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In Denmark, vaccination against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has been with the Pfizer‐BioNTech (BTN162b2) or the Moderna (mRNA‐1273) mRNA vaccines. Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection followed in our clinic received mRNA vaccinations according to the Danish roll‐out vaccination plan. To monitor HCV infection, RNA was extracted from patient plasma and RNA sequencing was performed on the Illumina platform. In 10 of 108 HCV patient samples, full‐length or traces of SARS‐CoV‐2 spike mRNA vaccine sequences were found in blood up to 28 days after COVID‐19 vaccination. Detection of mRNA vaccine sequences in blood after vaccination adds important knowledge regarding this technology and should lead to further research into the design of lipid‐nanoparticles and the half‐life of these and mRNA vaccines in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to humans, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can transmit to animals that include hamsters, cats, dogs, mink, ferrets, tigers, lions, cynomolgus macaques, rhesus macaques, and treeshrew. Among these, mink are particularly susceptible. Indeed, 10 countries in Europe and North America reported SARS-CoV-2 infection among mink on fur farms. In Denmark, SARS-CoV-2 spread rapidly among mink farms and spilled-over back into humans, acquiring mutations/deletions with unknown consequences for virulence and antigenicity. Here we describe a mink-associated SARS-CoV-2 variant (Cluster 5) characterized by 11 amino acid substitutions and four amino acid deletions relative to Wuhan-Hu-1. Temporal virus titration, together with genomic and subgenomic viral RNA quantitation, demonstrated a modest in vitro fitness attenuation of the Cluster 5 virus in the Vero-E6 cell line. Potential alterations in antigenicity conferred by amino acid changes in the spike protein that include three substitutions (Y453F, I692V, and M1229I) and a loss of two amino acid residues 69 and 70 (ΔH69/V70), were evaluated in a virus microneutralization assay. Compared to a reference strain, the Cluster 5 variant showed reduced neutralization in a proportion of convalescent human COVID-19 samples. The findings underscore the need for active surveillance SARS-CoV-2 infection and virus evolution in susceptible animal hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: The first standard of care in treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 infection involving directly acting antivirals was protease inhibitors telaprevir or boceprevir combined with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin (triple therapy). Phase III studies include highly selected patients. Thus, treatment response and development of viral resistance during triple therapy in a routine clinical setting needs to be determined. The aims of this study were to investigate treatment outcome and identify sequence variations after triple therapy in patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 infection in a routine clinical setting. Methods: 80 patients, who initiated and completed triple therapy in Denmark between May 2011 and November 2012, were included. Demographic data and treatment response were obtained from the Danish Database for Hepatitis B and C. Direct sequencing and clonal analysis of the RT-PCR amplified NS3 protease were performed in patients without cure following triple therapy. Results: 38 (47%) of the patients achieved cure, 15 (19%) discontinued treatment due to adverse events and remained infected, and 27 (34%) experienced relapse or treatment failure of whom 15 of 21 analyzed patients had well-described protease inhibitor resistance variants detected. Most frequently detected protease variants were V36M and/or R155K, and V36M, in patients with genotype 1a and 1b infection, respectively. Conclusions: The cure rate after triple therapy in a routine clinical setting was 47%, which is substantially lower than in clinical trials. Resistance variants towards protease inhibitors were seen in 71% of patients failing therapy indicating that resistance could have an important role in treatment response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Around a quarter of individuals infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are spontaneously able to clear the virus. Correlates of spontaneous HCV clearance are not well established and the aim of this study was to characterize factors associated with spontaneous HCV clearance in a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-co-infected cohort. Methods: We analyzed 327 anti-HCV-positive HIV-1-infected patients using multivariate logistic regression. HCV clearance was defined as the presence of anti-HCV with undetectable HCV RNA from at least 2 measurements more than 6 months apart. Results: We included 327 HIV-1-infected individuals, predominantly of Caucasian race; 112 (34%) were females, 258 (79%) were injecting drug users (IDU), 25 (8%) were men who have sex with men (MSM), and 20 (6%) were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive. Seventy-six (23%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 18-28) had cleared their HCV infection and 251 (77%; 95% CI 72-82) had a chronic infection. The clearance rate in HBsAg-positive individuals was 65%. Being female, HBsAg-positive, or belonging to HIV exposure groups IDU and MSM predicted higher HCV clearance rates (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.8, 95% CI 1-3.2; aOR 7.6, 95% CI 2.7-21; aOR 5.2, 1.2-23.5; and aOR 10.2, 95% CI 1.8-58, respectively). Race, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and antiretroviral therapy were not associated with HCV clearance. Conclusions: The HCV clearance rate in this HIV-1 cohort was 23%. MSM and IDUs may have higher clearance rates due to their repeated exposure to low-dose HCV, leading to immune memory. Our data suggest an interaction of hepatitis B virus and HCV that influences the outcome of acute HCV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]