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1. Recurrent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 spike deletion H69/V70 and its role in the Alpha variant B.1.1.7

Author

Bo Meng, Steven A. Kemp, Guido Papa, Rawlings Datir, Isabella A.T.M. Ferreira, Sara Marelli, William T. Harvey, Spyros Lytras, Ahmed Mohamed, Giulia Gallo, Nazia Thakur, Dami A. Collier, Petra Mlcochova, Lidia M. Duncan, Alessandro M. Carabelli, Julia C. Kenyon, Andrew M. Lever, Anna De Marco, Christian Saliba, Katja Culap, Elisabetta Cameroni, Nicholas J. Matheson, Luca Piccoli, Davide Corti, Leo C. James, David L. Robertson, Dalan Bailey, Ravindra K. Gupta, Samuel C. Robson, Nicholas J. Loman, Thomas R. Connor, Tanya Golubchik, Rocio T. Martinez Nunez, Catherine Ludden, Sally Corden, Ian Johnston, David Bonsall, Colin P. Smith, Ali R. Awan, Giselda Bucca, M. Estee Torok, Kordo Saeed, Jacqui A. Prieto, David K. Jackson, William L. Hamilton, Luke B. Snell, Catherine Moore, Ewan M. Harrison, Sonia Goncalves, Derek J. Fairley, Matthew W. Loose, Joanne Watkins, Rich Livett, Samuel Moses, Roberto Amato, Sam Nicholls, Matthew Bull, Darren L. Smith, Jeff Barrett, David M. Aanensen, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Dinesh Aggarwal, James G. Shepherd, Matthew D. Parker, Sharon Glaysher, Matthew Bashton, Anthony P. Underwood, Nicole Pacchiarini, Katie F. Loveson, Kate E. Templeton, Cordelia F. Langford, John Sillitoe, Thushan I. de Silva, Dennis Wang, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Andrew Rambaut, Justin O’Grady, Simon Cottrell, Matthew T.G. Holden, Emma C. Thomson, Husam Osman, Monique Andersson, Anoop J. Chauhan, Mohammed O. Hassan-Ibrahim, Mara Lawniczak, Alex Alderton, Meera Chand, Chrystala Constantinidou, Meera Unnikrishnan, Alistair C. Darby, Julian A. Hiscox, Steve Paterson, Inigo Martincorena, Erik M. Volz, Andrew J. Page, Oliver G. Pybus, Andrew R. Bassett, Cristina V. Ariani, Michael H. Spencer Chapman, Kathy K. Li, Rajiv N. Shah, Natasha G. Jesudason, Yusri Taha, Martin P. McHugh, Rebecca Dewar, Aminu S. Jahun, Claire McMurray, Sarojini Pandey, James P. McKenna, Andrew Nelson, Gregory R. Young, Clare M. McCann, Scott Elliott, Hannah Lowe, Ben Temperton, Sunando Roy, Anna Price, Sara Rey, Matthew Wyles, Stefan Rooke, Sharif Shaaban, Mariateresa de Cesare, Laura Letchford, Siona Silveira, Emanuela Pelosi, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Myra Hosmillo, Áine O’Toole, Andrew R. Hesketh, Richard Stark, Louis du Plessis, Chris Ruis, Helen Adams, Yann Bourgeois, Stephen L. Michell, Dimitris Gramatopoulos, Jonathan Edgeworth, Judith Breuer, John A. Todd, Christophe Fraser, David Buck, Michaela John, Gemma L. Kay, Steve Palmer, Sharon J. Peacock, David Heyburn, Danni Weldon, Esther Robinson, Alan McNally, Peter Muir, Ian B. Vipond, John Boyes, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Tranprit Salluja, Samir Dervisevic, Emma J. Meader, Naomi R. Park, Karen Oliver, Aaron R. Jeffries, Sascha Ott, Ana da Silva Filipe, David A. Simpson, Chris Williams, Jane A.H. Masoli, Bridget A. Knight, Christopher R. Jones, Cherian Koshy, Amy Ash, Anna Casey, Andrew Bosworth, Liz Ratcliffe, Li Xu-McCrae, Hannah M. Pymont, Stephanie Hutchings, Lisa Berry, Katie Jones, Fenella Halstead, Thomas Davis, Christopher Holmes, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Anita O. Lucaci, Paul Anthony Randell, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Kathryn Ann Harris, Julianne Rose Brown, Tabitha W. Mahungu, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Tanzina Haque, Jennifer Hart, Eric Witele, Melisa Louise Fenton, Steven Liggett, Clive Graham, Emma Swindells, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Sharon Campbell, Patrick C. McClure, Gemma Clark, Tim J. Sloan, Carl Jones, Jessica Lynch, Ben Warne, Steven Leonard, Jillian Durham, Thomas Williams, Sam T. Haldenby, Nathaniel Storey, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Matthew Carlile, Malorie Perry, Noel Craine, Ronan A. Lyons, Angela H. Beckett, Salman Goudarzi, Christopher Fearn, Kate Cook, Hannah Dent, Hannah Paul, Robert Davies, Beth Blane, Sophia T. Girgis, Mathew A. Beale, Katherine L. Bellis, Matthew J. Dorman, Eleanor Drury, Leanne Kane, Sally Kay, Samantha McGuigan, Rachel Nelson, Liam Prestwood, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Rahul Batra, Rachel J. Williams, Mark Kristiansen, Angie Green, Anita Justice, Adhyana I.K. Mahanama, Buddhini Samaraweera, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Joshua Quick, Radoslaw Poplawski, Leanne M. Kermack, Nicola Reynolds, Grant Hall, Yasmin Chaudhry, Malte L. Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Robin J. Moll, Alicia Thornton, Richard Myers, Joanne Stockton, Charlotte A. Williams, Wen C. Yew, Alexander J. Trotter, Amy Trebes, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Alec Birchley, Alexander Adams, Amy Plimmer, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Caoimhe McKerr, Ember Hilvers, Hannah Jones, Hibo Asad, Jason Coombes, Johnathan M. Evans, Laia Fina, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Michelle Cronin, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Sarah Taylor, Sophie Jones, Danielle C. Groves, Peijun Zhang, Marta Gallis, Stavroula F. Louka, Igor Starinskij, Chris Jackson, Marina Gourtovaia, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Kevin Lewis, Jaime M. Tovar-Corona, Keith James, Laura Baxter, Mohammad T. Alam, Richard J. Orton, Joseph Hughes, Sreenu Vattipally, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Fabricia F. Nascimento, David Jorgensen, Olivia Boyd, Lily Geidelberg, Alex E. Zarebski, Jayna Raghwani, Moritz U.G. Kraemer, Joel Southgate, Benjamin B. Lindsey, Timothy M. Freeman, Jon-Paul Keatley, Joshua B. Singer, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Corin A. Yeats, Khalil Abudahab, Ben E.W. Taylor, Mirko Menegazzo, John Danesh, Wendy Hogsden, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Jenifer Mason, Trevor I. Robinson, Alison Holmes, James Price, John A. Hartley, Tanya Curran, Alison E. Mather, Giri Shankar, Rachel Jones, Robin Howe, Sian Morgan, Elizabeth Wastenge, Michael R. Chapman, Siddharth Mookerjee, Rachael Stanley, Wendy Smith, Timothy Peto, David Eyre, Derrick Crook, Gabrielle Vernet, Christine Kitchen, Huw Gulliver, Ian Merrick, Martyn Guest, Robert Munn, Declan T. Bradley, Tim Wyatt, Charlotte Beaver, Luke Foulser, Sophie Palmer, Carol M. Churcher, Ellena Brooks, Kim S. Smith, Katerina Galai, Georgina M. McManus, Frances Bolt, Francesc Coll, Lizzie Meadows, Stephen W. Attwood, Alisha Davies, Elen De Lacy, Fatima Downing, Sue Edwards, Garry P. Scarlett, Sarah Jeremiah, Nikki Smith, Danielle Leek, Sushmita Sridhar, Sally Forrest, Claire Cormie, Harmeet K. Gill, Joana Dias, Ellen E. Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Michelle Wantoch, Dorota Jamrozy, Stephanie Lo, Minal Patel, Verity Hill, Claire M. Bewshea, Sian Ellard, Cressida Auckland, Ian Harrison, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Alex Richter, Andrew Beggs, Angus Best, Benita Percival, Jeremy Mirza, Oliver Megram, Megan Mayhew, Liam Crawford, Fiona Ashcroft, Emma Moles-Garcia, Nicola Cumley, Richard Hopes, Patawee Asamaphan, Marc O. Niebel, Rory N. Gunson, Amanda Bradley, Alasdair Maclean, Guy Mollett, Rachel Blacow, Paul Bird, Thomas Helmer, Karlie Fallon, Julian Tang, Antony D. Hale, Louissa R. Macfarlane-Smith, Katherine L. Harper, Holli Carden, Nicholas W. Machin, Kathryn A. Jackson, Shazaad S.Y. Ahmad, Ryan P. George, Lance Turtle, Elaine O’Toole, Joanne Watts, Cassie Breen, Angela Cowell, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Themoula Charalampous, Amita Patel, Lisa J. Levett, Judith Heaney, Aileen Rowan, Graham P. Taylor, Divya Shah, Laura Atkinson, Jack C.D. Lee, Adam P. Westhorpe, Riaz Jannoo, Helen L. Lowe, Angeliki Karamani, Leah Ensell, Wendy Chatterton, Monika Pusok, Ashok Dadrah, Amanda Symmonds, Graciela Sluga, Zoltan Molnar, Paul Baker, Stephen Bonner, Sarah Essex, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Jane Greenaway, Brendan A.I. Payne, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Veena Raviprakash, Nicola Sheriff, Victoria Blakey, Lesley-Anne Williams, Jonathan Moore, Susanne Stonehouse, Louise Smith, Rose K. Davidson, Luke Bedford, Lindsay Coupland, Victoria Wright, Joseph G. Chappell, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jonathan Ball, Manjinder Khakh, Vicki M. Fleming, Michelle M. Lister, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Amelia Joseph, Iona Willingham, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Emma Wise, Nathan Moore, Matilde Mori, Nick Cortes, Stephen Kidd, Rebecca Williams, Laura Gifford, Kelly Bicknell, Sarah Wyllie, Allyson Lloyd, Robert Impey, Cassandra S. Malone, Benjamin J. Cogger, Nick Levene, Lynn Monaghan, Alexander J. Keeley, David G. Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, Emma Betteridge, Ben W. Farr, Scott Goodwin, Michael A. Quail, Carol Scott, Lesley Shirley, Scott A.J. Thurston, Diana Rajan, Iraad F. Bronner, Louise Aigrain, Nicholas M. Redshaw, Stefanie V. Lensing, Shane McCarthy, Alex Makunin, Carlos E. Balcazar, Michael D. Gallagher, Kathleen A. Williamson, Thomas D. Stanton, Michelle L. Michelsen, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Robin Manley, Audrey Farbos, James W. Harrison, Christine M. Sambles, David J. Studholme, Angie Lackenby, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Shahjahan Miah, David Bibby, Carmen Manso, Jonathan Hubb, Gavin Dabrera, Mary Ramsay, Daniel Bradshaw, Ulf Schaefer, Natalie Groves, Eileen Gallagher, David Lee, David Williams, Nicholas Ellaby, Hassan Hartman, Nikos Manesis, Vineet Patel, Juan Ledesma, Katherine A. Twohig, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, Jeffrey K.J. Cheng, Hannah E. Bridgewater, Lucy R. Frost, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Paul E. Brown, Lily Tong, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Stephen N. Carmichael, Katherine L. Smollett, Kyriaki Nomikou, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Natasha Johnson, Seema Nickbakhsh, Edith E. Vamos, Margaret Hughes, Lucille Rainbow, Richard Eccles, Charlotte Nelson, Mark Whitehead, Richard Gregory, Matthew Gemmell, Claudia Wierzbicki, Hermione J. Webster, Chloe L. Fisher, Adrian W. Signell, Gilberto Betancor, Harry D. Wilson, Gaia Nebbia, Flavia Flaviani, Alberto C. Cerda, Tammy V. Merrill, Rebekah E. Wilson, Marius Cotic, Nadua Bayzid, Thomas Thompson, Erwan Acheson, Steven Rushton, Sarah O’Brien, David J. Baker, Steven Rudder, Alp Aydin, Fei Sang, Johnny Debebe, Sarah Francois, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Bernardo Gutierrez, Angela Marchbank, Joshua Maksimovic, Karla Spellman, Kathryn McCluggage, Mari Morgan, Robert Beer, Safiah Afifi, Trudy Workman, William Fuller, Catherine Bresner, Adrienn Angyal, Luke R. Green, Paul J. Parsons, Rachel M. Tucker, Rebecca Brown, Max Whiteley, James Bonfield, Christoph Puethe, Andrew Whitwham, Jennifier Liddle, Will Rowe, Igor Siveroni, Thanh Le-Viet, Amy Gaskin, Rob Johnson, Irina Abnizova, Mozam Ali, Laura Allen, Ralph Anderson, Cristina Ariani, Siobhan Austin-Guest, Sendu Bala, Jeffrey Barrett, Andrew Bassett, Kristina Battleday, James Beal, Mathew Beale, Sam Bellany, Tristram Bellerby, Katie Bellis, Duncan Berger, Matt Berriman, Paul Bevan, Simon Binley, Jason Bishop, Kirsty Blackburn, Nick Boughton, Sam Bowker, Timothy Brendler-Spaeth, Iraad Bronner, Tanya Brooklyn, Sarah Kay Buddenborg, Robert Bush, Catarina Caetano, Alex Cagan, Nicola Carter, Joanna Cartwright, Tiago Carvalho Monteiro, Liz Chapman, Tracey-Jane Chillingworth, Peter Clapham, Richard Clark, Adrian Clarke, Catriona Clarke, Daryl Cole, Elizabeth Cook, Maria Coppola, Linda Cornell, Clare Cornwell, Craig Corton, Abby Crackett, Alison Cranage, Harriet Craven, Sarah Craw, Mark Crawford, Tim Cutts, Monika Dabrowska, Matt Davies, Joseph Dawson, Callum Day, Aiden Densem, Thomas Dibling, Cat Dockree, David Dodd, Sunil Dogga, Matthew Dorman, Gordon Dougan, Martin Dougherty, Alexander Dove, Lucy Drummond, Monika Dudek, Laura Durrant, Elizabeth Easthope, Sabine Eckert, Pete Ellis, Ben Farr, Michael Fenton, Marcella Ferrero, Neil Flack, Howerd Fordham, Grace Forsythe, Matt Francis, Audrey Fraser, Adam Freeman, Anastasia Galvin, Maria Garcia-Casado, Alex Gedny, Sophia Girgis, James Glover, Oliver Gould, Andy Gray, Emma Gray, Coline Griffiths, Yong Gu, Florence Guerin, Will Hamilton, Hannah Hanks, Ewan Harrison, Alexandria Harrott, Edward Harry, Julia Harvison, Paul Heath, Anastasia Hernandez-Koutoucheva, Rhiannon Hobbs, Dave Holland, Sarah Holmes, Gary Hornett, Nicholas Hough, Liz Huckle, Lena Hughes-Hallet, Adam Hunter, Stephen Inglis, Sameena Iqbal, Adam Jackson, David Jackson, Carlos Jimenez Verdejo, Matthew Jones, Kalyan Kallepally, Keely Kay, Jon Keatley, Alan Keith, Alison King, Lucy Kitchin, Matt Kleanthous, Martina Klimekova, Petra Korlevic, Ksenia Krasheninnkova, Greg Lane, Cordelia Langford, Adam Laverack, Katharine Law, Stefanie Lensing, Amanah Lewis-Wade, Jennifer Liddle, Quan Lin, Sarah Lindsay, Sally Linsdell, Rhona Long, Jamie Lovell, Jon Lovell, James Mack, Mark Maddison, Aleksei Makunin, Irfan Mamun, Jenny Mansfield, Neil Marriott, Matt Martin, Matthew Mayho, Jo McClintock, Sandra McHugh, Liz MapcMinn, Carl Meadows, Emily Mobley, Robin Moll, Maria Morra, Leanne Morrow, Kathryn Murie, Sian Nash, Claire Nathwani, Plamena Naydenova, Alexandra Neaverson, Ed Nerou, Jon Nicholson, Tabea Nimz, Guillaume G. Noell, Sarah O’Meara, Valeriu Ohan, Charles Olney, Doug Ormond, Agnes Oszlanczi, Yoke Fei Pang, Barbora Pardubska, Naomi Park, Aaron Parmar, Gaurang Patel, Maggie Payne, Sharon Peacock, Arabella Petersen, Deborah Plowman, Tom Preston, Michael Quail, Richard Rance, Suzannah Rawlings, Nicholas Redshaw, Joe Reynolds, Mark Reynolds, Simon Rice, Matt Richardson, Connor Roberts, Katrina Robinson, Melanie Robinson, David Robinson, Hazel Rogers, Eduardo Martin Rojo, Daljit Roopra, Mark Rose, Luke Rudd, Ramin Sadri, Nicholas Salmon, David Saul, Frank Schwach, Phil Seekings, Alison Simms, Matt Sinnott, Shanthi Sivadasan, Bart Siwek, Dale Sizer, Kenneth Skeldon, Jason Skelton, Joanna Slater-Tunstill, Lisa Sloper, Nathalie Smerdon, Chris Smith, Christen Smith, James Smith, Katie Smith, Michelle Smith, Sean Smith, Tina Smith, Leighton Sneade, Carmen Diaz Soria, Catarina Sousa, Emily Souster, Andrew Sparkes, Michael Spencer-Chapman, Janet Squares, Robert Stanley, Claire Steed, Tim Stickland, Ian Still, Mike Stratton, Michelle Strickland, Allen Swann, Agnieszka Swiatkowska, Neil Sycamore, Emma Swift, Edward Symons, Suzanne Szluha, Emma Taluy, Nunu Tao, Katy Taylor, Sam Taylor, Stacey Thompson, Mark Thompson, Mark Thomson, Nicholas Thomson, Scott Thurston, Dee Toombs, Benjamin Topping, Jaime Tovar-Corona, Daniel Ungureanu, James Uphill, Jana Urbanova, Philip Jansen Van, Valerie Vancollie, Paul Voak, Danielle Walker, Matthew Walker, Matt Waller, Gary Ward, Charlie Weatherhogg, Niki Webb, Alan Wells, Eloise Wells, Luke Westwood, Theo Whipp, Thomas Whiteley, Georgia Whitton, Sara Widaa, Mia Williams, Mark Wilson, and Sean Wright

