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HomeHealthCan blood pressure medicines harm Covid-19 patients? US trial to find out

Can blood pressure medicines harm Covid-19 patients? US trial to find out

From 3D-printed swabs to AI tool that fast-tracks research, ThePrint brings you a roundup of the latest research to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

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New Delhi: In the wake of the global pandemic that has claimed over 147,000 lives and infected over 2.1 million people, scientists around the world have been using everything in their arsenal to better understand the virus and leverage our defences against Covid-19.

Here are some of the top stories on research and development on the Covid-19 front.

New trial to see how BP medications affect Covid-19 patients

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania will evaluate whether the use of medications to treat high blood pressure affects the outcomes among patients hospitalised with Covid-19.

The researchers will examine whether ACE inhibitors (ACEI) or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs) — two classes of medications to treat high blood pressure — help in mitigating complications or lead to more severe symptoms and outcomes.

For the trial, researchers will randomly ask patients who are hospitalised with Covid-19 to either stop or continue taking their prescribed medications. The team will closely monitor these patients to evaluate the effect of temporarily stopping the therapy.

According to the researchers, while data suggests that patients with underlying health conditions, like heart disease and high blood pressure, have a higher risk of developing a more severe form of Covid-19, it is not known whether the medications they take are beneficial or harmful.

The team also noted that there is an urgent need to understand how these medications may alter the disease’s course.


Also read: Govt removes restrictions on exports of formulations made from Paracetamol


3D-printed pliable swabs could address shortage 

Scientists at the University of Louisville in US have created a 3D-printed swab made of a pliable resin material that could be a promising solution to the shortage of swabs in Covid-19 test kits.

The researchers had previously created 3D-printed face shields, respirators and ventilators. Working with industry partners, the researchers were able to print 385 swabs in less than an hour.

The team has already prepared 700 test kits with 3D-printed swabs that will be used in a validation clinical trial in the US.

Special proteins to ‘soak up’ excess cytokines in patients

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed specialised proteins, similar in structure to antibodies, that could soak up the excess cytokines — proteins that cause lung damage — in Covid-19 patients.

In severe cases of Covid-19, a burst of immune overreaction — also called a cytokine storm — can be fatal. Researchers from the MIT have claimed that their specialised proteins can soak up these excess cytokines.

These can be injected into the body, where they will bind to the excessive cytokines and remove them, alleviating the symptoms from the infection, the researchers said.

The initial findings have been published in the Quarterly Review of Biophysics (QRB) Discovery. The team hopes to begin testing these proteins in human cells and in animal models of coronavirus infection.

AI system to help fast-track peer review of research

Researchers have developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool to help identify specialists to peer-review proposals for emergency Covid-19 research. The tool aims to fast-track the allocation of funding, and in turn, accelerate the scientific response to the virus.

The Coronavirus Reviewer Recommender suggests experts based on keywords or thorough semantic analysis of text.

Under normal circumstances, the review process for research funding typically takes place by a committee, which can be a matter of months. However, since the Covid-19 outbreak, experts have become less available, and the urgency of this situation demands a stricter time frame.

The open-access publisher Frontiers has specifically developed the recommendation tool to aid funders during the crisis by helping them identify new reviewers. The publisher’s in-house technology team has exploited the AI tool they use to review research articles when they are submitted to any one of its 79 scientific journals.

Tool to predict which regions may face shortage of workforce

Researchers at the George Washington University have created a novel modelling tool that will help estimate the need for healthcare workers under different scenarios of patient infection rates and health worker attrition.

The estimates provided by the new tool will help governments plan for large spikes in illnesses and potential shortfalls of key ICU personnel, such as respiratory therapists, intensivists, critical care nurses and others.

The tool will help identify potential worker shortages during peak demand periods, and prevent shortages by shoring up capacity according to needs.


Also read: Sick doctors, shut hospitals, no guidelines — a Wockhardt doctor on India’s Covid response


 

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