By Nancy Lapid
July 20 (Reuters) - The following is a brief 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.
Early tests of COVID-19 vaccines yield promising results
Results from trials of two potential COVID-19 vaccines
yielded initial signs of efficacy with no serious adverse side
effects, according to early data released on Monday. One was a
UK study of the candidate being developed by Oxford University
and British drugmaker AstraZeneca. The other was a
Chinese study of a vaccine from CanSino Biologics.
Both vaccines use a modified, harmless common cold virus known
as an adenovirus to deliver genetic instructions to cells for
inducing an immune response against the novel coronavirus. The
genetic components include a copy of a "spike" protein found on
the surface of the novel coronavirus so that the immune system
will recognize and attack the actual virus. In both trials,
according to reports in The Lancet, "showing" just the
coronavirus spike protein to the body was enough to trigger the
immune system to produce antibodies and germ-fighting T cells to
battle the coronavirus. The trials used healthy volunteers who
were not directly exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19. The
studies just assessed immune responses to the vaccines, along
with safety. Much larger trials will be needed to prove these
vaccines to be safe and effective in preventing infection by the
virus. (https://reut.rs/2CPhjRu; https://reut.rs/39cA8dm;
https://bit.ly/30y4nrz; https://bit.ly/3fMY5KK;
https://bit.ly/2Cy7JCP)
Inhaled interferon may help hospitalized COVID-19 patients
Treatment with an inhaled form of interferon significantly
reduced the risk of worsening illness in hospitalized COVID-19
patients and improved their odds of recovery, according to
preliminary data from a mid-stage trial released by Synairgen
Plc on Monday. In the trial not yet available for peer
review, 101 patients received the experimental treatment, called
SG001, or a placebo. Patients who got SNG001 had a 79% lower
risk of developing severe disease requiring ventilation or
death. They were also more than twice as likely to have
recovered within 28 days of starting treatment. Breathing
difficulty was also markedly reduced in patients who received
SNG001, the company said. Interferon is a naturally occurring
protein that regulates the body's antiviral responses. "There
are reasons to believe it could well be an effective treatment,
but these results, while encouraging, should not be taken to
mean that the treatment is so dramatic that everyone should be
given it," said Stephen Evans, from the London School of Hygiene
& Tropical Medicine, who was not involved in the study. (https://reut.rs/2WHrjDA)
BioNTech, Pfizer vaccine shows promise in small trial
German biotech BioNTech and U.S. drugmaker Pfizer
Inc on Monday released data from an early-stage trial of
their experimental coronavirus vaccine that showed that it
prompted an immune response and was well-tolerated, similar to
results seen in prior early test. In the study conducted in
Germany on 60 healthy volunteers, the vaccine induced
virus-neutralizing antibodies in those given two doses, in-line
with previous results from an early-stage U.S. trial. The
vaccine also generated a high level of T cell responses against
the coronavirus. T cells are a key component of the immune
system's attack against foreign invaders, such as viruses,
believed to be important for mounting a longer term immune
response. The vaccine candidate uses messenger RNA to instruct
cells to build a protein that resembles the spike on the surface
of the coronavirus. Once the cells build the spike, the immune
system learns to recognize it and is prepared to attack the
virus. (https://reut.rs/32BZ64B; https://bit.ly/3jnLhgo)
Bystander CPR can be done safely during pandemic
Hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) carries a low
risk of transmitting the coronavirus and bystanders who witness
a cardiac arrest during the pandemic should not be afraid to
perform it, doctors say. People are wary about close contact
with others, so the pandemic is a real threat to bystander CPR,
Dr. Sarah Perman of the University of Colorado School of
Medicine in Aurora told Reuters. Writing in the journal
Circulation, she notes that the American Heart Association
recommends hands-only CPR and precautions such as covering faces
to reduce the spread of respiratory droplets that may carry the
coronavirus. Bystanders who live with the cardiac arrest victim
have likely already been exposed at home. "Many more lives would
be saved than harmed by continuing to perform bystander CPR,
especially if basic safety measures are taken," Dr. Torben
Becker, an emergency medicine doctor at the University of
Florida, told Reuters. Rescuers should wear a mask and cover the
victim's mouth and nose with a cloth such as a shirt, he added.
(https://bit.ly/39d21SI; https://bit.ly/30yJNXO)
Open https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/yxmvjqywprz/index.html
in an external browser for a Reuters graphic on vaccines and
treatments in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Carolyn Christ; Editing by Bill
Berkrot)