Subjects
SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, antibody escape, neutralizing antibodies, infectivity, spike mutation, Biology (General), QH301-705.5
Abstract

Summary: We report severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike ΔH69/V70 in multiple independent lineages, often occurring after acquisition of receptor binding motif replacements such as N439K and Y453F, known to increase binding affinity to the ACE2 receptor and confer antibody escape. In vitro, we show that, although ΔH69/V70 itself is not an antibody evasion mechanism, it increases infectivity associated with enhanced incorporation of cleaved spike into virions. ΔH69/V70 is able to partially rescue infectivity of spike proteins that have acquired N439K and Y453F escape mutations by increased spike incorporation. In addition, replacement of the H69 and V70 residues in the Alpha variant B.1.1.7 spike (where ΔH69/V70 occurs naturally) impairs spike incorporation and entry efficiency of the B.1.1.7 spike pseudotyped virus. Alpha variant B.1.1.7 spike mediates faster kinetics of cell-cell fusion than wild-type Wuhan-1 D614G, dependent on ΔH69/V70. Therefore, as ΔH69/V70 compensates for immune escape mutations that impair infectivity, continued surveillance for deletions with functional effects is warranted.

Published
2021
Full Text
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2. Changes in symptomatology, reinfection, and transmissibility associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7: an ecological study

