Article Summary
February 25, 2021
Distinguishing Active Pediatric COVID-19 Pneumonia from MIS-C
A retrospective study among pediatric patients in Alabama (n=111, age ≤22 years) identified 100 patients with COVID-19 and 11 with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Fever, rash, conjunctivitis, and gastrointestinal symptoms were more common in the MIS-C patients, while COVID-19 patients more commonly presented with respiratory symptoms. Patients were more likely to be males…
Characteristics and Outcomes of US Children and Adolescents With Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) Compared With Severe Acute COVID-19
In a nationwide case series of 1116 patients <21 years between March and October 2020, 539 were diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and 577 were diagnosed with COVID-19. Patients with MIS-C were more likely to be 6-12 years old (41% vs 19%), non-Hispanic Black (32% vs 22%), and have severe cardiovascular symptoms…
Evidence of Escape of SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.351 from Natural and Vaccine Induced Sera
Neutralizing antibody titers were lower in assays against the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 variant compared to an early isolate from Wuhan across several sample sources. The geometric mean neutralizing titers were lower by 13.3-fold in convalescent plasma from patients infected during the first wave in the UK (n=34), by 3.1-fold in sera from patients infected with the…
Association of SARS-CoV-2 Seropositive Antibody Test With Risk of Future Infection
In a cohort study of over 3.2 million US patients with a SARS-CoV-2 antibody test result (88% negative), the ratio of seropositive to seronegative patients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) decreased from 3% within 30 days of the antibody test to 0.1% after at least 90 days following the antibody test….
BNT162b2 MRNA Covid-19 Vaccine in a Nationwide Mass Vaccination Setting
In an observational study of the mass vaccination campaigns in Israel, real world effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine 7 or more days after the second dose was 92% for documented SARS-CoV-2 infection, 94% for symptomatic infection, 87% for hospitalization, and 92% for severe disease. The study included 596,618 individuals matched to unvaccinated controls in a…
Suspected Recurrent SARS-CoV-2 Infections Among Residents of a Skilled Nursing Facility During a Second COVID-19 Outbreak — Kentucky, July–November 2020
SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is suspected among residents of a skilled nursing facility in Kentucky, where 5 residents received positive RT-PCR test results in two separate COVID-19 outbreaks separated by 3 months with at least four negative test results for each resident in between the outbreaks. While only 2 of 5 patients had symptomatic infection during the…
Household Secondary Attack Rate of COVID-19 by Household Size and Index Case Characteristics
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A population-wide study in Ontario, Canada including nearly 85,000 household contacts from nearly 30,000 households between July to November 2020 found that, while the overall household secondary attack rate (SAR) for SARS-CoV-2 transmission was 20%, 12% of households had a SAR ≥75%. Households in which the index case was symptomatic and had…
SARS-CoV-2 Detection and Genomic Sequencing from Hospital Surface Samples Collected at UC Davis
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Environmental samples (n=224) collected from COVID-19 patient serving and staff congregation areas in a university hospital in California between April and August 2020 identified 11 samples positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, with a smaller proportion of positive samples (2% vs 11%) detected over time as improved cleaning and patient management practices were implemented. …
A Novel SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern B.1.526 Identified in New York
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 isolates with the E484K mutation, a key mutation of the B.1.351 variant, rose from 1.3% to 12.3% between November 2020 to mid-February 2021 in New York City. In a subset of 65 samples suspected to contain key mutations, 49 fell within a single novel lineage (B.1.526) characterized by…
February 24, 2021
A National Study of Community Health Centers’ Readiness to Address COVID-19
COVID-19 exacerbated existing capacity issues at different community health centers (CHCs) in the US, according to results from a cross-sectional survey and focus groups with healthcare personnel. Survey respondents (n=234; 19% response rate) indicated that the top resource and educational needs were related to COVID-19 infection prevention and control (76%), safety precautions (72%), and screening,…
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