COVID-19 Scan for Jun 07, 2022

Those who believe in COVID-19 conspiracies may be at risk for depression

People who believe in conspiracies about the COVID-19 pandemic are at an increased risk of experiencing anxiety and depression, according to new research presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry and published in Frontiers in Psychiatry.

The research was based on survey results of 700 volunteers who answered a newly created COVID-19 Conspiratorial Beliefs Scale developed by researchers at several Polish universities. Participants also took the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale survey, as well as the Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale (covering topics such as aliens from other planets) to compare results.

The main COVID-19 conspiracy theories believed by participants were that SARS-CoV-2 tests were unreliable; governments deliberately spread false information about COVID-19, and vitamins and minerals supplementation could cure COVID-19 infections.

The researchers found belief in COVID-19 conspiracies was higher in those who believe in other conspiracies, and belief in COVID-19 conspiracies was correlated with increased levels of anxiety and depression. It was unclear, however, if anxiety and depression caused someone to believe in conspiracies, or whether conspiracy belief led to mental health problems.

“The tendency to believe in false convictions regarding COVID-19 may be detrimental to our psychological functioning as it is associated with increased symptoms of anxiety and depression,” the authors concluded.

In a European Psychiatric Association press release, lead study author Paweł Debski, MD, of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, said, “COVID has only struck us in the last couple of years, and developing the tools to evaluate the mental health effects takes time.… Our next steps are to see whether beliefs are related to specific psychological traits, and whether any pro-health messages can help.”
Jun 6 Front Psychiatry study
Jun 6 European Psychiatric Association press release

Molnupiravir cut need for higher levels of care in non-severe COVID-19

Nonhospitalized, unvaccinated COVID-19 patients who received Merck’s antiviral molnupiravir had less need for respiratory support and fewer acute-care visits than those given a placebo, finds the secondary analysis of the phase 2/3 randomized, controlled MOVe-OUT trial published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Scientists from Merck led the study of 1,433 adults diagnosed as having mild or moderate COVID-19 and one or more risk factors for severe disease at 107 sites around the world. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either 800 milligrams of molnupiravir within 5 days of symptom onset or placebo every 12 hours for 5 days.

The molnupiravir group had faster normalization of C-reactive protein level (an indicator of inflammation) and oxygen saturation than placebo recipients (3 vs 10 days). Molnupiravir recipients also had less need for respiratory support (relative risk reduction [RRR], 34.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.3% to 54.9%).

The RRRs were 23.6% (95% CI, -20.7% to 51.6%) for conventional oxygen therapy, 26.1% (95% CI, -112% to 74.2%) for use of a high-flow heated and humidified device, 75.4% (95% CI, -120% to 97.2%) for noninvasive mechanical ventilation, and 64.1% (95% CI, -12.1% to 88.5%) for invasive mechanical ventilation—all considered to be not statistically significant.

Hospitalized molnupiravir recipients were released a median of 3 days before placebo recipients and had fewer all-cause acute-care visits (7.2% vs 10.6%; RRR, 32.1% [95% CI, 4.4% to 51.7%]) and acute-care visits for COVID-19 (6.6% vs 10.0%; RRR, 33.8% [95% CI, 5.6% to 53.6%]).

In the final analysis of all participants but the three who were hospitalized after receiving the first dose of the study drug, molnupiravir was tied to a meaningful decrease in the risk of hospitalization or death (6.8% vs 9.6%). No serious adverse events were reported by day 29.

“Meaningful benefits of molnupiravir to patients and health care systems may exceed the previously demonstrated benefits of reducing hospitalizations or death due to disease progression as well as alleviating symptoms in high-risk patients,” the researchers wrote.
Jun 7 Ann Intern Med study