Author

Mark S Graham, PhD, Carole H Sudre, PhD, Anna May, MA, Michela Antonelli, PhD, Benjamin Murray, MSc, Thomas Varsavsky, MSc, Kerstin Kläser, MSc, Liane S Canas, PhD, Erika Molteni, PhD, Marc Modat, PhD, David A Drew, PhD, Long H Nguyen, MD, Lorenzo Polidori, MSc, Somesh Selvachandran, MSc, Christina Hu, MA, Joan Capdevila, PhD, Alexander Hammers, ProfPhD, Andrew T Chan, ProfMD, Jonathan Wolf, MA, Tim D Spector, ProfPhD, Claire J Steves, PhD, Sebastien Ourselin, ProfPhD, Cherian Koshy, Amy Ash, Emma Wise, Nathan Moore, Matilde Mori, Nick Cortes, Jessica Lynch, Stephen Kidd, Derek J Fairley, Tanya Curran, James P McKenna, Helen Adams, Christophe Fraser, Tanya Golubchik, David Bonsall, Mohammed O Hassan-Ibrahim, Cassandra S Malone, Benjamin J Cogger, Michelle Wantoch, Nicola Reynolds, Ben Warne, Joshua Maksimovic, Karla Spellman, Kathryn McCluggage, Michaela John, Robert Beer, Safiah Afifi, Sian Morgan, Angela Marchbank, Anna Price, Christine Kitchen, Huw Gulliver, Ian Merrick, Joel Southgate, Martyn Guest, Robert Munn, Trudy Workman, Thomas R Connor, William Fuller, Catherine Bresner, Luke B Snell, Amita Patel, Themoula Charalampous, Gaia Nebbia, Rahul Batra, Jonathan Edgeworth, Samuel C Robson, Angela H Beckett, David M Aanensen, Anthony P Underwood, Corin A Yeats, Khalil Abudahab, Ben EW Taylor, Mirko Menegazzo, Gemma Clark, Wendy Smith, Manjinder Khakh, Vicki M Fleming, Michelle M Lister, Hannah C Howson-Wells, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Amelia Joseph, Iona Willingham, Carl Jones, Christopher Holmes, Paul Bird, Thomas Helmer, Karlie Fallon, Julian Tang, Veena Raviprakash, Sharon Campbell, Nicola Sheriff, Victoria Blakey, Lesley-Anne Williams, Matthew W Loose, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Matthew Carlile, Victoria Wright, Fei Sang, Johnny Debebe, Francesc Coll, Adrian W Signell, Gilberto Betancor, Harry D Wilson, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Thomas Davis, Oliver G Pybus, Louis du Plessis, Alex E Zarebski, Jayna Raghwani, Moritz UG Kraemer, Sarah Francois, Stephen W Attwood, Tetyana I Vasylyeva, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Bernardo Gutierrez, M. Estee Torok, William L Hamilton, Ian G Goodfellow, Grant Hall, Aminu S Jahun, Yasmin Chaudhry, Myra Hosmillo, Malte L Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Samuel Moses, Hannah Lowe, Luke Bedford, Jonathan Moore, Susanne Stonehouse, Chloe L Fisher, Ali R Awan, John BoYes, Judith Breuer, Kathryn Ann Harris, Julianne Rose Brown, Divya Shah, Laura Atkinson, Jack CD Lee, Nathaniel Storey, Flavia Flaviani, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Rebecca Williams, Gabrielle Vernet, Michael R Chapman, Lisa J Levett, Judith Heaney, Wendy Chatterton, Monika Pusok, Li Xu-McCrae, Darren L Smith, Matthew Bashton, Gregory R Young, Alison Holmes, Paul Anthony Randell, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Frances Bolt, James Price, Siddharth Mookerjee, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Fabricia F. Nascimento, David Jorgensen, Igor Siveroni, Rob Johnson, Olivia Boyd, Lily Geidelberg, Erik M Volz, Aileen Rowan, Graham P Taylor, Katherine L Smollett, Nicholas J Loman, Joshua Quick, Claire McMurray, Joanne Stockton, Sam Nicholls, Will Rowe, Radoslaw Poplawski, Alan McNally, Rocio T Martinez Nunez, Jenifer Mason, Trevor I Robinson, Elaine O'Toole, Joanne Watts, Cassie Breen, Angela Cowell, Graciela Sluga, Nicholas W Machin, Shazaad S Y Ahmad, Ryan P George, Fenella Halstead, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Wendy Hogsden, Chris J Illingworth, Chris Jackson, Emma C Thomson, James G Shepherd, Patawee Asamaphan, Marc O Niebel, Kathy K Li, Rajiv N Shah, Natasha G Jesudason, Lily Tong, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Stephen N Carmichael, Kyriaki Nomikou, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Natasha Johnson, Igor Starinskij, Ana da Silva Filipe, David L Robertson, Richard J Orton, Joseph Hughes, Sreenu Vattipally, Joshua B Singer, Seema Nickbakhsh, Antony D Hale, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Katherine L Harper, Holli Carden, Yusri Taha, Brendan AI Payne, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Steven Rushton, Sarah O'Brien, Amanda Bradley, Alasdair Maclean, Guy Mollett, Rachel Blacow, Kate E Templeton, Martin P McHugh, Rebecca Dewar, Elizabeth Wastenge, Samir Dervisevic, Rachael Stanley, Emma J Meader, Lindsay Coupland, Louise Smith, Clive Graham, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Emma Swindells, Jane Greenaway, Andrew Nelson, Clare M McCann, Wen C Yew, Monique Andersson, Timothy Peto, Anita Justice, David Eyre, Derrick Crook, Tim J Sloan, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Anoop J Chauhan, Sharon Glaysher, Kelly Bicknell, Sarah Wyllie, Scott Elliott, Allyson Lloyd, Robert Impey, Nick Levene, Lynn Monaghan, Declan T Bradley, Tim Wyatt, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, Husam Osman, Andrew Bosworth, Esther Robinson, Peter Muir, Ian B Vipond, Richard Hopes, Hannah M Pymont, Stephanie Hutchings, Martin D Curran, Surendra Parmar, Angie Lackenby, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Shahjahan Miah, David Bibby, Carmen Manso, Jonathan Hubb, Meera Chand, Gavin Dabrera, Mary Ramsay, Daniel Bradshaw, Alicia Thornton, Richard Myers, Ulf Schaefer, Natalie Groves, Eileen Gallagher, David Lee, David Williams, Nicholas Ellaby, Ian Harrison, Hassan Hartman, Nikos Manesis, Vineet Patel, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Juan Ledesma, Katherine A Twohig, Matthew T.G. Holden, Sharif Shaaban, Alec Birchley, Alexander Adams, Alisha Davies, Amy Gaskin, Amy Plimmer, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Caoimhe McKerr, Catherine Moore, Chris Williams, David Heyburn, Elen De Lacy, Ember Hilvers, Fatima Downing, Giri Shankar, Hannah Jones, Hibo Asad, Jason Coombes, Joanne Watkins, Johnathan M Evans, Laia Fina, Laura Gifford, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Malorie Perry, Mari Morgan, Matthew Bull, Michelle Cronin, Nicole Pacchiarini, Noel Craine, Rachel Jones, Robin Howe, Sally Corden, Sara Rey, Sara Kumziene-SummerhaYes, Sarah Taylor, Simon Cottrell, Sophie Jones, Sue Edwards, Justin O'Grady, Andrew J Page, Alison E Mather, David J Baker, Steven Rudder, Alp Aydin, Gemma L Kay, Alexander J Trotter, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Thanh Le-Viet, Lizzie Meadows, Anna Casey, Liz Ratcliffe, David A Simpson, Zoltan Molnar, Thomas Thompson, Erwan Acheson, Jane AH Masoli, Bridget A Knight, Sian Ellard, Cressida Auckland, Christopher R Jones, Tabitha W Mahungu, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Tanzina Haque, Jennifer Hart, Eric Witele, Melisa Louise Fenton, Ashok Dadrah, Amanda Symmonds, Tranprit Saluja, Yann Bourgeois, Garry P Scarlett, Katie F Loveson, Salman Goudarzi, Christopher Fearn, Kate Cook, Hannah Dent, Hannah Paul, David G Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, Steven Liggett, Paul Baker, Stephen Bonner, Sarah Essex, Ronan A Lyons, Kordo Saeed, Adhyana I.K Mahanama, Buddhini Samaraweera, Siona Silveira, Emanuela Pelosi, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Rachel J Williams, Mark Kristiansen, Sunando Roy, Charlotte A Williams, Marius Cotic, Nadua Bayzid, Adam P Westhorpe, John A Hartley, Riaz Jannoo, Helen L Lowe, Angeliki Karamani, Leah Ensell, Jacqui A Prieto, Sarah Jeremiah, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Sarojini Pandey, Lisa Berry, Katie Jones, Alex Richter, Andrew Beggs, Angus Best, Benita Percival, Jeremy Mirza, Oliver Megram, Megan Mayhew, Liam Crawford, Fiona Ashcroft, Emma Moles-Garcia, Nicola Cumley, Colin P Smith, Giselda Bucca, Andrew R Hesketh, Beth Blane, Sophia T Girgis, Danielle Leek, Sushmita Sridhar, Sally Forrest, Claire Cormie, Harmeet K Gill, Joana Dias, Ellen E Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Leanne M Kermack, Ravi Kumar Gupta, Catherine Ludden, Sharon J Peacock, Sophie Palmer, Carol M Churcher, Nazreen F Hadjirin, Alessandro M Carabelli, Ellena Brooks, Kim S Smith, Katerina Galai, Georgina M McManus, Chris Ruis, Rose K Davidson, Andrew Rambaut, Thomas Williams, Carlos E Balcazar, Michael D Gallagher, Áine O'Toole, Stefan Rooke, Verity Hill, Kathleen A Williamson, Thomas D Stanton, Stephen L Michell, Claire M Bewshea, Ben Temperton, Michelle L Michelsen, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Robin Manley, Audrey Farbos, James W Harrison, Christine M Sambles, David J Studholme, Aaron R Jeffries, Alistair C Darby, Julian A Hiscox, Steve Paterson, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Kathryn A Jackson, Anita O Lucaci, Edith E Vamos, Margaret Hughes, Lucille Rainbow, Richard Eccles, Charlotte Nelson, Mark Whitehead, Lance Turtle, Sam T Haldenby, Richard Gregory, Matthew Gemmell, Claudia Wierzbicki, Hermione J Webster, Thushan I de Silva, Nikki Smith, Adrienn Angyal, Benjamin B Lindsey, Danielle C Groves, Luke R Green, Dennis Wang, Timothy M Freeman, Matthew D Parker, Alexander J Keeley, Paul J Parsons, Rachel M Tucker, Rebecca Brown, Matthew Wyles, Max Whiteley, Peijun Zhang, Marta Gallis, Stavroula F Louka, Chrystala Constantinidou, Meera Unnikrishnan, Sascha Ott, Jeffrey K.J. Cheng, Hannah E. Bridgewater, Lucy R. Frost, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Richard Stark, Laura Baxter, Mohammad T. Alam, Paul E Brown, Dinesh Aggarwal, Alberto C Cerda, Tammy V Merrill, Rebekah E Wilson, Patrick C McClure, Joseph G Chappell, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jonathan Ball, David Buck, John A Todd, Angie Green, Amy Trebes, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Mariateresa de Cesare, Alex Alderton, Roberto Amato, Cristina V Ariani, Mathew A Beale, Charlotte Beaver, Katherine L Bellis, Emma Betteridge, James Bonfield, John Danesh, Matthew J Dorman, Eleanor Drury, Ben W Farr, Luke Foulser, Sonia Goncalves, Scott Goodwin, Marina Gourtovaia, Ewan M Harrison, David K Jackson, Dorota Jamrozy, Ian Johnston, Leanne Kane, Sally Kay, Jon-Paul Keatley, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Cordelia F Langford, Mara Lawniczak, Laura Letchford, Rich Livett, Stephanie Lo, Inigo Martincorena, Samantha McGuigan, Rachel Nelson, Steve Palmer, Naomi R Park, Minal Patel, Liam Prestwood, Christoph Puethe, Michael A Quail, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Carol Scott, Lesley Shirley, John Sillitoe, Michael H Spencer Chapman, Scott AJ Thurston, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Danni Weldon, Diana Rajan, Iraad F Bronner, Louise Aigrain, Nicholas M Redshaw, Stefanie V Lensing, Robert Davies, Andrew Whitwham, Jennifier Liddle, Kevin Lewis, Jaime M Tovar-Corona, Steven Leonard, Jillian Durham, Andrew R Bassett, Shane McCarthy, Robin J Moll, Keith James, Karen Oliver, Alex Makunin, Jeff Barrett, and Rory N Gunson

Subjects
Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270
Abstract

Summary: Background: The SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 was first identified in December, 2020, in England. We aimed to investigate whether increases in the proportion of infections with this variant are associated with differences in symptoms or disease course, reinfection rates, or transmissibility. Methods: We did an ecological study to examine the association between the regional proportion of infections with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant and reported symptoms, disease course, rates of reinfection, and transmissibility. Data on types and duration of symptoms were obtained from longitudinal reports from users of the COVID Symptom Study app who reported a positive test for COVID-19 between Sept 28 and Dec 27, 2020 (during which the prevalence of B.1.1.7 increased most notably in parts of the UK). From this dataset, we also estimated the frequency of possible reinfection, defined as the presence of two reported positive tests separated by more than 90 days with a period of reporting no symptoms for more than 7 days before the second positive test. The proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections with the B.1.1.7 variant across the UK was estimated with use of genomic data from the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium and data from Public Health England on spike-gene target failure (a non-specific indicator of the B.1.1.7 variant) in community cases in England. We used linear regression to examine the association between reported symptoms and proportion of B.1.1.7. We assessed the Spearman correlation between the proportion of B.1.1.7 cases and number of reinfections over time, and between the number of positive tests and reinfections. We estimated incidence for B.1.1.7 and previous variants, and compared the effective reproduction number, Rt, for the two incidence estimates. Findings: From Sept 28 to Dec 27, 2020, positive COVID-19 tests were reported by 36 920 COVID Symptom Study app users whose region was known and who reported as healthy on app sign-up. We found no changes in reported symptoms or disease duration associated with B.1.1.7. For the same period, possible reinfections were identified in 249 (0·7% [95% CI 0·6–0·8]) of 36 509 app users who reported a positive swab test before Oct 1, 2020, but there was no evidence that the frequency of reinfections was higher for the B.1.1.7 variant than for pre-existing variants. Reinfection occurrences were more positively correlated with the overall regional rise in cases (Spearman correlation 0·56–0·69 for South East, London, and East of England) than with the regional increase in the proportion of infections with the B.1.1.7 variant (Spearman correlation 0·38–0·56 in the same regions), suggesting B.1.1.7 does not substantially alter the risk of reinfection. We found a multiplicative increase in the Rt of B.1.1.7 by a factor of 1·35 (95% CI 1·02–1·69) relative to pre-existing variants. However, Rt fell below 1 during regional and national lockdowns, even in regions with high proportions of infections with the B.1.1.7 variant. Interpretation: The lack of change in symptoms identified in this study indicates that existing testing and surveillance infrastructure do not need to change specifically for the B.1.1.7 variant. In addition, given that there was no apparent increase in the reinfection rate, vaccines are likely to remain effective against the B.1.1.7 variant. Funding: Zoe Global, Department of Health (UK), Wellcome Trust, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK), National Institute for Health Research (UK), Medical Research Council (UK), Alzheimer's Society.

Published
2021
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3. SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in blood products from patients with COVID-19 is not associated with infectious virus [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]

Author

Monique I. Andersson, Carolina V. Arancibia-Carcamo, Kathryn Auckland, J. Kenneth Baillie, Eleanor Barnes, Tom Beneke, Sagida Bibi, Tim Brooks, Miles Carroll, Derrick Crook, Kate Dingle, Christina Dold, Louise O. Downs, Laura Dunn, David W. Eyre, Javier Gilbert Jaramillo, Heli Harvala, Sarah Hoosdally, Samreen Ijaz, Tim James, William James, Katie Jeffery, Anita Justice, Paul Klenerman, Julian C. Knight, Michael Knight, Xu Liu, Sheila F. Lumley, Philippa C. Matthews, Anna L. McNaughton, Alexander J. Mentzer, Juthathip Mongkolsapaya, Sarah Oakley, Marta S. Oliveira, Timothy Peto, Rutger J. Ploeg, Jeremy Ratcliff, Melanie J. Robbins, David J. Roberts, Justine Rudkin, Rebecca A. Russell, Gavin Screaton, Malcolm G. Semple, Donal Skelly, Peter Simmonds, Nicole Stoesser, Lance Turtle, Susan Wareing, and Maria Zambon

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Background: Laboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection (the cause of COVID-19) uses PCR to detect viral RNA (vRNA) in respiratory samples. SARS-CoV-2 RNA has also been detected in other sample types, but there is limited understanding of the clinical or laboratory significance of its detection in blood. Methods: We undertook a systematic literature review to assimilate the evidence for the frequency of vRNA in blood, and to identify associated clinical characteristics. We performed RT-PCR in serum samples from a UK clinical cohort of acute and convalescent COVID-19 cases (n=212), together with convalescent plasma samples collected by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) (n=462 additional samples). To determine whether PCR-positive blood samples could pose an infection risk, we attempted virus isolation from a subset of RNA-positive samples. Results: We identified 28 relevant studies, reporting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 0-76% of blood samples; pooled estimate 10% (95%CI 5-18%). Among serum samples from our clinical cohort, 27/212 (12.7%) had SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected by RT-PCR. RNA detection occurred in samples up to day 20 post symptom onset, and was associated with more severe disease (multivariable odds ratio 7.5). Across all samples collected ≥28 days post symptom onset, 0/494 (0%, 95%CI 0-0.7%) had vRNA detected. Among our PCR-positive samples, cycle threshold (ct) values were high (range 33.5-44.8), suggesting low vRNA copy numbers. PCR-positive sera inoculated into cell culture did not produce any cytopathic effect or yield an increase in detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA. There was a relationship between RT-PCR negativity and the presence of total SARS-CoV-2 antibody (p=0.02). Conclusions: vRNA was detectable at low viral loads in a minority of serum samples collected in acute infection, but was not associated with infectious SARS-CoV-2 (within the limitations of the assays used). This work helps to inform biosafety precautions for handling blood products from patients with current or previous COVID-19.

