Gut bacteria linked to the severity of the disease, immune response; high toll on mental health in ICUs

(Reuters) – The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the new coronavirus and attempts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Gut bacteria bound by the severity of COVID-19, immune response

The microscopic organisms that live in our gut can affect the severity of COVID-19 and the body’s immune response to it, and may be responsible for persistent symptoms, researchers reported Monday in the journal Gut. They found that the gut microorganisms in COVID-19 patients were very different from those in uninfected individuals. “COVID patients lack certain good bacteria that are known to regulate our immune system,” said Dr. Siew Ng from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The presence of an abnormal assortment of gut bacteria, or “dysbiosis,” persists after the virus clears and could play a role in the long-lasting symptoms that plague some patients, she said. Her team has developed an oral formulation of live bacteria known as probiotics and a special capsule to protect the organisms until they reach the intestines. “Compared to patients who received standard care, our clinical pilot study showed that more COVID patients who received our microbiome immunity formula completely cleared up symptoms,” said Ng, adding that those who received it had significantly fewer markers for inflammation in their blood. their stools and they developed neutralizing antibodies to the virus. (bit.ly/3q9u1hb)

Pandemic takes a toll on the mental health of IC workers

Nearly half of the staff working in intensive care units (ICU) in England suffer from severe anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, feeling better off dead, researchers reported Wednesday in Occupational Medicine. The survey was conducted in June and July – before Britain began to experience the latest wave of hospital admissions. Of the more than 700 health professionals in nine ICUs, 45% met the threshold for probable clinical significance for at least one of four major mental disorders: major depression (6%), PTSD (40%), severe anxiety (11%), or problem drinking (7%). More than one in eight regularly reported self-harm or suicidal thoughts in the past two weeks. The poor mental health of IC staff caring for critically ill and dying COVID-19 patients not only impairs their quality of life, but is also likely to impair their ability to work effectively, the researchers said. The findings show that mental health care needs to be urgently accessible to all health professionals. (bit.ly/2LN5SOQ; reut.rs/38GlzAn)

Cooling vests help COVID-19 nurses tolerate PPE

Nurses in COVID-19 wards who wear cooling vests under their personal protective equipment (PPE) feel less stressed by heat during their shifts, a small study suggests. Seventeen nurses wore a lightweight cooling vest under their PPE one day and only PPE the next. On both days, the participants swallowed an electronic capsule that continuously reads the core temperature of the body. The vests led to a slight improvement in body temperature, but a much greater improvement in the feeling of being too warm, researchers reported in the journal Temperature. Only 18% of the nurses reported thermal discomfort and 35% a slightly warm thermal feeling at the end of the day with the vest. That compared to 81% and 94% respectively on the day without a vest. “PPE is known to cause heat stress, which increases fatigue and sensory displeasure, and is known to hinder effective decision-making,” said study co-author Thijs Eijsvogels of the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. The CoolOver vests from Dutch company Inuteq are easy to disinfect and reactivate in a refrigerator, he said, and can extend work tolerance time and improve recovery for clinicians involved in COVID-19 care. (bit.ly/2K9sXe5)

Diabetes increases COVID-19 risks for black patients

Black patients with type 1 (T1D) diabetes who become infected with the novel coronavirus are at particularly high risk of a life-threatening diabetes complication known as ketoacidosis, new data shows. T1D usually develops in children or young adults and requires daily insulin to survive. Researchers studied 180 patients from across the United States with T1D and COVID-19, including 31% who were Black and 26% Hispanic. Black patients were nearly four times more likely to develop diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) compared to white patients, the researchers reported in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Hispanics had a slightly higher risk than Caucasian patients. Blacks and Hispanics were significantly less likely to use new diabetes technology, such as continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps, and had significantly worse blood sugar levels compared to white patients. That suggested that the higher risk was likely caused by structural and systemic inequality, study co-author Dr. Osagie Ebekozien of the nonprofit T1D Exchange in Boston told Reuters. During the pandemic in particular, health care providers should screen patients with T1D for socioeconomic factors that increase their risk of DKA, such as food insecurity, affordability of insulin and access to diabetes supplies, the researchers said. (bit.ly/3hWJZs8)

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