Adenovirus May Trigger Thrombocytopenia, Thrombosis, Case Studies Suggest
In rare cases, symptomatic human adenovirus infection may trigger a life-threatening prothrombotic anti-platelet factor 4 (PF4) disorder resembling vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), according to a report based on two patients. A 5-year-old boy and a 58-year-old woman based in the U.S. developed serious — and in the case of the boy, ultimately fatal — […]
CDC: Bivalent COVID Vaccines Stop Illness From XBB.1.5
Currently authorized bivalent COVID-19 boosters demonstrated similar protection against symptomatic illness from the XBB/XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariants as from BA.5-related subvariants, according to a CDC study. From December 2022 to January 2023, the bivalent boosters’ vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic infection was a similar 48% versus XBB/XBB.1.5-related strains and 52% versus BA.5-related sublineages, reported Ruth Link-Gelles, […]
Herpes Viruses Linked to Brain Changes
Symptomatic herpes viruses were linked with several neurologic and cognitive features, but not with Alzheimer’s disease processes, a longitudinal cohort study showed. Among older adults who mainly were cognitively normal, herpes virus infection was associated with accelerated tissue loss in brain white matter over time, particularly in the temporal lobe, according to Keenan Walker, PhD, […]
CDC Examines Monkeypox’s Ability to Linger on Home Surfaces
Commonly used household surfaces in the Utah home of two infected and symptomatic monkeypox patients were covered with PCR-detected virus, yet no samples were culturable, according to a CDC investigation. Among 30 samples taken 20 days since the start of the patients’ isolation, 70% turned up positive on real-time positive PCR tests specific for non-variola […]
Primary Vaccine Series Alone Can’t Stop Omicron Infection
Protection against symptomatic COVID-19 with the Omicron variant shot up after a booster dose among adults who received the two-dose Pfizer vaccine primary series (Comirnaty), though even that faded with time, British researchers found. While protection against symptomatic disease dwindled to next to nothing (8.8%, 95% CI 7.0-10.5) at 25 or more weeks, vaccine effectiveness […]
Which Came First: Low Testosterone Levels or Severe COVID-19?
Low testosterone levels in men with symptomatic COVID-19 were associated with a greater risk of severe illness or death, according to Italian researchers. Their case-control study found that, among men admitted to the emergency department of a Milan Hospital during the first wave of the pandemic, the lower the level of testosterone the higher the […]