Published
2020
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4. Hospital admission and emergency care attendance risk for SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) compared with alpha (B.1.1.7) variants of concern: a cohort study

Author

Harry D Wilson, Elaine O'Toole, Andrew Bassett, Moritz U. G. Kraemer, Beth Blane, Scott Goodwin, Giri Shankar, Joseph Hughes, Lucy R. Frost, Alicia Thornton, Scott Elliott, Tammy V Merrill, Sheila Waugh, Alexander Adams, Peter Muir, Graciela Sluga, Rebecca Williams, Hannah Dent, Christophe Fraser, Shavanthi Rajatileka, John C. Hartley, Luke B Snell, Benjamin J Cogger, Lance Turtle, Alex Makunin, John A. Todd, Victoria Wright, Daniela De Angelis, James McKenna, Dinesh Aggarwal, Jonathan K. Ball, Jillian Durham, Garren Scott, Thushan I de Silva, Veena Raviprakash, Hannah M Pymont, Jason Coombes, Anita Lucaci, Luke R. Green, Leigh M Jackson, Hermione J. Webster, Louis du Plessis, David A. Jackson, Minal Patel, Áine O'Toole, Ravi Gupta, Marc Niebel, Garry Scarlett, Rajiv Shah, Guy Mollett, Kathy Li, Rory Gunson, Matthew Bashton, Carl Jones, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Zoltan Molnar, Siona Silveira, Malte L Pinckert, Catherine Ludden, Angeliki Karamani, Leanne Kane, Brendan A I Payne, Alan McNally, Clare M. McCann, Holli Carden, Mohammad Raza, Alison E. Mather, Kate B. Cook, Amy Gaskin, David J. Williams, Shaun R. Seaman, Christopher I. Jones, Gilberto Betancor, Matthew T. G. Holden, Jennifier Liddle, Meera Unnikrishnan, Angie Green, Ben Taylor, Kelly Bicknell, Alexander J. Trotter, Emma Meader, Leanne M Kermack, Nathaniel Storey, Michelle Cronin, Sally Forrest, Sarah Jeremiah, Asad Zaidi, M Morgan, Alasdair MacLean, Thomas R. Connor, Johnathan M Evans, Rachael Stanley, Ryan P George, Nadine Holmes, Richard H. Myers, Christine Sambles, Bernardo Gutierrez, Jeffrey K. J. Cheng, Tim Wyatt, Natasha Jesudason, Lindsay Coupland, Monika Pusok, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Jenifer Mason, Joshua Maksimovic, Russell Hope, Alison Holmes, David Simpson, Radoslaw Poplawski, Amelia Joseph, Erwan Acheson, James Bonfield, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Sascha Ott, Lesley-Anne Williams, Jessica Lynch, Graham P. Taylor, Anita Kenyon, Elizabeth Wastenge, Megan Mayhew, Adhyana I K Mahanama, Stavroula F Louka, Chloe Bishop, Esther Robinson, Darren Smith, Anne M. Presanis, Matthew Carlile, Thomas D Stanton, Dennis Wang, Katerina Galai, Adam P Westhorpe, Flavia Flaviani, Michelle Wantoch, Max Whiteley, Yann Bourgeois, Matthew Gemmell, Mary Ramsay, A Lloyd, Simon Thelwall, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Joseph G. Chappell, Steve Paterson, Gary Eltringham, Robert Impey, Siddharth Mookerjee, Steven Platt, Emma Swindells, Laura Letchford, Alex Alderton, Lee Graham, Safiah Afifi, David C. Lee, Cassie Breen, Melisa Louise Fenton, Benita Percival, Adrian W Signell, Tanya Golubchik, Ian B Vipond, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Angie Lackenby, Laura Atkinson, Sarojini Pandey, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Michael A Chapman, Huw Gulliver, Joana Dias, Grant Hall, Antony D Hale, Hassan Hartman, Alp Aydin, Louise Smith, Ashok Dadrah, Johnny Debebe, Sarah Walsh, Stephanie W. Lo, Andrew Bosworth, Bridget Knight, Hannah E Bridgewater, Nadua Bayzid, Gemma L. Kay, Richard Gregory, Sally Kay, Ellena Brooks, Andre Charlett, Georgina M McManus, Riaz Jannoo, Victoria Blakey, Carol Scott, Rachel Nelson, Liz Ratcliffe, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Verity Hill, Joanne D. Stockton, Danielle Leek, Steven Leonard, Stephanie Hutchings, Jonathan D. Moore, Kathryn Ann Harris, Sophie Jones, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Amy Plimmer, Tanzina Haque, Katherine L. Bellis, Khalil Abudahab, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Gaia Nebbia, Kathryn A Jackson, Stephen W Attwood, Daniel Mair, Sreenu Vattipally, Susanne Stonehouse, Ian Merrick, Lucille Rainbow, Mathew A. Beale, Angela Helen Beckett, Ember Hilvers, Thomas Helmer, Jenna Nichols, Giselda Bucca, Salman Goudarzi, Christopher Ruis, Surendra Parmar, Angela Cowell, Alberto C Cerda, Divya K. Shah, Judith Heaney, E. Thomson, Kyriaki Nomikou, Nicole Pacchiarini, Katherine L Harper, Fatima Downing, M. Estée Török, Michelle L Michelsen, Aaron R. Jeffries, Jennifer Collins, Christopher Williams, Katie F. Loveson, Steven Rudder, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Robert Davies, David Robertson, Katherine Smollett, Kathryn McCluggage, Liam Crawford, Inigo Martincorena, Charlotte Beaver, Oliver Megram, Karla Spellman, Sam Haldenby, Emma Betteridge, William D. Fuller, Will P. M. Rowe, Cherian Koshy, Tim E. A. Peto, Alison Cox, Natasha Johnson, Tanya Curran, Sharif Shaaban, Tamyo Mbisa, Cordelia Langford, Eric Witele, Andrew J. Page, Christoph Puethe, Nicola Reynolds, Paul W Bird, Louise Aigrain, Ronan Lyons, Amy Trebes, Sally Corden, Steven Rushton, Jack Cd Lee, Jane Greenaway, Hibo Asad, Amanda Bradley, Mohammed O Hassan-Ibrahim, Shane McCarthy, Fei Sang, Matthew Loose, Hannah Jones, Keith D. James, Chloe L Fisher, Chrystala Constantinidou, Alex G. Richter, Jane A. H. Masoli, Michael Gallagher, Vicki M. Fleming, Anna Price, Amy Ash, Michaela John, Alex Zarebski, Fenella D. Halstead, John Danesh, Christine Kitchen, Aminu S Jahun, Mark Whitehead, Julianne R Brown, Catherine Bresner, Marius Cotic, Stefanie V Lensing, Nick Levene, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Wendy Hogsden, Cressida Auckland, Eleanor Drury, Richard Eccles, Jennifer Hart, Seema Nickbakhsh, Alisha Davies, David M. Aanensen, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Ben Farr, Buddhini Samaraweera, Sarah Wyllie, Hannah Lowe, Richard J. Orton, Martin D. Curran, Carol Churcher, Karen Oliver, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Wen Yew, Thanh Le-Viet, Matthew Parker, Katherine A Twohig, Shahjahan Miah, Samuel M. Nicholls, G MacIntyre-Cockett, Tranprit Saluja, Charlotte Nelson, Vicki Chalker, Roberto Amato, Ellen Higginson, Timothy M. Freeman, Christopher W Holmes, Yasmin Chaudhry, Elias Allara, Alec Birchley, Iraad Bronner, Emma Moles-Garcia, Angus I. Best, Anna L. Casey, Audrey Farbos, Nicholas W Machin, David W Eyre, Tim Boswell, Charlotte A Williams, Elen De Lacy, Matthew J. Bull, Matilde Mori, Carmen F. Manso, Peijun Zhang, Sahar Eldirdiri, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Corin Yeats, Claudia Wierzbicki, David G Partridge, Kordo Saeed, Nichola Duckworth, David J. Studholme, Harmeet K Gill, Juan Ledesma, Thomas R. A. Davis, Sushmita Sridhar, Clive Graham, Husam Osman, Julian A. Hiscox, Helen Adams, Christopher Fearn, Fabrícia F. Nascimento, Ulf Schaefer, James W. Harrison, Andrew J. Nelson, Joshua Quick, Mohammad Tauqeer Alam, Liam Prestwood, Nikos Manesis, Julian Tang, Justin O'Grady, Sophia T Girgis, Louise Berry, Gemma Clark, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Karlie Fallon, Tim J Sloan, Joanne Watkins, Clare Pearson, Andrew D Beggs, Rachel Williams, Luke Bedford, Trevor Robinson, Nicholas M Redshaw, Richard Hopes, Mirko Menegazzo, Katherine Twohig, Gabrielle Vernet, Steven Liggett, Mariateresa de Cesare, Derrick W. Crook, Dominic P. Kwiatkowski, Mark Kristiansen, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Christopher I. Moore, Claire Cormie, Olivia Boyd, Nikki Smith, Noel Craine, Kathleen A. Williamson, John Boyes, Sian Ellard, Cristina V. Ariani, Wendy Chatterton, David Bonsall, Kevin Lewis, David Jorgensen, Ian Harrison, Christopher Jackson, Martin P McHugh, Danni Weldon, Michael A. Quail, Amita Patel, Lily Geidelberg, Myra Hosmillo, Judith Breuer, Cariad Evans, Edward Barton, Trudy Workman, Derek Fairley, Vineet Patel, Daniel Bradshaw, Robin Manley, Scott Aj Thurston, John Sillitoe, Monique Andersson, Sharon J. Peacock, Jamie Lopez-Bernal, Thomas Thompson, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Ben Temperton, Paul Baker, Robin J Moll, Laura Gifford, Nicholas J. Loman, Jayna Raghwani, Jacqui Prieto, Andrew Hesketh, Oliver G. Pybus, Adela Alcolea-Medina, David Buck, Gregory R Young, Alistair C. Darby, Sónia Gonçalves, Aileen G. Rowan, Tabitha Mahungu, Nicholas Ellaby, Jon-Paul Keatley, Lily Tong, Robert Beer, Martyn Guest, Lisa J Levett, Ali R Awan, Iliana Georgana, Paul E Brown, Li Xu-McCrae, Stephen P. Kidd, Sara Rey, Shazaad Ahmad, Danielle C. Groves, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, David F. Bibby, Nathan Moore, Fiona Ashcroft, Igor Starinskij, Hannah Paul, Claire McMurray, Michael Spencer Chapman, Carlos Balcazar, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Pinglawathee Madona, Edith Vamos, Lesley Shirley, Kate Templeton, Luke Foulser, Igor Siveroni, Ewan M. Harrison, Sian Morgan, Diana Rajan, S Taylor, Laia Fina, Naomi Park, Sarah J. O'Brien, Alessandro M Carabelli, Angela Marchbank, Sunando Roy, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Steve Palmer, Jonathan Hubb, Alexander J Keeley, Francesc Coll, Malorie Perry, Paul J. Parsons, Anthony Underwood, Patawee Asamaphan, William L Hamilton, Tommy Nyberg, Sophie Palmer, Amanda Symmonds, Anoop Chauhan, Robert Johnson, Christopher J. R. Illingworth, James Shepherd, Wendy Smith, Rich Livett, Rachel Blacow, Margaret Hughes, Jeremy Mirza, Joanne Watts, Jonathan D. Edgeworth, Sarah François, Sue Edwards, Adrienn Angyal, Thomas N. Williams, Marta Gallis, Lauren Gilbert, Paul Randell, Kate Johnson, Eileen Gallagher, Nick Cortes, Yusri Taha, Leah Ensell, Emanuela Pelosi, Stefan Rooke, Michelle Lister, Ana da Silva Filipe, Cassandra S Malone, Themoula Charalampous, Benjamin B Lindsey, Natalie Groves, Colin Smith, Ross J Harris, Rebekah E Wilson, Stephen Bonner, Richard Stark, Sharon Campbell, Nicola Sheriff, Helen L Lowe, Rachel Jones, Ben Warne, Rose K Davidson, Declan Bradley, Ian Johnston, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Joshua B Singer, Shirin Aliabadi, Andrew Whitwham, Patrick McClure, Samuel Robson, Sharon Glaysher, Robert J. Munn, Emma L. Wise, Laura Baxter, Kim S Smith, Catherine Moore, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Alice Broos, Sarah Essex, David Baker, Manjinder Khakh, Dorota Jamrozy, Rachel Tucker, Ian Goodfellow, S.E. Moses, Nicola Cumley, Robin Howe, Meera Chand, James I. Price, Marina Gourtovaia, Debra Padgett, Jaime Tovar-Corona, Stephen L. Michell, Matthew J. Dorman, Lizzie Meadows, David Heyburn, Iona Willingham, Rocio Martinez Nunez, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Claire M Bewshea, Anita Justice, Simon Cottrell, Rebecca C H Brown, Jamie Young, Gavin Dabrera, Matthew Wyles, Stephen Carmichael, Lisa Berry, Frances Bolt, Andrew Rambaut, Samir Dervisevic, Erik M. Volz, Rahul Batra, Caoimhe McKerr, Samantha McGuigan, Katie Jones, Mailis Maes, Rebecca Dewar, Mary Sinnathamby, Joel Southgate, and Lynn Monaghan

Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty, business.industry, Proportional hazards model, Public health, Hazard ratio, Attendance, C500, Vaccination, Infectious Diseases, Relative risk, Internal medicine, Cohort, medicine, business, Cohort study
Abstract

Background: \ud The SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) variant was first detected in England in March, 2021. It has since rapidly become the predominant lineage, owing to high transmissibility. It is suspected that the delta variant is associated with more severe disease than the previously dominant alpha (B.1.1.7) variant. We aimed to characterise the severity of the delta variant compared with the alpha variant by determining the relative risk of hospital attendance outcomes.\ud \ud Methods: \ud This cohort study was done among all patients with COVID-19 in England between March 29 and May 23, 2021, who were identified as being infected with either the alpha or delta SARS-CoV-2 variant through whole-genome sequencing. Individual-level data on these patients were linked to routine health-care datasets on vaccination, emergency care attendance, hospital admission, and mortality (data from Public Health England's Second Generation Surveillance System and COVID-19-associated deaths dataset; the National Immunisation Management System; and NHS Digital Secondary Uses Services and Emergency Care Data Set). The risk for hospital admission and emergency care attendance were compared between patients with sequencing-confirmed delta and alpha variants for the whole cohort and by vaccination status subgroups. Stratified Cox regression was used to adjust for age, sex, ethnicity, deprivation, recent international travel, area of residence, calendar week, and vaccination status.\ud \ud Findings: \ud Individual-level data on 43 338 COVID-19-positive patients (8682 with the delta variant, 34 656 with the alpha variant; median age 31 years [IQR 17–43]) were included in our analysis. 196 (2·3%) patients with the delta variant versus 764 (2·2%) patients with the alpha variant were admitted to hospital within 14 days after the specimen was taken (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2·26 [95% CI 1·32–3·89]). 498 (5·7%) patients with the delta variant versus 1448 (4·2%) patients with the alpha variant were admitted to hospital or attended emergency care within 14 days (adjusted HR 1·45 [1·08–1·95]). Most patients were unvaccinated (32 078 [74·0%] across both groups). The HRs for vaccinated patients with the delta variant versus the alpha variant (adjusted HR for hospital admission 1·94 [95% CI 0·47–8·05] and for hospital admission or emergency care attendance 1·58 [0·69–3·61]) were similar to the HRs for unvaccinated patients (2·32 [1·29–4·16] and 1·43 [1·04–1·97]; p=0·82 for both) but the precision for the vaccinated subgroup was low.\ud \ud Interpretation: \ud This large national study found a higher hospital admission or emergency care attendance risk for patients with COVID-19 infected with the delta variant compared with the alpha variant. Results suggest that outbreaks of the delta variant in unvaccinated populations might lead to a greater burden on health-care services than the alpha variant.\ud \ud Funding: \ud Medical Research Council; UK Research and Innovation; Department of Health and Social Care; and National Institute for Health Research.

Published
2022

5. Exponential growth, high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, and vaccine effectiveness associated with the Delta variant

Author

Mohammad Raza, Alison E. Mather, Gilberto Betancor, Ian Merrick, Ben Taylor, Mathew A. Beale, Helen Ward, Samir Dervisevic, Michelle Cronin, Aaron R. Jeffries, Louise Smith, Steven Rudder, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Sascha Ott, Ashok Dadrah, Luke Bedford, Gabrielle Vernet, Erik M. Volz, Rahul Batra, Johnny Debebe, Caoimhe McKerr, Samantha McGuigan, Oliver Megram, Katie Jones, Mailis Maes, Rebecca Dewar, Emma Swindells, Robert E. Johnson, Myra Hosmillo, Wen C Yew, Vineet Patel, Scott Aj Thurston, Matthew Bashton, Luke B Snell, Lynn Monaghan, David Buck, Gregory R Young, Garren Scott, Louis du Plessis, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, David M. Aanensen, Carl Jones, Nadine Holmes, Bernardo Gutierrez, Elizabeth Wastenge, Stavroula F Louka, Dennis Wang, Richard I. Gregory, M. Estée Török, Alistair C. Darby, Ulf Schaefer, Marc Niebel, David Robertson, E. Thomson, Carol Churcher, Patrick C McClure, Scott Elliott, Sarah Jeremiah, Katerina Galai, Matthew W. Loose, Megan Mayhew, Adhyana I K Mahanama, Angeliki Karamani, Naomi R Park, David J. Williams, Lance Turtle, Lucy R. Frost, Alicia Thornton, Jennifier Liddle, M Morgan, Tim Wyatt, Paul W Bird, Chloe Bishop, Esther Robinson, Alasdair MacLean, Inigo Martincorena, Bridget A. Knight, Emma Meader, Thomas R. Connor, Hermione J. Webster, Peter Muir, Sarah Walsh, Stephanie W. Lo, Andrew Bosworth, Hannah E Bridgewater, David Simpson, Radoslaw Poplawski, Angus I. Best, David Baker, Laura Letchford, Cassie Breen, Yann Bourgeois, Matthew Gemmell, Nikki Smith, Alison Holmes, Iliana Georgana, Christophe Fraser, Natasha Jesudason, Johnathan M Evans, Rachael Stanley, Lesley-Anne Williams, Jessica Lynch, Hannah Lowe, Eleri Wilson-Davies, Paul A. Baker, Alex Makunin, James Bonfield, Helen Adams, Christopher Fearn, Peter J. Diggle, Harry D Wilson, Carmen F. Manso, Nichola Duckworth, D Haw, Anna L. Casey, Audrey Farbos, Sam Haldenby, Vicki Chalker, Roberto Amato, Elen De Lacy, Ben Farr, Eric Witele, Buddhini Samaraweera, G MacIntyre-Cockett, Husam Osman, Jane Greenaway, Justin O'Grady, Sally Forrest, Andrew Nelson, Monika Pusok, A Lloyd, Edward Barton, James W. Harrison, Sophie Palmer, Amanda Symmonds, James Shepherd, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Stephen L. Michell, Mohammed O Hassan-Ibrahim, Fiona Ashcroft, Daniel Mair, Richard H. Myers, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Jacqui Prieto, Christine Sambles, Andrew Hesketh, Alp Aydin, Sónia Gonçalves, Tabitha Mahungu, Tanzina Haque, Nicholas Ellaby, Karen Oliver, Hannah Paul, Joanne Watts, Claire McMurray, Lisa J Levett, Darren Smith, Simon Cottrell, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Pinglawathee Madona, Matthew J. Dorman, Lizzie Meadows, Ali R Awan, Leanne M Kermack, Jennifer Hart, Angie Lackenby, Carol Scott, Michael Spencer Chapman, Lucille Rainbow, Kyriaki Nomikou, Julianne R Brown, Juan Ledesma, Adam P Westhorpe, Giri Shankar, Karlie Fallon, Tim J Sloan, Joanne Watkins, Robert Impey, Sue Edwards, Rebecca C H Brown, Robin J Moll, Karla Spellman, Laura Gifford, Jamie Young, Adrienn Angyal, Graham Phillip Taylor, Robin Manley, Gavin Dabrera, Michelle Wantoch, Rachel Williams, David Heyburn, Mirko Menegazzo, Derrick W. Crook, Gaia Nebbia, Rachel Nelson, Elaine O'Toole, Luke Foulser, Katherine L Harper, Fatima Downing, Hassan Hartman, Nathan Moore, Gemma L. Kay, Matthew Wyles, Thanh Le-Viet, Edith Vamos, John Sillitoe, Lesley Shirley, Nicholas J. Loman, Iona Willingham, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Ian B Vipond, Jeremy Mirza, Alberto C Cerda, Michelle L Michelsen, Steven Riley, Alison Cox, Igor Siveroni, Nadua Bayzid, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Giselda Bucca, Benjamin J Cogger, Tim Boswell, Matthew J. Bull, Stephen Carmichael, Lisa Berry, Frances Bolt, Kylie E. C. Ainslie, Martyn Guest, Sarojini Pandey, Katherine L. Bellis, Shane A. McCarthy, Christopher Ruis, Fei Sang, David Bonsall, Danni Weldon, Alex Alderton, Lee Graham, Amy Trebes, Sally Corden, Adrian W Signell, Tanya Golubchik, Huw Gulliver, Rocio Martinez Nunez, Dinesh Aggarwal, Tanya Curran, Jonathan K. Ball, Sharif Shaaban, Paul Randell, Jillian Durham, Alec Birchley, Matilde Mori, Joana Dias, Katherine A Twohig, Grant Hall, Antony D Hale, Alan McNally, Jonathan D. Edgeworth, Safiah Afifi, Andrew Rambaut, Katherine Smollett, David N. Lee, Tamyo Mbisa, Shahjahan Miah, Steven Rushton, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Hannah M Pymont, Chloe L Fisher, Cordelia Langford, Alex G. Richter, Jane A. H. Masoli, Michael Gallagher, Vicki M. Fleming, Kathleen A. Williamson, Anna Price, Holli Carden, Khalil Abudahab, Joanne D. Stockton, Meera Unnikrishnan, Jennifer Collins, Emma Moles-Garcia, Michaela John, Christine Kitchen, Tranprit Saluja, Ian Harrison, Lily Tong, Thomas G. Thompson, Thomas Helmer, Amita Patel, Siona Silveira, Deborah Ashby, Claire M Bewshea, Anita Justice, Brendan A I Payne, Alexander J. Trotter, Nikos Manesis, Katie F. Loveson, Cristina V. Ariani, Wendy Chatterton, Robert J. Munn, Julian A. Hiscox, Robert Beer, Judith Breuer, Caroline E. Walters, Liam Crawford, Ara Darzi, Will P. M. Rowe, Cariad Evans, Matthew Parker, Tammy V Merrill, Louise Aigrain, Joshua Quick, Leigh M Jackson, Samuel M. Nicholls, Jonathan W. Moore, John A Hartley, Graham P. Taylor, Cherian Koshy, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Catherine Moore, Danielle C. Groves, Peijun Zhang, Sahar Eldirdiri, Derek Fairley, Tim E. A. Peto, Jack Cd Lee, Sharon Glaysher, Liam Prestwood, Hannah Dent, Anita Kenyon, Stephen P. Kidd, Nick Levene, Igor Starinskij, Joseph G. Chappell, Steve Paterson, Gary Eltringham, Laia Fina, Angela Marchbank, Daniel Bradshaw, Marina Escalera Zamudio, Scott Goodwin, Andrew D Beggs, Seema Nickbakhsh, Trevor Robinson, Christina Atchison, David K. Jackson, Kathy Li, Rory Gunson, Sunando Roy, Graham S Cooke, Steven Liggett, Yasmin Chaudhry, Anoop Chauhan, Ben Temperton, Mariateresa de Cesare, Paul E Brown, Li Xu-McCrae, Martin P McHugh, Catherine Ludden, Wendy Smith, Danielle Leek, Divya K. Shah, Judith Heaney, Dominic P. Kwiatkowski, Kate M. Johnson, Robin Howe, Malorie Perry, Tetyana I. Vasylyeva, David F. Bibby, Haowei Wang, Steve Palmer, Nicholas W Machin, Charlotte A Williams, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Angie Green, John A. Todd, Paul Elliott, Noel Craine, Jeffrey K. J. Cheng, Kate Templeton, Jonathan Hubb, Joshua Maksimovic, Christl A. Donnelly, Monique Andersson, Christopher Holmes, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, Christopher B. Williams, David G Partridge, Aminu S Jahun, Alexander Adams, Marius Cotic, Sarah Essex, Christopher J. Moore, Trudy Workman, Nicola Sheriff, Helen L Lowe, Ewan M. Harrison, Dorota Jamrozy, Rachel Jones, Ellen Higginson, Erwan Acheson, Christopher R. Jones, Oliver G. Pybus, Francesc Coll, Sian Morgan, Paul J. Parsons, Patawee Asamaphan, Veena Raviprakash, Andrew R. Bassett, Declan Bradley, Laura Atkinson, Anthony Underwood, Graciela Sluga, Sally Kay, Ellena Brooks, Oliver Eales, Andrew Whitwham, Surendra Parmar, Angela Cowell, Nicole Pacchiarini, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jason Coombes, Robert Davies, Flavia Flaviani, Benita Percival, Jenna Nichols, Natasha M. Johnson, Salman Goudarzi, Hibo Asad, Amanda Bradley, Hannah Jones, Chrystala Constantinidou, Georgina M McManus, Minal Patel, Steven Leonard, Rebecca Williams Bmbs, Andrew J. Page, Christoph Puethe, Nicola Reynolds, Amy Ash, John Danesh, Corin Yeats, Claudia Wierzbicki, Kordo Saeed, John Boyes, Michael A. Quail, Sharon J. Peacock, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Jon-Paul Keatley, Claudio Fronterre, Garry Scarlett, James McKenna, Thushan I de Silva, Malte L Pinckert, Kate B. Cook, Amy Gaskin, Rajiv Shah, Matthew T. G. Holden, Sophie J Prosolek, Nathaniel Storey, Ryan P George, Lindsay Coupland, Jenifer Mason, Matthew Carlile, Thomas D Stanton, Guy Mollett, Siddharth Mookerjee, Mary Ramsay, Steven Platt, Stephen W Attwood, Susanne Stonehouse, Sophie Jones, Venkat Sivaprakasam, Amy Plimmer, Mark Whitehead, Catherine Bresner, Stefanie V Lensing, Louissa R Macfarlane-Smith, Colin P. Smith, Wendy Hogsden, Charlotte Nelson, Ian Johnston, Jeffrey C. Barrett, Joshua B Singer, Samuel Robson, Zoltán Molnár, Emma L. Wise, Sian Ellard, Kim S Smith, Alice Broos, Manjinder Khakh, Kathryn A Jackson, Claire Cormie, Rachel Tucker, Ian Goodfellow, S.E. Moses, Nicola Cumley, Meera Chand, Debra Padgett, Cassandra S Malone, James V. Price, Themoula Charalampous, Ronan A Lyons, Natalie Groves, Stefan Rooke, Rebekah E Wilson, Stephen Bonner, Richard Stark, Sharon Campbell, Michelle Lister, Carlos Balcazar, Ana da Silva Filipe, Ben Warne, Thomas N. Williams, Marta Gallis, Lauren Gilbert, Rose K Davidson, Angela Helen Beckett, Ember Hilvers, Kathryn McCluggage, Eileen Gallagher, Charlotte Beaver, Nick Cortes, Alisha Davies, Yusri Taha, Leah Ensell, Emanuela Pelosi, Elias Allara, Cressida Auckland, Eleanor Drury, Richard Eccles, Adela Alcolea-Medina, William L Hamilton, Rich Livett, Rachel Blacow, Margaret Hughes, Sarah François, Melisa Louise Fenton, Liz Ratcliffe, Verity Hill, Stephanie Hutchings, Kathryn Ann Harris, Emma Betteridge, William D. Fuller, Sophia T Girgis, Louise Berry, Gemma Clark, Nicholas M Redshaw, Richard Hopes, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Alexander J Keeley, Beth Blane, Wendy S. Barclay, Victoria Wright, Anita Lucaci, Luke R. Green, Fenella D. Halstead, Sarah Wyllie, Iraad F. Bronner, Áine O'Toole, Ravi Gupta, Leanne Kane, Clare M. McCann, Michael R Chapman, David W Eyre, Kelly Bicknell, Aileen G. Rowan, Sara Rey, Shazaad Ahmad, Diana Rajan, S Taylor, Sarah J. O'Brien, Alessandro M Carabelli, Amelia Joseph, Max Whiteley, Riaz Jannoo, Victoria Blakey, Martin D. Curran, David J. Studholme, Harmeet K Gill, Thomas R. A. Davis, Sushmita Sridhar, Clive Graham, Julian Tang, Clare Pearson, Mark Kristiansen, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, National Institute for Health Research, and UK Research and Innovation

