Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

15 PATIENT SAFETY & OUTCOMES Vaccination during pregnancy protects infants after birth, lowers long COVID-19 risk: 2 findings By Erica Carbajal I nfants born to mothers vaccinated for COVID-19 while pregnant were less likely to be hospitalized for the virus within the first six months of life, a CDC study found. A sepa- rate report found vaccination lowers the risk of becoming a COVID-19 long-hauler. Two COVID-19 research findings: 1. Babies born to mothers who received two mRNA doses of COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy were about 61 percent less likely to be hospitalized with the virus within the first six months aer birth, the CDC's Feb. 15 "Mor- bidity and Mortality Weekly Report" found. e findings offer the first real-world evidence that antibodies generated from maternal vacci- nation could be passed on to infants. Maternal vaccination later in pregnancy (21 weeks through 14 days before delivery) was linked to a higher level (80 percent) of protection against hospitalizations for infants. e research involved 379 hospitalized infants across 20 pediatric hospitals in the U.S. Among 176 infants hospitalized with COVID-19, 84 percent were born to mothers who were not vaccinated during pregnancy. 2. Vaccination may also lower the risk of developing long COVID-19, according to a report published Feb. 15 from the U.K. Health Security Agency. e research involved review of 15 international long COVID-19 studies, eight of which looked at the effect of vacci- nations administered before infection. ose studies suggested vaccinated people were less likely to develop long COVID-19 symptoms up to six months aer infection, compared to unvaccinated people. People who received two doses of Pfizer, Astra- Zeneca or Moderna's vaccine before becoming infected were about half as likely to develop long COVID-19 symptoms lasting more than 28 days, compared to unvaccinated people or those who received one dose, data from some of the studies in the review suggested. n Lung transplants for COVID-19 patients 'highly effective,' study finds By Erica Carbajal T he first 30 consecutive patients who underwent a lung transplant due to COVID-19 complications at Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine had positive outcomes, according to findings published in JAMA. The study, published Jan. 27, compared the outcomes among the first 30 COVID-19 lung transplant patients at Northwestern to those of 72 patients who needed a lung transplant for other reasons, such as chronic end-stage lung disease. None of the COVID-19 patients developed lung rejection and all were alive at the time the JAMA article was written, according to a Feb. 2 news release. "This study proves lung transplantation is highly effective and successful in critically ill COVID-19 patients," said Ankit Bharat, MD, study author and chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern. "We were especially surprised to find that patients with COVID-19 did not develop rejection of the lungs after transplant." Still, lung transplant procedures are much more difficult and carry more risks for COVID-19 patients, researchers said, adding that transplant centers should be selective when considering who the best candidates for such procedures are. Northwestern surgeons in June 2020 completed the nation's first lung trans- plant on a COVID-19 patient. n CAR T therapy recipients cancer-free after a decade, researchers find By Erica Carbajal T wo early recipients of CAR T-cell therapy — who had chronic lym- phocytic leukemia at the time of treatment — remain cancer-free a decade later, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in Phila- delphia reported Feb. 2. "Now we can finally say the word 'cure' with CAR T-cells," Carl June, MD, princi- pal investigator of the trial at UPenn, told The New York Times. In addition to the cancer being gone, findings from the trial that began in 2010 showed detectable chimeric antigen receptor T-cells — or CAR T-cells — remained in the patients' bloodstreams. The findings were published in Nature. "This long-term remission is remarkable, and witnessing patients living cancer-free is a testament to the tremendous potency of this 'living drug' that works effectively against cancer cells," said J. Joseph Melenhorst, PhD, study author and research professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UPenn. CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy in which a patient's T-cells are altered in the lab so they will attack cancer cells. The therapy has been effective against other leukemias and lymphomas, while those with chronic lymphocytic leukemia have seen less success, according to the Times. Scientists also plan to expand research on how the treatment may affect solid tumors. n

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