Faculty response to the COVID-19 pandemic:
Researchers from the Faculty continued to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its impact. Data provided by the ZOE COVID Study App was essential to understanding the long-term effects of COVID-19 and to track the transmission of multiple variants. As the vaccine programme was rolled out across the nation, researchers found just one in four people experienced mild, short lived systemic side effects after receiving either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine. Data from the app also showed that vaccinated adults who contract COVID-19 infection experience a less severe illness, highlighting the benefit of getting vaccinated.
However, not everyone responded to the vaccines as hoped. Vital research from the SOAP2 trial found that antibody responses in cancer patients were poor, with just 39% and 13% of people with solid and haematological cancers mounting a response, compared to 97% in those without cancer. This led to a change in government policy and prioritised cancer patients and immunosuppressed patients who had yet to get their second and third jabs.
Focus on therapies to treat patients with severe or critical COVID-19 were discovered. Treatment with Interleukin-6 antagonists were found to reduce the risk of dying within 28 days, prompting the World Health Organisation to recommend their use. Niclosamide, a drug used to treat tapeworm infections, was also discovered to be effective at topping the viral replication and fusion of lung cells seen in patients with Covid-19.
Ongoing work into long-COVID made headway this year. A UKRI-NIHR funded multi-institution study found one in six middle-aged people who report COVID-19 infections also report long-COVID symptoms. Promising news found that fewer than one in 20 children with symptomatic COVID-19 experienced symptoms lasting longer than 4 weeks.