Medically Speaking Team

Vaccinations that are widely accessible may not be adequate to stop the spread of COVID virus and future versions. According to study, utilising nasal spray as a booster may help keep the majority of the population safe from serious disease-related sickness.

The study, which was just published in the journal Science Immunology, comprehensively describes for the first time the poor immune response in the airways of persons who had COVID-19 vaccines vs those who had spontaneous infection.

“Our data suggest that an intranasal vaccine-boosting strategy will be critical to protect people against emerging variants of concern,” said Jie Sun, Professor, Medicine, University of Virginia.

Bloodstreams get strongly ramped up by the mRNA vaccine, while the mucosal linings experience moderate or little neutralising antibody response, the study found.

“The Omicron variant almost completely escaped neutralisation by mucosal antibodies in individuals who received mRNA vaccines and in previously infected individuals,” said Sun.

“Our data showed that mRNA vaccination also did not induce sufficient tissue-residing cellular immunity in the airways, another arm of our immune system to prevent the entry of the virus into our bodies.”

Only the bodies of unvaccinated patients who were seriously ill put up a vigorous fight against the virus in both their airways and their bloodstreams, the researchers found — a less-than-ideal way of achieving a united front.

On the contrary, mice that were administered a nasally delivered vaccine originating from adenovirus — a relative in the family of cold viruses that expresses the spike protein found in COVID — demonstrated “robust neutralising antibody responses” in combination with mRNA vaccine shots.

“The nasal vaccine provides a mucosal antigen boost to the pre-existing memory of T and B cells that direct immune response, resulting in higher cellular and humoral immunity,” Sun explained.

The uptick was found not only in the bronchi of the lungs, but also as an improvement over the bloodstream’s normal vaccinated response.

And the response was “effective against the ancestral virus as well as the Omicron variant,” he said.

The research further validates scientists’ suspicion that greater immunity to the coronavirus can be developed starting where the virus first takes root, the mucus membranes of the nose — perhaps stopping it cold.

In humans, Sun said, “We think the robust antibody responses in the respiratory tract would neutralise the virus immediately upon viral entry when the individual contracts the virus, preventing the establishment of viral infection and subsequent passing of the infection to others.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed Gavi, the Vaccination Alliance’s, release of over USD 160 million in international contributions for the next three years to promote enhanced vaccine availability to children at high risk of disease and death from malaria.

Malaria continues to be the leading cause of juvenile sickness and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa.

WHO claimed in a statement after the announcement in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, that almost half a million African children will die from malaria in 2020, or one kid every minute.

Since the introduction of the world’s first malaria vaccine in 2019, it has been widely accepted in African communities in a surprisingly short amount of time, even amid the Covid-19 epidemic.

Throughout the epidemic, when normal health services were hampered by a variety of issues, parents and caregivers brought their children to clinics and health posts to receive the malaria vaccination. They are fully aware that malaria claims lives on a daily basis and are keen to safeguard their children from this fatal disease, according to Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

According to WHO, vaccination performance for the first dose ranges from 73% to more than 90%, depending on the country, with no notable interruptions throughout the epidemic.

To date, around 1.3 million children have benefited from the vaccination in the three African trial nations, according to the report.

Gavi’s new financing opportunity gets us one step closer to providing millions more African children with the lifesaving RTS,S malaria vaccine, according to Moeti.

Following the World Health Organization’s recommendation in October 2021 for widespread use of the RTS,S malaria vaccine among children in areas with moderate to high Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission, a number of malaria-endemic countries have expressed interest in adopting the vaccine and are expected to apply for Gavi support to do so.

The RTS,S vaccine is designed to protect against Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal malaria parasite and the most common on the African continent.

Where the vaccine has been introduced, there has been a substantial drop in children being hospitalised with severe malaria and a drop in child deaths in the age group that is eligible for the vaccine.

“Malaria has devastated communities for far too long in Africa. We know that initially, supply, will not meet demand, nevertheless, we look forward to working with countries and our partners to introduce and scale this new tool in our fight against malaria, which could save the lives of thousands of children across the continent, said Thabani Maphosa, Managing Director of Country Programmes at Gavi.

The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a scientific, child health, and malaria control breakthrough. According to Professor Rose Leke, a malaria disease expert from the University of Yaounde in Cameroon and co-chair of the expert group that advised WHO on a framework for allocating the currently limited malaria vaccine supply, using this vaccine on a large scale could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.

