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May 25, 2021
SARS-CoV-2 Infection Induces Long-Lived Bone Marrow Plasma Cells in Humans
Mean anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG antibody titers exhibited a biphasic decay with a rapid decay during the first 4 months followed by a more gradual decline up to 11 months in an analysis of sera from 77 convalescent individuals, most of whom had recovered from mild COVID-19. Analysis of bone marrow aspirates collected at 7-8 months…
Safety and Immunogenicity of Anti–SARS-CoV-2 Messenger RNA Vaccines in Recipients of Solid Organ Transplants
Prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a cohort of 367 solid organ transplant recipients in France who received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was 1.4% at baseline, 6.3% prior to the second dose, and 34% at 1 month after the second dose. The vaccines were well tolerated with only one serious adverse event reported. Marion et al. (May…
Symptoms After COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients With Persistent Symptoms After Acute Infection: A Case Series
In a case series of 36 participants from the UK with persistent COVID-19 symptoms 8 months after hospitalization, 71% of reported symptoms present prior to vaccination with a COVID-19 vaccine were unchanged a median of 1 month after receiving the first dose. 23% of symptoms had improved, and 6% had worsened. Prior to vaccination, participants…
Public Trust and Willingness to Vaccinate Against COVID-19 in the US From October 14, 2020, to March 29, 2021
Estimated vaccine hesitancy in the US declined from 46% in October 2020 to 35% in March 2021, according to an analysis of 42,154 survey responses from 7,420 participants in 7 waves of the probability-based Understanding America Study (UAS). Declines in hesitancy were observed across demographic groups and were largest among Hispanic (52% to 37%) and…
COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infections Reported to CDC — United States, January 1–April 30, 2021
A total of 10,262 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine breakthrough cases were reported to the CDC across the US as of April 30, 2021, out of approximately 101 million fully vaccinated individuals (0.01%). 27% of vaccine breakthrough infections were asymptomatic. Of the 10% of infected individuals who were hospitalized, of whom 29% were asymptomatic or hospitalized for reasons…
Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccines against the B.1.617.2 Variant
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection following 1 dose was 34% against the B.1.617.2 variant of concern (first described in India) compared to 51% against the B.1.1.7 variant in a case control analysis of 12,675 sequenced cases in England (92% B.1.1.7). Two-dose effectiveness was modestly lower, with 88% against…
Effectiveness of Tocilizumab in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19
The IL-6 inhibitor tocilizumab was not associated with a reduction in 90-day mortality (HR=0.64, 95%CI 0.25-1.65) in a follow-up of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who were receiving oxygen but did not require high-flow or mechanical ventilation (n=130). However, in a subgroup analysis including participants with baseline C-reactive protein levels greater…
May 24, 2021
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Screening in the U.S.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea testing in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic were at their lowest during April 2020, with decreases of 59% among female and 63% among male patients relative to baseline levels. Declines in testing were strongly associated with increases in weekly positivity rates for chlamydia (R2=0.96) and gonorrhea (R2=0.85). The study estimates that…
Mortality From Drug Overdoses, Homicides, Unintentional Injuries, Motor Vehicle Crashes, and Suicides During the Pandemic, March-August 2020
An analysis of excess mortality in the US during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March – August 2020) found higher-than-expected deaths due to drug overdoses (n = 10,443 excess deaths), homicides (n = 2,014), and unintentional injuries (n = 7,497), and lower-than-expected numbers of suicides (n = 2,432 fewer deaths). Drug overdoses…
Public Health and Health Systems Impacts of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern A Rapid Scoping Review
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A rapid review of the B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 SARS-CoV-2 variants (n=37 studies and 21 guidance documents) found evidence for potential increased risks of hospitalization and death associated with the B.1.1.7 variant. While six studies in the review found higher mortality risk associated with B.1.1.7, ranging from 15-67%, three found no differences….
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