Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

6 INFECTION CONTROL Coronavirus' low mutation rate suggests yearly vaccine unnecessary By Anuja Vaidya T he novel coronavirus does not appear to be mutating quickly, which may mean that when a vaccine is developed, it could offer lasting protection, scientists told e Washington Post in late March. Viruses evolve and accumulate mutations, as they replicate inside host cells in large numbers imperfectly and then spread among a population. Some of those mutations persist. But the novel coronavirus appears to have machinery that reduces the rate of mutation, and the virus looks very similar everywhere it has appeared, the Post reported. is suggests there are no strains that are deadlier than others, unlike with other viral infections, such as influenza. According to Peter ielen, a molecular geneticist at the Baltimore-based Johns Hop- kins University Applied Physics Laboratory, scientists are examining more than 1,000 samples of the virus and have found only four to 10 genetic differences between strains of the virus seen in the U.S. and those that appeared in China. "at's a relatively small number of mutations for having passed through a large number of people," Mr. ielen told the Post. e number of mutations suggests that a vaccine developed to prevent the virus would be a single vaccine with a long-lasting effect, as opposed to the flu vaccine, which needs to be developed every year. Other virologists also told the Post that the virus has not mutated significantly. "Just one 'pretty bad' strain for everybody so far," Benjamin Neuman, PhD, associate professor and head of biology at Texas A&M University at Texarkana told the Post. "If it's still around in a year, by that point we might have some diversity." e race to create a vaccine is on, but it will take at least a year or 18 months for one to be developed and available for use. n Inflammatory condition in children may be delayed complication of COVID-19, researchers say By Anuja Vaidya A n inflammatory condition emerging among children may be a de- layed complication of COVID-19, as there are some children who test negative for the disease but positive for coronavirus antibod- ies, suggesting the inflammatory condition may occur after the virus is no longer detectable on nasal swabs, researchers said. On May 2, leaders from 46 pediatric intensive care units nationwide con- vened via Zoom to discuss pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome potentially associated with COVID-19, which had sickened more than 100 children in the U.S. as of May 14. "We have these clusters of illness where we can't say it's caused by COVID, but clearly it's temporally related," Mary Beth Son, MD, a rheuma- tologist at Boston Children's Hospital, said during the conference. One leader suggested that the antibodies children are making to the new coronavirus are creating an immune reaction in the body, which activates an inflammatory process. The leaders said two things are clear: first, the condition is rare; and sec- ond, clinicians who see a suspected case of the condition should consult with pediatric infectious disease, rheumatology or critical care specialists. Most children who develop the inflammatory syndrome appear to be recovering well, and some have only needed supportive care. n Up to 20% of millennials with COVID-19 require hospitalization By Mackenzie Bean A mericans over age 65 are most at risk for severe illness and death from COVID-19, but the illness can also have detrimental effects on millennials, according to the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published March 18. Researchers analyzed data on 4,226 COVID-19 cases reported to the CDC from Feb. 12 to March 16 by 49 states, three U.S. territories and Washing- ton, D.C. The CDC had complete age data for 2,449 of these patients. The CDC found 31 percent of all cases involved individuals age 65 or older. This age group also accounted for 45 percent of hospitalizations, 53 percent of intensive care unit admissions and 80 percent of deaths. However, the report also found that millennials "are not invincible," STAT wrote in an article about the CDC analysis. Of the 508 cas- es known to involve hospitalizations, 20 percent involved patients ages 20 to 44, and of the 705 cases in that age range, between 14.3 percent and 20.8 percent were hospitalized. About 2 percent to 4 percent of patients in this age range required treatment in an ICU. n

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