As India cements Hyderabad’s status as the “Vaccine Capital of the World,” Biological E has revealed vaccine production expansion plans worth more than Rs 1,800 crore.

More than 2,500 individuals in Genome Valley will gain employment as a result of this. The expansion is largely intended to increase vaccine manufacturing, as well as generic injectables and R&D.

Industries and IT Minister KT Rama Rao made the announcement during a meeting with Biological E Managing Director Mahima Datla.

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary for Industries, and Shakthi M Nagappan, Director of Telangana Lifesciences, were also present.

Rao said that “I am delighted to announce the expansion plans of Biological E in Genome Valley. Hyderabad is already known as the ‘Vaccine Capital of the World’ and this expansion further accelerates our strength to serve the world with life-saving vaccines.”

Managing Director, Biological E, Datla also added, “I am thankful to the government of Telangana, the vision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and Rama Rao for spearheading and continuing to facilitate in a way that enables us to take quick decisions to expand even during the pandemic times.”

With a capacity of around 9 billion doses per year, Hyderabad city accounts for one-third of worldwide vaccine manufacturing. Biological E’s investment will increase capacity by 5 billion doses per year, bringing the total capacity to around 14 billion doses per year.

The investment will be focused on the manufacturing of Janssen Covid vaccine, MR Vaccine, PCV Vaccine, Typhoid Vaccine, Covid Vaccine, Tetanus Toxide Ampoules, IPV Vaccine, and Pertussis Vaccine, biological APIs and formulations, specialty Generic Injectables, and R&D, with a total investment of Rs 1,801 crore and the potential employment of 2,518 people.

All of these activities will take place in Genome Valley, India’s first organised cluster for Life Sciences R&D and Clean Manufacturing activities, which will be equipped with world-class infrastructure in the form of industrial/knowledge parks, special economic zones (SEZs), multi-tenanted dry and wet laboratories, and incubation facilities.

It is home to over 200 enterprises with a scientific workforce of around 15,000 employees, including prominent worldwide brands like as Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Ferring Pharma, Chemo, DuPont, Ashland, United States Pharmacopeia, and Lonza, among many more.

Biological E. Limited (BE) was founded in 1953 as a biological products firm producing liver extracts and anticoagulants.

It is India’s first private sector biological products firm and the region’s first pharmaceutical enterprise.

BE now has four strategic business areas in Telangana: Branded Formulations, Speciality Generic Injectables, Synthetic Biology and Vaccines and Biologics, with six production sites and around 5,000 direct jobs.

BE has received USD 50 million in financing from the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to enhance its capacity to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines.

Furthermore, it has created “Corbevax,” one of the country’s indigenous vaccinations for Covid-19.

The vaccine has also been approved for emergency use by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for children aged 5 to 12.

India recorded 21,880 new Covid-19 cases, nearly as many as the day before (21,566), bringing the national caseload to 43,847,065, according to the Union Health Ministry’s dashboard. The number of daily fatalities attributable to the viral illness was 60, 15 higher than on Thursday, bringing the total number of Covid-19-related deaths to 525,930, or 1.20 percent of the entire caseload.

The statistics also revealed that up to 21,219 additional persons recovered from the infection, bringing the total number of recoveries to 43,171,653. Meanwhile, the total number of active patients increased to 149,482, an increase of 601 cases.

Recoveries and active patients make up 98.46 percent and 0.34 percent of the total caseload, respectively.

On the vaccination front, more than 3.7 million doses were administered in the last 24 hours, which took the national vaccination coverage to more than 2.01 billion. The nationwide inoculation drive, which began on January 16 last year, crossed the historic 2 billion mark on July 17; the country took just 18 months to achieve the milestone.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reconvened the Monkeypox Emergency Committee to investigate the public health consequences of the multi-country outbreak’s shifting dynamics.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reconvened the Monkeypox Emergency Committee to investigate the public health consequences of the multi-country outbreak’s shifting dynamics.

This comes as the global number of infections has surpassed 14,000, with six nations reporting their first cases just last week. The committee met for the first time last month and opted not to declare it a public health emergency of worldwide importance. On Thursday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged his “acute” awareness that any decision regarding the possible determination involves “the consideration of many factors, with the ultimate goal of protecting public health”.

In his introductory remarks to committee members and advisors, he stated that the group had already helped “delineate the dynamics of this outbreak.”

