Article Summary
February 17, 2021
Comparison of Acute Pneumonia Caused by SARS-COV-2 and Other Respiratory Viruses in Children: A Retrospective Multi-Center Cohort Study during COVID-19 Outbreak
Children with COVID-19 pneumonia were older (median age of 6.3 vs. 3.2 years) and had less severe disease than children with other causes of pneumonia, according to a retrospective multi-center cohort study. Children in the COVID-19 pneumonia cohort had a lower proportion of severe cases (1 of 40 vs. 38 of 284), and fewer cases…
CD8+ T Cell Responses in COVID-19 Convalescent Individuals Target Conserved Epitopes from Multiple Prominent SARS-CoV-2 Circulating Variants
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A study assessing whether CD8+ T-cells from COVID-19 convalescent individuals (n=30) can recognize SARS-CoV-2 variant epitopes showed that only one of the three most prominent variants (the B.1.351 variant, first described in South Africa) had a mutation that overlapped with a low-prevalence CD8+ epitope. Out of 45 mutations assessed, this mutation was…
SARS-CoV-2 Variants Show Resistance to Neutralization by Many Monoclonal and Serum-Derived Polyclonal Antibodies
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Most convalescent sera from people who had recovered from COVID-19 and virtually all Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine-induced immune sera were shown to have diminished neutralizing activity against engineered SARS-CoV-2 strains including a chimeric strain combining a strain identified in Washington state with a B.1.351 spike gene (Wash SA-B.1.351 strain), or recombinant viruses containing…
501Y.V2 and 501Y.V3 Variants of SARS-CoV-2 Lose Binding to Bamlanivimab in Vitro
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Three mutations found in the B.1.1.351 variant (first identified in South Africa) and the P1 variant (first identified in Brazil) completely abolished the interaction of monoclonal antibody treatment bamlanivimab with the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the virus. Additionally, the K417N, E484K, and N501Y mutations found in the variants had higher binding…
Misinterpretation of Viral Load in COVID-19 Clinical Outcomes
Raw RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values may lead to misinterpretation of the total viral burden, according to a study comparing tracheal aspirate (TA) with nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) samples in critically ill COVID-19 patients (n=138). The authors found that in general, TA samples had more total viral RNA than NPS samples, even though there was no…
Effect of a Single High Dose of Vitamin D3 on Hospital Length of Stay in Patients With Moderate to Severe COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial
A randomized clinical trial involving 240 patients hospitalized with moderate to severe COVID-19 found that compared with placebo, a single dose (200,000 IU) of vitamin D3 did not significantly reduce length of hospital stay (HR = 1.07). The difference between the vitamin D3 group and the placebo group was not significant for in-hospital mortality (8%…
Early Introductions and Community Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.1.7 in the United States
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Using combined data from UK air travel into US airports, SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequencing, and clinical diagnostics, a study found evidence for multiple independent introductions of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant (first described in the UK) into the US, many of which have led to sustained community transmission. The authors conclude that the high…
Detection of B.1.351 SARS-CoV-2 Variant Strain — Zambia, December 2020
The SARS-CoV-2 variant strain B.1.351 (first described in South Africa) was detected in Zambia in specimens collected from December 16–23, 2020. Among 23 specimens collected during this time, 22 (96%) were the B.1.351 variant, and among those 21 (95%) contained all nine B.1.351 lineage-defining mutations. Specimens with the B.1.351 variant were obtained from people across…
First Identified Cases of SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.1.7 in Minnesota — December 2020–January 2021
On January 9, 2021, the Minnesota Department of Health announced the identification of the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant (first described in the UK) in specimens from five people, and on January 25, this variant was found in samples from three additional people. The samples were collected between December 18, 2020 and January 11, 2021 from residents…
Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission among Meat Processing Workers in Nebraska, USA, and Effectiveness of Risk Mitigation Measures
There was a 19% COVID-19 attack rate (n=5,002 cases) among Nebraska meat processing workers during April 1–July 31, 2020. After implementing universal masking and physical barrier interventions, 8 of 13 facilities showed a statistically significant reduction in COVID-19 incidence in less than 10 days. While 67% of cases occurred among workers who identified as Hispanic…
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