What Are COVID-19 Vaccines?

COVID-19 is a serious disease that can have a range of symptoms, from very mild to severe. It has caused over 2,500,000 deaths worldwide and over 500,000 deaths in the US since it was first identified in 2019. To date, three vaccines have been developed and authorized for use in the US to help prevent COVID-19. These new vaccines will help prevent illness and may prevent spread of the virus. Additional vaccines are being developed and considered. Other public health measures such as social distancing, avoiding crowds, wearing face coverings, and hand washing still need to be done by everyone to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Severity of seasonal coronavirus acute respiratory illness during infancy associated with respiratory viral co-infection

Background: There are limited data on the clinical characteristics of acute respiratory illness (ARI) in infants due to seasonal coronaviruses (CoV), long-term respiratory outcomes, and how CoV compare to other common viruses. Methods: Prospective cohort study of previously healthy term infants enrolled during hospitalization or acute care outpatient visits (emergency and clinic visits) for ARI from 2004-2008. ARI severity was determined using a 12-point respiratory severity score (RSS), and dichotomous LRTI or URI. ARI viral etiology was determined using real-time PCR for a panel of common respiratory viruses including seasonal CoV NL63, 229E, and OC43. In an exploratory analysis, proportions who subsequently developed childhood asthma were estimated by infection status in infancy. Clinical presentation of infant seasonal CoV infections was compared with published data on SARS-CoV-2 clinical characteristics in infants. Results: Among 665 infants, 28 (4%) had CoV detected. NL63, 229E, and OC43 comprised 25%, 25%, and 61% of detections, respectively, which included mixed-CoV infections. CoV exhibited winter seasonality. Among 28 CoV infections, 19 (68%) infants had co-infection with other viruses (RSV, HRV, influenza). Of 9 CoV-only detections, 2 (22%) were hospitalizations, 7 (78%) were outpatient, 8 (89%) were URI, 0 were bronchiolitis, and 1 (11%) was other diagnosis. Among CoV co-infections, 9 (47%) were hospitalizations, 10 (53%) were outpatient, 6 (32%) were URI, 11 (58%) were bronchiolitis, and 2 (11%) were other diagnoses. Average RSS was higher in infants with CoV co-infection than CoV-only infection (figure). Most common seasonal CoV symptoms were fever, cough, and rhinorrhea. Among those with long-term follow-up, childhood asthma (4-6 years) appeared more prevalent in RSV-only (62/152, 41%) and HRV-only infection groups (33/61, 54%) versus CoV-only (2/6, 33%);however, infants with CoV infection comprised a small proportion. Conclusions: Seasonal CoV represented the fourth most common viral etiology of ARI among infants seeking unscheduled medical care. CoV infection was less severe compared to RSV or HRV. This mild disease presentation is similar to current published reports of SARS-CoV-2 infection in infants. Greater illness severity was associated with CoV coinfection compared to CoV alone;however, CoV-only detection were few. Infants with seasonal CoV were less likely than infants with RSV or HRV to have later childhood long-term respiratory morbidity. These findings highlight the potential influence that respiratory co-pathogens may have in infant SARS-CoV-2 infection severity, and underscore the importance of identifying co-infecting pathogens.