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Not allowing yourself to be peer-pressured into downloading those tiresome dating apps may be the first best precaution you can take to protect your heart. Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 may well be the second, it turns out. A new international study examining the effects of vaccines on millions of patients in the UK, Spain and Estonia found that being vaccinated may be the trick to a healthier heart. In the first month after infection, the researchers found that the risk of <keyword id="25186" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="blood-clotting" source="Orion">blood clotting</keyword> plummeted by a whopping 78% in the limbic veins and 47% in the arteries of the vaccinated individuals. Avoiding these complications helped more than halve the <keyword id="32031" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="heart-failure" source="Orion">heart failure</keyword> risk among vaxxers compared to the non-vaccinated. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What does blood clotting have to do with COVID?" comment="subhead" text="What does blood clotting have to do with COVID?">What does blood clotting have to do with COVID?</cmsannotation> Unfortunately, just having blood inside your body isn’t enough to help you survive; the stuff needs to constantly move and slosh through your blood vessels, transporting and depositing oxygen and other nutrients around like silt on a river edge. However, certain conditions — such as diabetes and obesity — can cause some of your blood to abnormally coagulate, forming giant blockages that prevent your veins and arteries from moving blood around efficiently. This places an extra burden on your heart, which can lead it to fail. Research has shown that COVID-19 infections have the capability to cause unusual blood clots in multiple parts of the body, including the lungs and the legs. This can lead to organ failures, <keyword id="6357661" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="heart-attack" source="Orion">heart attack</keyword> and <keyword id="25191" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stroke" source="Orion">stroke</keyword>. Fortunately, simply taking a wee bit of time off to get yourself jabbed by the <keyword id="24209" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vaccine" source="Orion">vaccine</keyword> helps tremendously, it turns out. It wasn’t just heart failure and stroke; being vaccinated also reduced the risk of developing other heart-related diseases. This included scary conditions such as heart attacks and ventricular arrhythmia (an abnormal heartbeat), although this shield only persisted for the first 30 days after the infection. Despite not being at peak efficacy, the vaccine’s protection was potent enough to slash risk of heart failure by nearly 50% for up to a year after vaccination, the study found. This showed that even as the protective halo of the vaccine waned over time, it still continued to pack a punch. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Will this squash the vaccine side-effect debate?" comment="subhead" text="Will this squash the vaccine side-effect debate?">Will this squash the vaccine side-effect debate?</cmsannotation> There has been a second-wave of reluctance to take the COVID-19 vaccine, majorly due to concerns of long-term complications that can arise from them. The important thing to note is that while the vaccine can lead to heart issues in some people, it only takes place in extremely rare circumstances. Conversely, one study even showed that vaccination reduced the risk of long-COVID by a massive 67%. The researchers thus hope that these positive heart-related findings will help clear any vaccination hesitations among sceptics. However, more studies need to be conducted to conclusively understand the protection offered by booster doses in different populations. "Our findings probably reflect the fact that the vaccines are effective in reducing infection, and minimise the risk of severe COVID-19," explains study author Núria Mercadé-Besora. "These results could encourage COVID-19 vaccination among hesitant people who are worried about the potential risk of vaccine side effects." The findings of this study have been published in Heart and can be accessed <a href="https://heart.bmj.com/content/early/2024/01/24/heartjnl-2023-323483" data-type="tilCustomLink">here</a>.

COVID-19 vaccine can slash risk of post-infection heart failure by half, study finds

