July 29, 2020

On today's episode we discuss: — Climate: The Immunization Action Coalition and the Vanderbilt School of Medicine discuss the progress of developing a COVID-19 vaccine, detailing the 11 vaccines in phase 1/2 clinical trials and the inclusion of multiple countries in the development of a Target Product Profile, a tool for quantifying critical vaccine characteristics. The authors emphasize the need for well-established infrastructure and logistical planning in order to distribute a potential COVID-19 vaccine safely and effectively to the world in a timely manner. — Epidemiology: Researchers in the United States and United Kingdom used Twitter data to predict human mobility in and out of China and estimate global spread of COVID-19 and found a high correlation between country-level Twitter user visits and reported COVID-19 cases. These findings highlight the utility of geolocated platforms for public health authorities to develop response protocols and assess impending risks of COVID-19. — Transmission and Prevention: Based on literature of prostaglandins in SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV, a group from the University of Edinburgh cite the potential roles of multiple prostaglandins (including PGD2, PGE2, PGI2) in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and consider the possible benefits of NSAID usage in COVID-19 patients. — Management: A study found that among 59 patients with symptoms consistent with COVID-19, fibrinogen levels were markedly higher in patients who ultimately tested positive on RT-PCR compared to those who tested negative. Additionally, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was increased in critically ill COVID-19 patients. These results suggest that fibrinogen may have value as a diagnostic marker in patients with suspected COVID-19 and that neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio may be useful as a prognostic marker indicative of COVID-19 disease severity. — Adjusting Practice: A cross sectional study of 26 heart failure patients found a 16.2% decrease in daily step count on wearable accelerometers during the first 3 weeks of quarantine compared to regular activity suggesting that widespread COVID-19 quarantine mandates were detrimental to physical activity habits in these patients. These findings highlight the importance of physical activity during the pandemic in reducing deterioration in cardiovascular health. — R&D Diagnosis and Treatment: Investigators in China measured SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies among moderate and severe COVID-19 patients as well as non-COVID-19 patients and found that IgA and IgG were higher among severe patients compared to moderate patients whereas no difference was observed between the groups in IgM. Based on their findings, the authors suggest that IgA-IgG serological diagnosis of COVID-19 may be more effective than the traditional detection of IgM-IgG combined antibodies.