THE following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review.
One in four kids with COVID develop lingering problems
One in four children with COVID-19 symptoms develop "long COVID," according to data pooled from 21 earlier studies conducted in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.
Among the 80,071 children with COVID-19 in the studies, 25% developed symptoms that lasted at least 4-to-12 weeks or new persistent symptoms that appeared within 12 weeks, researchers reported on Sunday on medRxiv ahead of peer review.
The most frequent problems were neuropsychiatric (mood symptoms, fatigue, sleep disorders, headaches, cognitive alterations, dizziness, balance problems), cardiorespiratory (breathing difficulty, congestion, exercise intolerance, chest pain and tightness, cough, irregular heart rhythm), skin-related (excessive sweating, itchiness, hair loss) and gastrointestinal (abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea).
Analyses of data pooled from many different studies with different methodologies cannot yield firm conclusions, the researchers acknowledge.
What is clear, however, is that "children and adolescents have also physical and mental health consequences derived from COVID-19," said study coauthor Sonia Villapol of Houston Methodist Research Institute in Texas.
"Identifying the main signs and symptoms of pediatric long COVID can help diagnose, develop better treatments, create multidisciplinary teams for optimal clinical management, and find risk factors for prevention."
Vaccine protection in mother's milk strongest after mRNA shots
Women who wish to pass protective antibodies induced by COVID-19 vaccines to their babies via breast milk should opt for the mRNA shots from Moderna MRNA.O or Pfizer PFE.N/BioNTech BNTX.O, according to a study reported on Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.
For the study, 124 lactating women each provided 17 milk samples over a period of 100 days. The women had received either an mRNA vaccine or a vector-based vaccine from Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca.
Researchers measured two types of antibodies in the milk samples - IgA antibodies and IgG antibodies, both of which are thought to play important roles in protecting breastfed infants.
Nearly all - 96% to 97% - of the women who received both doses of an mRNA vaccine had detectable IgA antibodies in their milk, while only 39% had antibodies in their milk after two doses of the AstraZeneca shot and 48% after the one-dose J&J vaccine.
All the women who received both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccines had IgG antibodies, compared to only 28% of women who received J&J's shot.
"An mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine is the optimal choice for lactating women when they want to transfer breast milk antibodies to their infants," the researchers concluded.
Omicron is infectious on surfaces longer than original virus
Omicron particles remain infectious on surfaces for longer periods than particles of the original SARS-CoV-2, according to laboratory experiments.
Researchers put droplets of infectious virus from the original coronavirus version and the Omicron BA.1 variant on a variety of surfaces at room temperature.
On smooth surfaces (glass, stainless steel and plastic sheet), Omicron was still infectious after seven days, whereas particles of the original SARS-CoV-2 were no longer infectious on stainless steel and plastic sheets by day 4 and on glass by day 7, the researchers reported on Thursday on bioRxiv ahead of peer review.
On tissue paper and printing paper, the original virus was no longer infectious at 30 minutes. Omicron was still infectious at 30 minutes, but no longer after an hour, the researchers said.
For the most part, SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted via respiratory droplets in the air. While infection via contact with contaminated surfaces is less common, the new study "highlights the importance of hand hygiene and cleaning on surfaces that are regularly touched by different persons," said study coauthor Leo Poon of the University of Hong Kong.
"For surfaces and settings contaminated by a COVID-19 patient, proper cleaning should be done."
Reuters
Tue Mar 15 2022
Children are seen walking, on the first day of lifting the indoor mask mandate for DOE schools between K through 12, in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. - REUTERS/Filepic
Sebanyak 2,288 stesen pengecas EV dipasang sehingga Mac 2024
Sebanyak 268 stesen pengecas kereta elektrik (EV) telah beroperasi, menjadikan jumlah terkumpul Petak Pengecasan Kenderaan Elektrik (EVCB) setakat Mac 2024 sebanyak 2,288 unit.
Jasad Mutang Tagal tiba di Miri untuk penghormatan terakhir
Wartawan Rudi Affendi Khalik melaporkan jasad Yang Di Pertuan Dewan Negara, Datuk Mutang Tagal selamat tiba di Miri, untuk upacara penghormatan terakhir sebelum dikebumikan pada Isnin.
KPT mahu siasatan terperinci kebakaran asrama UNIMAP
Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (KPT) mahu siasatan terperinci dilakukan terhadap kejadian kebakaran yang berlaku di di aras bawah Blok B, Kompleks Perumahan Pauh Putra, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) di Arau, awal pagi tadi.
Agong, Raja Permaisuri zahir ucapan Selamat Hari Ibu
Seri Paduka Baginda menerusi satu hantaran di Facebook rasmi Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, turut menitipkan ucapan Selamat Hari Ibu kepada Raja Permaisuri Agong.