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) have risen suddenly in Japan this year.</li><li>The rare and deadly bacterial infection affects blood and tissue. </li></ul>In Japan, cases of an uncommon but deadly bacterial infection have spiked in recent months, concerning health officials, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/06/19/japan-stss-flesh-eating-bacteria/">the Washington Post reported</a>.Since January 2024, officials from Japan's Health Ministry have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/hokenfukushi/cmsfiles/contents/0000326/326147/topics202423.pdf">reported</a> 1,019 cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), a bacterial infection without a vaccine and treated with antibiotics. At least 77 deaths have been reported due to these STSS infections, with most fatal cases occurring in people over 50.Officials from Japan's Health Ministry said they are unsure what has caused the sudden increase in cases. But they find the surge alarming, considering that fewer than 1,000 cases of STSS were reported in the country in 2023.<h2 id="67b97131-b450-4e76-a0fa-1566914ef7db">STSS causes and symptoms</h2>STSS is caused by bacteria called <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdc.gov/group-a-strep/hcp/clinical-guidance/streptococcal-toxic-shock-syndrome.html#:~:text=Streptococcal%20toxic%20shock%20syndrome%20(STSS,specific%20organs%20that%20are%20failing.">group-A Streptococcus</a> (GAS), according to the CDC.This particular bacteria also causes mild infections like strep throat since it is commonly found in the throat and on the skin.But if GAS gets into a person's bloodstream or tissue through open wounds or sores, their organs may start to fail within 24 to 48 hours, as per the CDC website. GAS has also been linked to necrotizing fasciitis, an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/man-died-flesh-eating-bacteria-necrotizing-fasciitis-strep-a-2023-4">infection that causes a "flesh-eating" disease.</a>According to the CDC, three in 10 people who develop STSS are likely to die.Flu-like symptoms such as chills, fever, and muscle aches are often the first signs someone has STSS. More severe symptoms that signal organ failure due to STSS include:<ul><li>Low blood pressure signs include dizziness, blurred vision, weakness, nausea, and headaches.</li><li>An abnormally rapid heart rate</li><li>Abnormally rapid breathing</li></ul>If someone has these symptoms, they should go to the hospital right away, according to the CDC.Treatment typically involves replacing bodily fluids and antibiotics. According to the CDC, surgery may be needed to remove tissue infected by the GAS bacteria in some cases.<h2 id="f392bb71-7686-4600-81ae-e755046eb5df">Infections like STSS are on the rise globally</h2>Steer told the Washington Post that "we've had streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and invasive strep A infection in the US for decades and decades and decades, hundreds of years."However, it's an uncommon infection, and healthcare providers should take the sudden uptick in STSS cases in Japan as a cue to increase their awareness of potential symptoms among their patients, said Andrew Steer, director of infection, immunity, and global health at Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia.Since the coronavirus pandemic, health officials worldwide have expressed concern about <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rare-flesh-eating-disease-rises-as-bacteria-move-north-2023-3">increasing bacterial </a>and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/other-infections-rising-since-covid-pandemic/">viral infection</a> rates.In 2022, UK health officials reported <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-we-dont-have-a-strep-a-vaccine-2022-12">19 child deaths due to group-A streptococcal infections</a>, the same bacteria that causes STSS.Vaccines could help prevent the spread of these rare but potentially deadly bacterial infections, health experts said. However, creating one has proven to be a decadeslong process that is still in progress due to financial and scientific hurdles.

A sudden spike in cases of a rare infection often linked to flesh-eating bacteria is happening in Japan

