Editor’s note: We shifted our article format this month to include research updates on our website, while we highlight upcoming events and advocacy opportunities in our newsletter and on social media (Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky).
- The National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER initiative shared an update last week about its observational research during the program’s webinar series. Speakers representing three of the four observational cohorts (adults, children, pregnant people, and autopsies) addressed how RECOVER aims to fill existing gaps in research, particularly related to pediatric studies, and autopsies. Enrollment is now mostly complete for the adult, pediatric, and pregnancy cohorts, the researchers shared, while the autopsy study is still in the early stages. In their ongoing autopsy study, RECOVER looks at 55 anatomic tissues in the body and extensive medical histories including reinfection, vaccination, symptoms, and prior medical history. So far, 186 subjects have been enrolled, with over 8,000 anatomic tissues assessed.
- A new study in eClincialMedicine found people with Long Covid have severe cognitive slowing compared to controls.”This might be an important factor contributing to some of the cognitive impairments reported in patients with [Long Covid]” (pwLC), one of the study’s authors wrote. Patients in Germany and the U.K. completed cognitive tests on computers that measured reaction time and number vigilance. pwLC responded to stimuli ∼3 standard deviations slower than healthy controls. Participants also took mental health questionnaires; the study’s authors didn’t find any correlation between the psychomotor slowing and mental health.
- We’re learning more about how Covid-19 infections during pregnancy can cause serious health issues in newborns. A recent study in Nature Communications found that around 17% of newborns whose mothers had Covid-19 were diagnosed with respiratory distress at birth, or in the days following, about 10-12% higher than average. The study builds on others that show the severe impact that Covid-19 infection can have on pregnant people and newborns, including stillbirth. The good news: maternal Covid-19 vaccination reduces the frequency of respiratory distress in infants. Read more about the study in NBC News.
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