Nancy Lapid

(Reuters.) – Here is a list of recent COVID-19 studies. These include additional research to confirm the findings, and which has not yet been certified by peer review.

Post-infection vaccination may reduce long COVID

New research suggests that vaccination following infection by SARS-CoV-2 could help to reduce long COVID symptoms.

Researchers followed 6,729 people aged 18-69 who received two doses of AstraZeneca’s virus vector vaccine (NASDAQ:), or an mRNA vaccination from Pfizer/BioNTech. Moderna (NASDAQ) After recovering from the coronavirus infection, who had reported COVID symptoms that were at least one time between February and September 2021. Researchers reported Wednesday that the odds of long COVID (severe symptoms) fell by 13% on average after receiving a second vaccine dose. A second dose was administered 12 weeks following the initial. This resulted in a further 9 percent decrease in long COVID. The symptoms lasted on average for nine weeks. Research showed that long COVID severe sufficient to lead to functional impairment was less likely. The outcomes of the study were consistent regardless of type of vaccine, duration from infected to last dose of vaccine, and severity of COVID-19. The study could not detect these differences and cannot prove vaccines are less likely to cause long-term COVID.

The researchers stated that further research was needed to determine the long-term effects of vaccination on long-term COVID. They also recommended continuing the study, which concluded after the end of this study.

Desktop “air curtains” may deflect virus particles

Researchers discovered that a new desktop “air curtain”, designed to block exhaled aerosols from spreading COVID-19 in people who cannot keep a safe distance, can be used.

Artificially-created streams of air moving in a stream are used frequently to provide protection for patients during operating room procedures. Researchers at Nagoya University, Japan tested the new desktop device in a laboratory where a technician was close to the patient. They reported Tuesday in AIP Advances that aerosol particles being blown towards the curtain were “observed to bend abruptly toward (a] suction port”, without actually passing through it. They said that even putting an arm through an air curtain didn’t break down the flow nor reduce its effectiveness. The suction port can also be fitted with a HEPA filter, which is a highly efficient particulate air (HEPA).

The researchers stated that if further testing under real-life conditions proves its effectiveness, the system could be “used as an indirect barrier both in the medical area and in situations when sufficient physical distance is not possible to maintain, like at reception counters.”

COVID-19 is helped by Antacids that help to reduce inflammation

Researchers have discovered just how the antacid famotidine, commonly sold as Pepcid by a Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) unit, was able to help alleviate COVID-19 symptoms in clinical trials.

They found out that famotidine activates the vagus neuron, responsible for controlling the immune system as well as other bodily functions, in mouse studies. The vagus nerve can be stimulated to send signals that suppress extreme immune reactions, also known as cytokine storms. These are when high levels of inflammation proteins are too rapidly released into the blood. Famotidine significantly decreased the levels of inflammation proteins in blood and spleen, and helped improve survival rates. A Monday report by Molecular Medicine revealed that famotidine didn’t stop the cytokine attacks after the vagus neuron was removed. According to Dr. Kevin Tracey from The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research (Manhasset), New York, the data indicate that there is a role for vagus nerve inflammation reflex in suppressing cytokinestorm during COVID-19.

A variety of illnesses can be improved by direct stimulation of the vagus neuron. The researchers suggested that Famotidine, an oral drug well tolerated, might offer an “additional method” to activating the vagus neuron in order reduce inflammation protein generation and the tissue damage caused by COVID-19, and other diseases.

You can click here to see a Reuters graphic about vaccines in the development.