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Background: BBV152 is a whole-virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that has been deployed in India. The results of the phase 3 trial have shown clinical efficacy of BBV152. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of BBV152 against symptomatic RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection., Methods: We conducted a test-negative, case-control study among employees of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India), who had symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 and had an RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 during the peak of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India between April 15 and May 15, 2021. Cases (test-positives) and controls (test-negatives) were matched (1:1) on the basis of age and gender. The odds of vaccination with BBV152 were compared between cases and controls and adjusted for level of occupational exposure (to COVID-19), previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, and calendar time, using conditional logistic regression. The primary outcome was effectiveness of two doses of BBV152 (with the second dose received at least 14 days before testing) in reducing the odds of symptomatic RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, expressed as (1 - odds ratio) × 100%., Findings: Between April 15 and May 15, 2021, 3732 individuals had an RT-PCR test. Of these, 2714 symptomatic employees had data on vaccination status, and 1068 matched case-control pairs were available for analysis. The adjusted effectiveness of BBV152 against symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses administered at least 14 days before testing was 50% (95% CI 33-62; p<0·0001). The adjusted effectiveness of two doses administered at least 28 days before testing was 46% (95% CI 22-62) and administered at least 42 days before testing was 57% (21-76). After excluding participants with previous SARS-CoV-2 infections, the adjusted effectiveness of two doses administered at least 14 days before testing was 47% (95% CI 29-61)., Interpretation: This study shows the effectiveness of two doses of BBV152 against symptomatic COVID-19 in the context of a huge surge in cases, presumably dominated by the potentially immune-evasive delta (B.1.617.2) variant of SARS-CoV-2. Our findings support the ongoing roll-out of this vaccine to help control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, while continuing the emphasis on adherence to non-pharmacological measures., Funding: None., Translation: For the Hindi translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: despite being in the 5th month of pandemic, knowledge with respect to viral dynamics, infectivity and RT-PCR positivity continues to evolve., Aim: to analyse the SARS CoV-2 nucleic acid RT-PCR profiles in COVID-19 patients., Design: it was a retrospective, observational study conducted at COVID facilities under AIIMS, New Delhi., Methods: patients admitted with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 were eligible for enrolment. Patients with incomplete details, or only single PCR tests were excluded. Data regarding demographic details, comorbidities, treatment received and results of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR performed on nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs, collected at different time points, was retrieved from the hospital records., Results: a total of 298 patients were included, majority were males (75·8%) with mean age of 39·07 years (0·6-88 years). The mean duration from symptom onset to first positive RT-PCR was 4·7 days (SD 3·67), while that of symptom onset to last positive test was 17·83 days (SD 6·22). Proportions of positive RT-PCR tests were 100%, 49%, 24%, 8·7% and 20·6% in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and >4 weeks of illness. A total of 12 symptomatic patients had prolonged positive test results even after 3 weeks of symptom onset. Age > = 60 years was associated with prolonged RT-PCR positivity (statistically significant)., Conclusion: this study showed that the average period of PCR positivity is more than 2 weeks in COVID-19 patients; elderly patients have prolonged duration of RT-PCR positivity and requires further follow up., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS.)

Many countries in the world are affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Approximately 80% of the cases are mild symptomatic, 15% are severe and approximately 5% are critically ill. The mortality among severe and critically ill patients ranges from 17% to 78%. Elderly and patients with comorbidities have higher chances of progression to severe disease and subsequent mortality. There are no proven antiviral agents available for the management of COVID-19. Besides the viral cytopathic effects, dysregulation in immunity also contributes substantially to the pathogenesis. Treatment with immunomodulatory agents such as interleukin-6 blockers, glucocorticoids and mesenchymal stem cell therapy has been observed to be potentially beneficial. In this review, the immune response in SARS-CoV-2, the mechanism of immune dysregulation as well as potential therapeutic targets for immunomodulatory therapies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]