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Delta increases COVID-19 risks for pregnant women; Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine antibodies gone by 7 months for many By Reuters

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© Reuters. FILEPHOTO: Pregnant woman is given a vaccine against the coronavirus infection (COVID-19), by Skippack Pharmacy Schwenksville in Pennsylvania. This was on February 11, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah Beier/File Photo

Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) – The following summarizes recent research on COVID-19. These include studies that need further investigation to confirm the results and those that are yet to receive peer review certification.

Pregnant women are at greater risk from the Delta variant

New data suggests that infections with the Delta variant of coronavirus lead to poor outcomes in unvaccinated women than earlier cases during the pandemic. The study included 1,515 COVID-19 pregnant women who were treated by a Dallas-based large public health care system from May 2020 to September 4, 2021. Overall, 82 of the women, which included 81 unvaccinated, developed severe illnesses, 10 of them needing ventilators, and two died. Researchers stated that the proportion of serious or life-threatening cases in pregnant women ranged from 5% to early 2021. They were virtually non-existent in February 2021 and March 2021. The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynology reported that during late summer’s peak of the Delta variant surge, pregnant COVID-19 victims required hospitalization in an increase of 10% to 15%. Women who are pregnant face higher chances of developing complications due to severe respiratory infections, and these results from the Delta variant of COVID-19 further underscore the importance of getting vaccined, Dr. Emily Adhikari of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center stated in a statement. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged for urgent action to improve COVID-19 vaccine among pregnant women and people recently pregnant. This included those currently breastfeeding and anyone who may become pregnant.

Many Pfizer/BioNTech vaccination antibodies vanish within 7 months

Six months following the first dose of the two shot vaccine, Pfizer New research suggests that vaccine-induced antibody (NASDAQ:) may no longer be available to many coronavirus recipients. Blood samples were taken from 46 adults, most of whom were young and middle-aged. They also examined them six months later. Our study showed that vaccination with Pfizer BioNtech vaccine induces high levels neutralizing antibodies, but those levels decrease by almost 10-fold over seven months,” Bali Pulendran from Stanford University and Mehul Subhar at Emory University stated by email. The team of bioRxiv researchers reported that six months later, only about half of subjects were able to detect neutralizing antibodies which can prevent infection by coronavirus variants, such as Beta, Delta, and Mu. This was in advance of peer review. The immune system does not have the only protection against this virus, but neutralizing antibodies can be used. Pulendran and Suthar stated that neutralizing antibodies are “critically important in protecting against SARS:CoV-2 infection.” These findings indicate that a booster dose administered at 6 to 7 month after the first immunization can increase protection against SARS and other variants.

Deaths due to Experimental Merck Pill halves

Merck & Co’s experimental oral antiviral drug for COVID-19, molnupiravir, reduced by around 50% the chance of hospitalization or death for patients with mild or moderate infections who had risk factors for severe disease, according to interim clinical trial results announced by the company https:// on Friday. Merck’s interim analysis found 7.3% of the 775 patients treated with molnupiravir for 5 days twice daily were admitted to hospital or died 29 days later than 14.1% in placebo patients. In contrast to eight deaths in the placebo, there were none among those who received molnupiravir. The positive results of the Phase III trial have prompted the decision to stop the Phase III trial at an early stage, according to outside monitors. Amesh Adalja of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security stated that “an oral antiviral can impact hospitalization rate to such an extent would be game-changing.” He wasn’t involved in this study. Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics will apply for U.S. emergency approval of the pill and submit regulatory agency applications worldwide. Molnupiravir is a medication that introduces errors to the DNA of COVID-19. If it’s approved, it would become the first antiviral medicine for COVID-19.

Click for a Reuters graphic https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl on vaccines in development.

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