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 These include additional research to confirm the findings, and which has not yet been certified by peer review.

Pandemic could be impacting infant brains

Although infant brain function is not affected by Coronavirus infection in pregnancy, the study published Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics indicates that it may.

New York City’s researchers followed 255 full-term infants born at the height of the pandemic. 114 mothers were pregnant with COVID-19. Researchers found no effects of SARS-2-Maternal Infection on Neurodevelopment at 6 months, according to Dr. Dani Dumitriu, Columbia University, and New York State Psychiatric Institute. However, overall the scores of babies born after the epidemic were slightly higher than those born before it. They scored less on tasks that involved large muscles and tasks that required small movements. Dumitriu explained that the findings are not indicative of long-term effects for these babies. Long-term outcomes are difficult to predict from six month old assessments, Dumitriu said.

She said that if additional research shows that the birth of babies during the pandemic has a negative impact on neurodevelopment, it is possible to intervene quickly and put these babies on the correct developmental path.

Coronavirus can cause kidney scarring

New laboratory research has shown that the coronavirus directly damages kidneys. It initiates a series of molecular events which leads to scarring. A report in Cell Stem Cell suggests that the scar tissue may have long-term effects on kidney function.

In test tubes, researchers exposed miniature kidney replicas to the SARS/CoV-2 virus. The virus can infect many types of kidney cells, and they found that it triggers a “molecular switch”, which starts the process of scarring. According to the researchers, scarring caused by the virus may be responsible for high levels of kidney dysfunction in COVID-19 survivors.

Jitske Jansen from Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands stated that another “piece” of the puzzle had been found by her team. It showed how the virus could have devastating effects on the body.

Lower COVID-19-related risks after weight-loss surgery

A report published in JAMA Surgery suggests that weight loss surgery could reduce the chance of severe COVID-19, even if an infected individual is overweight.

Researchers studied 20212 overweight adults. This included 5,053 people who underwent bariatric surgery prior to the pandemic. They also lost significant weight. The average weight of the participants in the surgery group was 44 pounds (22 kg) lower than those who did not have the procedure. While the rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection were roughly the same, the patients who underwent weight-loss surgery experienced a 49% decrease in the likelihood of having to be admitted, a 63% reduction of the need for oxygen supplementation, and a 60% reduced risk of death or critical illness than the people not undergoing the surgery. While obesity has been shown to increase the risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes (about 9%), the study did not prove that weight-loss surgery was the best option. The authors stated that patients who had weight loss surgery were more likely to be healthier after becoming infected.

According to Dr. Steven Nissen, coauthor of the Cleveland Clinic’s statement, the results support the “reversibility” of health effects of obesity for COVID-19 patients. In a statement, coauthor Dr. Steven Nissen of Cleveland Clinic said that the study shows that weight loss can be a good public health strategy to improve outcome during the COVID-19 epidemic.

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