Tag Archives: Infecting

Health

What is Strep A, scarlet fever, the disease infecting UK children?

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Streptococcus A — or Group A Strep (GAS) — is a bacterial infection of the throat or skin, which typically arises during the winter months.

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Health officials in the U.K. are warning parents to be alert after a recent spate of severe Strep A infections resulted in the deaths of at least six children.

The U.K.’s Health Security Agency issued a rare health warning Friday urging parents to monitor their children for tell-tale symptoms of the illness, which can include a sore throat, headache, fever, and body rashes.

At least six children have died of severe cases of the infection since September, health agencies said, while reported cases have risen over 4.5 times the amount seen in recent years.

What is Strep A?

Streptococcus A — or Group A Strep (GAS) — is a bacterial infection of the throat or skin which typically arises during the winter months.

While most cases are mild and often go unnoticed, it can also lead to more serious illness and complications, such as scarlet fever.

Scarlet fever is a highly contagious bacterial infection that mostly affects young children. It typically causes flu-like symptoms and a fine, sandpaper-like rash, which can usually be treated with antibiotics.

However, in rare occasions, the bacteria can get into the bloodstream and cause an illness called invasive Group A strep (iGAS). 

These severe infections can be deadly, and are thought to be the cause of the recent spate of deaths.

Make sure you talk to a health professional if your child is showing signs of deteriorating after a bout of scarlet fever.

Dr Colin Brown

deputy director, UKHSA

Health officials have therefore urged parents to be vigilant for warning signs of the invasive illness, including a temperature above 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

“It is important that parents are on the lookout for symptoms and see a doctor as quickly as possible so that their child can be treated and we can stop the infection becoming serious,” Dr Colin Brown, deputy director at UKHSA, said.

“Make sure you talk to a health professional if your child is showing signs of deteriorating after a bout of scarlet fever, a sore throat, or a respiratory infection,” he added.

Cases surge post-Covid

Five of the deaths have occurred in children under the age of 10 in England, according to the UKHSA. The sixth death was reported at a Welsh primary school (elementary school) by Public Health Wales.

A further death of a 12-year-old schoolboy from London was reported Saturday, but has not yet been confirmed.

Typically, one or two children under the age of 10 die as a result of Strep A during winter in the U.K.

In the week to November 20., there were 851 cases of scarlet fever reported in the U.K., compared to an average of 186 for the preceding years.

Health officials have said there is currently no evidence that a new strain is circulating. The increase is instead likely related to high amounts of circulating bacteria and social mixing following the end of Covid-19 restrictions.

“(We) need to recognize that the measures that we’ve taken for the last couple of years to reduce Covid circulating will also reduce other infections circulating,” Dr Susan Hopkins, UKHSA’s chief medical adviser, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program Monday.

“That means that, as things get back to normal, these traditional infections that we’ve seen for many years are circulating at great levels,” she added.

The latest outbreak follows a surge in other illnesses this year, including monkeypox and a mysterious liver disease affecting children.

Some medics are concerned about the impact the latest outbreak could have on the U.K.’s already struggling National Health Service.

“The last thing we want is for A&E departments to be flooded with a new influx of worried parents,” Neena Modi, professor of neonatal medicine at Imperial College London, told the Guardian.

The UKHSA said concerned parents in the U.K. should contact NHS 111 or their local GP in the first instance if they notice early symptoms in their children, while more severe cases should contact 999 or visit A&E.

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Health

Indian health advisory for rare virus infecting children

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Tomato flu — so called due to the painful red blisters it produces — has so far been detected in more than 100 children across three states since the first case was reported on May 6.

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The emergence of a rare, new viral infection afflicting young children has prompted health authorities in India to issue a health advisory after more than 100 cases were discovered in the country.

Tomato flu — so called due to the painful red blisters it produces — has so far been detected in 82 children aged under five in the state of Kerala, where the first case was detected on May 6.

An additional 26 cases have since been reported in neighboring Tamil Nadu state and Odisha in the east, where children as old as nine have been infected.

