The coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.

Known as SARS-CoV-2, the virus has resulted in more than 28.1 million infections and 909,000 deaths.

SARS-CoV-2 infection causes a respiratory illness called COVID-19.

COVID-19 has now been reported on every continent except Antarctica.

Globally, Latin America now has the highest number of COVID-19 cases, with more than 8 million infections. Brazil remains the worst-affected country in the region, with 4.2 million infections. However, the daily average number of cases across the region is falling. 

Yesterday, Brazil reported 40,557 new infections, which is a decrease from recent days. Similarly, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico also registered slightly lower average numbers of cases.

A recent study suggests immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in severely ill patients are as strong or stronger than those of patients with milder COVID-19. This adds to the evidence that the immune system itself is to blame for the most life-threatening form of the infection.

The results of the study appear in the journal Cell Reports Medicine. Lead author Prof. Nina Babel explains, “Even though further studies will be necessary to understand the specific mechanism of COVID-19 development, our data suggest that excessive SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response can cause [immune damage] leading to COVID-19-related lung failure.”

A new paper, which appears in The Lancet, details the results of two early phase clinical trials of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. According to the authors, the vaccine “has a good safety profile and induced strong humoral and cellular immune responses in participants.”

However, it is worth noting that the researchers had designed the trials to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine, not to evaluate whether it can prevent COVID-19. Senior author Prof. Alexander Gintsburg explains the next steps:

“The phase 3 clinical trial of our vaccine was approved on 26 August, 2020. It is planned to include 40,000 volunteers from different age and risk groups and will be undertaken with constant monitoring of volunteers through an online application.”