“As the outbreak develops, it’s important to assess the effectiveness of public health interventions in different settings, to better understand what works, and what doesn’t”.

Monkeypox, a rare viral disease, occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa, though it has been exported to other regions. This year, more than 14,000 cases have been reported across 71 Member States, from all six WHO regions.

Tedros revealed that six countries reported their first cases last week and that the vast majority continue to be among men who have sex with men. “This transmission pattern represents both an opportunity to implement targeted public health interventions, and a challenge because in some countries, the communities affected face life-threatening discrimination,” he said.

He warned of “a very real concern” that men who have sex with men could be “stigmatized or blamed…making the outbreak much harder to track, and to stop”.

“As many of you know from your deep engagement with these communities, there is a very real concern that men who have sex with men could be stigmatised or blamed for the outbreak, making the outbreak much harder to track, and to stop,” the WHO chief said.

He further affirmed that one of the most powerful tools against monkeypox is information,
“The more information people at risk of Monkeypox have, the more they are able to protect themselves,” Tedros said.

“Unfortunately, the information shared with WHO by countries in West and Central Africa is still very scant”.

The failure to identify the epidemiological status in such locations represents a “substantial challenge” in creating strategies to manage the hitherto ignored illness.

The UN health agency is collaborating closely with impacted communities across all of its zones, and as the outbreak progresses, it has urged for expanded, “targeted and focused” access to all countermeasures for the most vulnerable groups.

Researchers discovered that antibiotics had sex-specific impacts on the gut microbiota composition of male and female laboratory rats in a recent study. The findings may have ramifications for employing the medications to treat or prevent bacterial illness in people.

“We found that giving the rats a multidrug antibiotic cocktail resulted in significant and sex-specific changes in both the stool, or large intestine, and the small bowel. For example, greater loss of the diversity of the microbes in both stool and small bowel was observed in the male rodents than in the females,” said Ruchi Mathur, MD, the study’s principal investigator. “Changes in the diversity of the gut microbiome could have a negative impact. Previous studies of intestinal health have demonstrated that overall microbial diversity promotes vitality and resilience, often making for a healthier gut,” said Mathur, an endocrinologist.

In the controlled study, investigators from the Cedars-Sinai Medically Associated Science and Technology (MAST) Program compared the composition of the gut microbes of the male and female rats before, during and after treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics, including vancomycin, ampicillin, metronidazole, and neomycin.

“We followed the rats for a period after the antibiotics were stopped and found that many of the sex-specific changes we observed during treatment remained. The constellation of microbes in the gut did not return to their original, pre-antibiotic compositions in either sex during the duration of the study,” said research associate Gonzalo Parodi, first author of the paper.

Some studies have identified sex-specific effects of antibiotics on the large bowel (stool) microbiome in mice. But Cedars-Sinai investigators emphasize that this is the first study to also examine changes in the small bowel microbiome induced by antibiotics and to also use male and female rats that had no significant differences in microbiome composition prior to treatment.

“It is difficult to tease out the impact of the drugs if the lab animals’ gut microbiomes are different to begin with. We used rats with similar gut profiles right out of the gate. This allowed us to pinpoint changes in the microbiomes of the male and female rats that could be attributed specifically to the impact of the antibiotics during and after exposure to the medicines,” said Mark Pimentel, MD, director of the MAST program and a co-author of the study.

More studies are needed using different combinations of antibiotics and exposure times. Investigators say if these findings hold true for humans, the research could have implications for the way antibiotics are prescribed.

“Sex is a biological variable, and like any variable, it needs to be taken into consideration in basic and medical research. Currently, we consider factors such as kidney function and weight when dosing medications for patients. Depending on the results of further research, specifically in humans, the sex of patients may one day be an important consideration when prescribing antibiotics,” said Mathur.

Kindergarten is an important milestone for children and their families, who often prepare by acquiring school supplies and meeting the instructor. According to recent study, establishing a nighttime pattern in which children regularly obtain at least 10 hours of sleep at night is a vital method to prepare for the transfer to first-time schools, which will aid in their adjustment.