India’s health ministry has said that the virus is non-life-threatening but issued testing and prevention guidelines to all states this week, urging parents to be extra vigilant in checking their children for symptoms, the Times of India reported.

What is tomato flu?

Tomato flu is a highly contagious viral infection, which spreads via close contact particularly among young children aged under five.

Symptoms include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, dehydration, swelling of joints, body aches, and common influenza-like symptoms, as well as the eponymous tomato-like blisters.

Scientists are still trying to identify the route cause of the virus. However, they say “it is not related to SARS-CoV-2 [Covid-19],” despite displaying some similar symptoms, according to an article published last week in British medical journal The Lancet.

More likely is that the virus is an after-effect of chikungunya or dengue fever, two viral diseases transmitted by mosquitos.

Alternatively, it could be a new variant of the viral hand, foot, and mouth disease, a common infectious disease targeting mostly children aged one to five years and immunocompromised adults.

Who can you catch it and how?

Children are at increased risk of exposure to tomato flu as viral infections are common in this age group and spread is likely to be through close contact.

They are also at particularly high risk through their use of nappies, touching unclean surfaces, as well as putting things directly into the mouth.

However, older adults could be put at risk if the outbreak is not controlled and transmission limited.

“Given the similarities to hand, foot, and mouth disease, if the outbreak of tomato flu in children is not controlled and prevented, transmission might lead to serious consequences by spreading in adults as well,” the Lancet article said.

Tomato flu is a self-limiting illness, meaning it tends to resolve spontaneously without treatment.

However, health officials have urged people to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the outbreak, including isolating suspected cases for five to seven days following the onset of symptoms.

“The best solution for prevention is the maintenance of proper hygiene and sanitization of the surrounding necessities and environment as well as preventing the infected child from sharing toys, clothes, food, or other items with other non-infected children,” the Lancet article said.

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Health

Mysterious parvovirus-like illness infecting dogs in Michigan, killing as many as 60 dogs

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A mysterious illness is infecting dogs in Michigan and some cases appear to be deadly. It is a parvovirus-like illness, causing vomiting and bloody stools.

Parvovirus is highly contagious for dogs and is common in Michigan. A vaccine is available, and the virus is not contagious to other animals or people.

Otsego County has seen more than 30 deaths from the illness, Melissa FitzGerald, director of Otsego County Animal Control and shelter told CBS News. Clare County has had at least 10 deaths, and Ostego County has had about 10, but Fitzgerald said there could be more.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said it received a report that a dog in northern Michigan was vomiting and had diarrhea. These are common symptoms of canine parvovirus, but the animal tested negative for the parvovirus at the veterinary clinic. 

Other animal control agencies in northern Michigan reported seeing dogs with the same symptoms, as well as others typically associated with parvovirus, like lethargy and loss of appetite. The causes of the symptoms had not been determined.

The state department is working with partners like the Michigan Association of Animal Control Officers, Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to learn more about the illness, but they are still in the early stage of the investigation. 

Samples were submitted to the state university lab and those tested positive for canine parvovirus – but there are more results pending, State Veterinarian Nora Wineland said in a statement. 

“When MDARD first learned of these cases in northern Michigan, we immediately reached out to the veterinarians and animal shelters involved and began our response efforts. Protecting animal and public health is one of the department’s key pillars, but it is a team effort. Dog owners need to ensure their pet is up to date on routine vaccinations as it’s the first step in keeping your pet healthy.”

The department is urging pet owners to keep up with routine vaccinations for their dogs, clean up after their pets, keep unvaccinated puppies away from other dogs and keep any dogs exhibiting any signs of illness away from others.

Earlier this month, Ostego County Animal Shelter posted about the mysterious illness infecting dogs in the area, saying several dogs developed parvo-like symptoms, but tested negative. “Most of these dogs have passed within 3 days,” the animal shelter wrote in its Facebook post. “These dogs are mostly under the age of 2. Some of the dogs were vaccinated.”

“No one has an answer. The best ‘guess’ is that this is a strain of parvo,” the shelter said at the time, adding that they had not spoken about the illness until then “because we really don’t know anything.”

