Small Study Shows Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine Triggers Immune Response

reports according to a small study, a COVID-19 vaccine that is the joint work of Pfizer and BioNTech “triggered stronger immune responses in recipients than those seen in people recovering from a natural infection.” In response, “outside scientists praised the company for publishing the data on 45 patients and said the results support moving to a larger clinical trial.” Other companies working on COVID-19 vaccines have not published as complete data, though some are expected to. Inovio Pharmaceuticals “also announced positive results” but in that case as in others “the incomplete data have frustrated scientists trying to evaluate the different approaches.” According to the Pfizer results, “the majority of people given an intermediate dose of the vaccine developed fevers, chills and other low-grade symptoms that lasted a day.” The AP (7/1) reports, “The first of four experimental COVID-19 vaccines being tested by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech showed encouraging results in very early testing of 45 people.” Study participants “had immune responses in the range expected to be protective, when compared to some COVID-19 survivors.” The AP also reports that a “higher-dose shot caused more injection reactions without apparent added benefit.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/07/01/pfizer-reports-encouraging-early-covid-19-vaccine-data/

Coronavirus Cases Jumped By Almost 50% Last Month As States Began To Reopen

eports that coronavirus infections in the US “surged nearly 50 percent in June as states relaxed quarantine rules and tried to reopen their economies, data compiled Wednesday showed, and several states moved to reimpose restrictions on bars and recreation.” More than 800,000 new cases “were reported across the country last month, led by Florida, Arizona, Texas and California – bringing the nation’s officially reported total to just over 2.6 million, according to data compiled by The Washington Post.” States that “took an aggressive approach to reopening led the country in infection spikes – along with California, the nation’s most populous state, where leaders have been more cautious.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/coronavirus-cases-rose-by-nearly-50-percent-last-month-led-by-states-that-reopened-first/2020/07/01/3337f1ec-bb96-11ea-80b9-40ece9a701dc_story.html

FDA Says COVID-19 Vaccine Must Be At Least 50% Effective To Be Approved

reports the US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday said that to be approved a COVID-19 vaccine must “prevent disease, or decrease its severity, in at least 50 percent of the people who receive it.” Still, “many people believe a vaccine initially would be made available through a much lower standard for temporary approvals.” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn “said the FDA is committed to expedite a covid-19 vaccine, but ‘will not cut corners in our decision-making.’” Hahn also said that he is “optimistic” that another treatment for covid-19 will be approved by the fall. Politico (6/30, Owermohle) reports that while the FDA’s guidance requires “any vaccine candidate be at least 50 percent more effective than a placebo,” it “also left open the possibility it would issue an emergency use authorization for a vaccine.” The Wall Street Journal (6/30, Burton, Subscription Publication) reports that the FDA said it would not approve a vaccine based on it resulting in antibodies in a patient’s bloodstream. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/30/coronavirus-vaccine-approval-fda/

Scientists Just Starting To Understand Array Of Health Problems Caused By COVID-19, Experts Say

reported, “Scientists are only starting to grasp the vast array of health problems caused by the novel coronavirus, some of which may have lingering effects on patients and health systems for years to come, according to doctors and infectious disease experts.” In addition to “the respiratory issues that leave patients gasping for breath, the virus that causes COVID-19 attacks many organ systems, in some cases causing catastrophic damage.” Along with “respiratory distress, patients with COVID-19 can experience blood clotting disorders that can lead to strokes, and extreme inflammation that attacks multiple organ systems,” and “the virus can also cause neurological complications that range from headache, dizziness and loss of taste or smell to seizures and confusion.”

COVID-19 May Cause Platelets To Become “Hyperreactive,” Researchers Say

reported, “The COVID-19 coronavirus may cause cells which help blood to clot to become ‘hyperreactive,’ according to scientists who believe this may be why clotting is a problem for some patients.” Blood clotting complications “are common in COVID-19 patients and can cause organ failure and death, particular in those with underlying conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure, according to the authors of the paper published in the journal Blood.” The scientists “found that the virus appears to influence how platelets are made by changing gene expression,” and “the germ also seems to affect how blood clots in COVID-19 patients, making platelets ‘hyperreactive’, or overly sensitive to stimuli, and more likely to cluster, stick together, and spread.” https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-may-cause-blood-clotting-cells-become-hyperreactive-1513720

The Dyslexic Brain Struggles in Processing Variation in Speech

A new study brings neural-level evidence that the continuous variation in natural speech makes the discrimination of phonemes challenging for adults suffering from developmental reading-deficit dyslexia. This may compromise the learning of native language phonemes already at an early age for infants at familial risk for dyslexia. Dyslexia is understood to stem from difficulties in phoneme processing. Natural speech has continuous acoustic variation, and the phonemes sound different depending on, for example, the word context or speaker identity. In order to effortlessly understand speech, the phonemes still have to be detected accurately. “In our study, dyslexic participants had difficulties, particularly when acoustic variation was added to the speech sound stream. In the absence of this variation, neural speech sound processing did not differ between dyslexic and typical readers. This seems to reflect a difficulty in categorising speech sounds in the native language phoneme classes,” Dr Paula Virtala from the University of Helsinki explains. https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/the-dyslexic-brain-struggles-in-processing-variation-in-speech-336663?utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TN_Breaking%20Science%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=90288506&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_4JwWyIxrpMgL3NE3LxWMdNzEcKwCXeWVVPU-__NuUZnkiTrK6X0tzu6iT5egUtRVHBmwbD1cXhRVAAdNk7SjY-rrkbA&utm_content=90288506&utm_source=hs_email

Younger People Make Up Growing Percentage Of New Coronavirus Cases

reports that younger people “are making up a growing percentage of new coronavirus cases in cities and states where the virus is now surging, a trend that has alarmed public health officials and prompted renewed pleas for masks and social distancing.” The pattern “is drawing notice from mayors, governors and public health officials, and comes as a worrisome sign for cities and institutions as they look to the fall.” The rise in cases among younger people “could complicate the plans of leaders who are eager to open schools and universities, resume athletic events and return to normal life and a fully functioning economy.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/us/coronavirus-cases-young-people.html