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February 23, 2021
Longitudinal Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in 8000 U.S. First-time Convalescent Plasma Donations
The average SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels among first-time US COVID-19 convalescent plasma donations have dropped significantly, according to a longitudinal analysis of 8,749 plasma units collected from April to September 2020. The decrease in mean IgG values were significantly correlated with decreases in mean plasma donor age and the percentage of units obtained from donors who…
Saliva for Molecular Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in School-Aged Children
Saliva RT-PCR had a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 99% compared to nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) in a study of 485 NPS and saliva sample pairs collected from 476 children presenting for COVID-19 screening in Dubai. Viral detection in at least one specimen type was reported in 18%, with 17% in NPS alone and 16%…
Characterizing SARS-CoV-2 Genome Diversity Circulating in South American Countries: Signatures of Potentially Emergent Lineages?
Analysis of nearly 6,000 publicly available SARS-CoV-2 genome assemblies in South America identified a total of 169 circulating lineages across 16 South American countries, with the B lineage the predominantly circulating lineage. Lineages of concern that were identified include the P.1 variant (94 genomes) and the B.1.1.7 variant (28 genomes), with both variants displaying 33…
Reopening Schools in the Context of Increasing COVID-19 Community Transmission: The French Experience
Children and adolescents in France had lower risk of a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test and lower incidence of infection compared to adults during the first 2 months of the 2020-2021 school year (August to October 2020), though risk among older adolescents was close to that of adults. Schools re-opened with infection control measures in place,…
Effectiveness of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions on Child and Staff COVID-19 Cases in US Summer Camps
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Mask adherence among children in US summer camps was approximately 34% according to a survey of 486 summer camps that operated in 2020. Approximately 15% of camps reported one or more confirmed COVID-19 cases in either campers or staff, with three camps reporting a COVID-19 outbreak. Among the types of non-pharmaceutical interventions…
February 22, 2021
Inflight Transmission of COVID-19 Based on Experimental Aerosol Dispersion Data
A study simulating aerosol dispersion in a B77-200 aircraft to estimate SARS-CoV-2 infection probability calculated that the MID-AFT (economy class) portion of the cabin exhibited the highest infection probability, with the average individual infection probability (without masks) for a 2-hour flight in this section varying from 0.1% for a ‘Mild Scenario’ to 2.5% for a…
Increased Hazard of Mortality in Cases Compatible with SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern 2020121 – a Matched Cohort Study
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Findings from a cohort study among people tested for SARS-CoV-2 in community settings in the UK suggest the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant strain is associated with a higher risk of mortality. The hazard ratio for mortality was 1.7 for the variant strain compared to infection with previously circulating strains. This represents an increase…
Densely Sampled Viral Trajectories Suggest Longer Duration of Acute Infection with B.1.1.7 Variant Relative to Non-B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A longitudinal assessment of SARS-CoV-2 viral loads from a sample of 65 individuals compared the viral dynamics between individuals with the B.1.1.7 variant (n=7) and non-variant strains. Individuals with the B.1.1.7 variant had a mean duration of the proliferation phase (time from first detection to peak viral load) of 5.3 days, a…
Childhood Asthma Outcomes during the COVID‐19 Pandemic: Findings from the PeARL Multi‐national Cohort
Findings from the PeARL multinational cohort indicate that during the COVID-19 pandemic, children with asthma experienced fewer upper respiratory tract infections (RTIs), episodes of fever, emergency visits, hospital admissions, and asthma attacks and hospitalizations due to asthma than in the preceding year. When compared to non‐asthmatic controls, children with asthma were not at increased risk…
Sequelae in Adults at 6 Months After COVID-19 Infection
A longitudinal prospective cohort study of adults with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in Washington State, and a concurrent cohort of healthy (control) patients, found that persistent symptoms were reported up to 9 months after initial infection by 17 of 64 patients (27%) aged 18 to 39 years, 25 of 83 patients (30%) aged 40 to 64…
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