October 9, 2020
Persistence of Serum and Saliva Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Spike Antigens in COVID-19 Patients
Profiling of IgG, IgA, and IgM antibody response to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its receptor-binding domain (RBD) indicated that anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses were readily detected in serum and saliva from patients with COVID-19, with peak IgG levels occurring 16 to 30 days after symptom onset. IgA and IgM antibodies rapidly decayed over time, although…
Differences in Performance Characteristics Among Four High-Throughput Assays for the Detection of Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 Using a Common Set of Patient Samples
A study comparing the performance characteristics of four high-throughput assays for SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection indicated that for samples collected from patients 14 or more days after symptom onset, the Roche and Siemens assays had the highest sensitivities (96.6% and 98.3%, respectively) and specificities (100% for both) out of the four tests. The authors note that…
Effect of Hydroxychloroquine in Hospitalized Patients with Covid-19
The RECOVERY trial found that patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who received hydroxychloroquine did not have a lower incidence of death by 28 days after enrollment compared to those who received usual care. The randomized open-label platform trial found that patients in the hydroxychloroquine group were less likely to be discharged from the hospital alive within…
Preemptive Interleukin-6 Blockade in Patients with COVID-19
Preemptive therapy with tocilizumab to prevent the consequences of cytokine storm was associated with early favorable outcomes in 77% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and death occurred in 6% of treated patients in a study of 64 patients in Spain. estimated mortality of 10 to 20% in comparably ill patients. [EDITORIAL NOTE: The lack of…
Transmission Dynamics by Age Group in COVID-19 Hotspot Counties — United States, April–September 2020
Among the 767 US hotspot counties identified by the CDC during June and July 2020, early increases in the percent positivity for SARS-CoV-2 among people under age 24 years were followed by several weeks of increasing percent positivity in those older than age 25. The authors note that these findings corroborate regional patterns in the…
Children and Adolescents With SARS-CoV-2 Infection
A study of 203 children infected with SARS-CoV-2 indicated that infection is typically asymptomatic or mild during childhood, and that most children have moderate or high viral loads regardless of age, symptoms, or severity of infection. Among children for whom the source of infection was identified, 74% were infected by a member of their household. In 67% of…
What Do We Know about SARS-CoV-2 Transmission? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Secondary Attack Rate and Associated Risk Factors
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the secondary attack rate (SAR) of SARS-Cov-2 in household and healthcare settings indicated that the SAR among symptomatic people was higher than that for asymptomatic people (RR=3.2). The SAR is the proportion of contacts of a SARS-CoV-2 case who subsequently became infected. Adults showed higher susceptibility to infection than…
COVID-19 Literature Situation Report Oct. 9, 2020
Children with asthma or obesity who were hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 were at increased risk for critical care admission or need for respiratory support.
October 8, 2020
Don’t Dumb It down: The Effects of Jargon in COVID-19 Crisis Communication
An online survey experiment among workers contacted through the Amazon MTurk platform (n=393) found that science communication using technical jargon was more difficult for participants to process in low urgency situations, but that jargon did not substantially reduce processing in high urgency situations like COVID-19. The authors suggest that high motivation to process information may…
Substantial Decline in Use of HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Following Introduction of COVID-19 Physical Distancing Restrictions in Australia
Overall, 42% of 847 gay and bisexual men participating in an online cohort study of men in Australia reported discontinuing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) due to COVID-19 restrictions, which coincided with a reduction in sexual activity. PrEP use in this cohort increased from 4.9% in 2015 to 47.2% in 2020. PrEP discontinuation was associated with…
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