Coronavirus (COVID-19) Collection
Antibody response to the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among healthcare workers, Indonesia
Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection due to increased occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (Nguyen et al., 2020). As well as being beneficial for the HCWs themselves, protecting HCWs from SARS-CoV-2 infection is important to prevent disease transmission in healthcare and community settings (Anonymous, 2020). In addition, protecting HCWs from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is crucial for the preservation and protection of national healthcare systems (Anonymous, 2020).Initial SARS-CoV-2 vaccination response can predict booster response for BNT162b2 but not for AZD1222
Objective: To determine whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibody levels after the first dose of vaccine can predict the final antibody response, and whether this is dependent on the vaccine type.Methods: Sixty-nine recipients of BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech) and 55 recipients of AZD1222 (AstraZeneca), without previous infection or immunosuppressive medication, were included in this study. Antibody levels were quantified 3 weeks after the first dose [directly before boostering in the case of AZD1222 (11 weeks after the first dose)] and 3 weeks after the second dose using the Roche Elecsys SARS-CoV-2 S total antibody assay.Immunity against seasonal human coronavirus OC43 mitigates fatal deterioration of COVID-19
An important characteristic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is its variations. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers of confirmed cases and deaths differ widely between countries, with rates more than 10 times higher in North America and Europe than in East Asia as of March 2021 (Wiersinga et al., 2020; World Health Organization, 2021). The severity of COVID-19 also varies considerably. Most infected cases have no symptoms or recover with mild, self-limiting symptoms, while approximately 5% of infected patients develop deadly pneumonia (Wiersinga et al., 2020).The effect of tocilizumab, anakinra and prednisolone on antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with COVID-19: A prospective cohort study with multivariate analysis of factors affecting the antibody response
A protective immune response against SARS-CoV-2 requires synchronized function of viral protein-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells as well as B cells. COVID-19 patients with severe infection are more likely to have asynchronous immune responses. Whether having a synchronized or asynchronized immune response, the vast majority of patients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection produce antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and those with the most severe disease have higher titers of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies compared with asymptomatic or mild cases (Rydyznski Moderbacher et al., 2020; Wajnberg et al., 2020a, 2020b).Serial population-based serosurveys for COVID-19 in two neighbourhoods of Karachi, Pakistan
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in more than 62 million confirmed cases and over 1.4 million deaths globally, a case fatality rate (CFR) of approximately 5.4% and an infection fatality rate (IFR) of 0.9% (Johns Hopkins University, 2020; Rekatsina et al., 2020). As the world rushed to respond to the global health crisis, the pandemic revealed numerous cracks in healthcare systems (Armocida et al., 2020). Pakistan was one of the first low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to be affected by the pandemic, and had reported 398,024 cases and 8025 deaths (CFR 2.51%) at the time of writing (Government of Pakistan, 2020; Johns Hopkins University, 2020).Assessment of commercial SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays, Jamaica
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented need for reliable commercial laboratory diagnostics. While SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays have recently become commercially available, performance data have mainly assessed high-income country populations (Van Walle et al., 2020), with data from populations of mostly African descent lacking. To our knowledge, there has been no published performance assessment of SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays with a predominantly black population. In this study in Jamaica, serum samples were used to assess the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the Roche Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2, Abbott Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG, Euroimmun SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgG, and Trillium IgG/IgM assays.SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among health care workers in a New York City hospital: A cross-sectional analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic
The United States currently has the highest number of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections globally, with the Bronx having the highest proportion of positive cases with an incidence of 850.2 hospitalizations per 100,000 persons in New York City (New York State Department of Health, 2020a). Black and Hispanic residents in the city had higher hospitalization rates and death due to COVID-19 (New York State Department of Health, 2020b). Older age and a higher number of comorbidities like chronic kidney disease, cancer, COPD, immune-compromised state, obesity, congestive heart failure, diabetes, and others increase the risk for adverse outcomes (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020a).Population-based seroprevalence surveys of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody: An up-to-date review
Even though severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) only emerged at the end of 2019, the associated disease–coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)–has spread rapidly to more than 180 countries/regions worldwide and has consequently led to a global pandemic (World Health Organization (WHO), 2020). As of September 7, 2020, nearly 27 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, causing 876,616 deaths, with an associated case fatality rate of 3.3% (World Health Organization (WHO), 2020; Lai et al., 2020a, b; Sheng et al., 2020).Diagnostic performance of commercially available COVID-19 serology tests in Brazil
A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease (COVID-19) was first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China in December 2019, followed by an outbreak across the world. On March 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic (World Health Organization (WHO), 2020a). Four months later, more than 12 million cases and 550 000 deaths had already been reported worldwide. In July 2020, notified cases in Brazil exceeded 1 800 000 (BRASIL, 2020), with associated deaths exceeding 70 000, placing the country at the epicenter of the pandemic in Latin America, with the second-highest case rate in the Americas after the USA (Max Roser HR, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and, 2020).Possible intrauterine SARS-CoV-2 infection: Positive nucleic acid testing results and consecutive positive SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody levels within 50 days after birth
Pregnancy with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a special scenario that needs a good understanding of the pathophysiology of this disease (Sahu et al., 2020), in particular whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) affects the fetus in utero. Neonates are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vertical transmission is possible (Alzamora et al., 2020; Zeng et al., 2020b). Evidence has shown positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing results for blood samples and the fetal surface of the placenta (Baud et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020).One case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a patient co-infected by HIV with a low CD4+ T-cell count
Since December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease, officially named by the World Health Organization as COVID-19, appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Patients present with severe viral pneumonia and respiratory illness. Lymphopenia has been considered as a poor prognostic factor for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (Leung et al., 2004) as well as COVID-19 (Qin et al., 2020). This study reports the clinical findings from a patient confirmed with COVID-19 who was also co-infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
