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Background: The early reliable detection and quantification of autoantibodies play an important role in autoimmune disease diagnosis and in disease-course monitoring. New technologies, such as the multiplexed determination of autoantibodies, have recently been introduced and are being adopted more frequently. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of a new microdot array-based multiparametric assay (ZENIT AMiDot CTD panel, A. Menarini Diagnostics, Firenze, Italy) to correctly classify patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) and compare it to a fluorescence enzyme immunoassay (FEIA) for the detection of anti-ENAs. Methods: The study included 69 consecutive samples from patients with ARDs that were analyzed using two different methods (FEIA and AMiDot) to detect anti-CENP B and six anti-ENA antibodies: anti-Scl-70, anti-SSB/La, anti-Jo-1, anti-U1-RNP, anti-Ro52, and anti-Ro60. The control group sera came from sixty-eight blood donors. Tests were run on the automated slide processor ZENIT FLOW, and then the slides were imaged and analyzed using ZENIT fast. Results: Since the samples were selected for at least one antibody positivity with an ARD diagnosis, we did not calculate clinical sensitivity but only specificity, which was 98.53%, ranging from 90% for anti-SSB/La antibodies to 100% for anti-CENP B ones. Mean agreement among the methods assessed by Cohen's kappa was 0.816 ± 0.240. Conclusions: The assay demonstrated good clinical performance and may be considered a valuable aid in detecting ARD patients, offering an alternative to methods such as FEIA which are largely in use today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the general guidelines for managing SARS-CoV-2 infection in prison [[5]], [[6]]. Keywords: anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies; COVID-19; prison EN anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies COVID-19 prison e239 e241 3 06/03/21 20210601 NES 210601 To the Editor, Due to the dramatic diffusion of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for an acute respiratory syndrome that has spread rapidly all over the world causing thousands of deaths, we consider both the prevention and control of SARS-CoV-2 virus fundamental in prisons. In Italy, the Minister of Justice declared specific measures for detention institutions, such as blocking prison visits between inmates and external people, replaced by video calls; halting prisoner transfers between different prisons; transforming prison detention into house arrest for minor crimes and short arrests and adopting alternative sentences to reduce prison overpopulation. [Extracted from the article]