ABSTRACT
Studies worldwide have shown that the available vaccines are highly effective against SARS-CoV-2. However, there are growing laboratory reports that the newer variants of concerns (VOCs e.g. Alpha, Beta, Delta etc) may evade vaccine induced defense. In addition to that, there are few ground reports on health workers having breakthrough infections. In order to understand VOC driven breakthrough infection we investigated 14 individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after being administered a single or double dose of Covishield (ChAdOx1, Serum Institute of India) from the city of Varanasi, which is located in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Genomic analysis revealed that 78.6% (11/14) of the patients were infected with the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant. Notably, the frequency (37%) of this variant in the region was significantly lower (p<0.01), suggesting that the vaccinated people were asymmetrically infected with the Delta variant. Most of the patients tested displayed mild symptoms, indicating that even a single dose of the vaccine can help in reducing the severity of the disease. However, more comprehensive epidemiological studies are required to understand the effectiveness of vaccines against the newer VOCs.
Subject(s)
Breakthrough PainABSTRACT
Background: World Health Organization has declared Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. It has killed thousands and millions are infected worldwide. Though COVID-19 is supposed to be primarily a disease of respiratory system, it also has widespread implications on other systems as well. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the cardiovascular implications of COVID-19. Methods: PubMed, PubMed Central, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were searched for peer-reviewed articles which aimed to delineate the cardiovascular implications of COVID-19.Results: A total of six articles (five original articles and one case report) were included. We found diverse cardiovascular implications of COVID-19 ranging from acute cardiac injury to death. New onset abnormalities in electrocardiogram or echocardiogragram, elevated plasma levels of cardiac troponin, NT-proBNP, and D-dimer have role in early identification of acute cardiac injury in such patients. Additionally, cardiac troponin and NT-proBNP can be used to evaluate prognosis and possible need for intensive care in these patients.Conclusion: Acute cardiac injury is common in patients with COVID-19. Aggressive supportive management based on prognostic indicators along with management of heart failure, arrhythmias, acute coronary syndrome and thrombosis can improve clinical outcomes in such patients.