Covid-19 risk higher for ones who vape

E-cigarette users infected by the Coronavirus may be more likely to experience severe symptoms. Pic/AFP

After a five-day quarantine, about a third of people infected with SARS-CoV-2, the Coronavirus that causes Covid-19, might still be infectious, according to new data. PCR tests detect virus particles but cannot tell whether they are infectious or merely inactive remnants. In sequential samples from 176 people with positive PCR tests, the researchers looked for genetic material that the virus produces when it is actively making copies of itself and is still transmissible.

"At five days, 30 per cent of people still exhibited clinically relevant levels of potentially active virus," said study leader Lorna Harries of the University of Exeter Medical School in England. After a 10-day quarantine, one in 10 people might still be infectious, her team reported in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Some people retained these levels for up to 68 days, the researchers said. "There was nothing clinically remarkable about these people, which means we wouldn't be able to predict who they are," Harries said in a news release. The study was conducted before the Delta and Omicron Coronavirus variants began circulating last year. The researchers intend to conduct larger trials to confirm their findings. In the meantime, they suggest, in facilities "where onward transmission would be especially problematic, it may be prudent to obtain molecular evidence of remission to prevent ongoing transmission."

Vapers risk more symptoms from Covid-19. E-cigarette users infected with the Coronavirus may be more likely than infected non-vapers to experience Covid-19 symptoms, according to research published in the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. The researchers compared 289 vapers with 1,445 people of similar age and gender who neither vaped nor smoked tobacco, all of whom had tested positive PCR tests. Compared to infected non-vapers and after accounting for participants' other risk factors, infected vapers experienced higher rates of chest pain or tightness, chills, body aches, headaches, problems with smell and taste, nausea/vomiting/abdominal pain, diarrhoea and light-headedness. "Our research was not designed to test whether e-cigarette use increases the risk of acquiring Covid infection, but it clearly indicates that symptom burden in patients with Covid-19 who vape is greater than in those who do not vape," study co-author Dr. Robert Vassallo of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said in a news release. The inflammation caused by the Coronavirus and the inflammation induced by vaping may combine to worsen the likelihood of inflammation throughout the body, with a resulting increase in symptoms, Vassallo and team suggested.

Rare spinal condition, a new side effect of AstraZeneca

The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) safety committee recommended adding a rare spinal inflammation called transverse myelitis as a side effect of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine. Transverse myelitis is an inflammation of one or both sides of the spinal cord and can cause weakness in the arms or legs, sensory symptoms or problems with bladder or bowel function.

32,47,45,823
Total number of cases Worldwide as of Saturday

55,49,688
Total no. of deaths worldwide

26,56,19,198
Patients recovered worldwide as of Saturday

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