Killian Meara

Even a short stay in the hospital with a COVID-19 infection can adversely affect the long-term health and financial stability of patients, according to a study by investigators at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which is a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Results from the study were published in 

“This isn’t patients saying, ‘I can’t run quite as far as I used to’. This is them saying ‘I can’t walk, I can’t cook, I can’t shower’. The effects are devastating,” C. Terri Hough, a co-lead author on the study said. “Unfortunately, we saw this even among patients with quite short hospital stays.”

For the study, the team of investigators enrolled 1300 patients at 44 major medical centers in the Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL) Network. The analysis presented in this study included 253 patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19.

The study period lasted from the fall 2020 through the early part of 2021.

Findings from the study showed that close to 85% of people that were hospitalized with COVID-19 said that they were not back to their pre-COVID lifestyle 1 month later. Many of the participants had new or worse cardiopulmonary symptoms, along with other significant factors which may be driving their inability to fully recover.

Financial impact was also widespread, with 23% of the participants reporting using up their life savings. Additional findings showed that almost half of the patients who were surveyed during the study period reported a new disability that prevented them from taking part in daily living activities 1 month later.

“As we continue, we’re excited that this study will link the biology of initial hospitalizations for COVID-19 to long-term patient-centered outcomes, and thereby help us find treatments to decrease the burden of recovery from COVID-19,” Hough said. “There are few other national studies that have both details about the hospital stay and are continuing to ask for patient perspectives like we are.”

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Close to 85% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 said that they were not back to their pre-COVID lifestyle 1 month later, says the study.

COVID-19 Hospital Stays Disrupt Long-Term Health, Financial Stability

The early vaccine campaign that was initiated in the United States prevented a significant amount of deaths, as well as cases of COVID-19, according to a study conducted by investigators from the RAND Corporation, in collaboration with Indiana University.

Results from the study were published in the journal 

“This study brings into focus the dramatic success of the early months of the nation’s coronavirus vaccine rollout,” Christopher Whaley, senior author on the study said. “The findings provide support for policies that further expand vaccine administration to enable a larger proportion of the nation’s population to benefit.”

For the study, the team of investigators created models which estimated the number of COVID-19 deaths and cases that would have occurred if the early vaccine campaign had never happened.

The team gathered information from each state on the number of vaccine doses administered from the Bloomberg COVID-19 vaccine tracker and data on COVID-19 deaths for each state from The New York Times’ Coronavirus (COVID-19) Data in the United States database.

Findings from the study showed that progress of vaccinations varied over time in different states.

Deaths that were prevented because of the early vaccinations were estimated to be around 140,000, with cases prevented being an estimated 3 million by the second week of May, 2021.

Additionally, the economic value of the lives saved during the study period is estimated to be between $625 billion and $1.4 trillion.

“Our results suggest that further efforts to vaccinate populations globally and in a coordinated fashion will be critical to achieving greater control of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Sumedha Gupta, first author on the study said.

Investigators created models which estimated the number of COVID-19 deaths and cases that would have occurred if the early vaccine campaign had never happened.

Quick Action on Vaccines in US Prevented Deaths, says Study

Individuals who had a severe case of COVID-19 or experience long-lasting cases of the disease are more likely to have a higher level of an important antibody which helps fight a future infection, according to a study conducted by investigators at Rutgers University.

Results from the study were published in 

“Neurological changes, including brain fog and problems with memory or vision, were infrequent among infected participants but did tend to last for many months when they occurred," Daniel B. Horton, a co-author on the study said. "Notably, having persistent symptoms was also associated with having higher antibody levels over time. We know from other research that vaccination further enhances immune protection and sometimes even helps ease long-term symptoms.”

The study was part of the Rutgers Corona Cohort Study, which followed 548 healthcare workers, along with 283 non-healthcare workers, from the beginning of the pandemic so that they could better understand risk factors, antibody responses and symptoms associated with a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Findings from the study showed that within 6 months from when the study started, more than 93 of the participants had tested positive for the virus or for antibodies. Of those, 24 had severe symptoms and 14 were asymptomatic.

The study also found that healthcare workers were significantly more likely to become infected and have severe symptoms.

Around one-third of the participants showed symptoms which lasted for at least 1 month, including fatigue, shortness of breath and loss of taste and smell.

Additionally, the majority of the infected participants developed sustained antibodies which last up to 6 months. However, more of those with the severe symptoms were seen to have antibodies compared to those with mild to moderate symptoms.

“One-third of infected participants had symptoms lasting 1 month or longer. Fatigue, respiratory, and neurologic symptoms lasted for months in at least 10% of affected individuals,” the authors wrote. “Participants with prolonged symptoms, who were generally more severely symptomatic, also tended to have higher antibody levels over time. Going forward, this cohort of uninfected and infected, seropositive and seronegative, participants will allow further investigation of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, risks factors for re-infection, and relationships between infection and vaccine responses.”

Health care workers were significantly more likely to become infected and have severe symptoms, the study found.

High Levels of Important Antibody Seen in Those with Severe COVID

The history of COVID-19 continues to be a work in progress. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the 

 in the United States of what was then still generally referred to as the “novel coronavirus” on January 20, 2020. The nature of diseases and how they spread always made that a soft start-time, open to reinterpretation and updates.

A recent study conducted by investigators from the National Institutes of Health has discovered evidence of COVID-19 infections in 5 states earlier than was initially reported. The study builds upon CDC findings which suggested the virus was in the country as far back as December 2019.

“This study allows us to uncover more information about the beginning of the U.S. epidemic and highlights the real-world value of longitudinal research in understanding dynamics of emerging diseases like COVID-19,” Josh Denny, an author of the study said. “Our participants come from diverse communities across the U.S. and give generously of themselves to drive a wide range of biomedical discoveries, which are vital for informing public health strategies and preparedness.”

For the study, the team of investigators worked with Quest Diagnostics, an American clinical laboratory, and tested over 24,000 blood samples for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 from across all 50 states between January 2 and March 18 of 2020.

The team used 2 platforms, the Abbott Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG ELISA and the EUROIMMUN SARS-CoV-2 ELISA (IgG), in order to minimize the amount of false positive tests.

Findings from the study demonstrated that some participants, including ones from Illinois and Massachusetts, tested positive for antibodies on January 7 and 8 of 2020, indicating that they were exposed at least 2 weeks earlier. This would mean that the virus was circulating in the country in at least mid-December.

The investigators did note some limitations, including that they did not know if the participants who tested positive became infected while travelling outside of their communities.

“Antibody testing of blood samples helps us better understand the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the U.S. in the early days of the U.S. epidemic, when testing was restricted and public health officials could not see that the virus had already spread outside of recognized initial points of entry,” Keri N. Althoff, lead author on the study said. “This study also demonstrates the importance of using multiple serology platforms, as recommended by the CDC.”

The first official case may have been recorded January 20, 2020, but recent evidence suggests that COVID came home for the holidays in the U.S. in mid-December of that year.

Killian Meara

Articles

COVID-19 Hospital Stays Disrupt Long-Term Health, Financial Stability

Quick Action on Vaccines in US Prevented Deaths, says Study

High Levels of Important Antibody Seen in Those with Severe COVID

COVID-19 May Have Hit the U.S. Earlier Than Previously Thought