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Individuals on immunosuppressive (IS) therapy have increased mortality from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and delayed viral clearance may lead to new viral variants. IS therapy reduces antibody responses following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccination; however, a comprehensive assessment of vaccine immunogenicity is lacking. Here we show that IS therapy reduced neutralizing, binding, and nonneutralizing antibody functions in addition to CD4 and CD8 T-cell interferon-γ responses following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination compared to immunocompetent individuals. Moreover, IS therapy reduced cross-reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 variants. These data suggest that the standard COVID-19 mRNA vaccine regimens will likely not provide optimal protection in immunocompromised individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has been associated with increased risk of adverse perinatal health outcomes, few large-scale, community-based epidemiological studies have been conducted.Methods: We conducted a national cohort study using deidentified administrative claims data for 78 283 pregnancies with estimated conception before 30 April 2020 and pregnancy end after 11 March 2020. We identified SARS-CoV-2 infections using diagnostic and laboratory testing data, and compared the risk of pregnancy outcomes using Cox proportional hazard models treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a time-varying exposure and adjusting for baseline covariates.Results: Of the pregnancies, 2655 (3.4%) had a documented SARS-CoV-2 infection. COVID-19 during pregnancy was not associated with risk of miscarriage, antepartum hemorrhage, or stillbirth, but was associated with 2-3 fold higher risk of induced abortion (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-5.78), cesarean delivery (aHR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.71-2.31), clinician-initiated preterm birth (aHR, 2.88; 95% CI, 1.93-4.30), spontaneous preterm birth (aHR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.37-2.34), and fetal growth restriction (aHR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.72-2.43).Conclusions: Prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Prevention could have fetal health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a paucity of reports on the characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in infants, because most studies have grouped infants with older children. We analyzed the viral loads of 45318 SARS-CoV-2-positive nasopharyngeal swab samples obtained in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Infants younger than 6 months presented higher viral loads than any other age group. Children older than 6 months showed significantly lower viral loads, similar to those founds in adults. This observation raises new questions regarding the role of infants in the spreading of SARS-CoV-2 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term humoral and cellular immune responses are diminished after BNT162b2 messenger ribonucleic acid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in COVID-19-naive nursing home residents, a population particularly vulnerable to the disease. We found both responses to decline after 4 weeks and remain lower than those of healthcare workers after 24 weeks, with an estimated half-life of the antibody response of 47 days. At 4 weeks, older age was significantly associated with a decreased humoral response, and diabetes mellitus and active malignancy were associated with a decreased cellular response. Our results imply that COVID-19-naive nursing home residents are a target group for booster vaccination trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) have been implemented to suppress transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Evidence indicates that NPIs against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may also have effects on transmission of seasonal influenza.Methods: In this study, we use an absolute humidity-driven susceptible-infectious-recovered-susceptible (SIRS) model to quantify the reduction of influenza incidence and transmission in the United States and US Department of Health and Human Services regions after implementation of NPIs in 2020. We investigate long-term effect of NPIs on influenza incidence by projecting influenza transmission at the national scale over the next 5 years, using the SIRS model.Results: We estimate that incidence of influenza A/H1 and B, which circulated in early 2020, was reduced by more than 60% in the United States during the first 10 weeks following implementation of NPIs. The reduction of influenza transmission exhibits clear geographical variation. After the control measures are relaxed, potential accumulation of susceptibility to influenza infection may lead to a large outbreak, the scale of which may be affected by length of the intervention period and duration of immunity to influenza.Conclusions: Healthcare systems need to prepare for potential influenza patient surges and advocate vaccination and continued precautions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A notable feature of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is that children are less susceptible to severe disease. Children are known to experience more infections with endemic human coronaviruses (HCoVs) compared to adults. Little is known whether HCoV infections lead to cross-reactive anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies.Methods: We investigated the presence of cross-reactive anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies to spike 1 (S1), S1-receptor-binding domain (S1-RBD), and nucleocapsid protein (NP) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and neutralizing activity by a SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped virus neutralization assay, in prepandemic sera collected from children (n = 50) and adults (n = 45), and compared with serum samples from convalescent COVID-19 patients (n = 16).Results: A significant proportion of children (up to 40%) had detectable cross-reactive antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 S1, S1-RBD, and NP antigens, and the anti-S1 and anti-S1-RBD antibody levels correlated with anti-HCoV-HKU1 and anti-HCoV-OC43 S1 antibody titers in prepandemic samples (P < .001). There were marked increases of anti-HCoV-HKU1 and - OC43 S1 (but not anti-NL63 and -229E S1-RBD) antibody titers in serum samples from convalescent COVID-19 patients (P < .001), indicating an activation of cross-reactive immunological memory to β-coronavirus spike.Conclusions: We demonstrated cross-reactive anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in prepandemic serum samples from children and young adults. Promoting this cross-reactive immunity and memory response derived from common HCoV may be an effective strategy against SARS-COV-2 and future novel coronaviruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) continues to be a major public health challenge globally. The identification of SARS-CoV-2-derived T cell epitopes is of critical importance for peptide vaccines or diagnostic tools of COVID-19.Methods: In this study, a number of SARS-CoV-2-derived HLA-I binding peptides were predicted by NetMHCpan-4.1 and selected by Popcover to achieve pancoverage of the Chinese population. The top 5 ranked peptides derived from each protein of SARS-CoV-2 were then evaluated using PBMCs from unexposed individuals (negative for SARS-CoV-2 IgG).Results: Seven epitopes derived from 4 SARS-CoV-2 proteins were identified. Interestingly, most (5 out of 7) of the SARS-CoV-2-derived peptides with predicted affinities for HLA-I molecules were identified as HLA-II-restricted epitopes and induced CD4+ T cell-dependent responses. These results complete missing pieces of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells and suggest that pre-existing T cells targeting all SARS-CoV-2-encoded proteins can be discovered in unexposed populations.Conclusions: In summary, in the current study, we present an alternative and effective strategy for the identification of T cell epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 in healthy subjects, which may indicate an important role in the development of peptide vaccines for COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, a statewide executive order (PAUSE) severely restricted the movement of New Yorkers from 23 March to 7 June 2020. We used New York City surveillance data for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis to describe trends in diagnosis and reporting surrounding PAUSE. During PAUSE, the volume of positive HIV/sexually transmitted infection tests, and diagnoses of HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis declined substantially, reaching a nadir in April before rebounding. Some shifts in characteristics of reported cases were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term humoral and cellular immune responses are diminished after BNT162b2 messenger ribonucleic acid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in COVID-19-naive nursing home residents, a population particularly vulnerable to the disease. We found both responses to decline after 4 weeks and remain lower than those of healthcare workers after 24 weeks, with an estimated half-life of the antibody response of 47 days. At 4 weeks, older age was significantly associated with a decreased humoral response, and diabetes mellitus and active malignancy were associated with a decreased cellular response. Our results imply that COVID-19-naive nursing home residents are a target group for booster vaccination trials., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)