Tag Archives: Fever

Third-trimester vaccination appears safe; Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine effective in those with chronic illnesses

By Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) -The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Third-trimester vaccination appears safe in early data

Among pregnant women who received COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc and who signed up for an online survey, side effects were no different than what has been seen in the general population, researchers reported Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. But they noted that data of this nature is still sparse. They looked at responses from smartphone users who participated in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “v-safe” program, which collects information on COVID-19 vaccination experiences. Compared to non-pregnant women, the 35,691 pregnant responders reported more injection site pain but fewer headaches, muscle aches, chills, and fevers. Among 3,958 women who signed up for a CDC pregnancy registry, no one vaccinated in the first trimester has given birth yet. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), run jointly by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has recorded 46 miscarriages potentially related to COVID-19 vaccination, including 37 in the first trimester, the researchers said. “Early data from the v-safe surveillance system, the v-safe pregnancy registry, and the VAERS do not indicate any obvious safety signals with respect to pregnancy or neonatal outcomes associated with Covid-19 vaccination in the third trimester of pregnancy,” researchers concluded.

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine effective in people with chronic illnesses

The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is effective at preventing symptomatic and severe disease in people with some chronic illnesses, like diabetes and heart disease, according to a large real-world study published on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. The analysis of almost 1.4 million people, conducted by Clalit, Israel’s largest healthcare provider, showed the vaccine was 80% effective against symptomatic infection for people with heart or chronic kidney diseases, 86% for people with type 2 diabetes, 75% for cerebrovascular disease, and 84% for people suffering from immunodeficiency. For vaccinated people with at least three chronic conditions or risk factors, the vaccine was 88% effective in preventing symptomatic infection. It was more than 90% effective against severe disease for people with type 2 diabetes, heart or cerebrovascular disease. The results were lower than the 95% overall vaccine effectiveness observed after the second dose in clinical trials last year. “These results are very encouraging, as they suggest that most COVID-19 cases will be prevented by vaccination even in the elderly and chronically ill,” said Ran Balicer, Clalit’s chief innovation officer.

Fever, shortness of breath are COVID-19 red flags in pregnancy

Pregnant women with COVID-19 and their newborns face “consistent and substantial increases” in risks of complications, an international study has found. COVID-19 in newborns is associated with a three-fold risk of severe medical complications, according to the study by scientists at the University of Oxford. And pregnant women with symptomatic COVID-19 face higher risks of preterm delivery, preeclampsia (high blood pressure with organ failure risk), need for intensive care and death. That was particularly true for women with fever and shortness of breath, according to a report published on Friday in JAMA Pediatrics. “Women with COVID-19 during pregnancy were over 50% more likely to experience pregnancy complications compared to pregnant women unaffected by COVID-19,” said co-author Aris Papageorghiou. The study, conducted in 18 countries, included 706 pregnant women with COVID-19 and 1,424 similarly pregnant women without COVID-19 who were giving birth at the same hospital. Findings also showed a delivery by Caesarean section may be associated with an increased risk of virus infection in newborns. Breastfeeding, however, does not seem to heighten risks of transmission from mothers to babies, they found.

(Reporting by Nancy Lapid and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Loss of taste and smell key COVID-19 symptoms, app study finds

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) – Losing your sense of smell and taste may be the best way to tell if you have COVID-19, according to a study of data collected via a symptom tracker app developed by scientists in Britain and the United States to help monitor the coronavirus pandemic.

Almost 60% of patients who were subsequently confirmed as positive for COVID-19 had reported losing their sense of smell and taste, data analysed by the researchers showed.

That compared with 18% of those who tested negative.

These results, which were posted online but not peer-reviewed, were much stronger in predicting a positive COVID-19 diagnosis than self-reported fever, researchers at King’s College London said.

The app, which the researchers say could help slow the outbreak and identify more swiftly those at risk of contracting COVID-19, can be downloaded via the URL covid.joinzoe.com.

If enough people participate in sharing their symptoms, the scientists said, the app could also provide healthcare systems with critically valuable information.

“This app-based study is a way to find out where the COVID-19 hot spots are, new symptoms to look out for, and might be used as a planning tool to target quarantines, send ventilators and provide real-time data to plan for future outbreaks,” said Andrew Chan, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in the United States who is co-leading the study.

Of 1.5 million app users between March 24 and March 29, 26% reported one or more symptoms through the app. Of these, 1,702 also reported having been tested for COVID-19, with 579 positive results and 1,123 negative results.

MATHEMATICAL MODEL

Using all the data collected, the research team developed a mathematical model to identify which combination of symptoms – ranging from loss of smell and taste, to fever, persistent cough, fatigue, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and loss of appetite -was most accurate in predicting COVID-19 infection.

“When combined with other symptoms, people with loss of smell and taste appear to be three times more likely to have contracted COVID-19 according to our data, and should therefore self-isolate for seven days to reduce the spread of the disease,” said Tim Spector, a King’s professor who led the study.

Trish Greenhalgh, a professor of primary care health sciences at Britain’s Oxford University and who is not involved in the study, said it was the first to demonstrate scientifically and in a large population sample that loss of smell is a characteristic feature of COVID-19.