Lawatan PM ke Qatar medan terbaik bincang kekejaman Zionis
Pertemuan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dengan rakan sejawat Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pada Isnin, dijangka menjadi medan terbaik untuk Malaysia memahami perkembangan terkini di Gaza yang disifatkan semakin meruncing susulan kekejaman berterusan rejim Zionis.
Kali terakhir kedua-duanya bertemu adalah ketika lawatan rasmi Anwar ke Riyadh, Arab Saudi bulan lepas, yang turut berkisar mengenai konflik berkenaan.
Kali terakhir kedua-duanya bertemu adalah ketika lawatan rasmi Anwar ke Riyadh, Arab Saudi bulan lepas, yang turut berkisar mengenai konflik berkenaan.
10 pelajar terselamat bilik asrama terbakar
Kebakaran pada 3.30 pagi itu menyebabkan bilik yang menempatkan pelajar lelaki berkenaan musnah 70 peratus.
AWANI Ringkas: Ringgit diniagakan berhati-hati
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Sudah tiba masa Muhyiddin, Hadi berundur - Zaid Ibrahim
Kekalahan di PRK KKB jadi pengajaran buat PN agar menukar pemimpin mereka yang sudah sangat tua, bukan hanya dari segi umur tetapi juga idea.
Cortana langgar paten, Microsoft diarah bayar ganti rugi AS$242 juta
Saman difailkan pada tahun 2018 tetapi hanya mula dibicarakan seminggu lalu.
Apple dilapor semakin hampir dalam kerjasama guna teknologi OpenAI pada iOS 18
Selain OpenAI, Apple turut berbincang bersama Google untuk penggunaan Gemini pada iOS 18, tetapi masih belum mencapai tahap perbincangan seperti OpenAI setakat ini.
Kerajaan jamin sediakan rawatan kesan sampingan vaksin COVID-19 termasuk AstraZeneca - Dzulkefly
Kerajaan memberi jaminan akan menyediakan rawatan susulan bagi penerima vaksin COVID-19 termasuk AstraZeneca yang terbukti mengalami kesan sampingan.
KKM keluar kenyataan berkaitan vaksin AstraZeneca dalam masa terdekat
KKM akan mengeluarkan kenyataan berhubung isu penarikan balik vaksin COVID-19 keluaran AstraZeneca dalam masa terdekat.
Isu tunggakan cetakan MyKid bakal selesai Julai ini - JPN
Isu cetakan MyKid yang tertunggak akibat masalah perolehan bekalan mikrocip semasa pandemik COVID-19 lalu dijangka dapat diselesaikan pada Julai ini secara berperingkat di seluruh negara.
Program Jana Wibawa dilaksana selepas dapat persetujuan Jemaah Menteri - Saksi
Mahkamah Sesyen di sini hari ini diberitahu bahawa cadangan mengenai Jana Wibawa telah dibawa ke mesyuarat untuk pertimbangan sebelum Jemaah Menteri memutuskan supaya program itu diteruskan pada 2020.
Kelaparan akut jejaskan 281.6 juta orang tahun lepas - PBB
Tahap bahaya kelaparan akut menjejaskan 281.6 juta orang tahun lepas, tahun kelima berturut-turut bahawa ketakjaminan makanan semakin memburuk.
Hamilton optimis kedudukan lebih baik di GP China
Lewis Hamilton melihat potensi kedudukan yang lebih baik dalam saingan Grand Prix yang kembali ke China buat pertama kali dalam tempoh lima tahun, hujung minggu ini.
'Selfish!' - Fasha Sandha sedih raya di Perlis tak jadi gara-gara dijangkiti COVID-19
Fasha berkata dia mula melakukan pemeriksaan COVID-19 selepas berasa tidak sihat badan dan mengalami bersin tidak henti sejak Raya pertama.
Kes COVID-19 catat penurunan ketara pada ME 14/2024 - KKM
Jumlah kes COVID-19 menurun 97.1 peratus kepada 493 kes pada Minggu Epidemiologi ke-14 (ME 14/2024) iaitu bagi tempoh 31 Mac hingga 6 April lepas berbanding 17,256 kes pada ME 1/2024.
China jadikan pengalaman pencegahan COVID-19 untuk hadapi pandemik masa depan
China akan menjadikan pengalaman dalam pencegahan dan kawalan COVID-19 untuk membuat persediaan yang lebih proaktif untuk menghadapi pandemik masa depan seperti "Penyakit X".
Negara berdepan ketirisan subsidi diesel serius - Amir Hamzah
Negara kini sedang berdepan isu ketirisan subsidi diesel yang serius dan wujud kemungkinan terdapat pihak yang tidak layak masih menikmati subsidi itu, kata Menteri Kewangan II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah.