Viral Treatment Options|Homework help

Posted: January 31st, 2023

Directions:

While established vaccines are generally safe for the vast majority of the population, it is a fact that for a minority of people, certain vaccines are contraindicated. In particular, it is well known that people with immunodeficiency are advised against receiving live attenuated vaccines.

Less-often discussed is the possibility of (for some people) of autoimmune reaction. This is not only an issue with regard to vaccines, but synthetic chemicals as well (as well as potential allergy development from cross reactivity / bystander effect some individuals’ immune systems may be predisposed to engage).

 

For Part 1 of your initial post, examine at least one of the three paper attachments and summarize at least one point / comment regarding your chosen document(s) in your initial post. You don’t need to read the entire document(s), but please do at least read the Abstracts, and be sure to include a comment on one point or simply a summary of the abstract in your own words.

The ” bystander effect” or as some texts call it, ” cross-reactivity” ( microbiology definition) is: When immune cells detect a legitimate threat in the body, sometimes “innocent bystander” molecules or body cells “get in the way of its attack” and become unfortunate targets themselves. This could include otherwise perfectly harmless food molecules, or even parts of the body such as neurons’ myelin sheaths, or pancreas cells.

Such challenges are admittedly rare, yet not nonexistent.

This first paper on autoimmunity discusses how sometimes such mechanisms can occur in response to antigens (including antigens in vaccines), and was published in 2015:

Autoimmunity paper.pdf

 

The following paper is more relevant to specific results of autoimmunity in response to antigens as varied as viruses or particles in certain vaccines (i.e. myocarditis and pericarditis) – this is an extremely recent paper (published June 2022):

Risks of myocarditis and pericarditis following Covid-19 mRNA vaccines.pdf

 

The third paragraph of the discussion section of this below paper (published recently, February 2022) discusses autoimmune mechanisms regarding the Covid spike protein getting potentially expressed in the liver in particular:

[Side note: As of the start of 2023, many, many more scientific papers documenting autoimmune adverse reactions of many more body systems have been published. I’ve cataloged 7+ such papers on vasculitis alone, as well as a very thorough report of other types of ADRs for example, if you want to see more data than I can reasonably fit into this discussion post for options.

Evidence (and further questions) regarding how Covid vaccine mRNA interacts with our genome.pdf

 

There are however many viral diseases for which vaccines are not even available (or viral variants for which vaccines are possibly less than 15-50% effective), which brings us to “antiviral chemicals” as a good adjunct treatment (or, in some cases, the sole treatment) option for certain diseases.

 

Thus, for Part 2 of your initial post, we will focus on “after-the-fact” antiviral treatment options:

Examine at least one of the below papers (or a similar one, any result of your typing in a “antiviral” of choice along with the keyword “antiviral”), and make at least one comment about it as well, as part of your initial post.

The first two papers below have been added as attachments (actually the second attachment is a list of links to a BUNCH of papers!); the rest of the papers below are in “link” form.

Remember if you want to download the “attachment”, click on the three dots to the right of the title:

Eugenol, a Component of Holy Basil (Tulsi) and Common Spice Clove, Inhibits the Interaction Between SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1 and ACE2 to Induce Therapeutic Responses – 11481_2021_Article_10028.pdf

 

Evidence of elderberry antiviral and immunomodulatory properties.docx

 

Pharmacoinformatic evidence for allicin, gingerol as candidates against COVID-19-associated proteases

In silico allicin induced S-thioallylation of SARS-CoV-2 main protease

Allicin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replic

Antiviral agents for rhinovirus (a type of common cold)

How curcumin (in turmeric) interacts with Covid proteins

How piperine (in black pepper) interacts with Covid proteins

Zinc inhibits SARS-CoV RNA polymerase, and thus its replication capacity

How 9 of 48 compounds in cinnamon interact with Covid proteins

Antiviral activity of licorice extract against respiratory syncytial virus

Virucidal effect of peppermint oil on the enveloped viruses herpes simplex viruses type 1 and type 2 in vitro

ARTICLE

Age and sex-speci!c risks of myocarditis and pericarditis following Covid-19 messenger RNA vaccines Stéphane Le Vu 1!, Marion Bertrand1, Marie-Joelle Jabagi 1, Jérémie Botton 1,2, Jérôme Drouin1, Bérangère Baricault1, Alain Weill 1, Rosemary Dray-Spira 1 & Mahmoud Zureik1,3

Cases of myocarditis and pericarditis have been reported following the receipt of Covid-19

mRNA vaccines. As vaccination campaigns are still to be extended, we aimed to provide a

comprehensive assessment of the association, by vaccine and across sex and age groups.

