Childhood vaccine linked to COVID-19 less severe, cigarette smoking increases risk

(Reuters) – The following is a rundown of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Infant vaccine can help prevent severe COVID-19

People whose immune systems have responded strongly to a measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine may be less likely to become seriously ill if they are infected with the new coronavirus, new data suggest. The MMR II vaccine, manufactured by Merck and licensed in 1979, works by activating the immune system to produce antibodies. Researchers reported Friday in mBio that among 50 COVID-19 patients under the age of 42 who had received MMR II as children, the higher their titers – or levels – of so-called vaccine-produced IgG antibodies directed against the mumps virus in particular, the less severe their symptoms are. People with the highest titers of mumps antibodies had asymptomatic COVID-19. More research is needed to show that the vaccine prevents severe COVID-19. However, the new findings “may explain why children have a much lower COVID-19 case rate than adults, as well as a much lower mortality rate,” said co-author Jeffrey Gold, president of the company, in a statement. World Organization, in Watkinsville, Georgia. . “Most children receive their first MMR vaccination around 12-15 months of age and a second between 4 and 6 years old.” (bit.ly/3kPnW6P)

Cigarette smoking increases the vulnerability of cells to COVID-19

Exposure to cigarette smoke makes airway cells more vulnerable to infection with the novel coronavirus, UCLA researchers found. They obtained airway lining cells from five individuals without COVID-19 and exposed some cells to cigarette smoke in test tubes. Then they exposed all the cells to the coronavirus. Compared to cells not exposed to smoke, cells exposed to smoke were two or even three times more likely to be infected with the virus, researchers reported Tuesday on Cell Stem Cell. Analysis of individual airway cells showed that cigarette smoking reduced the immune response to the virus. “If you think of the airways as the high walls that protect a castle, smoking cigarettes is like boring holes in these walls,” co-author Brigitte Gomperts told Reuters. “Smoking reduces natural defenses and this allows the virus to enter and take control of the cells.” (bit.ly/3kPAYRx)

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine shows promise in the elderly

The experimental COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford produced strong immune responses in the elderly in a mid-phase study, the researchers reported Thursday in The Lancet. Studies are underway at an advanced stage to confirm whether the vaccine protects against COVID-19 in a wide range of people, including those with underlying health conditions. The current study involved 560 healthy volunteers, including 240 who were 70 years of age or older. The volunteers were given one or two doses of the vaccine, made from a weakened version of a common cold virus found in chimpanzees, or a placebo. No serious side effects have been reported. Participants over the age of 80, frail patients, and those with severe chronic illness were excluded, according to an editorial published with the study. “Frailty is increasingly understood to influence older people’s responses to vaccines,” the editorialists write. “A plan on how to consider the frailty of COVID-19 vaccine development is important.” (bit.ly/35OVrlq; bit.ly/3kKXDhP; reut.rs/2IVeod0)

Researchers examine cells infected with the new coronavirus

Cells infected with the new coronavirus die within a day or two, and researchers have found a way to see what the virus is doing to them. By integrating multiple imaging techniques, they saw the virus create “virus copy factories” in cells that look like balloon clusters. The virus also destroys cellular systems responsible for secreting substances, researchers reported Tuesday at Cell Host & Microbe. It also rearranges the “cytoskeleton”, which gives the cells their shape and “acts as a rail system to allow the transport of various loads within the cell,” co-author Dr. Ralf Bartenschlager of the University of Heidelberg told Reuters. , in Germany. When his team added drugs that affect the cytoskeleton, the virus had trouble making copies of itself, “which indicates that the virus needs to rearrange the cytoskeleton to replicate with high efficiency,” Bartenschlager said. “We now have a much better idea of ​​how SARS-CoV-2 changes the intracellular architecture of the infected cell and this will help us understand why the cells are dying so quickly.” The Zika virus causes similar cell changes, he said, so it may be possible to develop drugs for COVID-19 that work against other viruses as well. (bit.ly/2UI9BOT)

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