Possible therapeutic agents for COVID-19: a comprehensive review

Preclinical and Clinical Investigations of Potential Drugs and Vaccines for COVID-19 Therapy: A Comprehensive Review With Recent Update

The COVID-19 pandemic-led worldwide healthcare crisis necessitates prompt societal, ecological, and medical efforts to stop or reduce the rising number of fatalities. Numerous mRNA based vaccines and vaccines for viral vectors have been licensed for use in emergencies which showed 90% to 95% efficacy in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, safety issues, vaccine reluctance, and skepticism remain major concerns for making mass vaccination a successful approach to treat COVID-19. Hence, alternative therapeutics is needed for eradicating the global burden of COVID-19 from developed and low-resource countries. Repurposing current medications and drug candidates could be a more viable option for treating SARS-CoV-2 as these therapies have previously passed a number of significant checkpoints for drug development and patient care. Besides vaccines, this review focused on the potential usage of alternative therapeutic agents including antiviral, antiparasitic, and antibacterial drugs, protease inhibitors, neuraminidase inhibitors, and monoclonal antibodies that are currently undergoing preclinical and clinical investigations to assess their effectiveness and safety in the treatment of COVID-19. Among the repurposed drugs, remdesivir is considered as the most promising agent, while favipiravir, molnupiravir, paxlovid, and lopinavir/ritonavir exhibited improved therapeutic effects in terms of elimination of viruses. However, the outcomes of treatment with oseltamivir, umifenovir, disulfiram, teicoplanin, and ivermectin were not significant. It is noteworthy that combining multiple drugs as therapy showcases impressive effectiveness in managing individuals with COVID-19. Tocilizumab is presently employed for the treatment of patients who exhibit COVID-19-related pneumonia. Numerous antiviral drugs such as galidesivir, griffithsin, and thapsigargin are under clinical trials which could be promising for treating COVID-19 individuals with severe symptoms. Supportive treatment for patients of COVID-19 may involve the use of corticosteroids, convalescent plasma, stem cells, pooled antibodies, vitamins, and natural substances. This study provides an updated progress in SARS-CoV-2 medications and a crucial guide for inventing novel interventions against COVID-19.

Are Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) Antibodies Friends or Foes for Covid-19 Disease?

Many factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis and severity of COVID-19 pandemic. A wide variation in the susceptibility for SARS-CoV-2 infection among different population, gender and age has been observed. Multiple studies investigated the relationship between the antibody's titre of previously vaccinated individuals and the susceptibility of coronavirus infection, to find a rapid effective therapy for this pandemic. This study focused on the association between measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) antibodies titre and the severity of COVID-19 infection. We aimed to investigate the correlation between the antibody's titre of MMR and the SARS-CoV-2 infection susceptibility and disease severity, in a cohort of COVID-19 Egyptian patients, compared to a control group. MMR antibody titre was measured using enzyme Linked Immune Sorbent Assay; (ELISA) for 136 COVID-19 patients and 44 healthy individuals, as control group. There were high levels of measles and mumps antibodies titer in the deteriorating cases, which could not protect from SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the rubella antibodies might protect from SARS-CoV-2 infection, but once the infection occurs, it may aggravate the risk of case deterioration. MMR antibodies could be used as a guideline for COVID-19 symptom-severity and, in turn, may be considered as an economic prognostic marker used for early protection from multiple autoimmune organ failure.

Small-molecule metabolites in SARS-CoV-2 treatment: a comprehensive review

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has quickly spread all over the world. In this respect, traditional medicinal chemistry, repurposing, and computational approaches have been exploited to develop novel medicines for treating this condition. The effectiveness of chemicals and testing methods in the identification of new promising therapies, and the extent of preparedness for future pandemics, have been further highly advantaged by recent breakthroughs in introducing noble small compounds for clinical testing purposes. Currently, numerous studies are developing small-molecule (SM) therapeutic products for inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication, as well as managing the disease-related outcomes. Transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2)-inhibiting medicinal products can thus prevent the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 into the cells, and constrain its spreading along with the morbidity and mortality due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly when co-administered with inhibitors such as chloroquine (CQ) and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH). The present review demonstrates that the clinical-stage therapeutic agents, targeting additional viral proteins, might improve the effectiveness of COVID-19 treatment if applied as an adjuvant therapy side-by-side with RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) inhibitors.