The animal shelter had been in close contact with veterinarians in surrounding towns to try and figure it out Gaylord, Traverse City, Grayling, Mancelona and Indian River trying to figure this out, and said the infected dogs were not in any one area. 

Last Friday, the animal shelter posted an update, saying the illness does not affect certain breeds more than others, and the illness was detected in dogs from many counties around northern and central Michigan. The shelter said at the time that, while the perplexing disease has killed a number of dogs in the area, it had not seen any dogs die “that are properly vaccinated.” In Clare County, Animal Control Director Rudi Hicks said last week that all dogs with symptoms of the illness had died regardless of their vaccine status, according to the Clare County Cleaver. 

The shelter said the illness could be a strain of parvovirus, although the cause is not yet known. It also also mentioned that there are “numerous” canine diseases that present symptoms similar to parvovirus, and veterinarians may therefore treat individual cases differently. Nonetheless, the shelter urged people to get their dogs properly vaccinated against the parvovirus. Otsego County Animal Control and the shelter will host a vaccine clinic for parvovirus this week on Wednesday, August 24 at the Otsego County Fire Department.

CBS News has reached out to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and is awaiting response. 

Caitlin O’Kane

Caitlin O’Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.

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Health

States Where Brain-Eating Amoebas Are Infecting People in the US

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When a swimmer recently fell ill after visiting a lake in Iowa, health officials quickly shut down beaches in an abundance of caution.

The threat was not a shark or riptide, but a microscopic amoeba that entered through the swimmer’s nose and starting eating away at their brain.

The individual, a Missouri resident, was in intensive care when health officials announced the case on July 7. According to the state health department, the case was only the second instance of Naegleria fowleri infection in a Missouri resident, and the first in 35 years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been tracking infections associated with the amoeba and states where people have been exposed since 1962. While infections with Naegleria fowleri are rare, warming waters may expand the area where the amoeba can survive.

Why are brain-eating amoebas so lethal?

Naegleria fowleri is known as the brain-eating amoeba because it destroys healthy brain tissue. People can become infected if the amoeba enters through the nose while they are swimming or diving, not through any other form of exposure to contaminated water.

The amoeba causes a life-threatening infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). The infection is extremely rare, with 154 cases recorded in nearly 60 years of disease surveillance, but nearly everyone who has contracted it has died.

After initial symptoms like headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting, PAM is known to progress rapidly. Later symptoms may include stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, seizures, and hallucinations. According to CDC data, the infection usually kills within an average of five days after the first symptoms.

The infection is notoriously difficult to treat and test for, as laboratory tests for PAM are only available at a few locations in the US. Because the disease is so rare and hard to detect, about 75% of diagnoses are made after the patient has died, according to the CDC.

They thrive in warm freshwater

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been tracking reports of PAM since 1962. A map of case reports through 2021 shows exposures in 20 states, with most reports coming from the South.

The amoeba thrives in warm freshwater, including lakes, rivers, and occasionally contaminated tap water or swimming pools. In 2020, a 6-year-old boy died in Texas after playing at a local splash pad that was not properly chlorinated.

Texas has reported the most cases of Naegleria fowleri infection, with 40 known infections since the CDC began collecting data. Florida has reported 36 infections.

Other states with eight or more infections — the highest range noted on the CDC map — include California, Arizona, and South Carolina. 

Brain-eating amoebas may be moving north as waters warm

Recent data have not shown an increase in case reports over the past few years. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, three cases were reported to the CDC per year. However, the geographic footprint of Naegleria fowleri may be expanding, one expert told NBC News.

Julia Haston, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC, told NBC that one of the PAM cases reported in 2021 came from Northern California. The exposure occurred at a similar latitude to the case that’s under investigation in Iowa, suggesting that warming temperatures have made it possible for the amoeba to spread northwards.

For now, the CDC says people swimming in warm freshwater — especially in Southern states — should assume they have a low level of risk of contracting the amoeba.

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Technology

Google warns of ‘hermit spyware’ infecting Android and iOS devices

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As part of Google’s efforts to track the activities of commercial spyware vendors, the company’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) released a report Thursday on spyware campaigns targeting Android and iOS users.

