Article Summary
May 3, 2021
Young Adults Underestimate How Well Peers Adhere to COVID-19 Preventive Behavioral Guidelines
Young adult college students at the University of Washington (n = 539) reported strong adherence to most CDC COVID-19 preventive behavioral guidelines, including mask-wearing in public (97.5%) and cleaning high-touch surfaces (61.7%), but perceived significantly lower adherence among their peers for all 14 behaviors assessed, according to a survey conducted in September 2020. Participants perceived…
April 30, 2021
The Utility of the Pandemic Grief Scale in Identifying Functional Impairment from COVID-19 Bereavement
A cross-sectional survey of persons living in the US who lost a loved one to COVID-19 (N=1,065) validated the clinical utility of the 5-item Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) for identifying mourners at risk of functional impairment and substance use. The authors found the PGS uniquely explained work and social difficulties attributed to a COVID-19 loss…
SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence, and IgG Concentration and Pseudovirus Neutralising Antibody Titres after Infection, Compared by HIV Status: A Matched Case-Control Observational Study
Persons living with HIV had lower SARS-CoV-2 IgG seroprevalence (3.7%) compared to persons without HIV (7.4%), according to a retrospective matched case-control study (N=2,200) of remnant serum samples from US adults presenting for routine laboratory testing. However, among those who had past SARS-CoV-2 infection, persons living with HIV were more likely to have had severe…
Safety Monitoring of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 Vaccine — United States, March–April 2021
A review of post-authorization safety data after administration of 7.98 million doses of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine during March–April 2021 found that commonly-reported reactions, such as fatigue and pain, were similar to those observed in clinical trials, and 97% of these events were classified as nonserious. A total of 17 events consistent with cerebral…
Previously Infected Vaccinees Broadly Neutralize SARS-CoV-2 Variants
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A small study of sera from patients vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (N=30) found similar levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies in persons with and without previous documentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Additionally, post-vaccination sera from previously infected persons demonstrated higher neutralizing activity in in-vitro against B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 compared to previously uninfected…
Anxiety-Related Adverse Event Clusters After Janssen COVID-19 Vaccination — Five U.S. Mass Vaccination Sites, April 2021
A review of data from 5 mass vaccination sites providing the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine (total doses=8,624) revealed 64 anxiety-related events post-vaccination, including 17 events of fainting. The most commonly-reported event was light-headedness or dizziness. 13 persons were transported to an emergency department for follow-up, and all five for whom follow-up information was available…
Factors Influencing the Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines: A Quantitative Synthesis of Phase III Trials
A meta-analysis of efficacy data from Phase III trials of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Sputnik V vaccines found that type of vaccine, age and sex of recipients, and the underlying rate of COVID-19 in the study populations did not affect vaccine efficacy. The meta-regression calculated lower efficacy point estimates for the mRNA vaccines among…
SARS-CoV-2 Detection on Self-Collected Saliva or Anterior Nasal Specimens Compared with Healthcare Personnel-Collected Nasopharyngeal Specimens
A study of 730 adults undergoing simultaneous nasopharyngeal (NPS), anterior nasal (ANS), and saliva specimen collection for SARS-CoV-2 testing found the sensitivity for saliva testing was 85% and sensitivity for ANS testing was 80%, which increased to 100% and 94%, respectively, among participants with culture-positive SARS-CoV-2 by any specimen type. Saliva (37%) and ANS (46%)…
The Impact on Infectivity and Neutralization Efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 Lineage B.1.351 Pseudovirus
An in-vitro comparison of SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudoviruses carrying mutations characteristic of the B.1.351 lineage (N501Y, K417N, and E484K) and the original D614G lineage found that the viruses in the B.1.351 lineage demonstrated increased infectivity in cellular assays. Additionally, the monoclonal antibody imdevimab neutralized all three B.1.351 lineage viruses, while neutralization by the monoclonal antibody casirivimab…
Head-to-Head Evaluation of Five Automated SARS-CoV-2 Serology Immunoassays in Various Prevalence Settings
A comparison of five automated SARS-CoV-2 serology tests found that the Euroimmun and Roche assays (either the assay targeting the nucleocapsid (N) or spike protein (S) antigens) performed equally well without the need for additional confirmatory testing in high prevalence settings compared to the gold standard of rRT-PCR and rIFA. However, the authors suggest that…
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