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April 12, 2021
Prevalence and Persistent Shedding of Fecal SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Patients With COVID-19 Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
A systematic review and meta-analysis (n = 35 studies) found that the pooled prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in fecal samples from COVID-19 patients was 43%, and that a higher proportion of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms (OR = 2.4) compared with no GI symptoms, specifically diarrhea (OR = 3.0), had detectable fecal RNA. SARS-CoV-2 RNA…
Antibody Responses in Elderly Residential Care Persons Following COVID-19 MRNA Vaccination
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] While all fully vaccinated long-term care residents (n = 70) in a cross-sectional study in the Pittsburg region between March 15 and April 1, 2021 had detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, levels tended to be lower among those who were male, older, used steroid medications, or had a longer length of time since vaccination….
Evidence for Increased Breakthrough Rates of SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in BNT162b2 MRNA Vaccinated Individuals
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A case-control study of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Israel who received the Pfizer vaccine (cases) versus unvaccinated carriers (controls) found that the predominant SARS-CoV-2 variant among vaccine recipients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR result differed depending on their timing in the vaccine course. Compared to controls, vaccinated individuals infected at least…
Early Evidence of COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness within the General Population of California
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Fully immunized individuals (either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) experienced 86% protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection, and partial protection was observed following the first dose (66%) and in the first two weeks after receipt of a second dose (78%) in a case-control study conducted from February 24 to April 7, 2021. Cases were defined by…
Real-World Effect of Monoclonal Antibody Treatment in COVID-19 Patients in a Diverse Population in the United States
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Monoclonal antibody treatment significantly reduced the risk of subsequent emergency department visit or hospitalization among patients with COVID-19 (n = 598) in a real-world study using electronic health record data. Among 270 (45%) patients treated with the monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab, 5 (1.9%) presented to the emergency department (ED) or required hospitalization within…
Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Variants by Convalescent and Vaccinated Serum
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Sera from convalescent individuals (n = 44) and individuals who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (n = 51) showed reduced neutralization activity against the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants. Among vaccinated individuals, the geometric mean 50% receptor binding domain (RBD) antibody concentration was 1.3-fold lower for the B.1.1.7 variant and 1.4-fold lower for…
Effects of Weather-Related Social Distancing on City-Scale Transmission of Respiratory Viruses: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Residual samples analyzed from patients evaluated for acute respiratory illness in the Seattle metropolitan area in the Seattle Flu Study after unusually high snowfall in Washington State in February 2019 showed that disruption in contact patterns reduced effective contact rates by 16 to 95% and reduced cumulative disease incidence through the remainder of the season…
Infectivity of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Children Compared with Adults
Compared with adults, children with SARS-CoV-2 positive nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) were less likely to grow virus in culture (OR=0.45) and had lower viral concentrations (cycle threshold: 25.1 age≤ 10 years, 22.2 age 11–17 years, and 18.7 in adults), suggesting that children may be less likely to transmit infectious virus. The analysis included samples from children…
April 9, 2021
The Impact of Changes in Diagnostic Testing Practices on Estimates of COVID-19 Transmission in the United States
Trends over time and changes in the level of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing and reporting practices can bias the estimates of the basic reproductive number (R0), an estimate of transmission. An increasing R0 could be overestimated if the proportion of cases captured increases over time, which can be affected by changes in testing eligibility and an…
COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality Among American Indian/Alaska Native and White Persons — Montana, March 13–November 30, 2020
A review of COVID-19 surveillance data from March-November 2020 in Montana revealed that COVID-19 incidence and mortality were higher among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons compared to white persons. The incidence of COVID-19 among AI/AN persons was 2.2-times higher than among White persons and COVID-19 mortality was 3.8-times higher. The case fatality rate was 1.7-times…
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