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November 13, 2020
Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Test Results Among Patients Who Recovered From COVID-19 With Prior Negative Results
A prospective study of 176 Italians who had recovered from COVID-19 and previously tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 RNA via RT-PCR (two negative tests 24 hours apart) found that 32 people (18%) re-tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (mean of 49 days since initial diagnosis), and one person (3%) was found to have replicative SARS-CoV-2 RNA. It was…
Comparison of SARS-COV-2 Nasal Antigen Test to Nasopharyngeal RT-PCR in Mildly Symptomatic Patients
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A study evaluating the diagnostic performance of a rapid antigen detection test (RADT) indicated that the sensitivity and specificity were 82.1% and 99.1% respectively in patients with mild COVID-19 in a high incidence setting, and the performance was especially high among samples with a high viral load. Nasal samples from male patients…
Validation and Testing of a Method for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Healthy Human Stool
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An assay designed to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in stool based upon a modified version of the CDC rRT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 test. Using stool samples from health individuals spiked with inactivated SAR-CoV-2 virus, the lower limit of detection (LoD) of the assay was found to be 3,000 viral RNA copies per gram of original…
Performance of Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests for Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Prospectively Pooled Specimens
A study evaluating the test performance characteristics of 3 nucleic acid amplification tests for SARS-CoV-2 found that the positive percent agreement (PPA) of pooled versus individual testing ranged from 71.7% to 82.6% for pools of 8 and from 82.9% to 100.0% for pools of 4. Pooled samples showed decreased PPA relative to individual samples. False…
Fluvoxamine vs Placebo and Clinical Deterioration in Outpatients With Symptomatic COVID-19
In a double-blind, randomized trial, adult outpatients with mild symptomatic COVID-19 treated with the SSRI antidepressant drug fluvoxamine had a lower likelihood of clinical deterioration over 15 days compared to placebo (8.7% absolute difference). The study included 152 participants and was conducted without patient contact. Clinical deterioration was defined as both (1) having shortness of…
The Change in Seroprevalence in the US plus Puerto Rico between May and September of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody in the Asymptomatic Population
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among asymptomatic individuals in the US more than doubled during May to September (3.0% to 6.6%), with the greatest increase observed in younger individuals (< age 20, 7.8%). Antibody prevalence was similar among males and females, but varied by age. Based on the September prevalence, there were…
Risk Assessment and Management of COVID-19 Among Travelers Arriving at Designated U.S. Airports, January 17–September 13, 2020
Symptom-based screening of travelers at US airports to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 was found to be resource-intensive and ineffective. From mid-January to mid-September, a total of 766,044 travelers were screened, 298 (0.04%) of whom met criteria for public health assessment. 35 of those passengers (0.005%) were tested for SARS-CoV-2, and nine (0.001%) were positive….
COVID-19 Outbreak in an Amish Community — Ohio, May 2020
Social gatherings likely contributed to the rapid transmission of SARS-CoV-2 throughout an Amish community in rural Ohio. Access to testing was increased after an initial cluster of seven SARS-CoV-2 cases was identified in May, resulting in 77% positivity among the 30 additional residents tested by RT-PCR. Transmission was associated with multiple social gatherings, including church…
Association of Social Distancing and Masking with Risk of COVID-19
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] People living in communities with the greatest social distancing had a 31% lower risk of predicted COVID-19 compared to those living in communities with poor social distancing, according to a prospective study of 198,077 participants using the COVID Symptom Study smartphone app. In addition, among people living in communities with poor social…
November 12, 2020
Age Separation Dramatically Reduces COVID-19 Mortality Rate in a Computational Model of a Large Population
Network modeling parametrized to a large population with an Israeli age distribution (more younger people) and an Italian age distribution (more older people) show that age separation could dramatically reduce COVID-19 mortality. Separating older groups (55+ years old) from the rest of the population and compensating for the loss of social connectivity by adding new…
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