Telemedicine Interventions as an Attempt to Improve the Mental Health of Populations during the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Narrative Review

Published reports indicate the need for psychological interventions and the integration of psychiatric care into crisis management plans in people with mental health issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It seems crucial to identify the root causes of the health-social-economic crisis and identify potential opportunities for widely implemented psychological assistance. This narrative literature review aims to identify the types of interventions deployed as telemedicine-based mental health support and their effectiveness. The PubMed and Web of Science electronic databases were searched. From a total of 48 articles, 46 were analysed after removing duplicates. From these, thirty-seven records were excluded according to the inclusion criteria and nine (eight RCT and one cross-over) were assessed as full texts. The included publications were randomised clinical trials or cross-over studies focused on remote mental support interventions. In all studies, participants represented both sexes and had an average age range of 6-64. Studies included participants from seven countries and the overall number of participants in the included studies was 687. The content of these intervention programmes includes both established psychotherapeutic programmes, as well as new interventions. Remote support was implemented through three approaches: phone/video calls, mobile applications, and internet-based programs. The results of the included studies indicate a higher or equal efficacy of telemedicine interventions compared to traditional forms. The review also revealed a relatively wide range of targeted research groups: from children with social anxiety through to their caregivers; adolescents with neurological disorders; and from college students to adults with psychiatric or orthopaedic disorders. Analysis of the included papers found that telemedicine interventions show promising results as an attempt to improve population mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beyond the vaccines: a glance at the small molecule and peptide-based anti-COVID19 arsenal

Unprecedented efforts of the researchers have been witnessed in the recent past towards the development of vaccine platforms for the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. Albeit, vaccination stands as a practical strategy to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, supplementing the anti-COVID19 arsenal with therapeutic options such as small molecules/peptides and antibodies is being conceived as a prudent strategy to tackle the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Noteworthy to mention that collective efforts from numerous teams have led to the generation of a voluminous library composed of chemically and mechanistically diverse small molecules as anti-COVID19 scaffolds. This review article presents an overview of medicinal chemistry campaigns and drug repurposing programs that culminated in the identification of a plethora of small molecule-based anti-COVID19 drugs mediating their antiviral effects through inhibition of proteases, S protein, RdRp, ACE2, TMPRSS2, cathepsin and other targets. In light of the evidence ascertaining the potential of small molecule drugs to approach conserved proteins required for the viral replication of all coronaviruses, accelerated FDA approvals are anticipated for small molecules for the treatment of COVID19 shortly. Though the recent attempts invested in this direction in pursuit of enrichment of the anti-COVID-19 armoury (chemical tools) are praiseworthy, some strategies need to be implemented to extract conclusive benefits of the recently reported small molecule viz. (i) detailed preclinical investigation of the generated anti-COVID19 scaffolds (ii) in-vitro profiling of the inhibitors against the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants (iii) development of assays enabling rapid screening of the libraries of anti-COVID19 scaffold (iv) leveraging the applications of machine learning based predictive models to expedite the anti-COVID19 drug discovery campaign (v) design of antibody-drug conjugates.

COVID-19 in pregnancy-what study designs can we use to assess the risk of congenital anomalies in relation to COVID-19 disease, treatment and vaccination?

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated pregnancy outcome research, but little attention has been given specifically to the risk of congenital anomalies (CA) and first trimester exposures.