In a new study published in the journal Pediatrics, a team of researchers led by Doug Teti, distinguished professor of human development and family studies, professor of psychology and paediatrics, and head of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, discovered that, in addition to an easier adjustment to kindergarten, children who sleep at least 10 hours per night on a regular basis demonstrated more success in emotional development, learning engagement, and academic achievement. After statistically adjusting for family income-to-needs ratios, child health condition, and a number of school missed days, this was observed. The researchers utilised a movement-tracking watch to study the sleep habits of 220 kindergarten students for four weeks of the school year, commencing in July-August before the academic year began. They then measured the children’s sleep habits again in September, November, and April. Along with these tracking periods, teachers and staff assessed students’ transitions to kindergarten.

“We found that children who had 10 or more hours of sleep per night on a regular basis, particularly before the kindergarten year began, tended to maintain that more optimal sleep pattern across their full kindergarten year,” said Teti. “This has significant implications for anyone interested in promoting healthier sleep patterns in children making the transition to first-time schooling; parents should do what they can to help their children regularly get most–if not all–of their sleep during night hours before the school year even begins.”

Researchers used these data to examine the frequency with which the children got at least 10 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period, rather than sleeping only at night. Getting 10 or more hours of sleep in a 24-hour period had no effect on the child’s transition to kindergarten. The findings suggest that “making up” for a lack of sleep at night by taking naps during the day does not help children adjust to school.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends that kindergarten-aged children get 10-13 hours of sleep per day. However, the findings of this study suggest that for children about to begin formal schooling, those hours should be concentrated at night in order to have the greatest impact on a child’s transition to and success in kindergarten.

Teti advises families who anticipate their child starting kindergarten to establish routines and expectations for healthy sleep hygiene even before school begins.

“Sleep hygiene is the habits we develop that influence how we sleep,” Teti explained. “Organized and consistent bedtime routines, limited screen access, and a bedtime at or before 9 p.m.”

Teti advises avoiding screen time, such as television, video games, and tablets, at least 30 minutes before bedtime. He also suggests being involved and present during children’s bedtimes, as well as implementing a consistent calming bedtime routine to help children prepare for sleep. This routine could include taking a bath, reading a book, and talking in a quiet place.

“It appears that good sleep hygiene is just as beneficial for young children as it is for adults.” Establishing sleep habits before the start of the kindergarten year appears to give children an advantage when making the transition to formal schooling. These are encouraging findings, which we hope to put to the test in a future family intervention study.”

A group of Australian scientists has created a sprayable covering that can block the surface spread of infection from bacteria and viruses, including COVID-19, for a prolonged length of time.

The spray works in two ways: it repels viruses and bacteria through an air-filled barrier, and it kills pathogens through tiny components if the layer is destroyed or immersed for an extended length of time. The spray is constructed of a mix of polymers that are tough enough to replace bullet-proof glass. The coating is the only permanent surface layer shown to protect surfaces against viral infection, making it a dependable alternative to traditional disinfectants, which are becoming less effective and require reapplication on a regular basis.

According to the scientists, the coating might be used to limit the transmission of common viruses and germs on public surfaces such as lift buttons, stair rails, and surfaces in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and restaurants.

The transmission of viral and bacterial diseases through contact with surfaces, according to Professor Antonio Tricoli of the University of Sydney’s School of Biomedical Engineering, is a primary source of infection globally. Surface pollution also plays an important role in the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial species.

“Without a barrier, viruses such as coronaviruses can remain infectious on surfaces for up to a week.” Other viruses, such as reoviruses, which can cause colds or diarrhoea, can remain on surfaces for several weeks, causing large outbreaks in hospitals and nursing homes,” Professor Tricoli explained.

“The surface spray, like a lotus leaf, creates a water-repellent coating.” Because pathogens prefer to be in the water, they remain trapped in the droplets, protecting the surface from contamination. If this mechanism fails, carefully designed nanomaterials dispersed in the coating trigger a secondary burst of ions,” Professor Tricoli explained.

The spray was developed over a five-year collaboration by a multi-university research team, with funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council.

The team evaluated the coating’s mechanical stability and surface energy. They also tested its resistance to bacteria and viruses by exposing it to high concentrations of both. To test the spray’s resistance to contamination, the samples were submerged for extended periods of time and then sprayed surfaces were deliberately damaged.

“We’ve identified the mechanical processes that underpin how the spray works and quantified its effectiveness in various environments,” Professor Nisbet said.

“We tested metal surfaces for this study.” However, we have previously demonstrated that the spray can be applied to any surface, including blotting paper, plastic, bricks, tiles, glass, and metal. Our coating successfully prevented up to 99.85% and 99.94% of bacteria strain growth. We also noticed an 11-fold decrease in virus contamination.”

