Article Summary
December 1, 2020
IgG Seroconversion and Pathophysiology in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection
Among 177 SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals from the UK, 15 (9%) did not seroconvert during the entire 60-day follow-up period, suggesting that a minority of infected persons may not develop detectable IgG against SARS-CoV-2. Persons who seroconverted were older compared to those who did not seroconvert (median age 66 vs 41 years) and were more likely…
Risk Exposures Risk Perceptions Negative Attitudes toward General Vaccination and COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among College Students in South Carolina
[Pre-print, not peer reviewed] Online survey data from 1,062 college students in South Carolina suggest that perceived severity and fear of COVID-19 were positively associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, while a higher level of risk exposures and negative attitude toward vaccines in general were associated with low COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Qiao et al. (Nov 30,…
Willingness to Vaccinate against COVID-19 in the US Longitudinal Evidence from a Nationally Representative Sample of Adults from April-October 2020
[Pre-print, not peer reviewed] Willingness to receive a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine declined from 71% in April to 54% in October among US adults, according to longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample (n=7,547). The decline was primarily driven by an increase in participants undecided about being vaccinated and unwilling to be vaccinated. Participants without a college…
Large-Scale Testing of Asymptomatic Healthcare Personnel for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
Large-scale one-time testing of over 12,000 asymptomatic healthcare personnel (HCP) in the San Francisco Bay Area during April-June 2020 found low SARS-CoV-2 prevalence (0.2% by RT-PCR and 0.9% by serology tests). Most SARS-CoV-2-infected HCP were involved with direct patient care. One asymptomatic person with high viral load was identified, which, although rare, highlights the potential…
Serologic Testing of U.S. Blood Donations to Identify SARS-CoV-2-Reactive Antibodies: December 2019-January 2020
Analysis of archived samples from routine Red Cross blood donations collected December 13, 2019 to January 17, 2020 from donors in nine states, including Washington, suggests SARS-CoV-2 was introduced in the US prior to the first identified case in January 19, 2020. Among 7,389 samples, 106 contained antibodies reactive to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and…
Absence of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission from Children in Isolation to Guardians, South Korea
In an observational study of 12 SARS-CoV-2 positive children isolating with their uninfected guardians in hospital rooms in Korea, none of the guardians became SARS-CoV-2 positive despite frequent close contact. All guardians complied with wearing PPE, including gloves and a variety of masks, while only 4 children complied well with mask use. Two guardian-child pairs…
November 30, 2020
Estimated Incidence of COVID-19 Illness and Hospitalization — United States, February–September, 2020
A simple probabilistic multiplier model estimating the societal and healthcare burdens of SARS-CoV-2 infections indicated that 2.4 million hospitalizations, 44.8 million symptomatic illnesses, and 52.9 million total infections may have occurred in the U.S. during February 27–September 30, 2020. Laboratory-confirmed infections that were reported were adjusted for potential under-detection based on testing practices and assay…
Which Policies Most Effectively Reduce SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Schools
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An evaluation of policies to reduce in-school SARS-CoV-2 transmission in New York City public schools simulated that the greatest reductions in transmission could be achieved through infection control measures (mask wearing, physical distancing, good indoor ventilation, hand washing); further reductions could be achieved through small rotating class cohorts, widespread testing at the…
A Novel COVID-19 Epidemiological Model with Explicit Susceptible and Asymptomatic Isolation Compartments Reveals Unexpected Consequences of Timing Social Distancing
A modeling study of social distancing mandates on SARS-CoV-2 population dynamics indicated that slight delays in implementing social distance protocols did not have a strong effect on the epidemic curve, but did identify a critical window of approximately two weeks in which to implement a mandate to avoid a substantially larger increase in incidence. The…
Are Psychiatric Disorders Risk Factors for COVID-19 Susceptibility and Severity: A Two-Sample Bidirectional Univariable and Multivariable Mendelian Randomization Study
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An analysis of potential bidirectional relationships between neuropsychiatric disorders and COVID-19 showed that genetic liability to bipolar disorder slightly increased COVID-19 susceptibility and severity, and there was no consistent evidence of COVID-19 influencing risk of developing psychiatric disorders. A combination of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia was associated with greater risk of contracting…
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