Diabetes

COVID-19 Roundup: Diabetes, Antiviral Treatment, Adverse Effects in Women

Risk for Newly Diagnosed Diabetes After SARS-CoV-2 Infection1

The results of a recent study show that COVID-19 might induce diabetes more than 30 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection among people aged 18 years or older.

COVID-19 is linked to worsening diabetes symptoms and has disproportionately impacted people with diabetes who are at increased risk of severe COVID-19.

Using retrospective cohorts from IQVIA health care claims records from March 1, 2020, to February 26, 2021, researchers estimated the incidence of diabetes among patients with COVID-19 who were aged 18 years or older. They compared them with patients matched by age and sex who did not have COVID-19 during that time or who received an acute respiratory infection diagnosis not related to COVID-19 before that time.

The results of this study showed that the diabetes incidence rate was higher among people with COVID-19 compared with those without COVID-19 in both databases and those with acute respiratory infection not related to COVID-19 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Antiviral Treatment Combination2

The results of a recent study show that a new antiviral treatment combination is highly effective against SARS-CoV-2.

Combining brequniar with remdesivir or molnupiravir inhibited the virus in human respiratory cells and in mice. The results of the study also show that the medications were more effective against the virus when used together compared with separately.

“RNA viruses rely on a high supply of nucleoside triphosphates from the host to efficiently replicate, and we identified a panel of host nucleoside biosynthesis inhibitors as antiviral,” the researchers said. “Moreover, we found that combining pyrimidine biosynthesis inhibitors with antiviral nucleoside analogues synergistically inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and in vivo against emerging strains of SARS-CoV-2 suggesting a clinical path forward.”

Women and Adverse Effects of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine3

The results of a recent study show that nearly twice as many women reported adverse effects after their first, second, or third dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine compared with men.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Haifa School of Public Health in Israel. The researchers obtained data on self-reported adverse effects following 2 or 3 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from 4 cross-sectional studies, including people aged 16 to 65 years.   

The risk for adverse effects, such as fever, pain at the injection site, shivering, muscle pain, fatigue, and headaches, was higher following the second and third dose for women of all ages in all 4 studies.

 

—Jessica Bard

References

  1. Barrett CE, Koyama AK, Alvarez P, et al. Risk for newly diagnosed diabetes >30 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection among persons aged <18 years - United States, March 1, 2020-June 28, 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2022;71(2):59-65. http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7102e2
  2. Schultz DC, Johnson RM, Ayyanathan K, et al. Pyrimidine inhibitors synergize with nucleoside analogues to block SARS-CoV-2. Nature. Published online February 7, 2022. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04482-x
  3. Green MS, Peer V, Magid A, Hagani N, Anis E, Nitzan D. Gender differences in adverse events following Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccines. 2022;10(2):233. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10020233