OBJECTIVES

We reviewed the main data sources and study designs used internationally, particularly in Europe, for CA research, and their strengths and limitations for investigating COVID-19 disease, medications and vaccines.

POPULATION

We classify research designs based on four data sources: a) spontaneous adverse event reporting, where study subjects are positive for both exposure and outcome, b) pregnancy exposure registries, where study subjects are positive for exposure, c) congenital anomaly registries, where study subjects are positive for outcome and d) population healthcare data where the entire population of births is included, irrespective of exposure and outcome.

STUDY DESIGN

Each data source allows different study designs, including case series, exposed pregnancy cohorts (with external comparator), ecological studies, case-control studies and population cohort studies (with internal comparator).

METHODS

The quality of data sources for CA studies is reviewed in relation to criteria including diagnostic accuracy of CA data, size of study population, inclusion of terminations of pregnancy for foetal anomaly, inclusion of first trimester COVID-19-related exposures and use of an internal comparator group. Multinational collaboration models are reviewed.

RESULTS

Pregnancy exposure registries have been the main design for COVID-19 pregnancy studies, but lack detail regarding first trimester exposures relevant to CA, or a suitable comparator group. CA registries present opportunities for improving diagnostic accuracy in COVID-19 research, especially when linked to other data sources. Availability of inpatient hospital medication use in population healthcare data is limited. More use of ongoing mother-baby linkage systems would improve research efficiency. Multinational collaboration delivers statistical power.

CONCLUSIONS

Challenges and opportunities exist to improve research on CA in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics.

Does the rubella immunoglobulin G affect the severity of COVID- 19? : Rubella immunoglobulin G and COVID- 19

OBJECTIVE & AIM

The coronavirus disease, so far (COVID-19) has brought about millions of infections and fatalities throughout the world. Our aim was to determine the correlation between rubella IGG titers with the severity COVID-19.  MATERIALS & METHODS: This study was conducted among COVID-19 confirmed patients over 18 years of age. The disease severity levels were categorized by WHO interim guidance. The rubella-specific IgG antibody-titer spectrum was measured (within first 48 h of hospitalization) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULT

In a study of 46 inpatients with varying COVID-19 disease severity (mild, moderate, severe, and critical), we observed a negative correlation between rubella IgG antibody titers and COVID-19 severity (P-Value = 0.017), There was an interaction between COVID-19 vaccination history and rubella IGG on severity COVID-19 (P-Value = 0.0015). There was an interaction between age group under 44 years (including national measles- rubella (MR) vaccination in Iran) and rubella IGG titers on severity COVID-19 too (p-value = 0.014).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, MR vaccination seems to have a positive effect in reducing the severity of the disease, emphasizing that, the important and separate effect of the IGG rubella (due to natural or extrinsic immunity) titers is determining.

Prospective Medicinal Plants and Their Phytochemicals Shielding Autoimmune and Cancer Patients Against the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Special Focus on Matcha

Background

Being "positive" has been one of the most frustrating words anyone could hear since the end of 2019. This word had been overused globally due to the high infectious nature of SARS-CoV-2. All citizens are at risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2, but a red warning sign has been directed towards cancer and immune-compromised patients in particular. These groups of patients are not only more prone to catch the virus but also more predisposed to its deadly consequences, something that urged the research community to seek other effective and safe solutions that could be used as a protective measurement for cancer and autoimmune patients during the pandemic.

Aim

The authors aimed to turn the spotlight on specific herbal remedies that showed potential anticancer activity, immuno-modulatory roles, and promising anti-SARS-CoV-2 actions.

Methodology

To attain the purpose of the review, the research was conducted at the States National Library of Medicine (PubMed). To search databases, the descriptors used were as follows: "COVID-19"/"SARS-CoV-2", "Herbal Drugs", "Autoimmune diseases", "Rheumatoid Arthritis", "Asthma", "Multiple Sclerosis", "Systemic Lupus Erythematosus" "Nutraceuticals", "Matcha", "EGCG", "Quercetin", "Cancer", and key molecular pathways.