Google TAG researchers Benoit Sevens and Clement Lecigne go into detail about the use of entrepreneurial grade spyware dubbed “Hermit.” This sophisticated spyware tool allows attackers to steal data, private messages and make phone calls. In their report, TAG researchers attributed Hermit to RCS Labs, a commercial spyware vendor based in Italy.

Hermit poses many significant dangers. Due to its modularity, Hermit is quite customizable, allowing the functions of the spyware to be altered to the will of its user. Once fully situated on a target’s phone, attackers can harvest sensitive information such as call logs, contacts, photos, precise location, and SMS messages.

Sevens and Lecigne’s full report details the ways in which attackers can access both Android and iOS devices through the use of clever tricks and drive-by attacks. Potential targets of this scam will have their data disabled through their ISP carrier before sending a malicious link via text to get them to ‘fix’ the issue. If that doesn’t work, targets will be tricked into downloading malicious apps masqueraded as messaging applications.

SEE ALSO:

Spyware meant to track terrorists was used against journalists and activists, too

Just last week, cybersecurity firm Lookout reported the use of Hermit by agents working in the governments of Kazakhstan, Syria, and Italy. Google has already identified victims in these countries, stating that “TAG is actively tracking more than 30 vendors with varying levels of sophistication and public exposure selling exploits or surveillance capabilities to government-backed actors.”

The Milan-based company claims to provide “law enforcement agencies worldwide with cutting-edge technological solutions and technical support in the field of lawful interception for more than twenty years.” More than 10,000 intercepted targets are purported to be handled daily in Europe alone.

When reached out for comment by The Hacker News, RCS Labs said its “core business is the design, production, and implementation of software platforms dedicated to lawful interception, forensic intelligence, and data analysis” and that it “helps law enforcement prevent and investigate serious crimes such as acts of terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, child abuse, and corruption.”

Still, the news of the spyware being used by state government agents is concerning. Not only does it erode trust in the safety of the internet but it also puts at risk the lives of anyone a government considers an enemy of the state such as dissidents, journalists, human rights workers, and opposition party politicians.

“Tackling the harmful practices of the commercial surveillance industry will require a robust, comprehensive approach that includes cooperation among threat intelligence teams, network defenders, academic researchers, governments, and technology platforms,” Google TAG researchers wrote. “We look forward to continuing our work in this space and advancing the safety and security of our users around the world.”



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Health

Parasite Infecting Up to 50% of People ‘Really Likes The Retina’, Scientists Say

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Toxoplasma gondii is probably the most successful parasite in the world today. This microscopic creature is capable of infecting any mammal or bird, and people across all continents are infected.

 

Once infected, a person carries Toxoplasma for life. So far, we don’t have a drug that can eradicate the parasite from the body. And there is no vaccine approved for use in humans.

Across the world, it’s estimated 30–50 percent of people are infected with Toxoplasma – and infections may be increasing in Australia. A survey of studies conducted at blood banks and pregnancy clinics across the country in the 1970s put the infection rate at 30 percent.

However, a recent Western Australian community-based study found 66 percent of people were infected.

The disease caused by this parasite can scar the back of the eye. Our new research looked for signs of disease in otherwise healthy people and found a significant number bore the mark of Toxoplasma.

We don’t just get it from cats

The cat is the primary host for Toxoplasma.

Cats catch the parasite when they eat infected prey. Then, for a couple of weeks, they pass large numbers of parasites in their feces in a form that can survive for long periods in the environment, even during extreme weather.

 

When the feces are ingested by livestock while grazing, parasites lodge in the muscle and survive there after the animals are slaughtered for meat. Humans can become infected by eating this meat, or by eating fresh produce or drinking water soiled by cats.

It is also possible for a woman infected for the first time during pregnancy to pass the infection to her unborn child.

While infection with Toxoplasma is extremely common, the most important health statistic is the rate of the disease caused by the infection, which is called toxoplasmosis.

