COVID-19: The Immune Responses and Clinical Therapy Candidates

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with rising numbers of patients worldwide, presents an urgent need for effective treatments. To date, there are no therapies or vaccines that are proven to be effective against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Several potential candidates or repurposed drugs are under investigation, including drugs that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication and block infection. The most promising therapy to date is remdesivir, which is US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for emergency use in adults and children hospitalized with severe suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Herein we summarize the general features of SARS-CoV-2's molecular and immune pathogenesis and discuss available pharmacological strategies, based on our present understanding of SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections. Finally, we outline clinical trials currently in progress to investigate the efficacy of potential therapies for COVID-19.

Evaluation of risk factors for retinopathy in preterm infant: a case-control study in a referral hospital in Iran

AIM

Aim of the study was to detect possible risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), as a leading cause of treatable childhood blindness, among premature neonates.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, 60 premature neonates with ROP and 60 premature infants without ROP were entered and compared. Variables such as gestational age, birth weight, oxygen therapy, phototherapy, and so on were gathered and compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

Significant statistical differences were seen regarding gestational age (29.3±3.1 weeks in the ROP group vs. 31.9±2.2 in control group) and first-minute apgar score (6.55±1.7 in the ROP group vs. 7.06±2.3 in the control group). Regarding comparisons made in terms of therapeutic interventions made, only oxygen therapy and phototherapy showed significant differences between the two groups which were higher in the ROP group.

CONCLUSION

Gestational age (lower in the ROP group), first-minute Apgar score (lower mean score in the ROP group), birth weight, phototherapy, and oxygen therapy were factors discovered to affect the occurrence of ROP among premature infants. Higher birth weight and more advanced gestational age were protective factors for ROP. Oxygen therapy and multiple birth are ROP risk factors and these can be used for prediction of ROP occurrence.