Results

This manuscript reviewed most of the herbal drugs that showed a triple action concerning anticancer, immunomodulation, and anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities. Special attention was directed towards "matcha" as a novel potential protective and therapeutic agent for cancer and immunocompromised patients during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Conclusion

This review sheds light on the pivotal role of "matcha" as a tri-acting herbal tea having a potent antitumorigenic effect, immunomodulatory role, and proven anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, thus providing a powerful shield for high-risk patients such as cancer and autoimmune patients during the pandemic.

COVID-19 susceptibility and vaccination coverage for measles, rubella and mumps in students and healthcare workers in Trieste hospitals (NE Italy)

BACKGROUND

Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines have been suggested as preventive measures to protect subjects from the worst sequelae of COVID-19 infection because neutralizing antibodies can cross-react with other viruses.

AIM

To verify COVID-19 infection in MMR vaccinated and non-vaccinated healthcare workers and medical students in Trieste Hospitals.

RESULTS

Nurse aids resulted in significantly more infections than structured physicians (OR 1.80; 95% CI 1.14-2.80) while students resulted in less infections (OR, 0.66; 95% CI 0.43-1.01). The presence of an MMR vaccination was inversely associated with COVID-19 (OR, 0.77; 95% CI 0.61-0.96) but only in univariate analysis. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, MMR vaccination lost statistical significance (OR, 0.86; 95%CI 0.62-1.20).On 13 HCWs hospitalized for COVID-19, 11 resulted not vaccinated for MMR.

DISCUSSION

Our study found a mild, non-significant reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infections in workers vaccinated with MMR.

Comparative effectiveness of pharmacological interventions on mortality and the average length of hospital stay of patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

INTRODUCTION

Up to now, numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have examined various drugs as possible treatments for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the results were diverse and occasionally even inconsistent with each other. To this point,we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the comparative effectiveness of pharmacological agents in published RCTs.

AREAS COVERED

A literature search was performed using PubMed, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases. RCTs evaluating mortality and the average length of hospital stay to standard of care (SOC)/placebo/control were included. RCTs mainly were classified into five categories of drugs, including anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antiparasitic, antibody and antibiotics. Meta-analysis was done on 5 drugs classes and sub-group meta-analysis was done on single drugs and moderate or severe stage of disease.

EXPERT OPINION

Mortality and the average length of hospital stay of COVID-19 patients were significantly reduced with anti-inflammatory drugs (odds ratio [OR]: 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.69 to 0.85, P<0.00001, and mean difference [MD]: -1.41, CI:-1.75 to -1.07, P<0.00001, respectively) compared to SOC/control/placebo. Furthermore, antiparasitic was associated with reduced length of hospital stay (MD: -0.65, CI: -1.26 to -0.03, P<0.05) in comparison to SOC/placebo/control. However, no effectiveness was found in other pharmacological interventions.

Natural products as a therapy to combat against SARS-CoV-2 virus infection

The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) first reported in December 2019, has become serious global life-threatening disease that has created huge health care crises. Despite huge number of clinical trials for drug and vaccine, only few successful candidates are in market, which led to problem of demand and supply. The low- and middle-income countries faces major health crisis due to financial issues. Studies to search plant originated natural bioactive molecules for prophylactic and therapeutic of COVID-19 infection has gained considerable attention, due to their low-cost, easy availability and lesser side effects. Natural products and herbal medicine have long been known for their role in treating respiratory infections and many of them have been approved/under trial as drugs or over-the-counter food additives to lessen the symptoms. It is undisputable fact that herbal/natural molecules’ medicine is still a promising resource and used as precursor for drug discovery to search prospective prophylactic candidate against COVID-19. These bioactive compounds bind with potential therapeutic target of SARS-COV-2 such as ACE II, Spike protein, TMPRESS, RdRp, Main proteases and endoribonuclease and may prevent or at least slow down the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, several numbers of clinical trials have registered to investigate the potentials of natural product to halt disease progression. The main aim of present chapter is to discuss the potential role of natural molecules which can be used as therapeutic drugs for treatment of COVID-19 and thus helpful to curb down the mortality rate.