How it affects the eye

Toxoplasma really likes the retina, the multi-layered nerve tissue that lines the eye and generates vision. Infection can cause recurring attacks of retinal inflammation and permanent retinal scarring. This is known as ocular toxoplasmosis.

Contrary to much that is written about ocular toxoplasmosis, medical research shows this condition usually affects healthy adults. However, in aged persons or people with a weakened immune system, or when contracted during pregnancy, it can be more severe.

An attack of active inflammation causes “floaters” and blurred vision. When the inflammation progresses to scarring, there may be permanent loss of vision.

In a study of patients with ocular toxoplasmosis seen at a large ophthalmology clinic, we measured reduced vision to below driving level in more than 50 percent of eyes, and 25 percent of eyes were irreversibly blind.

 

How many eyes?

Ophthalmologists and optometrists are quite familiar with managing ocular toxoplasmosis. But the extent of the problem is not widely recognized, even by the medical community. The number of Australians with ocular toxoplasmosis had never been measured, until now.

We wanted to investigate the prevalence of ocular toxoplasmosis in Australia, but we knew it would be challenging to get funding for a major survey of this neglected disease.

So, we used information collected for a different purpose: as part of the Busselton Healthy Ageing Study, retinal photographs were taken from more than 5,000 baby boomers (born 1946–64) living in Busselton, Western Australia.

The photographs were gathered to look for other eye diseases, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.

By screening these retinal photographs, we estimated the prevalence of ocular toxoplasmosis at one in 150 Australians. This might seem surprisingly common, but it fits with the way people catch Toxoplasma.

In addition to pet cats, Australia has huge populations of feral cats. And Australia is home to a lot of farmland, including over 50 percent of the global organic farming area.

Most importantly, many Australians like to eat their red meat rare, putting them at real risk.

 

How the condition is treated

To diagnose ocular toxoplasmosis, a retina examination is necessary, ideally with the pupils dilated.

The retinal lesion is easy to spot, because of the way Toxoplasma activates retinal cells to produce certain proteins, and an ophthalmologist or optometrist can immediately recognize the appearance. Often a blood test is also performed to make the diagnosis.

If the condition is mild, the doctor may let the body’s own immune system control the problem, which takes a few months. However, usually a combination of anti-inflammatory and anti-parasitic drugs is prescribed.

Stopping the spread

Toxoplasma infection is not curable, but it can be prevented. Meat sold in Australian supermarkets may harbor Toxoplasma. Cooking meat to an internal temperature of 66 ℃ or freezing it ahead of cooking are ways to kill the parasite.

Fresh fruit and vegetables should be washed before eating, and drinking untreated water (such as straight from rivers or creeks) should be avoided. Gloves should be worn when changing cat litter, and hands washed afterwards.

The World Health Organization and other international and national health bodies are promoting an approach called One Health for diseases that cross humans, animals and their environments. This involves different sectors working together to promote good health.

Now we know just how common ocular toxoplasmosis is in Australia, there is real justification to harness One Health to combat Toxoplasma infections in this country.

Justine R. Smith, Professor of Eye & Vision Health, Flinders University and João M. Furtado, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Universidade de São Paulo.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

 

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Health

Covid-positive deer may be harboring the virus and infecting humans, study says

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Aside from saving human lives in the immediate moment, the other fundamental reason that public health officials were pushing mass vaccination to slow the spread of COVID-19 is because the more hosts in which a virus resides, the more likely the virus is to eventually mutate into something more virulent. Obviously, that has happened at least twice so far with SARS-CoV-2: first with the ultra-contagious delta variant, and then later with the even more contagious omicron variant. 

Currently, the number of human hosts in the U.S. is waning as the omicron wave falls from its peak. If we are lucky, that may imply that this wave of infections is over, and while the coronavirus will continue to circulate (and mutate) as it becomes endemic, it would have fewer hosts in which to do so. 

Or, at least human hosts. As we know, SARS-CoV-2 seems to have circulated in bats and pangolins before crossing over to humans. We also know that the virus spread back into animals, presumably through humans: dogs, cats, a zoo lion, and a large population of deer appear to have been infected by humans.