London, Headaches, memory problems, and fatigue -- commonly known to continue post a Covid-19 infection -- may be a result of inflammation in the rest of the body and not because SARS-CoV-2 infects the brain, claims a new research. Early on in the pandemic, researchers surmised that direct infection of the brain could be the cause behind these neurological symptoms. Many studies have also proposed the effect of <keyword id="19896627" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid" source="keywords">Covid</keyword> virus on the brain symptoms. But a study by researchers at the Charite- Universitatsmedizin Berlin in Germany has now produced evidence to support the new theory. "We took that as our hypothesis at the start, too. But so far, there has been no clear evidence that the coronavirus can persist in the brain, let alone proliferate," said <keyword id="20621224" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dr-helena-radbruch" source="keywords">Dr Helena Radbruch</keyword>, head of the Chronic Neuroinflammation working group at the Department of Neuropathology at Charite. "For that, we would have needed to find evidence of intact virus particles in the brain, for example. Instead, the indications that the coronavirus could infect the brain come from indirect testing methods, so they aren't entirely conclusive," <keyword id="20621226" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="radbruch" source="keywords">Radbruch</keyword> added. According to a second hypothesis, the neurological symptoms would instead be a kind of side effect of the strong immune response the body deploys to defend against the virus. For the study, the team of researchers analysed various areas of the brain in 21 people who died in hospital settings, typically in an ICU, due to severe coronavirus infection. For comparison, the researchers studied nine patients who died of other causes after treatment in intensive care. First, they looked to see whether the tissue showed any visible changes and hunted for any indication of coronavirus. Then they conducted a detailed analysis of genes and proteins to identify the specific processes that had taken place inside individual cells. Like other teams of researchers before them, the Charite scientists found coronavirus genetic material in the brain in some cases. "But we didn't find neurons infected with SARS-CoV-2," Radbruch noted. "We assume that immune cells absorbed the virus in the body and then travelled to the brain. They're still carrying the virus, but it doesn't infect cells of the brain. So coronavirus has invaded other cells in the body, but not the brain itself." Still, the researchers did note striking changes in molecular processes in some cells of the brain in those infected with Covid-19: For example, the cells ramped up the interferon signalling pathway, which is typically activated in the course of a viral infection. "Some neurons evidently react to the inflammation in the rest of the body," said Prof. <keyword id="20621225" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="christian-conrad" source="keywords">Christian Conrad</keyword>, head of the <keyword id="20621227" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="intelligent-imaging" source="keywords">Intelligent Imaging</keyword> working group at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charite (BIH) and one of the principal investigators in the study. "This molecular reaction could be a good explanation for the neurological symptoms we see in Covid-19 patients. For example, neurotransmitters emitted by these cells in the brainstem could cause fatigue. That's because the brainstem is home to groups of cells that control drive, motivation, and mood." Further, the team found that the neurons' reaction to the inflammation is temporary, as shown by a comparison of people who died during an acute coronavirus infection with those who died at least two weeks afterward. The molecular changes are most evident during the acute infection phase, but they do normalise again afterward -- at least in the vast majority of cases.

Covid infection may not be responsible for memory problems & fatigue says new study

Variation in genes encoding proteins involved in immune responses could be behind why some people remain asymptomatic following <keyword id="9003584" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sars-cov-2-infection" source="Orion">SARS-CoV-2 infection</keyword>. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes encode these proteins used by the immune system in identifying and distinguishing healthy cells in the body from infected ones. Research has shown at least 20 % of Covid-infected do not develop symptoms, or remain asymptomatic. Critical to one's immunity and highly varied among individuals, the HLA system might have specific variants rendering them more protected against or vulnerable to Covid, the researchers in this US-Australia collaborative study wondered. Studying asymptomatic infection may improve our understanding of the features of the immune system that promote rapid clearance of the virus, the study published in the journal Nature said. To understand if an HLA variation might predispose some people to asymptomatic <keyword id="9114543" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-infection" source="Orion">Covid infection</keyword>, the researchers enrolled 29,947 individuals to participate in a smartphone-based study designed to track COVID-19 symptoms and outcomes. All of them were DNA sequenced for their HLA genetic profiling. A total of 1,428 unvaccinated individuals reported a positive test for infection with SARS-CoV-2 and 136 of them reported having no symptoms. One in five individuals who remained asymptomatic after infection were found to carry a common variant of HLA called HLA-B*15:01. People carrying two copies of this variant were more than eight times likely to remain asymptomatic than those carrying other versions of HLA, the study found. "We hypothesised that their immune system could react so fast and powerfully that the virus was eliminated before causing any symptoms. It's like having an army that already knows what to look for and can tell by the uniform that these are the bad guys," according to Jill Hollenbach, professor at the University of California San Francisco, US. In a separate arm of the study, the researchers found that individuals carrying HLA-B*15:01 with no prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2 had T cells (a type of immune cell) that were reactive to SARS-CoV-2 protein fragments sharing some genetic sequences with other seasonal coronaviruses. This finding indicated that people carrying HLA-B*15:01 and previously exposed to seasonal cold viruses had pre-existing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and could rapidly eliminate the virus before symptoms could present. The researchers analysed this to be because the T cells from pre-pandemic individuals, that could identify viral particles from past coronaviruses, created an immunological memory from the previous coronaviruses. These memory T cells recognise SARS-CoV-2, owing to its high similarities with those coronaviruses, and kill it very quickly. "So, even if the bad guys changed the uniform, the army would still be able to identify them by their boots or maybe a tattoo on their arms. That is how our immunological memory works to keep us healthy," said Danillo Augusto, assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, US.