Immunoinformatics and reverse vaccinomic approaches for effective design

The emergence of mutagenic strains of severe acute respiratory syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) worst hit the world which already suffered from the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for 2 years. Due to recent advances in vaccinomics, many vaccine candidates are available but their efficacy against a mutant version of SARS-CoV-2 has remained uncertain. The immune-informatics-based reverse vaccinomic approaches have shown promising investigations recently for the development of cost-effective vaccinomics candidates in a very short period of time. The strategic vaccine development of selected epitopes using artificial intelligence for both B- and T-cells is a very crucial step in this process. This approach provides a highly effective and immunogenic vaccine that offers immunological safety against autoimmunity and other adverse effects over ethnicities, pregnant women, and vulnerable age groups. Several researchers have developed effective vaccine candidates using computational vaccinology and the immune-informatics approach. In this process, a unique peptide sequence of viral proteins such as Nucleocapsid, spike, envelope protein was identified by various in silico tools which are acting as immunological epitopes against TLRs, T-cells, and B-cells. While the conventional immunological vaccine studies take years for vaccine candidature, the immunoinformatics approach is a time-efficient way for the next generation research to study host-pathogen interactions and vaccine development. It is also cost-effective and leads to a better understanding of disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, and immunological response. Owing to the advantage of immunoinformatics-based vaccine approaches the present chapter aimed to discuss vaccine development using immunoinformatics approaches. Besides, the current challenges and future aspects have also been discussed herewith.

Immunologic Dysregulation and Hypercoagulability as a Pathophysiologic Background in COVID-19 Infection and the Immunomodulating Role of Colchicine

In 2020, SARS-COV-2 put health systems under unprecedented resource and manpower pressure leading to significant number of deaths. Expectedly, researchers sought to shed light on the pathophysiologic background of this novel disease (COVID-19) as well as to facilitate the design of effective therapeutic modalities. Indeed, early enough the pivotal role of inflammatory and thrombotic pathways in SARS-COV-2 infection has been illustrated. The purpose of this article is to briefly present the epidemiologic and clinical features of COVID-19, analyze the pathophysiologic importance of immunologic dysregulation and hypercoagulability in developing disease complications and finally to present an up-to-date systematic review of colchicine's immunomodulating capacity in view of hindering coronavirus complications.

A case control study to assess effectiveness of measles containing vaccines in preventing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children

Currently, most licensed vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infection are approved for adults and not for children. We conducted a test negative case-control study to assess the effectiveness of Measles Containing Vaccines (MCVs) against SARS-CoV-2 infection in Pune, India, in children who were ≥1 year and <18 years of age and were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection by Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The enrolled participants included 274 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases (216 vaccinated and 58 unvaccinated) along with 274 SARS-CoV-2 negative controls (265 vaccinated and 9 unvaccinated). Of the 274 cases, 180 (65.7%) were asymptomatic while 94 (34.3%) were symptomatic, all with mild severity. The number of participants with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was significantly lower in the vaccinated group compared to the unvaccinated group (p < .0001). The unadjusted overall Vaccine Effectiveness (VE) in the vaccinated group compared to unvaccinated group was 87.4% (OR = 0.126, 95% CI of VE: 73.9-93.9) while the adjusted overall VE after adjusting for age and sex was 87.5% (OR = 0.125, 95% CI of VE: 74.2-94.0). MCVs reduced incidence of laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in children. Number of symptomatic cases were also lower in the vaccinated group compared to the unvaccinated group. Results of our study have provided strong preliminary evidence that MCVs have a good effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pediatric population, which needs to be confirmed further through prospective randomized clinical trials.