Using nationwide hospital discharge and vaccine data, we analysed all 1612 cases of myo-

carditis and 1613 cases of pericarditis that occurred in France in the period from May 12, 2021

to October 31, 2021. We perform matched case-control studies and !nd increased risks of

myocarditis and pericarditis during the !rst week following vaccination, and particularly after

the second dose, with adjusted odds ratios of myocarditis of 8.1 (95% con!dence interval

[CI], 6.7 to 9.9) for the BNT162b2 and 30 (95% CI, 21 to 43) for the mRNA-1273 vaccine.

The largest associations are observed for myocarditis following mRNA-1273 vaccination in

persons aged 18 to 24 years. Estimates of excess cases attributable to vaccination also reveal

a substantial burden of both myocarditis and pericarditis across other age groups and in both

males and females.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31401-5 OPEN

1 EPIPHARE Scienti!c Interest Group in Epidemiology of Health Products, (French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products – ANSM, French National Health Insurance – CNAM), Saint-Denis, France. 2 Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Paris-Saclay, 92296 Châtenay-Malabry, France. 3 University Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, University Paris-Sud, Inserm, Anti-infective evasion and pharmacoepidemiology, CESP Montigny le Bretonneux, France. !email: stephane.le-vu@ansm.sante.fr

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | ��������(2022)�13:3633� | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31401-5 | www.nature.com/naturecommunications 1

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On July 19, 2021 the European Medicines Agency advised that myocarditis and pericarditis be added to the list of adverse effects of both messenger RNA (mRNA) based

vaccines (BNT162b2 [P!zer–BioNTech] and mRNA-1273 [Moderna]) against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)1. This statement followed pharmacovigilance reports of an increased risk of myocarditis among recipients of mRNA vaccines that showed certain common patterns2,3. Several reports indicate that adverse events typically occur within a week after injection, mostly after the second dose of vaccine, cluster in young males, and result in a mild clinical course and short duration of hospitalization4–6. However, the predominance of a vaccine- associated risk in males7 and its extent regarding pericarditis, as a speci!c condition, remains uncertain8–11. Population-based risks estimates for each condition and across sex and age groups and by vaccine type remains crucial as vaccination campaigns are still to be extended especially towards the youngest and with sub- sequent doses. The Covid-19 vaccination campaign began in France in late 2020 with the gradual roll-out of the two mRNA vaccines, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 alongside viral vector- based vaccines. Initially reserved for the oldest and most vul- nerable groups, as well as healthcare professionals, vaccination was opened up to the entire population over the age of 18 years as of May 12, 2021, and to all over 12 years old as of June 15, 2021. As of October 31, 2021 approximately 50 million people (88% of the eligible population, i.e. over 12 years old) in France had received a full vaccination schedule12. Here, we aimed to estimate the age and sex-speci!c associations between each mRNA Covid- 19 vaccine and the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis, using nationwide hospital discharge and vaccine data for France.

Results Characteristics of the study population. Between May 12, 2021 and October 31, 2021, within a population of 32 million persons aged 12 to 50 years, 21.2 million !rst (19.3 million second) doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine and 2.86 million !rst (2.58 million second) doses of the mRNA-1273 vaccine were received (Table S1). In the same period, 1612 cases of myocarditis (of which 87 [5.4%] had also a pericarditis as associated diagnosis) and 1613 cases of pericarditis (37 [2.3%] with myocarditis as associated diagnosis) were recorded in France. We matched those cases to 16,120 and 16,130 control subjects, respectively. The characteristics of the cases and their matched controls are shown in Table 1. For both myocarditis and pericarditis, key differences between cases and controls included a higher proportion among cases of a history of myocarditis or pericarditis, of history of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and receipt of an mRNA Covid-19 vac- cine. The mean age and proportion of women were lower among patients with myocarditis than those with pericarditis.