Ominously, the infection trend may now be going the other way. A recent Canadian study raises the possibility that deer — one of the most ubiquitous large mammals in North America — may have infected humans with COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. That would imply the virus circulated for a while in deer, reproducing and occasionally mutating on its way, before jumping back into people.

RELATED: From deer and dogs to rats and mink, COVID-19 has spread to the animal world

The new study provides evidence that deer may have infected humans, although it is not definitively proven. Conducted by more than two dozen scientists across Ontario and posted on the database bioRxiv (it has not yet been peer reviewed), the study included 300 samples from white-tailed deer in Canada during the final months of 2021. Seventeen of those deer tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, all of them from southwestern Ontario. The scientists discovered that this same strain of SARS-CoV-2, which is highly divergent from other known strains, was also highly similar to a SARS-CoV-2 virus that had infected a human. (It was also closely related to a strain found among humans in Michigan in late 2020.) While the scientists cannot confirm that the virus had been transmitted to the human by a deer, they know that the human lived in the same geographic area as deer and had been in close contact with deer during the same time when the infected samples were collected.

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That said, the sample size is very small and no one has definitively proved that the deer gave the virus to the human. There is also no evidence that the person with the mutant SARS-CoV-2 virus passed it on to anyone else, and initial experiments suggests the new virus would not be able to evade antibodies. In other words, if it did spread among people, individuals who are vaccinated would likely be safe.

Finally, because the deer-based SARS-CoV-2 virus is such an unknown, there is no reason to believe yet that it presents any kind of increased risk to humans. The bigger concern is that, because viruses can evolve in animals, there is the possibility that it could turn into something more dangerous.

“The virus is evolving in deer and diverging in deer away from what we are clearly seeing evolving in humans,” Samira Mubareka, a virologist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto and an author of the new paper, told The New York Times. After fully sequencing the genomes from five of the infected deer, the scientists discovered many mutations that had not been previously documented. They also found 76 mutations that set the new version of SARS-CoV-2 from the original version of the virus. Some of those mutations had been previously discovered in other infected animals like mink.

Shortly before this study was published, a separate group of scientists announced that Pennsylvania deer may have continued to be infected with the Alpha variant even after it disappeared in humans — and that it evolved within them as they continued to spread it. This further reinforces the concern about deer incubating SARS-CoV-2 viruses.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is believed to have originated in in a horseshoe bat. At some point, the virus is thought to have been transmitted to another animal through one or many “spillover events,” and then eventually found its way to a human host. Bats are notorious for serving as hosts to dangerous coronaviruses because their immune systems are unusually aggressive. This means that viruses which live in bats need to evolve and replicate more quickly in order to survive.

“The bottom line is that bats are potentially special when it comes to hosting viruses,” Mike Boots, a disease ecologist and UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology, told Science Daily in 2020. “It is not random that a lot of these viruses are coming from bats. Bats are not even that closely related to us, so we would not expect them to host many human viruses. But this work demonstrates how bat immune systems could drive the virulence that overcomes this.”

For more on animals and COVID-19, please read:

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Health

British COVID trial deliberately infecting young adults found to be safe

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  • 36 young people infected with COVID in trial
  • Study aimed at advancing research into virus
  • Another trial by Oxford University looking at immunity

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The world’s first “human challenge” trial in which volunteers were deliberately exposed to COVID-19 to advance research into the disease was found to be safe in healthy young adults, leaders of the study said on Wednesday.

The data supports the safety of this model and lays the groundwork for future studies to test new vaccines and medicines against COVID-19 using this kind of trial by the end of this year, the team added.

Open Orphan (ORPH.L) is running the project, launched last February, with Imperial College London, Britain’s vaccines task force and Orphan’s clinical company  hVIVO. read more

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Scientists have used human challenge trials for decades to learn more about diseases such as malaria, flu, typhoid and cholera, and to develop treatments and vaccines against them.

The Imperial trial exposed 36 healthy male and female volunteers aged 18-29 years to the original SARS-CoV-2 strain of the virus and monitored them in a quarantined setting. They will be followed up for 12 months after discharge.