Scientists may have found the reason behind asymptomatic Covid infections: Genetic variation in immune system

The Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Dr Rajiv Bahl on Monday criticised a recently published study on the long-term safety analysis of the <keyword id="9485939" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="covaxin" source="Orion">Covaxin</keyword> in adults and adolescents for its poor methodology and design, and clarified the article misleadingly and erroneously "acknowledges" <keyword id="19918794" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICMR" source="keywords">ICMR</keyword>. Dr Bahl said the study had no control arm of unvaccinated individuals for comparing the rates of events between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups. Hence, the reported events in the study cannot be linked or attributed to COVID-19 vaccination. He added that the ICMR is not associated with the study and has not provided any financial or technical support for the research. The ICMR DG has written a letter to the authors of the paper and Editor of the journal to immediately remove the acknowledgement to ICMR and publish an erratum. A research paper, titled 'Long-Term Safety Analysis of the BBVl52 <keyword id="21730391" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus-vaccine" source="keywords">Coronavirus Vaccine</keyword> in Adolescents and Adults: Findings from a l-Year Prospective Study in North India' stated that nearly one-third of the 926 participants in the study who received Bharat Biotech's anti-Covid vaccine Covaxin reported 'adverse events of special interest,' or AESI. Dr Bahl said that ICMR was acknowledged for research support without any prior approval of or intimation to ICMR, which is inappropriate and unacceptable. He stated that ICMR cannot be associated with this poorly designed study which purports to present a "safety analysis" of Covaxin due to several critical flaws. He said the study does not even provide background rates of observed events in the population, making it impossible to assess the change in incidence of observed events in the post-vaccination period. Baseline information of study participants is missing. The study tool used is inconsistent with 'Adverse Events of Special Interest (AESI)' as defined in the reference provided in the paper for AESI. The method of data collection has a high risk of bias, he said. Study participants were contacted telephonically one year after vaccination and their responses were recorded without any confirmation with clinical records or by physician examination, he pointed out. Dr Bahl also noted that similar acknowledgements to ICMR have been made in previous papers without permission, raising concerns about the authors' practices. "The authors have been urged to immediately rectify the acknowledgment to ICMR and publish an erratum. Additionally, they are asked to address the methodological concerns raised. Failure to do so may prompt ICMR to consider legal and administrative action," he said. The Editor has been asked to retract the paper which implicitly makes conclusions on <keyword id="21495684" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vaccine-safety" source="keywords">vaccine safety</keyword> which are not supported by evidence. The study, conducted by researchers from the Banaras Hindu University from January 2022 to August 2023, stated that nearly 50 per cent of 926 study participants in the study complained of infections during the follow-up period, predominated by viral upper respiratory tract infections. Serious AESI, which included stroke and Guillain-Barre syndrome, were reported in one per cent of individuals, the study, which looked at long-term safety of the BBV152 (Covaxin) vaccine in adolescents and adults, claimed. The study involved 635 adolescents and 291 adults, who received the BBV152 vaccine.

You Searched For "coronavirus infection" and got 5 results

COVID-19 vaccine can slash risk of post-infection heart failure by half, study finds

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A sudden spike in cases of a rare infection often linked to flesh-eating bacteria is happening in Japan

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Scientists may have found the reason behind asymptomatic Covid infections: Genetic variation in immune system

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BHU study on Covaxin side effects poorly designed, critically flawed: ICMR Director General

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