The spray is applied in the same way that sprays paint is, but in much smaller quantities.

“To provide ultra-durability, the coating was engineered using a simple and scalable technique and a careful selection of materials.” “We also believe that our explanation of the mechanism underlying the antimicrobial and antiviral effects could significantly advance research in antipathogen technologies, allowing for the low-cost production of an effective surface spray to protect people from viruses and bacteria,” Professor Nisbet said.

The researchers have launched a start-up firm to enhance the technique and commercialise the spray within three years.

Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 develop protective immune responses mediated by virus-specific T cells and antibodies shortly after infection. However, there is concern that immunity will wane, resulting in severe COVID-19 infection upon re-infection.

Anna Martner and colleagues from the University of Gothenburg publish two key results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on July 12. (PNAS). Initially, numerous virus-specific T cell variations were discovered in blood soon after COVID-19 but subsequently disappeared within 10-12 weeks. However, in the blood of all previously SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals, a fraction of highly specialised T cells, which are meant to assist destroy infected cells, remained active. These T cells did not vanish or diminish even after an extended period of monitoring.

Also Read: Use of anti-inflammatory drug in treating patients with severe COVID-19 may lower risk of death

The findings might explain why people infected with SARS-CoV-2 again have a decreased risk of severe illness and death.
Researchers from the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital gathered 81 blood samples from hospital staff members who had moderate COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic, as well as uninfected controls, during the first year of the epidemic. T cell reactivity to an inner component of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus nucleocapsid) was investigated, capturing T cell responses that occur only after a natural infection.

Specialized T cells

Blood samples were given over 100 peptides from the nucleocapsid component of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The researchers next examined which T cell mediators (cytokines) were created by blood cells to determine the duration of T cell responsiveness following infection.

It was observed that a subgroup of specialized T cells (Th1 cells) that promote the destruction of virus-infected cells were active for at least 20 months after natural COVID-19. The infected patients also harboured several other types of T cells that reacted with SARS-CoV-2. These latter T cells disappeared from blood approximately 2 months after recovery from infection.

“While certain subsets of T cells disappear shortly after an infection, highly specialized T cells (T helper 1 cells) remain stably present in the blood to suggest that a vital aspect of protective immunity is functional years after COVID-19,” says Anna Martner, Associate Professor of Immunology at the Sahlgrenska Academy. These results may explain why re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 only rarely translates into severe COVID-19.

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A recent research from UTHealth Houston and other institutions suggests that an anti-inflammatory drugs may be able to alleviate systemic inflammation and brain damage in patients with severe COVID-19 and significantly reduce their chance of death.

The trial comprised 24 people with severe COVID-19 who were randomly randomised to receive either a single intravenous dose of placebo or OP-101 at 2, 4, or 8 mg/kg. All patients received the standard of care, which included corticosteroids.

According to Gusdon, the study’s first author, “OP-101 is a novel nanotherapeutic drug that selectively targets active macrophages and microglia, the key immune cells in the brain. We were thrilled to provide this medication to these critically ill patients at Memorial Hermann Hospital because of its exceptional safety profile.

The SARS-CoV-2-induced hyper inflammation is a primary contributor to COVID-19 disease severity. Neurofilament light chain and glial fibrillary acidic protein, which are indicators of neurological injury, were found to be reduced by OP-101 more effectively than by a placebo.

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Furthermore, the risk for the composite endpoint of death or mechanical breathing at 30 or 60 days after treatment was 18% for patients in the combined OP-101 treatment arms compared to 71 % for individuals receiving the placebo. 3 of the 7 patients who received a placebo and 14 of the 17 patients who received OP-101 survived 60 days after treatment.

According to the data, OP-101 was well tolerated in the critically sick patient population and may be a successful therapy option for COVID-19 patients who are hospitalised.

Despite the fact that this was a small-dose escalation experiment, Gusdon noted that there was obviously a significant signal in favour of benefit at both the acute and chronic time points.

“It is incredibly intriguing to consider the idea that this therapy may also help patients with other conditions that trigger systemic inflammatory responses, including different types of brain injury.”

OP-101, a nanotherapeutic material, has been evaluated in a variety of animal models of inflammatory illness and has shown superior anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant benefits.

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected over 300 million people, and over 5 million have died as a result.

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