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In findings that could place another group onto the COVID at-risk list, researchers in the United Kingdom estimated in a research letter published yesterday that adults with Down syndrome are at almost five times the risk for COVID-19–related hospitalization and 10 times the risk for related death. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and led by researchers from the University of Oxford, involved 8.26 million adults, 4,053 of them diagnosed as having Down syndrome. The team analyzed information from a primary care database to determine if the abnormal immune responses, congenital heart disease, and lung abnormalities common in people who have the syndrome could be risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness. (Van Beusekom, 10/22)

Although studies continue to show that the novel coronavirus can be detected on contaminated objects after days or weeks, a consensus has emerged among scientists that the virus is rarely transmitted through contact with tainted surfaces and that it’s safe to stop taking such extreme measures as quarantining your mail and wiping down your groceries. “To the best of my knowledge, in real life, scientists like me — an epidemiologist and a physician — and virologists basically don’t worry too much about these things,” said David Morens, a senior adviser to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony S. Fauci. (Chang, 10/22)

Infusing hospitalized Covid-19 patients with blood plasma from people who recovered from the disease had no effect on whether patients got sicker or died, according to the first completed randomized trial of the treatments. The study, published Thursday in BMJ, could re-energize the debate over whether blood plasma is an effective treatment for the disease. An earlier study, run by the Mayo Clinic, showed blood plasma did yield some benefit, leading the Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency access to the therapy in August. That trial, however, did not have a control arm. (Garde and Herper, 10/22)

Many of the symptoms experienced by people infected with SARS-CoV-2 involve the nervous system. Patients complain of headaches, muscle and joint pain, fatigue and “brain fog,” or loss of taste and smell—all of which can last from weeks to months after infection. In severe cases, COVID-19 can also lead to encephalitis or stroke. The virus has undeniable neurological effects. But the way it actually affects nerve cells still remains a bit of a mystery. Can immune system activation alone produce symptoms? Or does the novel coronavirus directly attack the nervous system? (Sutherland, 10/22)