December 21, 2020 - a podcast by COVID19LST

In today's episode we discuss:

—Epidemiology: What was the SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibody response in Norwegian healthcare workers after the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic? A multicenter prospective survey study of 607 healthcare workers (HCW) by a researcher at the Influenza Centre at the University of Bergen in Norway found 5% of participants (32/607) were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 (spike-specific IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies), including 21 who were positive at baseline and 11 who seroconverted during follow-up. 77% of the infected HCWs, in high-risk departments were young nurses aged 23-31. Results also showed that HCW were 11.6 times more likely to contact COVID-19 patients when compared to low-risk HCW or community members, while HCW with partial PPE were at a 2.5 fold higher risk. Authors highlight the importance of protecting high-risk frontline HCW and suggest prioritization of this group during vaccine distribution.

—Understanding the Pathology: Could there be an association of salivary content alteration and early ageusia symptoms in COVID-19 infections? Dental specialists in Saudi Arabia reviewed 36 studies on chemical and inflammatory changes that occur in SARS-CoV-2 infected salivary glands and propose a chemosensory mechanism to explain alterations in taste and smell found commonly seen in COVID-19. In patients reporting aguesia, they found changes in salivary hormones, inorganic compounds, pH, enzymes, and salivary flow rate, which are all involved in normal taste perception. Authors suggest with better understanding and characterization of these changes, we may be able to prevent or treat changes in smell or taste seen among COVID-19 patients.

—Transmission & Prevention: Specific occupations and risk of severe COVID-19 are positively correlated. In this large-scale prospective cohort study, authors from various public health institutes in Glasgow, UK, Limerick, Ireland, and Syracuse, NY, analyzed data from the UK Biobank, involving 120,075 participants aged 40-69 registered with the National Health Service (NHS) in England, Wales or Scotland, and grouped them into occupational groups with concomitant serious COVID-19 infection (having to be hospitalized), in order to asses risk of infection across essential occupations.

—Management: There may be a high prevalence of pulmonary sequelae at 3 months after hospital discharge in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 survivors. In this letter to the editor, Dutch researchers share their clinical data from 48 critically-ill COVID-19 patients who underwent follow-up screening three months after discharge that included pulmonary function testing (PFT), high resolution chest CT (HRCT), and 6-minute walk test (6-MWT).

—R&D: Diagnosis & Treatments: There is some data suggesting usage of smartwatch tracking data to detect COVID-19 cases early. An article reviews a study conducted by researchers at Scripps Research Translational Institute who compared the smartwatch data between 333 participants, 54 of which ended up reporting positive for COVID-19, and found that symptom tracking plus smartwatch biometric data collecting yielded more predictive results of COVID-19 positive test probability than symptom tracking alone.This study was conducted earlier this year and used a smartphone/smartwatch app called DETECT.

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