Notes From the Field: The Combined Effects of Tocilizumab and Remdesivir in a Patient With Severe COVID-19 and Cytokine Release Syndrome

SARS-CoV-2 is known to cause severe bilateral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome or COVID-19 in patients, which can be debilitating and even fatal. With no drugs or vaccines available yet, a wide range of treatment regimens used are being repurposed. The need of the hour is to analyze various currently available regimens and devise a treatment plan that is most effective for COVID-19. Here we describe the case of a 68-year-old man with hypertension and diabetes, exhibiting symptoms of cough and shortness of breath, who presented at the emergency department of our hospital. Chest computed tomography revealed bilateral ground glass opacities that were indicative of COVID-19, and a computed tomography score of 24 was indicative of severe pulmonary pneumonia. He tested positive for COVID-19. His treatment regimen included the use of convalescent plasma, oxygen therapy, steroids, high-dose antibiotics, broad-spectrum antiviral remdesivir, and anti–interleukin-6 monoclonal antibody (Tocilizumab) at various stages of the disease. Oxygen supplementation was required at the time of admission. The patient initially developed a cytokine release storm, and oxygen supplementation was initiated to manage his condition. Supportive care and multiple treatment regimens were used to successfully recover the patient’s health. With a rapid increase in number of confirmed cases worldwide, COVID-19 has become a major challenge to our health care system. With no available vaccines currently, the establishment of a combination of therapeutic drugs that effectively reduce disease progression is of utmost importance.

Lung histopathological findings in COVID-19 disease - a systematic review

Since December 2019, the global burden of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased rapidly and has impacted nearly every country in the world, affecting those who are elderly or with underlying comorbidities or immunocompromised states. Aim of this systematic review is to summarize lung histopathological characteristics of COVID-19, not only for diagnostic purpose but also to evaluate changes that can reflect pathophysiological pathways that can inform clinicians of useful treatment strategies. We identified following histopathological changes among our patients:: hyaline membranes; endothelial cells/ interstitial cells involvement; alveolar cells, type I pneumocytes/ type II pneumocytes involvement; interstitial and/ or alveolar edema; evidence of hemorrhage, of inflammatory cells, evidence of microthrombi; evidence of fibrin deposition and of viral infection in the tissue samples.The scenario with proliferative cell desquamation is typical of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) that can be classified as diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) and not DAD-ARDS. The proposed pathological mechanism concerns the role of both innate and adaptive components of the immune system. COVID-19 lethal cases present themselves as a heterogeneous disease, characterized by the different simultaneous presence of different histological findings, which reflect histological phases with corresponding different pathological pathways (epithelial, vascular and fibrotic changes), in the same patient.

The diagnostic and prognostic role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The world urgently requires surrogate markers to diagnose COVID-19 and predict its progression. The severity is not easily predicted via currently used biomarkers. Critical COVID-19 patients need to be screened for hyperinflammation to improve mortality but expensive cytokine measurement is not routinely conducted in most laboratories. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a novel biomarker in patients with various diseases. We evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of the NLR in COVID-19 patients.Methods: We searched for relevant articles in seven databases. The quantitative analysis was conducted if at least two studies were evaluating the NLR role in COVID-19.Results: We included 8,120 individuals, including 7,482 COVID-19 patients, from 32 articles. Patients with COVID-19 had significantly higher levels of NLR compared to negative individuals. Advanced COVID-19 stages had significantly higher levels of NLR than earlier stages.Expert Opinion: We found significantly higher levels of NLR in advanced stages compared to earlier stages of COVID-19 with good accuracy to diagnose and predict the disease outcome, especially mortality prediction. A close evaluation of critical SARS-CoV-2 patients and efficient early management are essential measures to decrease mortality. NLR could help in assessing the resource allocation in severe COVID-19 patients even in restricted settings.

