Category: Published Research
Increased household transmission and immune escape of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron compared to Delta variants
Nature – Understanding the epidemic growth of the novel SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is critical for public health. We compared the ten-day secondary attack rate (SAR) of the Omicron and Delta variants in households using Norwegian contact tracing data, December 2021 – January 2022. Omicron SAR was higher than Delta, with a relative risk (RR) of […]
Sep 29, 2022
Chronic neuropsychiatric sequelae of SARS-CoV-2: Protocol and methods from the Alzheimer’s Association Global Consortium
Translational Research and Clinical Interventions – Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused >3.5 million deaths worldwide and affected >160 million people. At least twice as many have been infected but remained asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic. COVID-19 includes central nervous system manifestations mediated by inflammation and cerebrovascular, anoxic, and/or viral neurotoxicity mechanisms. More than one third […]
Sep 29, 2022
Effectiveness of primary series and booster vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalisation among adolescents aged 12–17 years in Singapore: a national cohort study
The Lancet – Singapore offered the BNT162b2 vaccine (tozinameran; Pfizer-BioNTech) to adolescents aged 12–17 years in May 18, 2021, and extended booster vaccines to this group in Jan 21, 2022. Literature on the effectiveness of primary series and booster vaccination among adolescents is scarce outside of Europe and North America. We aimed to determine primary […]
Sep 29, 2022
Increase in Acute Respiratory Illnesses Among Children and Adolescents Associated with Rhinoviruses and Enteroviruses, Including Enterovirus D68 — United States, July–September 2022
CDC MMWR Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) caused biennial outbreaks of severe respiratory illness and acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) in the United States in 2014, 2016, and 2018. After an extended period of low EV-D68 circulation during the COVID-19 pandemic, surveillance data suggest increased detection of rhinovirus/enterovirus and EV-D68, concurrent with increased emergency department visits by children […]
Sep 29, 2022
Association of SARS-CoV-2 Seropositivity With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and/or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Among Children and Adolescents in Germany
JAMA – Question Is SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity associated with symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis and/or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in children and adolescents? Findings This cross-sectional study of hospital-based SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence surveys in Germany compared seropositive and seronegative children and adolescents and identified an excess of possible ME/CFS symptoms with serological evidence of preceding SARS-CoV-2 infection. This association almost […]
Sep 28, 2022
Remdesivir resistance in transplant recipients with persistent COVID-19
Clinical Infectious Diseases – New mutations conferring resistance to SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics have important clinical implications. We describe the first cases of an independently acquired V792I RNA-dependent RNA polymerase mutation developing in renal transplant recipients after remdesivir exposure. Our work underscores the need for augmented efforts to identify concerning mutations and address their clinical implications. Download […]
Sep 28, 2022
Increase in Acute Respiratory Illnesses Among Children and Adolescents Associated with Rhinoviruses and Enteroviruses, Including Enterovirus D68 — United States, July–September 2022
CDC – Increases in severe respiratory illness and acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) among children and adolescents resulting from enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) infections occurred biennially in the United States during 2014, 2016, and 2018, primarily in late summer and fall. Although EV-D68 annual trends are not fully understood, EV-D68 levels were lower than expected in 2020, […]
Sep 28, 2022
Further humoral immunity evasion of emerging SARS-CoV-2 BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants
The Lancet – SARS-CoV-2 BA.4 and BA.5 lineages have been the dominant strains in most regions worldwide and are continuously gaining mutations in the receptor-binding domain. Multiple BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants with Arg346 mutations in the spike glycoprotein have been identified in various countries, such as BA.4.6, BF.7, BA.5.2.6, BA.4.1.9, and BE.1.2 harbouring Arg346Thr; BA.4.7 […]
Sep 28, 2022
Host and viral proteins involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection differentially bind heme
PubMed – In most severe cases, SARS-CoV-2-induced autoimmune reactions have been associated with hemolytic complications. Hemolysis-derived heme from ruptured red blood cells has been shown to trigger a variety of fatal proinflammatory and procoagulant effects, which might deteriorate the progression of COVID-19. In addition, the virus itself can induce proinflammatory signals via the accessory protein […]
Sep 28, 2022
Broadly neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and other human coronaviruses
Nature – Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a recently emerged pathogenic human coronavirus that belongs to the sarbecovirus lineage of the genus Betacoronavirus. The ancestor strain has evolved into a number of variants of concern, with the Omicron variant of concern now having many distinct sublineages. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by […]
Sep 28, 2022