Coronavirus [NEW TOPIC PAGE]

Hot Topics of the Day|PHGKB

 Coronavirus

Use of “normal” risk to improve understanding of dangers of covid-19
D Spiegelhalter, BMJ, September 9, 2020

Accumulating data on deaths from covid-19 show an association with age that closely matches the “normal” risk we all face. Explaining risk in this way could help people understand and manage their response,

Risk stratification of patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 using the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol: development and validation of the 4C Mortality Score
SR Knight et al, BMJ, September 9, 2020

An easy-to-use risk stratification score has been developed and validated based on commonly available parameters at hospital presentation. The 4C Mortality Score outperformed existing scores, showed utility to directly inform clinical decision making, and can be used to stratify patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 into different management groups.

Racial/Ethnic Variation in Nasal Gene Expression of Transmembrane Serine Protease 2 (TMPRSS2)
S Bunyavanitch et al, JAMA, September 10, 2020

This study of nasal epithelial gene expression in a racially/ethnically diverse cohort showed significantly higher expression of TMPRSS2 in Black individuals compared with other races/ethnicities. Given the essential role of TMPRSS2 in SARS-CoV-2 entry,higher nasal expression of TMPRSS2 may contribute to the higher burden of COVID-19 among Black individuals

Covid-19 Molecular Diagnostic Testing - Lessons Learned.
Shuren Jeffrey et al. The New England journal of medicine 2020 Sep

Although the EUA approach resulted in earlier test availability, the less-rigorous evidence standard, coupled with delayed FDA review, allowed the use of several LDTs that proved to have performance problems or to be poorly validated. In analyzing 125 EUA requests, we identified 82 with design or validation problems, and several have been denied authorization.