Article Summary
January 26, 2021
Pregnancy as a Risk Factor for Severe Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Disease Using Standardized Clinical Criteria
A retrospective cohort study in the US (n=262 women with symptomatic COVID-19) found that compared to non-pregnant women, pregnant women were at significantly increased risk of developing severe COVID-19. After adjusting for ethnicity and insurance status, pregnant patients were between 3.6 and 5.7 times as likely to have severe disease, depending on the criteria used…
Longitudinal Analysis of Humoral Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Spike in Convalescent Individuals up to 8 Months Post-Symptom Onset
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A longitudinal study of 101 blood samples from 32 people recovering from COVID-19 found that memory B cells for anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) IgG antibodies increase over time and persist for up to 8 months post-symptom onset. Detectable IgG and sustained Fc-effector activity in plasma was also observed up to 8 months,…
Predictive Power of SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance for Diverse Populations across a Large Geographical Range
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Trends in the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater appeared to precede trends in clinically confirmed cases in Minnesota during the summer 2020 wave. Viral RNA was detected in municipal wastewater influent continually for 20 weeks in cities ranging from 500 to 1 million people. Statewide data showed that trends in clinically…
Implementation and Evolution of Mitigation Measures, Testing, and Contact Tracing in the National Football League, August 9–November 21, 2020
Investigation of a cluster of 41 SARS-CoV-2 infections that occurred within the National Football League in late September 2020 identified at least 7 cases of infection where transmission likely occurred during <15 minutes of cumulative interaction within 6 feet of an infected individual, as confirmed by wearable tracking devices. Interviews revealed that some of these…
SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Associated with High School Wrestling Tournaments — Florida, December 2020–January 2021
An outbreak arising from a Florida high school wrestling tournament in December 2020 had an attack rate of at least 30% (38 of 126 tournament attendees who were tested) and a secondary attack rate of at least 9% (41 of 441 close contacts of the 38 COVID-19 patients). Among contacts, household members had the highest…
SARS-CoV-2 Control on a Large Urban College Campus Without Mass Testing
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Testing of symptomatic students combined with a random subset of asymptomatic students at the University of Pittsburgh demonstrated a prevalence SARS-CoV-2 infection of 0.4% and a case rate of 232 per 10,000 students, comparable to the case rates of other public urban institutions that implemented mass-testing. The authors suggest that targeted testing,…
Numbers of Close Contacts of Individuals Infected with SARS-CoV-2 and Their Association with Government Intervention Strategies
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Analysis of more than 140,000 contacts of over 40,000 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases in Ireland from May to December 2020 showed that the number of contacts per case varied across specific populations and trended with implementation of government interventions. The number of contacts per case was highest among those aged 18-24 years and…
COVID-19 Cases and Transmission in 17 K–12 Schools — Wood County, Wisconsin, August 31–November 29, 2020
Despite widespread community transmission, limited COVID-19 spread was observed from August to November 2020 in 17 rural K-12 schools in Wood County, Wisconsin that reopened with in-person instruction and several infection mitigation measures. Schools implemented physical distancing among students and staff, established groups of 11-20 students, and had a 92% reported mask adherence among students….
January 25, 2021
Excess Mortality Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic among Californians 18-65 Years of Age by Occupational Sector and Occupation March through October 2020
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A study using death records from the California Department of Public Health found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, working age adults experienced a 22% increase in mortality compared to historical periods, which varied by race/ethnicity and occupational sector and occupation. Latino Californians experienced a 36% increase in mortality (59% among Latino food/agriculture…
Increased Infections, but Not Viral Burden, with a New SARS-CoV-2 Variant
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A large community surveillance study in the UK found evidence for increases in S-gene target failures (SGTF) of SARS-CoV-2, consistent with expansion of the B.1.1.7 variant, at a time in mid-November when non-SGTF strains were stable or declining. Data were analyzed from nose and throat swabs (n=1,553,687) collected from September 28, 2020…
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