Subjects
Delta, Adult, Male, 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19 Vaccines, Vaccination Coverage, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Adolescent, General Science & Technology, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Vaccine Efficacy, Biology, Young Adult, Exponential growth, Ethnicity, Prevalence, Humans, Child, Aged, Family Characteristics, Multidisciplinary, High prevalence, COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium11‡, SARS-CoV-2, Age Factors, COVID-19, Middle Aged, Virology, Hospitalization, England, Socioeconomic Factors, COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing, Child, Preschool, Female, Self Report
Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections were rising during early summer 2021 in many countries as a result of the Delta variant. We assessed reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction swab positivity in the Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission–1 (REACT-1) study in England. During June and July 2021, we observed sustained exponential growth with an average doubling time of 25 days, driven by complete replacement of the Alpha variant by Delta and by high prevalence at younger, less-vaccinated ages. Prevalence among unvaccinated people [1.21% (95% credible interval 1.03%, 1.41%)] was three times that among double-vaccinated people [0.40% (95% credible interval 0.34%, 0.48%)]. However, after adjusting for age and other variables, vaccine effectiveness for double-vaccinated people was estimated at between ~50% and ~60% during this period in England. Increased social mixing in the presence of Delta had the potential to generate sustained growth in infections, even at high levels of vaccination.

Published
2021

6. Quantitative SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike responses to Pfizer–BioNTech and Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccines by previous infection status

Author

Anne-Sophie Walker, David I. Stuart, Daniel Ebner, S F Lumley, T Peto, Brian D. Marsden, Anita Justice, Philippa C Matthews, Stephanie B Hatch, Stuart Cox, Alison Howarth, Timothy M Walker, Derrick W. Crook, Gerald Jesuthasan, Koen B. Pouwels, Denise O'Donnell, Sarah Hoosdally, DW Eyre, Jia Wei, E Y Jones, Nicole Stoesser, Tim James, and Katie Jeffery

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, Microbiology (medical), Adult, Male, medicine.medical_specialty, COVID-19 Vaccines, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Health Personnel, 030106 microbiology, Logistic regression, Antibodies, Viral, Serology, Quantitative anti-spike antibody, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Immunogenicity, Vaccine, Internal medicine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, Medicine, Humans, 030212 general & internal medicine, Antibody, BNT162 Vaccine, biology, business.industry, Detection threshold, SARS-CoV-2, Vaccination, COVID-19, General Medicine, Middle Aged, Vaccine efficacy, Infectious Diseases, Antibody response, Immunoglobulin G, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus, biology.protein, Original Article, Female, business, Vaccine
Abstract

Objectives We investigated determinants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) anti-spike IgG responses in healthcare workers (HCWs) following one or two doses of Pfizer–BioNTech or Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccines. Methods HCWs participating in regular SARS-CoV-2 PCR and antibody testing were invited for serological testing prior to first and second vaccination, and 4 weeks post-vaccination if receiving a 12-week dosing interval. Quantitative post-vaccination anti-spike antibody responses were measured using the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant assay (detection threshold: ≥50 AU/mL). We used multivariable logistic regression to identify predictors of seropositivity and generalized additive models to track antibody responses over time. Results 3570/3610 HCWs (98.9%) were seropositive >14 days post first vaccination and prior to second vaccination: 2706/2720 (99.5%) were seropositive after the Pfizer–BioNTech and 864/890 (97.1%) following the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccines. Previously infected and younger HCWs were more likely to test seropositive post first vaccination, with no evidence of differences by sex or ethnicity. All 470 HCWs tested >14 days after the second vaccination were seropositive. Quantitative antibody responses were higher after previous infection: median (IQR) >21 days post first Pfizer–BioNTech 14 604 (7644–22 291) AU/mL versus 1028 (564–1985) AU/mL without prior infection (p < 0.001). Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine recipients had lower readings post first dose than Pfizer–BioNTech recipients, with and without previous infection, 10 095 (5354–17 096) and 435 (203–962) AU/mL respectively (both p < 0.001 versus Pfizer–BioNTech). Antibody responses >21 days post second Pfizer vaccination in those not previously infected, 10 058 (6408–15 582) AU/mL, were similar to those after prior infection followed by one vaccine dose. Conclusions SARS-CoV-2 vaccination leads to detectable anti-spike antibodies in nearly all adult HCWs. Whether differences in response impact vaccine efficacy needs further study.

Published
2021

7. Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection with LamPORE, a High-Throughput Platform Combining Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification and Nanopore Sequencing

Author

Daniel P. Carter, Philippa C Matthews, Mehmet Yavuz, Miles W. Carroll, Matthew Wyles, Leon Peto, Tim E. A. Peto, Derrick W. Crook, Karen L. Osman, Thushan I de Silva, Matthew Parker, Alison Vaughan, Sarah Hoosdally, Cariad Evans, Mohammad Raza, David W Eyre, Anita Justice, Monique Andersson, Gillian Rodger, Steven T. Pullan, Katie Johnson, and Nicole Stoesser

Subjects
Microbiology (medical), diagnosis, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Loop-mediated isothermal amplification, Sensitivity and Specificity, Virology, Throat, LamPORE, medicine, Humans, Detection limit, Reproducibility, SARS-CoV-2, business.industry, COVID-19, Reproducibility of Results, RNA, Nucleic acid amplification technique, Confidence interval, Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Nanopore Sequencing, medicine.anatomical_structure, Molecular Diagnostic Techniques, Indeterminate result, RNA, Viral, Nanopore sequencing, business, Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques
Abstract

LamPORE is a novel diagnostic platform for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA combining loop-mediated isothermal amplification with nanopore sequencing, which could potentially be used to analyze thousands of samples per day on a single instrument. We evaluated the performance of LamPORE against reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) using RNA extracted from spiked respiratory samples and stored nose and throat swabs collected at two UK hospitals. The limit of detection of LamPORE was 10 genome copies/μl of extracted RNA, which is above the limit achievable by RT-PCR, but was not associated with a significant reduction of sensitivity in clinical samples. Positive clinical specimens came mostly from patients with acute symptomatic infection, and among them, LamPORE had a diagnostic sensitivity of 99.1% (226/228; 95% confidence interval [CI], 96.9% to 99.9%). Among negative clinical specimens, including 153 with other respiratory pathogens detected, LamPORE had a diagnostic specificity of 99.6% (278/279; 98.0% to 100.0%). Overall, 1.4% (7/514; 0.5% to 2.9%) of samples produced an indeterminate result on first testing, and repeat LamPORE testing on the same RNA extract had a reproducibility of 96.8% (478/494; 94.8% to 98.1%). LamPORE has a similar performance as RT-PCR for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in symptomatic patients and offers a promising approach to high-throughput testing.

Published
2021

8. Quantitative SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike responses to Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines by previous infection status

Author

Derrick W. Crook, E. Yvonne Jones, Katie Jeffery, Daniel Ebner, Alison Howarth, Philippa C Matthews, Anita Justice, Stephanie B Hatch, A. Sarah Walker, Tim E. A. Peto, David I. Stuart, Timothy M Walker, Denise O'Donnell, Nicole Stoesser, Tim James, Brian D. Marsden, Gerald Jesuthasan, Koen B. Pouwels, David W Eyre, Sheila F Lumley, Jia Wei, Sarah Hoosdally, and Stuart Cox

Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty, South asia, biology, business.industry, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Vaccine efficacy, Logistic regression, Serology, Vaccination, Antibody response, Internal medicine, medicine, biology.protein, Antibody, business
Abstract

ObjectivesWe investigate determinants of SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG responses in healthcare workers (HCWs) following one or two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.MethodsHCWs participating in regular SARS-CoV-2 PCR and antibody testing were invited for serological testing prior to first and second vaccination, and 4 weeks post-vaccination if receiving a 12-week dosing interval. Quantitative post-vaccination anti-spike antibody responses were measured using the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant assay (detection threshold: ≥50 AU/ml). We used multivariable logistic regression to identify predictors of seropositivity and generalised additive models to track antibody responses over time.ResultsVaccine uptake was 80%, but less in lower-paid roles and Black, south Asian and minority ethnic groups. 3570/3610(98.9%) HCWs were seropositive >14 days post-first vaccination and prior to second vaccination, 2706/2720(99.5%) after Pfizer-BioNTech and 864/890(97.1%) following Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. Previously infected and younger HCWs were more likely to test seropositive post-first vaccination, with no evidence of differences by sex or ethnicity. All 470 HCWs tested >14 days after second vaccine were seropositive. Quantitative antibody responses were higher after previous infection: median(IQR) >21 days post-first Pfizer-BioNTech 14,604(7644-22,291) AU/ml vs. 1028(564-1985) AU/ml without prior infection (pConclusionsVaccination leads to detectable anti-spike antibodies in nearly all adult HCWs. Whether differences in response impact vaccine efficacy needs further study.