No serious adverse events occurred, and the human challenge study model was shown to be safe and well tolerated in healthy young adults, the company said.

“People in this age group are believed to be major drivers of the pandemic and these studies, which are representative of mild infection, allow detailed investigation of the factors responsible for infection and pandemic spread,” said Chris Chiu, chief investigator on the trial and professor of infectious diseases at Imperial.

The Imperial researchers said they now planned to start a similar study using the Delta variant, and will share their framework around the globe to allow similar research.

That could provide a crucial route to testing new vaccines, antivirals and diagnostics against COVID-19 more quickly, particularly if transmission rates fall in the real world.

Imperial said it could start tests like this using human challenge trials by the end of 2022.

In April, Oxford University launched another human challenge trial which sought to reinfect people to deepen understanding about immunity. read more

CLINICAL INSIGHTS

The results of the Imperial study, published on a pre-print server and yet to be peer reviewed, also provide some clinical insights that could inform public health policies.

Researchers found that symptoms start to develop on average about two days after contact with the virus, Imperial said, which is earlier than the widely held view that the virus has an incubation period of around five days.

The infection first appears in the throat; infectious virus peaks about five days into infection, which is also when the most significant symptoms are usually noticed, the researchers said. At that stage, the virus is significantly more abundant in the nose than the throat.

They also found that rapid lateral flow tests were a reliable indicator of whether infectious virus was present and therefore the person was likely to be able to transmit the virus. Most people had live virus in their nose for an average of 6.5 days, they said.

Eighteen volunteers became infected, 16 of whom went on to develop mild-to-moderate cold-like symptoms, including a stuffy or runny nose, sneezing, and a sore throat, Imperial said.

Some experienced headaches, muscle/joint aches, tiredness and fever. None developed serious symptoms.

Thirteen infected volunteers temporarily lost their sense of smell, but this returned within 90 days in all but three participants – the remainder continue to show improvement after three months.

There were no changes seen in their lungs, or any serious adverse events. Only one person had any lingering symptoms by six months – a slightly reduced sense of smell which was improving.

The trial used the lowest dose necessary to infect people, although the team said it was comparable to real-world infections.

The scientists will now study other elements from the trial, including investigating why the 16 of the 34 participants in the final analysis did not get infected despite exposure. Some had detectable virus in their nose but did not go on to test positive twice on PCR tests, the threshold the team used for confirmed infection.

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Reporting by Josephine Mason and Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alison Williams

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Health

The delta variant is infecting placentas, likely causing stillbirths

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While the world is now suffering a surge in cases of COVID-19’s omicron variant, the delta variant, previously the dominant strain, is still very much alive. Indeed, because more time has passed since delta first appeared in India in December 2020, more research is beginning to surface around how it differs from previous variants of SARS-CoV-2 — especially in pregnant people.

In a new study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital report that they detected the delta variant in the blood and placentas of women who had stillbirths and serious pregnancy complications.

Previous studies have suggested that COVID-19 poses a threat to pregnant women and fetuses. But the new research adds to a suspicion that the delta variant in particular could be especially dangerous to those that are pregnant.

RELATED: Is COVID a disease of the blood vessels?

Andrea Edlow, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Edlow’s colleagues analyzed the nasal swabs, umbilical cord blood, and placentas of three women who had COVID-19 late in their pregnancies. Two of the women had stillbirths, and the third woman’s fetus experienced distress and was delivered by an emergency cesarean birth. None of these women had been vaccinated against the COVID-19.

The researchers found in the blood samples that all the women had detectable levels of delta in their nasal swabs, and in their placentas. Viral sequencing confirmed that each woman was infected with the delta variant.

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“All the moms had detectable virus in the bloodstream. All had high levels of detectable virus in their nasal swabs. All had infected placentas,” Edlow said. “This was definitely different from what we saw with the ancestral strain of SARS-CoV-2 during the first part of the pandemic.”

The suspicion first surfaced that delta could pose a greater threat to unvaccinated pregnant women in late November, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that pregnant women with COVID-19 were four times more likely to miscarry than uninfected pregnant women during the stretch of time when delta was surging in the United States.

