Incidence of acute exacerbation in patients with interstitial lung disease after COVID-19 vaccination

Acute exacerbations due to COVID-19 vaccination in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) have been reported, but their incidence is unknown. We investigated the incidence of exacerbations of ILD and respiratory symptoms due to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. A questionnaire survey was conducted on adverse reactions to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in 545 patients with ILD attending our hospital and retrospectively examined whether the eligible patients actually developed acute exacerbations of ILD induced by the vaccine. Of the 545 patients, 17 (3.1%) patients were aware of the exacerbation of respiratory symptoms, and four (0.7%) patients developed an acute ILD exacerbation after vaccination. Of the four patients who experienced exacerbations, two had collagen vascular disease-associated ILD, one had nonspecific interstitial pneumonia, another had unclassifiable idiopathic pneumonia, and none had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Four patients were treated using steroid pulse therapy with a steroid taper, and two of the four also received intravenous cyclophosphamide pulse therapy. Tacrolimus was started in one patient with myositis-associated interstitial lung disease. Eventually, all patients exhibited improvement with immunosuppressive treatment and were discharged. COVID-19 vaccination for patients with ILD should be noted for developing acute exacerbations of ILD with low incidence, although manageable with early diagnosis and treatment. © 2022 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases

States: End HCW COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

The article discusses that 22 states have joined to petition Centers for Medicare & Medical Services (CMS) to stop mandating Covid-19 vaccines for healthcare workers. It discusses that CMS does not require the new bivalent Covid-19 booster for healthcare workers;and mentions that whether the SARS-CoV-2 bivalent immunization can blunt the threat to healthcare workers and patients, particularly since the viral iterations have shown the ability to escape vaccine immunity.

Evaluation Of TLR-4 Level Among Pfizer/Biontech Vaccinated People

Background: Over 221 million illnesses and over 4.6 million fatalities caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were confirmed as of September 2021, according to the WHO. Accelerated vaccine development initiatives and widespread immunization campaigns were implemented to address the enormous morbidity and death load. The most reliable approach to stop the spread of infectious illnesses is through vaccination. Methods: The study had eighty-one (81) participants ranging from 18 to 66 years old who were recently injected with COVID-19 mRNA Pfizer/BioNTech [BNT162b2] vaccines. They received two vaccine doses of 30 ug, 0.3 ml_ injections twenty-one (21) days apart. Before the first vaccination, blood samples were collected. This procedure was repeated on days 7-10 following the first immunization, and on 7-10 days following the second dosage. All samples were tested for TLR-4 using a High Sensitivity Human ELISA Kit (Elabscience/United State). Results: TLR-4 levels did not significantly rise in any of the groups. Conclusions: The elevated TLR-4, was not significantly rise in any of the studied groups of our study. Further clinical studies are needs to understand the role of other immunological factors in safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

Current state of diagnostic, screening and surveillance testing methods for COVID-19 from an analytical chemistry point of view.

Since December 2019, we have been in the battlefield with a new threat to the humanity known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In this review, we describe the four main methods used for diagnosis, screening and/or surveillance of SARS-CoV-2: Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); chest computed tomography (CT); and different complementary alternatives developed in order to obtain rapid results, antigen and antibody detection. All of them compare the highlighting advantages and disadvantages from an analytical point of view. The gold standard method in terms of sensitivity and specificity is the RT-PCR. The different modifications propose to make it more rapid and applicable at point of care (POC) are also presented and discussed. CT images are limited to central hospitals. However, being combined with RT-PCR is the most robust and accurate way to confirm COVID-19 infection. Antibody tests, although unable to provide reliable results on the status of the infection, are suitable for carrying out maximum screening of the population in order to know the immune capacity. More recently, antigen tests, less sensitive than RT-PCR, have been authorized to determine in a quicker way whether the patient is infected at the time of analysis and without the need of specific instruments.