What you need to know SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is covered in spike proteins. These spike proteins interact with a protein called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) that sits on the surface of human cells. By attaching to ACE2, the virus can infect the human cells. Because ACE2 does not change, the part of the spike protein that interacts with ACE2 is unlikely to change or mutate. This makes the development of “decoy” ACE2 proteins — proteins that bind to SARS-CoV-2 before it can attach to human cells — a promising target for new treatments.
At least 15 million kids have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but it is unclear how many of them have had or are living with long COVID. The ailment includes symptoms that linger after COVID-19 or symptoms that come back after an absence of weeks or months. A person might feel short of breath, lose their sense of smell, be unable to think clearly, be tired all the time, or have other maladies that can be traced back to COVID-19.
What you need to know COVID-19 can cause long-term problems with thinking, concentrating, and remembering. This condition is commonly known as “brain fog.” Brain fog after COVID-19 has been studied mostly by observing previously healthy people. In a small study supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), researchers examined the cognitive impact of COVID-19 on people with dementia. The researchers found that having COVID-19 rapidly accelerated the structural and functional brain deterioration of patients with dementia, regardless of the type of dementia being experienced.
What you need to know As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a growing number of people are experiencing long-term symptoms and health problems following SARS-CoV-2 infection, a condition known as Long COVID. However, the likelihood of being diagnosed with Long COVID seems to vary. A study supported by the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative found that the majority of patients from a sample of more than 30,000 patients with a Long COVID diagnosis were White, non-Hispanic, female, and likely to live in more affluent areas with greater access to health care. Because the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected people from racial and ethnic minorities, this finding may mean that people from those groups are living with Long COVID without a formal diagnosis.
hat you need to know Antiviral drugs can lower the risk of severe illness and death from viral infections. In 2021, a clinical trial showed that Paxlovid — an antiviral treatment known generically as nirmatrelvir and ritonavir — reduces the risk of severe COVID-19. Since then, the antiviral treatment has been administered more than 7.6 million times and is available by prescription at more than 40,000 locations in the United States. The study that showed the effectiveness of Paxlovid occurred when the Delta variant was the dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In a new study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Cancer Institute, researchers have found that the drug still reduces risk of hospitalization and death from the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
IMPORTANCE Severeacuterespiratorysyndromecoronavirus2(SARS-CoV-2),theetiologyof coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is readily transmitted person to person. Optimal control of COVID-19 depends on directing resources and health messaging to mitigation efforts that are most likely to prevent transmission, but the relative importance of such measures has been disputed.