Epidemiologic features and clinical course of COVID-19: a retrospective analysis of 19 patients in Germany

Background: SARS-coronavirus-2 causes coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Materials & methods: We here report epidemiology; clinical, radiological and laboratory characteristics; and outcomes of COVID-19 in 19 patients confirmed by reverse-transcriptase–PCR. Results: In 19 PCR-confirmed cases (median age 69 years; 63% males), the most common presentations were fever (79%), cough (79%) and fatigue (79%). The most common comorbidities were hypertension (47%), hypothyroidism (32%) and cardiac diseases (32%). All patients received symptomatic treatment. Ampicillin/sulbactam was prescribed for 50% of cases. Also, 13 (68.4%) recovered and discharged, 9 (47.3%) needed intensive care unit admission and 4 (21.1%) cases died Conclusion: The included cases had variable clinical outcomes following supportive and antibiotic treatments. These findings may contribute to development of more effective strategies for infection control.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Need of the Hour - A Course Correction, Restructuring & Review of our Policies - An Indian Perspective

The world stunned by a pandemic of such cataclysmic scale is reeling under the joint burden of health impact unleashed by the diseases and the strain on the economy. Glaring shortfalls and inconsistencies in strategies to combat the pandemic have surfaced worldwide irrespective of the country’s economic and health care status. The responses have vacillated from mute to drastic. Gaps in health preparedness coupled with administrative tardiness, lack of co-ordination and foresight has heightened the impact of pandemic. Coordinated holistic approach with structured policies in place is the need of the hour. Surveillance and epidemiological models to predict the unpredictable and preempt the backlash will dictate our future successes and failures in this protracted fight against the pandemic. This article attempts to review the present status of health policy on COVID in general and with specific reference to India and their outcome thus far. We also propose a simple and practical framework on which a decisive, well-knit, reliable and acceptable policy can be framed.

Analysis of Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) Titers of Recovered COVID-19 Patients

The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has been theorized to provide protection against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Our aim was to determine whether any MMR IgG titers are inversely correlated with severity in recovered COVID-19 patients previously vaccinated with MMR II. We divided 80 subjects into two groups, comparing MMR titers to recent COVID-19 severity levels. The MMR II group consisted of 50 subjects who would primarily have MMR antibodies from the MMR II vaccine, and a comparison group of 30 subjects consisted of those who would primarily have MMR antibodies from sources other than MMR II, including prior measles, mumps, and/or rubella illnesses. There was a significant inverse correlation (r_s  = -0.71, P < 0.001) between mumps virus titers (mumps titers) and COVID-19 severity within the MMR II group. There were no significant correlations between mumps titers and severity in the comparison group, between mumps titers and age in the MMR II group, or between severity and measles or rubella titers in either group. Within the MMR II group, mumps titers of 134 to 300 arbitrary units (AU)/ml (n = 8) were found only in those who were functionally immune or asymptomatic; all with mild symptoms had mumps titers below 134 AU/ml (n = 17); all with moderate symptoms had mumps titers below 75 AU/ml (n = 11); all who had been hospitalized and had required oxygen had mumps titers below 32 AU/ml (n = 5). Our results demonstrate that there is a significant inverse correlation between mumps titers from MMR II and COVID-19 severity.IMPORTANCE COVID-19 has presented various paradoxes that, if understood better, may provide clues to controlling the pandemic, even before a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available. First, young children are largely spared from severe disease. Second, numerous countries have COVID-19 death rates that are as low as 1% of the death rates of other countries. Third, many people, despite prolonged close contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive, never test positive themselves. Fourth, nearly half of people who test positive for COVID-19 are asymptomatic. Some researchers have theorized that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine may be responsible for these disparities. The significance of our study is that it showed that mumps titers related to the MMR II vaccine are significantly and inversely correlated with the severity of COVID-19-related symptoms, supporting the theorized association between the MMR vaccine and COVID-19 severity.