1- Monday Antimicrobial Resistance News – 27th December

1 – Britain reports first death with Omicron coronavirus variant

• At least one person has died in the United Kingdom after contracting the Omicron coronavirus variant, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday, the first publicly confirmed death globally from the swiftly spreading strain.
• Britain gave no details on the death other than the person had been diagnosed in hospital. It was not clear if the patient had been vaccinated or had underlying health issues.
• Deaths from Omicron may have occurred in other countries but none has been publicly confirmed yet outside Britain.

Source: Reuters

2 – Waning of BNT162b2 Vaccine Protection against SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Qatar

• Waning of vaccine protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection or coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is a concern.
• The persistence of BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) vaccine effectiveness against infection and disease in Qatar, where the B.1.351 (or beta) and B.1.617.2 (or delta) variants have dominated incidence and polymerase-chain-reaction testing is done on a mass scale, is unclear.
• BNT162b2-induced protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection appeared to wane rapidly following its peak after the second dose, but protection against hospitalization and death persisted at a robust level for 6 months after the second dose.

Source: NEJM

3 – Phase 3 Safety and Efficacy of AZD1222 (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) Covid-19 Vaccine

• The safety and efficacy of the AZD1222 (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) vaccine in a large, diverse population at increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the United States, Chile, and Peru has not been known.
• In this ongoing, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 clinical trial, they investigated the safety, vaccine efficacy, and immunogenicity of two doses of AZD1222 as compared with placebo in preventing the onset of symptomatic and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) 15 days or more after the second dose in adults, including older adults, in the United States, Chile, and Peru.
• AZD1222 was safe and efficacious in preventing symptomatic and severe Covid-19 across diverse populations that included older adults.

Source: NEJM

4- Dupilumab in Children with Uncontrolled Moderate-to-Severe Asthma

• Children with moderate-to-severe asthma continue to have disease complications despite the receipt of standard-of-care therapy.
• The monoclonal antibody dupilumab has been approved for the treatment of adults and adolescents with asthma as well as with other type 2 inflammatory diseases.
• Among children with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe asthma, those who received add-on dupilumab had fewer asthma exacerbations and better lung function and asthma control than those who received placebo.

Source: NEJM

5 – Efficacy and Safety of Itepekimab in Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Asthma

• Monoclonal antibodies targeting IgE, interleukin-4 and -13, and interleukin-5 are effective in treating severe type 2 asthma, but new targets are needed.
• Itepekimab is a new monoclonal antibody against the upstream alarmin interleukin-33.
• The efficacy and safety of itepekimab as monotherapy, as well as in combination with dupilumab, in patients with asthma are unclear.
• Interleukin-33 blockade with itepekimab led to a lower incidence of events indicating a loss of asthma control than placebo and improved lung function in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma.

Source: NEJM

6 – Efficacy and Safety of NVX-CoV2373 in Adults in the United States and Mexico

• NVX-CoV2373 is an adjuvanted, recombinant spike protein nanoparticle vaccine that was shown to have clinical efficacy for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in phase 2b–3 trials in the United Kingdom and South Africa, but its efficacy had not yet been tested in North America.
• They conducted a phase 3, randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled trial in the United States and Mexico during the first half of 2021 to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NVX-CoV2373 in adults (≥18 years of age) who had not had severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
• NVX-CoV2373 was safe and effective for the prevention of Covid-19. Most breakthrough cases were caused by contemporary variant strains.

Source: NEJM

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