Published
2021

9. Evaluating the effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike mutation D614G on transmissibility and pathogenicity

Author

Erik Volz, Verity Hill, John T. McCrone, Anna Price, David Jorgensen, Áine O’Toole, Joel Southgate, Robert Johnson, Ben Jackson, Fabricia F. Nascimento, Sara M. Rey, Samuel M. Nicholls, Rachel M. Colquhoun, Ana da Silva Filipe, James Shepherd, David J. Pascall, Rajiv Shah, Natasha Jesudason, Kathy Li, Ruth Jarrett, Nicole Pacchiarini, Matthew Bull, Lily Geidelberg, Igor Siveroni, Ian Goodfellow, Nicholas J. Loman, Oliver G. Pybus, David L. Robertson, Emma C. Thomson, Andrew Rambaut, Thomas R. Connor, Cherian Koshy, Emma Wise, Nick Cortes, Jessica Lynch, Stephen Kidd, Matilde Mori, Derek J. Fairley, Tanya Curran, James P. McKenna, Helen Adams, Christophe Fraser, Tanya Golubchik, David Bonsall, Catrin Moore, Sarah L. Caddy, Fahad A. Khokhar, Michelle Wantoch, Nicola Reynolds, Ben Warne, Joshua Maksimovic, Karla Spellman, Kathryn McCluggage, Michaela John, Robert Beer, Safiah Afifi, Sian Morgan, Angela Marchbank, Christine Kitchen, Huw Gulliver, Ian Merrick, Martyn Guest, Robert Munn, Trudy Workman, William Fuller, Catherine Bresner, Luke B. Snell, Themoula Charalampous, Gaia Nebbia, Rahul Batra, Jonathan Edgeworth, Samuel C. Robson, Angela Beckett, Katie F. Loveson, David M. Aanensen, Anthony P. Underwood, Corin A. Yeats, Khalil Abudahab, Ben E.W. Taylor, Mirko Menegazzo, Gemma Clark, Wendy Smith, Manjinder Khakh, Vicki M. Fleming, Michelle M. Lister, Hannah C. Howson-Wells, Louise Berry, Tim Boswell, Amelia Joseph, Iona Willingham, Paul Bird, Thomas Helmer, Karlie Fallon, Christopher Holmes, Julian Tang, Veena Raviprakash, Sharon Campbell, Nicola Sheriff, Matthew W. Loose, Nadine Holmes, Christopher Moore, Matthew Carlile, Victoria Wright, Fei Sang, Johnny Debebe, Francesc Coll, Adrian W. Signell, Gilberto Betancor, Harry D. Wilson, Theresa Feltwell, Charlotte J. Houldcroft, Sahar Eldirdiri, Anita Kenyon, Thomas Davis, Oliver Pybus, Louis du Plessis, Alex Zarebski, Jayna Raghwani, Moritz Kraemer, Sarah Francois, Stephen Attwood, Tetyana Vasylyeva, M. Estee Torok, William L. Hamilton, Ian G. Goodfellow, Grant Hall, Aminu S. Jahun, Yasmin Chaudhry, Myra Hosmillo, Malte L. Pinckert, Iliana Georgana, Anna Yakovleva, Luke W. Meredith, Samuel Moses, Hannah Lowe, Felicity Ryan, Chloe L. Fisher, Ali R. Awan, John Boyes, Judith Breuer, Kathryn Ann Harris, Julianne Rose Brown, Divya Shah, Laura Atkinson, Jack C.D. Lee, Adela Alcolea-Medina, Nathan Moore, Nicholas Cortes, Rebecca Williams, Michael R. Chapman, Lisa J. Levett, Judith Heaney, Darren L. Smith, Matthew Bashton, Gregory R. Young, John Allan, Joshua Loh, Paul A. Randell, Alison Cox, Pinglawathee Madona, Alison Holmes, Frances Bolt, James Price, Siddharth Mookerjee, Aileen Rowan, Graham P. Taylor, Manon Ragonnet-Cronin, Rob Johnson, Olivia Boyd, Erik M. Volz, Kirstyn Brunker, Katherine L. Smollett, Joshua Quick, Claire McMurray, Joanne Stockton, Sam Nicholls, Will Rowe, Radoslaw Poplawski, Rocio T. Martinez-Nunez, Jenifer Mason, Trevor I. Robinson, Elaine O'Toole, Joanne Watts, Cassie Breen, Angela Cowell, Catherine Ludden, Graciela Sluga, Nicholas W. Machin, Shazaad S.Y. Ahmad, Ryan P. George, Fenella Halstead, Venkat Sivaprakasam, James G. Shepherd, Patawee Asamaphan, Marc O. Niebel, Kathy K. Li, Rajiv N. Shah, Natasha G. Jesudason, Yasmin A. Parr, Lily Tong, Alice Broos, Daniel Mair, Jenna Nichols, Stephen N. Carmichael, Kyriaki Nomikou, Elihu Aranday-Cortes, Natasha Johnson, Igor Starinskij, Richard J. Orton, Joseph Hughes, Sreenu Vattipally, Joshua B. Singer, Antony D. Hale, Louissa R. Macfarlane-Smith, Katherine L. Harper, Yusri Taha, Brendan A.I. Payne, Shirelle Burton-Fanning, Sheila Waugh, Jennifer Collins, Gary Eltringham, Kate E. Templeton, Martin P. McHugh, Rebecca Dewar, Elizabeth Wastenge, Samir Dervisevic, Rachael Stanley, Reenesh Prakash, Claire Stuart, Ngozi Elumogo, Dheeraj K. Sethi, Emma J. Meader, Lindsay J. Coupland, Will Potter, Clive Graham, Edward Barton, Debra Padgett, Garren Scott, Emma Swindells, Jane Greenaway, Andrew Nelson, Wen C. Yew, Paola C. Resende Silva, Monique Andersson, Robert Shaw, Timothy Peto, Anita Justice, David Eyre, Derrick Crooke, Sarah Hoosdally, Tim J. Sloan, Nichola Duckworth, Sarah Walsh, Anoop J. Chauhan, Sharon Glaysher, Kelly Bicknell, Sarah Wyllie, Ethan Butcher, Scott Elliott, Allyson Lloyd, Robert Impey, Nick Levene, Lynn Monaghan, Declan T. Bradley, Elias Allara, Clare Pearson, Peter Muir, Ian B. Vipond, Richard Hopes, Hannah M. Pymont, Stephanie Hutchings, Martin D. Curran, Surendra Parmar, Angie Lackenby, Tamyo Mbisa, Steven Platt, Shahjahan Miah, David Bibby, Carmen Manso, Jonathan Hubb, Meera Chand, Gavin Dabrera, Mary Ramsay, Daniel Bradshaw, Alicia Thornton, Richard Myers, Ulf Schaefer, Natalie Groves, Eileen Gallagher, David Lee, David Williams, Nicholas Ellaby, Ian Harrison, Hassan Hartman, Nikos Manesis, Vineet Patel, Chloe Bishop, Vicki Chalker, Husam Osman, Andrew Bosworth, Esther Robinson, Matthew T.G. Holden, Sharif Shaaban, Alec Birchley, Alexander Adams, Alisha Davies, Amy Gaskin, Amy Plimmer, Bree Gatica-Wilcox, Caoimhe McKerr, Catherine Moore, Chris Williams, David Heyburn, Elen De Lacy, Ember Hilvers, Fatima Downing, Giri Shankar, Hannah Jones, Hibo Asad, Jason Coombes, Joanne Watkins, Johnathan M. Evans, Laia Fina, Laura Gifford, Lauren Gilbert, Lee Graham, Malorie Perry, Mari Morgan, Michelle Cronin, Noel Craine, Rachel Jones, Robin Howe, Sally Corden, Sara Rey, Sara Kumziene-Summerhayes, Sarah Taylor, Simon Cottrell, Sophie Jones, Sue Edwards, Justin O’Grady, Andrew J. Page, John Wain, Mark A. Webber, Alison E. Mather, David J. Baker, Steven Rudder, Muhammad Yasir, Nicholas M. Thomson, Alp Aydin, Ana P. Tedim, Gemma L. Kay, Alexander J. Trotter, Rachel A.J. Gilroy, Nabil-Fareed Alikhan, Leonardo de Oliveira Martins, Thanh Le-Viet, Lizzie Meadows, Anastasia Kolyva, Maria Diaz, Andrew Bell, Ana Victoria Gutierrez, Ian G. Charles, Evelien M. Adriaenssens, Robert A. Kingsley, Anna Casey, David A. Simpson, Zoltan Molnar, Thomas Thompson, Erwan Acheson, Jane A.H. Masoli, Bridget A. Knight, Andrew Hattersley, Sian Ellard, Cressida Auckland, Tabitha W. Mahungu, Dianne Irish-Tavares, Tanzina Haque, Yann Bourgeois, Garry P. Scarlett, David G. Partridge, Mohammad Raza, Cariad Evans, Kate Johnson, Steven Liggett, Paul Baker, Sarah Essex, Ronan A. Lyons, Laura G. Caller, Sergi Castellano, Rachel J. Williams, Mark Kristiansen, Sunando Roy, Charlotte A. Williams, Patricia L. Dyal, Helena J. Tutill, Yasmin N. Panchbhaya, Leysa M. Forrest, Paola Niola, Jacqueline Findlay, Tony T. Brooks, Artemis Gavriil, Lamia Mestek-Boukhibar, Sam Weeks, Sarojini Pandey, Lisa Berry, Katie Jones, Alex Richter, Andrew Beggs, Colin P. Smith, Giselda Bucca, Andrew R. Hesketh, Ewan M. Harrison, Sharon J. Peacock, Sophie Palmer, Carol M. Churcher, Katherine L. Bellis, Sophia T. Girgis, Plamena Naydenova, Beth Blane, Sushmita Sridhar, Chris Ruis, Sally Forrest, Claire Cormie, Harmeet K. Gill, Joana Dias, Ellen E. Higginson, Mailis Maes, Jamie Young, Leanne M. Kermack, Nazreen F. Hadjirin, Dinesh Aggarwal, Luke Griffith, Tracey Swingler, Rose K. Davidson, Thomas Williams, Carlos E. Balcazar, Michael D. Gallagher, Áine O'Toole, Stefan Rooke, Rachel Colquhoun, Jordan Ashworth, J.T. McCrone, Emily Scher, Xiaoyu Yu, Kathleen A. Williamson, Thomas D. Stanton, Stephen L. Michell, Claire M. Bewshea, Ben Temperton, Michelle L. Michelsen, Joanna Warwick-Dugdale, Robin Manley, Audrey Farbos, James W. Harrison, Christine M. Sambles, David J. Studholme, Aaron R. Jeffries, Alistair C. Darby, Julian A. Hiscox, Steve Paterson, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Kathryn A. Jackson, Anita O. Lucaci, Edith E. Vamos, Margaret Hughes, Lucille Rainbow, Richard Eccles, Charlotte Nelson, Mark Whitehead, Lance Turtle, Sam T. Haldenby, Richard Gregory, Matthew Gemmell, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Thushan I. de Silva, Nikki Smith, Adrienn Angyal, Benjamin B. Lindsey, Danielle C. Groves, Luke R. Green, Dennis Wang, Timothy M. Freeman, Matthew D. Parker, Alexander J. Keeley, Paul J. Parsons, Rachel M. Tucker, Rebecca Brown, Matthew Wyles, Chrystala Constantinidou, Meera Unnikrishnan, Sascha Ott, Jeffrey K.J. Cheng, Hannah E. Bridgewater, Lucy R. Frost, Grace Taylor-Joyce, Richard Stark, Laura Baxter, Mohammad T. Alam, Paul E. Brown, Patrick C. McClure, Joseph G. Chappell, Theocharis Tsoleridis, Jonathan Ball, Dimitris Grammatopoulos, David Buck, John A. Todd, Angie Green, Amy Trebes, George MacIntyre-Cockett, Mariateresa de Cesare, Cordelia Langford, Alex Alderton, Roberto Amato, Sonia Goncalves, David K. Jackson, Ian Johnston, John Sillitoe, Steve Palmer, Mara Lawniczak, Matt Berriman, John Danesh, Rich Livett, Lesley Shirley, Ben Farr, Mike Quail, Scott Thurston, Naomi Park, Emma Betteridge, Danni Weldon, Scott Goodwin, Rachel Nelson, Charlotte Beaver, Laura Letchford, David A. Jackson, Luke Foulser, Liz McMinn, Liam Prestwood, Sally Kay, Leanne Kane, Matthew J. Dorman, Inigo Martincorena, Christoph Puethe, Jon-Paul Keatley, Gerry Tonkin-Hill, Christen Smith, Dorota Jamrozy, Mathew A. Beale, Minal Patel, Cristina Ariani, Michael Spencer-Chapman, Eleanor Drury, Stephanie Lo, Shavanthi Rajatileka, Carol Scott, Keith James, Sarah K. Buddenborg, Duncan J. Berger, Gaurang Patel, Maria V. Garcia-Casado, Thomas Dibling, Samantha McGuigan, Hazel A. Rogers, Adam D. Hunter, Emily Souster, Alexandra S. Neaverson, Medical Research Council (MRC), Pascall, David [0000-0002-7543-0860], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository

Subjects
Genome, Genetic analysis, 0302 clinical medicine, Clade, 11 Medical and Health Sciences, Genetics, 0303 health sciences, education.field_of_study, Phylogenetic tree, Virulence, C500, COG-UK Consortium, C700, Transmissibility (vibration), 3. Good health, founder effect, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus, epidemiology, Viral load, Population, Glycine, B100, Genomics, Genome, Viral, Biology, Article, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 03 medical and health sciences, evolution, Humans, education, 030304 developmental biology, Aspartic Acid, Whole Genome Sequencing, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all), SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, spike, The COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium, A300, 06 Biological Sciences, United Kingdom, Amino Acid Substitution, Evolutionary biology, Mutation, Biological dispersal, 030217 neurology & neurosurgery, Founder effect, Developmental Biology
Abstract

Global dispersal and increasing frequency of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variant D614G are suggestive of a selective advantage but may also be due to a random founder effect. We investigate the hypothesis for positive selection of spike D614G in the United Kingdom using more than 25,000 whole genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences. Despite the availability of a large dataset, well represented by both spike 614 variants, not all approaches showed a conclusive signal of positive selection. Population genetic analysis indicates that 614G increases in frequency relative to 614D in a manner consistent with a selective advantage. We do not find any indication that patients infected with the spike 614G variant have higher COVID-19 mortality or clinical severity, but 614G is associated with higher viral load and younger age of patients. Significant differences in growth and size of 614G phylogenetic clusters indicate a need for continued study of this variant., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Increasing frequency of SARS-CoV-2 D614G is consistent with a selective advantage • Phylodynamic analyses do not show significantly different growth of D614G clusters • There is no association of D614G replacement with greater severity of infection • The D614G replacement is associated with higher viral loads and younger patient age, Analysis of the spread and frequency of SARS-CoV-2 D614G in the United Kingdom suggests a selective advantage for this strain that is associated with higher viral loads in younger patients but not higher COVID-19 clinical severity or mortality.