Risk of myocarditis and pericarditis associated with vaccina- tion. For both vaccines, the risk of myocarditis was increased in the seven days post vaccination (Table 2; in the rest of the text, we will refer to multivariable odds ratios). For the BNT162b2 vac- cine, odds ratios were 1.8 (95% con!dence interval [CI]: 1.3–2.5) for the !rst dose and 8.1 (95% CI, 6.7–9.9) for the second. The association was stronger for the mRNA-1273 vaccine with odds- ratios of 3.0 (95% CI, 1.4–6.2) for the !rst dose and 30 (95% CI, 21–43) for the second. The risk of pericarditis was increased in the seven days following the second dose of both vaccines, with odds ratios of 2.9 (95% CI, 2.3–3.8) for the BNT162b2 vaccine and 5.5 (95% CI, 3.3–9.0) for the mRNA-1273 vaccine. Vacci- nation in the previous 8 to 21 days, with either the BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccine was not associated with a risk of myocarditis or pericarditis. Independently of vaccination status, a history of

myocarditis was strongly associated with a risk of contracting myocarditis during the study period, with an odds-ratios of 160 (95% CI, 83–330). The same was true for pericarditis, with an odds ratio of 250 (95% CI, 120–540). No interaction was found between history of myocarditis or pericarditis and vaccine exposure. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the preceding month was also associated with a risk of myocarditis (odds ratio, 9.0 [95% CI, 6.4–13]) or pericarditis (odds ratio, 4.0 [95% CI, 2.7–5.9]).

Subgroup estimates by sex and age classes. The risk of myo- carditis was substantially increased within the !rst week post vaccination in both males and females (Fig. 1 and Table S2). Odds-ratios associated with the second dose of the mRNA-1273 vaccine were consistently the highest, with values up to 44 (95% CI, 22–88) and 41 (95% CI, 12–140), respectively in males and females aged 18 to 24 years but remaining high in older age groups. Odds-ratios for the second dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine tended to decrease with age, from 18 (95% CI, 9–35) and 7.1 (95% CI, 1.5–33), respectively in males and females aged 12 to 17 years, down to 3.0 (95% CI, 1.5–5.9) and 1.9 (95% CI, 0.39–9.3), respectively in males and females aged 40 to 51 years.

An increased risk of pericarditis was also found in the !rst week after the second dose of either of the mRNA vaccines among both males and females (Fig. 2 and Table S3). Odds-ratios for the second dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine showed a downward trend across age groups with values up to 6.8 (95% CI, 2.3–20) and 10 (95% CI, 2.5–41), respectively in males and females aged 12 to 17 years. The second dose of the mRNA-1273 vaccine was associated with pericarditis among males and among females only within age 30 to 39 years (odds-ratio 20 [95% CI, 3.5–110]) and age 40 to 50 years (odds-ratio 13 [95% CI, 3.5–49]).

Associations between vaccination within the seven preceding days and the risk of myocarditis or pericarditis were of the same magnitude when the analysis was restricted to the period prior to the warning against myocarditis and pericarditis as adverse events sent to prescribers on July 19, 2021 (Fig. S1 and Table S4). The results were unchanged in models excluding patients with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the past month, those with a history of myocarditis or pericarditis within !ve years, those diagnosed with both myocarditis and pericarditis, or those with a hospitalization within a month prior to index date

SOLUTION

Myocarditis and pericarditis are rare but known side effects of Covid-19 mRNA vaccines. The risk is estimated to be less than 1 in 100,000 doses administered. The vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective in preventing COVID-19. If symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, or palpitations occur after vaccination, individuals should seek medical attention immediately.

This statement suggests that the risk of developing myocarditis or pericarditis after receiving a vaccine was found to be similar before and after a warning was issued to prescribers about these adverse events being potential side effects of vaccination.