers to see whether the antibodies last longer than six
months. They are also evaluating the potential for a booster dose to
extend the duration of the antibodies and improve their potency against
new more contagious variants of the coronavirus.

Lung transplants can save some COVID-19 survivors
Surgeons worldwide have been performing lung transplants in COVID-19
survivors with irreversible lung damage, and an international group of
transplant experts has proposed guidelines for selection of eligible
patients. To possibly qualify for a transplant, COVID-19 survivors with
complete lung failure should be younger than 65, nonsmokers, and have no
pre-existing medical conditions, or only manageable ones, they advise.
They said transplants should be performed at least four weeks after a
diagnosis of irreversible lung damage. In the United States alone, more
than 50 double lung transplants have been performed on COVID-19
survivors, and all the patients are alive, said Dr. Ankit Bharat of
Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, who has performed a dozen of them. A
study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine that examined 12 of
the first double-lung transplants performed in COVID-19 patients in the
United States, Italy, Austria and India showed that all but two survived
and are doing well, said co-author Bharat. "It's a really remarkable
outcome, given how critically ill these patients were," he said.
"Without the possibility of transplant, the medical team and the
families were ready to withdraw care." (https://bit.ly/31EHcwy)
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine safe during cancer immunotherapy
The mRNA COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech is safe for patients
being treated with cancer immunotherapies like Merck & Co's Keytruda and
Opdivo sold by Bristol Myers Squibb, Israeli physicians said in a report
published in The Lancet Oncology. They studied 134 vaccine recipients
who were being treated with the so-called immune-checkpoint inhibitors,
including some who were also receiving chemotherapy. The vaccine was
"safe from both sides: we did not see immunotherapy-related side effects
and did not see severe side effects from the vaccine itself," said the
report's co-author Dr. Ido Wolf of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
"We believe that the vaccine should be given to these patients ...
especially in areas of an active COVID-19 outbreak." However, questions
still need to be answered for these patients, including whether there
are any long-term issues. "We looked at our patients only a few weeks
from the second dose and cannot rule out the possibility of long-term
side effects," Wolf said. His team is also looking into whether other
cancer drugs, such as chemotherapies, may reduce the efficacy of the
vaccine.
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A nurse prepares a dose of the Moderna coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) vaccine at the Glangwili General Hospital in Carmarthen,
Wales, Britain April 7, 2021. Jacob King/Pool via REUTERS

Skin reactions to mRNA vaccines have not been serious
A wide range of skin reactions has been documented in recipients of
the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, but none have
been serious, according to researchers who analyzed 414 cases in a
registry run by dermatology societies. The majority (83%) were
associated with the Moderna shot. Most started the day after, or
often several days to a week, after vaccination, said Dr. Esther
Freeman of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who coauthored
a report published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American
Academy of Dermatology. Fewer than half of patients who experienced
a delayed skin reaction after the first dose experienced a
recurrence with the second dose. Furthermore, no patients in the
registry developed serious adverse events after the first or second
dose. "If the patient develops a delayed-onset rash more than four
hours after vaccination, while the rash may be uncomfortable, our
data suggest they ... should feel comfortable proceeding with the
second dose of their vaccine," Freeman said. However, she added,
hives that start within four hours after vaccination "should be
taken very seriously," as that may be a sign of an immediate
allergic reaction. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention recommends referral to an allergist-immunologist in those
cases.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid, Marilynn Larkin, Megan Brooks, and Ronnie
Cohen; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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