Spector’s team applied their findings to the more than 400,000 people reporting symptoms via the app who had not yet had a COVID-19 test, and found that almost 13% of them are likely to be infected.

This would suggest that some 50,000 people in Britain may have as yet unconfirmed COVID-19 infections, Spector said.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Grant McCool and Gareth Jones)

China’s Hubei to adopt thorough checks on patients to curb virus epidemic: Xinhua

(Reuters) – The central Chinese province of Hubei will adopt more thorough and forceful measures to find patients with fever to further help contain the new coronavirus epidemic, the state media reported on Tuesday.

Hubei will check records of all fever patients who have visited doctors since Jan. 20, and people who have bought over-the-counter cough and fever medications at both brick-and-mortar and online drug stores, Xinhua reported, citing a notice by the province’s epidemic control headquarters.

The people will get health check-ups and, if necessary, be put in quarantine or hospitalized, the report added, citing the notice.

China reported on Tuesday its fewest new coronavirus infections since January and its lowest daily death toll for a week, but the World Health Organization said data suggesting the epidemic had slowed should still be viewed with caution.

China said figures showing a slowdown in new cases in recent days show that aggressive steps it has taken to curb travel and commerce are slowing the spread of the disease beyond Hubei and the province’s capital, Wuhan.

(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

Guatemalan boy becomes second child to die in U.S. custody in December

FILE PHOTO: A logo patch is shown on the uniform of a U.S. Border Patrol agent near the international border between Mexico and the United States south of San Diego, California March 26, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Blake

By Yeganeh Torbati

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An 8-year-old Guatemalan migrant boy died early on Christmas Day after being detained by U.S. border agents, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said, the second migrant child to die in U.S. detention this month.

The boy and his father were in CBP custody on Monday when a Border Patrol agent noticed the child showing signs of illness, CBP said in a statement. The father and son were taken to the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where the boy was diagnosed with a common cold and fever, and eventually released by hospital staff.

But later that evening, the boy began vomiting and was transferred back to the hospital. He died there early on Tuesday, CBP said, adding that the official cause of death was not known.

The father and son were not identified, and the agency said it would release more details “as available and appropriate.” Guatemalan officials have been notified of the death, CBP said.

The boy’s death followed the death in early December of 7-year-old Jakelin Caal, also from Guatemala. She died after being detained along with her father by U.S. border agents in a remote part of New Mexico.

After the second death, the CBP announced it was developing several policy changes late Tuesday.

It will conduct secondary medical checks on all children in its custody, with a focus on those under 10, the agency said in a release.

The agency will also work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to improve custody options, such as better transportation to Family Residential Centers and supervised release, and working with non-governmental agencies for housing.

This is a tragic loss. On behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, our deepest sympathies go out to the family,” CBP Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan said in the release.

Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry said its consul in Phoenix was seeking to interview the boy’s father, to whom it pledged to give all necessary consular assistance and protection. In a statement, the ministry said it also requested medical reports to clarify the cause of death.

According to the ministry, the boy and his father entered the United States via El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 18 and were transferred to a border patrol station in Alamogordo on Dec. 23.

The Trump administration has tried to deter people from crossing the border between ports of entry illegally to seek asylum, while at the same time restricting legal access to official ports of entry. That has created a months-long wait for asylum applicants, including those who came as part of a large caravan of Central Americans this year.

Jakelin Caal’s funeral was being held in her family’s village in Guatemala.

Her death fueled criticism of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies from Democrats and migrant advocates. The Trump administration said Caal’s death showed the danger of her journey and the family’s decision to cross the border illegally.

That death is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General, which looks into accusations of misconduct by the agency’s employees.

CBP said on Tuesday that the Guatemalan boy’s death is being reviewed by the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility, and that the Inspector General has been notified of the death. It was not immediately known if the watchdog would open an investigation.

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Additional reporting by Sofia Menchu in San Antonio Secortez, Guatemala, and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Leslie Adler, Nick Macfie and Chizu Nomiyama)

Ebola Patient Took Flight With Fever

One of the signs of Ebola infection is a fever.

Yet the CDC allowed the latest American to be infected with the virus to fly on an airplane after showing a low-grade fever.

The Centers for Disease Control admits they allowed Amber Vinson of Dallas to fly from Cleveland to Dallas with a fever of 99.5.

“Although she did not report any symptoms and she did not meet the fever threshold of 100.4, she did report at that time she took her temperature and found it to be 99.5,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden. “I don’t think that changes the level of risk of people around her.  She did not vomit, she was not bleeding, so the level of risk of people around her would be extremely low.”

However, the CDC is contacting everyone who was on the flight about their possible exposure to Ebola.

“Those who have exposures to Ebola, she should not have traveled on a commercial airline,” said Dr. Frieden. “The CDC guidance in this setting outlines the need for controlled movement. That can include a charter plane; that can include a car; but it does not include public transport. We will from this moment forward ensure that no other individual who is being monitored for exposure undergoes travel in any way other than controlled movement.”

The plane was used for five additional flights before it was taken out of service.