immunology

COVID-19 Roundup: EUA for COVID-19 Vaccine, Myocarditis Following Hospitalization, Antibody Duration

FDA Expands Vaccine Use for Children1

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated the emergency use authorization to allow vaccination with the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines in children aged 6 months or older.

Previously, the Moderna vaccine was authorized for use in individuals aged 18 years or older. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was previously authorized for use in individuals aged 5 years or older.

The benefits of vaccination were determined to outweigh the risks following the results of 2 randomized clinical trials that included infants, children, and adolescents.

Pain, fever, redness and swelling at injection site, headache, and chills are among the commonly reported adverse events for both vaccines. The risk of myocarditis and pericarditis following vaccination is highest among men aged 18 to 24 years for the Moderna vaccine and men aged 12 to 17 years following the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. However, the FDA notes that symptoms resolve following conservative management.

Heart Inflammation Following COVID-19 Infection2

Approximately 1 in 8 patients experience myocarditis following hospitalization with COVID-19, according to a new study.

To better understand cardiorenal involvement and health-related quality of life following COVID-19 infection, the researchers measured the serial blood markers, digital electrography, and patient-reported outcomes of 29 healthy patients in a control group and 159 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19.

Patients with COVID-19 had evidence of cardiorenal involvement and hemostasis pathway activation at 28 to 60 days post-discharge. The likelihood of myocarditis was “very likely” in approximately 13% of patients, “probable” in 41%, “unlikely” in 35%, and “not present” in 11%. Similarly, individuals with COVID-19 had worse health-related quality of life scores, anxiety and depression scores, and aerobic exercise capacity scores.

“One of the most important findings of the CISCO study is that it is the severity of a patient’s COVID-19 infection—not their underlying health conditions—that is most closely correlated with the severity of any ongoing health outcomes post discharge,” concluded Colin Berry MD, University of Glasgow, in a press release.3

Antibody Duration Following Infection4

Antibodies following COVID-19 infection may last longer than 500 days following infection, according to the results of a recent longitudinal analysis. This duration of antibody persistence varied depending on a patient’s age, body mass index, smoking or vaping use, and disease severity.

A total of 4553 individuals aged 20 years or older were included in the study. All participants were respondents to the Texas Coronavirus Antibody Response Survey (Texas CARES). Included participants had 1 positive COVID-19 diagnosis and at least 1 negative nucleocapsid antibody test before the end of the study period. All participants were tested for antibodies 1 to 3 times from October 1, 2020, to August 30, 2022.

The results indicated that expected antibody response had increased rapidly for 90 to 100 days post-infection. Within the first 100 days following infection, 5.5% of participants had negative nucleocapsid test results. Further, 2.8% received negative results from 101 to 200 days after infection, 4.5% from 201 to 300 days, 4.3% from 301 to 400 days, and 7.4% from 401 to 500 days following infection.  

 

—Leigh Precopio

 

References:

  1. Coronavirus (COVID-19) update: FDA authorizes Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for children down to 6 months of age. News release. US Food and Drug Administration; June 17, 2022. Accessed June 21, 2022. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-moderna-and-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccines-children
  2. Morrow AJ, Sykes R, McIntosh A, et al. A multisystem, cardio-renal investigation of post-COVID-19 illness. Nat Med. 2022;28:1303-1313. doi:10.1038/s41591-022-01837-9
  3. Heart inflammation found in 1 in 8 patients after hospitalization with COVID-19. News release. University of Glasgow; May 23, 2022. Accessed June 21, 2022. https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_849257_en.html
  4. Swartz MD, DeSantis SM, Yaseen A, et al. Antibody duration after infection from SARS-CoV-2 in the Texas Coronavirus Antibody Response survey. J Infect. Dis. Published online May 6, 2022. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiac167