Progress in Antiviral Fullerene Research.

Unlike traditional small molecule drugs, fullerene is an all-carbon nanomolecule with a spherical cage structure. Fullerene exhibits high levels of antiviral activity, inhibiting virus replication in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we systematically summarize the latest research regarding the different types of fullerenes investigated in antiviral studies. We discuss the unique structural advantage of fullerenes, present diverse modification strategies based on the addition of various functional groups, assess the effect of structural differences on antiviral activity, and describe the possible antiviral mechanism. Finally, we discuss the prospective development of fullerenes as antiviral drugs.

Six-month follow-up of functional status in discharged patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: The long-term functional outcome of discharged patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains unresolved. We aimed to describe a 6-month follow-up of functional status of COVID-19 survivors. METHODS: We reviewed the data of COVID-19 patients who had been consecutively admitted to the Tumor Center of Union Hospital (Wuhan, China) between 15 February and 14 March 2020. We quantified a 6-month functional outcome reflecting symptoms and disability in COVID-19 survivors using a post-COVID-19 functional status scale ranging from 0 to 4 (PCFS). We examined the risk factors for the incomplete functional status defined as a PCFS > 0 at a 6-month follow-up after discharge. RESULTS: We included a total of 95 COVID-19 survivors with a median age of 62 (IQR 53-69) who had a complete functional status (PCFS grade 0) at baseline in this retrospective observational study. At 6-month follow-up, 67 (70.5%) patients had a complete functional outcome (grade 0), 9 (9.5%) had a negligible limited function (grade 1), 12 (12.6%) had a mild limited function (grade 2), 7 (7.4%) had moderate limited function (grade 3). Univariable logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between the onset symptoms of muscle or joint pain and an increased risk of incomplete function (unadjusted OR 4.06, 95% CI 1.33-12.37). This association remained after adjustment for age and admission delay (adjusted OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.06-10.81, p = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: A small proportion of discharged COVID-19 patients may have an incomplete functional outcome at a 6-month follow-up; intervention strategies are required.

Prevalence and outcomes of re-positive nucleic acid tests in discharged COVID-19 patients.

The prevalence and outcomes of patients who had re-activation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after discharge remain poorly understood. We included 126 consecutively confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 2-month follow-up data after discharge in this retrospective study. The upper respiratory specimen using a reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction test of three patients (71 years [60-76]) were positive within 11-20 days after their discharge, with an event rate of 19.8 (95%CI 2.60-42.1) per 1,000,000 patient-days. Moreover, all re-positive patients were asymptomatic. Our findings suggest that few recovered patients may still be virus carriers even after reaching the discharge criteria.