“It seemed like we were seeing even more sick moms and a disproportionate number of stillbirths,” Edlow said about the 2021 delta surge.

As Salon previously reported, doctors were taken aback by how many pregnant women they were seeing in the ICU.

“We are seeing more pregnant individuals coming in with severe COVID-19 disease that is severe enough to require intensive care unit, admission and intubation,” Dr. Melissa Simon, an obstetrician gynecologist and professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, told Salon in August 2021. Simon said it was “concerning, because we’re talking about not just the health of the pregnant person themselves but also the fetus.” “This is really serious,” Simon continued. “The numbers are increasing, and we could prevent that — the vaccinations could prevent that.”

Jonathan Li, is an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) said while COVID-19 is largely thought of as a disease that affects the lungs, it can travel throughout a person’s bloodstream and cause severe complications, like organ failure. (Some previous studies have characterized SARS-CoV-2 as a virus that infects the cardiovascular system in general.) It’s possible, the researchers note, that the delta variant entering the bloodstream caused inflammation in the placenta, which could have caused complications.

“Our testing showed that the virus was widely disseminated in these three patients,” Li said. “This represents another example of the systemic manifestations of COVID-19.”

What makes the delta variant more dangerous than previous strains remains unknown — as does the risk omicron poses to pregnant people. The researchers emphasized that vaccination is still the best strategy for pregnant people to protect themselves.

“Yet stillbirth, preterm birth, and poor neonatal outcomes are all associated with getting COVID-19,” Edlow said. “If you want to do the best thing for your baby, get vaccinated.”

More on pregnancy & Covid:

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Science

One antibody stops all strains of COVID-19 from infecting cells

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A newly discovered antibody was able to neutralize not only all strains of COVID-19, but other coronaviruses known to cause respiratory infections in humans — a potential silver bullet for a whole class of deadly, flu-like viruses.

Mutant viruses: As viruses spread, they undergo tiny genetic mutations, and when we find a unique version of the virus, we call it a new strain. 

Occasionally, new strains appear that can spread more easily, evade the immune system, or cause more severe disease.

Several worrisome strains of COVID-19 have already appeared during the pandemic — including the Delta variant and, more recently, C.1.2 — and we’re sure to encounter more before it’s over.

Antibody drugs: Mutations in the coronavirus’s “spike protein” are particularly troubling. This protein is found on the outside of the virus, and it attaches to “receptor” spots on our cells to break in and destroy them.

Antibodies can bind to the spike to prevent them from attaching to cells, and researchers can turn particularly effective antibodies (discovered in COVID-19 survivors) into drugs, called monoclonal antibodies, to treat people battling infections.

“[The antibody] appears to neutralize all … coronaviruses that cause respiratory infections in mammals.”

Jay Nix

The FDA has already authorized three such antibody drugs, but because the spike protein is mutating, the drugs that neutralize today’s strains of COVID-19 might not work on tomorrow’s.

The government has already pulled approval for one such drug, which no longer works against new variants when used by itself.

Targeting all strains of COVID-19: Now, an international research team has discovered a COVID-19 antibody with unprecedented neutralizing power.

“This antibody, which binds to a previously unknown site on the coronavirus spike protein, appears to neutralize all known sarbecoviruses — the genus of coronaviruses that cause respiratory infections in mammals,” researcher Jay Nix of UC Berkeley said in a press release.

“And, due to the unique binding site on [a] mutation-resistant part of the virus, it may well be more difficult for a new strain to escape,” he added.

Tests in hamsters suggest it might be able to prevent COVID-19 infections, too.

Looking ahead: So far, the ability of this antibody, dubbed S2H97, to neutralize all strains of COVID-19 has only been tested in the lab — more research is needed to find out how effective it might be at treating people.

Tests in hamsters suggest it might be able to prevent COVID-19 infections, but again, that still needs to be proved in humans.

If the antibody is able to live up to the hype, though, it could be a powerful weapon against all strains of COVID-19 — as well as other deadly coronaviruses like SARS and any future coronavirus pandemics.

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