Published
2021

10. Performance characteristics of five immunoassays for SARS-CoV-2: a head-to-head benchmark comparison

Author

Andrew J Kwok, Eleanor Barnes, R Levin, Derrick W. Crook, D Crawford-Jones, Y Peng, E Perez, Marta Oliveira, Peto Tea., Nicole Stoesser, S Camara, K K Chau, Monique Andersson, Sally Beer, Matthew Catton, Y Warren, M Borak, L Blackwell, Tim James, Anita Justice, Abbie Bown, A Espinosa, Ashley Otter, Alex J. Richardson, M Emmenegger, Katie Jeffery, W Dejnirattsai, M Fernandez Mendoza, Julian C. Knight, A Linder, L Koukouflis, T Lockett, Rutger J. Ploeg, Tao Dong, Alison Howarth, J K Baillie, H P Tsang, Daniel Ebner, Gillian Rodger, L Silva-Reyes, Sarah Hoosdally, Timothy M Walker, Richard Vipond, S Fassih, Silvia D'Arcangelo, Alex Sienkiewicz, C Wilson, Aimee R. Taylor, Nicola A. Burgess-Brown, Sarah Oakley, Bassam Hallis, Alexander J. Mentzer, Tim Brooks, Cathy Rowe, L Martins Ferreira, Conor Feehily, Thomas G Ritter, S Marinou, N Gent, George Doherty, S Dimitriadis, Juthathip Mongkolsapaya, D Fox McKee, Christopher J. Groves, F Karpe, Kate E. Dingle, Prem Perumal, U Leuschner, Teresa L Street, P M Hammond, Carrow I. Wells, David W Eyre, James Kavanagh, Brian D. Marsden, Richard J. Cornall, Donal T. Skelly, J Pascoe, A Sobrino Diaz, Elizabeth A. Clutterbuck, V Gallardo Sanchez, Justine K. Rudkin, L Mason, R K Young, Susanna Dunachie, T Fordwoh, D S Kim, Dequaire Jmm., Mukhopadhyay Smm., B Horsington, Devender Roberts, E Y Jones, Kathryn Auckland, K Withycombe, Jennifer Hill, H Pickford, Christina Dold, Sheila F Lumley, Angela Sweed, Heli Harvala, A Beveridge, Rory Fairhead, K Paddon, Sadia Bibi, John Frater, Lisa Stockdale, J Morrow, David I. Stuart, Matt J. Neville, M K Verheul, T H Foord, Stuart Cox, Alejandra Fernández-Cid, Christine S. Rollier, L Stafford, Andrew J. Pollard, Susan Wareing, R Kirton, Jesse Coker, Malcolm G Semple, Paul Klenerman, A Mobbs, Thomas Christott, H Thraves, D Georgiou, Gavin R. Screaton, S Felle, José William Martínez, Philippa C Matthews, Stephanie B Hatch, and Mark A. Ainsworth

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, medicine.medical_specialty, medicine.diagnostic_test, Receiver operating characteristic, Head to head, business.industry, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Assay sensitivity, Articles, Serology, 03 medical and health sciences, 030104 developmental biology, 0302 clinical medicine, Infectious Diseases, Immunoassay, Internal medicine, medicine, 030212 general & internal medicine, Symptom onset, business
Abstract

Summary Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global pandemic in 2020. Testing is crucial for mitigating public health and economic effects. Serology is considered key to population-level surveillance and potentially individual-level risk assessment. However, immunoassay performance has not been compared on large, identical sample sets. We aimed to investigate the performance of four high-throughput commercial SARS-CoV-2 antibody immunoassays and a novel 384-well ELISA. Methods We did a head-to-head assessment of SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay (Abbott, Chicago, IL, USA), LIAISON SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG assay (DiaSorin, Saluggia, Italy), Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay (Roche, Basel, Switzerland), SARS-CoV-2 Total assay (Siemens, Munich, Germany), and a novel 384-well ELISA (the Oxford immunoassay). We derived sensitivity and specificity from 976 pre-pandemic blood samples (collected between Sept 4, 2014, and Oct 4, 2016) and 536 blood samples from patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, collected at least 20 days post symptom onset (collected between Feb 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess assay thresholds. Findings At the manufacturers' thresholds, for the Abbott assay sensitivity was 92·7% (95% CI 90·2–94·8) and specificity was 99·9% (99·4–100%); for the DiaSorin assay sensitivity was 96·2% (94·2–97·7) and specificity was 98·9% (98·0–99·4); for the Oxford immunoassay sensitivity was 99·1% (97·8–99·7) and specificity was 99·0% (98·1–99·5); for the Roche assay sensitivity was 97·2% (95·4–98·4) and specificity was 99·8% (99·3–100); and for the Siemens assay sensitivity was 98·1% (96·6–99·1) and specificity was 99·9% (99·4–100%). All assays achieved a sensitivity of at least 98% with thresholds optimised to achieve a specificity of at least 98% on samples taken 30 days or more post symptom onset. Interpretation Four commercial, widely available assays and a scalable 384-well ELISA can be used for SARS-CoV-2 serological testing to achieve sensitivity and specificity of at least 98%. The Siemens assay and Oxford immunoassay achieved these metrics without further optimisation. This benchmark study in immunoassay assessment should enable refinements of testing strategies and the best use of serological testing resource to benefit individuals and population health. Funding Public Health England and UK National Institute for Health Research.

Published
2020
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11. Author response: Differential occupational risks to healthcare workers from SARS-CoV-2 observed during a prospective observational study

Author

Nellia Sande, Hannah Chase, Alan Chetwynd, Connor Thompson, Fiona Warren, Sonam Rughani, Jonathan Drake, Callum E. Harries, Rebecca te Water Naudé, Fredrik Karpe, Claire Sutton, Gabriella Kelly, Stoyan Dimitrov, Denis Volk, Olivia Ambler, Lucianne Smith, Michelle Gates, Adam J. R. Watson, Sheila F Lumley, Daniel Ebner, Gareth Watson, Tariq Ahmed-Firani, Kirsty Harper, Philip Cowie, Kaisha Patel, Bruno Holthof, Alison Howarth, Hannah Laurenson-Schafer, Christian Holland, Jane Philips, Rachel Turford, Rebecca K Young, Charlotte Lee, Philip W. Fowler, Julie Dequaire, Caitlin Rigler, James Kavanagh, Joshua Morton, Mark Campbell, Brian D. Marsden, George Doherty, Tracey Mitchell, Saxon Pattenden, Denise O'Donnell, Susan Wareing, Maria Robles, Euan Joseph McGivern, Samuel Scott, Timothy M. Walker, Laura Warren, Justyna Szczurkowska, Richard Kirton, Angus Livingstone, Emma-Jane Simons, Thomas Foord, Kenzo Motohashi, Jocelyn Lf Ward, Jeremy Swann, Francesca Back, David S Kim, Gabriella DAmato, Monique Andersson, David Axten, Seren Hannah Rose Waite, Matt J. Neville, Fan Yang-Turner, Cameron East, Holly Hendron, Elizabeth Sims, Hannah Danbury, Louise O Downs, Stefan Kourdov, Oscar Deal, Elaine Lawson, Kyla Smit, Robert Shaw, Leon Peto, Gavin R. Screaton, Trisha Bellinger, Joseph D. Wilson, Lucas Martins Ferreira, Adan Taylor, Krupa Ravi, David I. Stuart, Marcus English, Richard J. Cornall, Chris Jb Mason, Annabel Killen, Michael Luciw, Constantinos Savva, Lisa Butcher, Stuart Cox, Donal T. Skelly, Owen Sweeney, Derrick W. Crook, Maria Dudareva, Alexander J. Mentzer, Ruth Moroney, Sarah Wright, Zoe de Toledo, Roshni Ray, Thomas Christie, Lisa Morgan, Philippa C Matthews, Nicola Jones, Katherine O'Byrne, Mary Kumarendran, Nicole Stoesser, Nurul Huda Mohamad Fadzillah, Anne-Marie O'Donnell, Isabel Tol, Philip G. Drennan, Tim James, Katie Jeffery, Gemma Pill, Lydia Rylance-Knight, Stephanie B Hatch, Kevin K Chau, Evie Rothwell, Tim Davies, Lancelot J. Millar, Tim E. A. Peto, Evelyn Qian, Merline Tabirao, Thomas Christott, Heather Nevard, Liam J Peck, Madeleine E Oliver, Mary McKnight, Christopher P. Conlon, Conor Hennesey, Andrew Brent, Sarah Peters, Anita Justice, Kathryn Cann, James Gunnell, Thomas G Ritter, Claudia Salvagno, Stephanie Santos-Paulo, Vicki Wharton, S A Johnson, Samuel Sussmes, Harry Ward, Sven A. Kerneis, Edward Wa Harris, Matthew Wedlich, Alexandra S Mighiu, Ali Amini, Alexander Grassam-Rowe, Gregory D Howgego, Bernadett Gergely, Rosie Freer, Bernadette C. Young, Thomas B King, Sarah Hoosdally, Alexander Vogt, Imogen C Vorley, David W Eyre, and Gerald Jesuthasan

Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty, business.industry, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Health care, Emergency medicine, Medicine, Observational study, business
Published
2020

12. SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in blood samples from patients with COVID-19 is not associated with infectious virus

Author

Julian C. Knight, Malcolm G Semple, Louise O Downs, Derrick W. Crook, Anna L McNaughton, Paul Klenerman, Sarah Oakley, Rutger J. Ploeg, Marta S Oliveira, Xu Liu, Juthathip Mongkolsapaya, Nicole Stoesser, Monique Andersson, Carolina V. Arancibia-Cárcamo, Peter Simmonds, Tim James, J Kenneth Baillie, Rebecca A. Russell, Anita Justice, Samreen Ijaz, Tom Beneke, Jeremy Ratcliff, Michael L. Knight, Maria Zambon, Sue Wareing, Heli Harvala, William James, David W Eyre, Lance Turtle, Sarah Hoosdally, Katie Jeffery, Kate E. Dingle, Christina Dold, Sheila F Lumley, David J. Roberts, Kathryn Auckland, Justine K. Rudkin, Miles W. Carroll, Laura Dunn, Javier Gilbert Jaramillo, Sagida Bibi, Alexander J. Mentzer, Philippa C Matthews, Tim E. A. Peto, D T Skelly, Eleanor Barnes, and Gavin R. Screaton

Subjects
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), business.industry, viruses, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), RNA, Medicine, Viral rna, Odds ratio, business, Virology, Viral load, Infectious virus, Cytopathic effect
Abstract

BackgroundLaboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection (the cause of COVID-19) uses PCR to detect viral RNA (vRNA) in respiratory samples. SARS-CoV-2 RNA has also been detected in other sample types, but there is limited understanding of the clinical or laboratory significance of its detection in blood.MethodsWe undertook a systematic literature review to assimilate the evidence for the frequency of vRNA in blood, and to identify associated clinical characteristics. We performed RT-PCR in serum samples from a UK clinical cohort of acute and convalescent COVID-19 cases (n=212), together with convalescent plasma samples collected by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) (n=111 additional samples). To determine whether PCR-positive blood samples could pose an infection risk, we attempted virus isolation from a subset of RNA-positive samples.ResultsWe identified 28 relevant studies, reporting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 0-76% of blood samples; pooled estimate 10% (95%CI 5-18%). Among serum samples from our clinical cohort, 27/212 (12.7%) had SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected by RT-PCR. RNA detection occurred in samples up to day 20 post symptom onset, and was associated with more severe disease (multivariable odds ratio 7.5). Across all samples collected ≥28 days post symptom onset, 0/143 (0%, 95%CI 0.0-2.5%) had vRNA detected. Among our PCR-positive samples, cycle threshold (ct) values were high (range 33.5-44.8), suggesting low vRNA copy numbers. PCR-positive sera inoculated into cell culture did not produce any cytopathic effect or yield an increase in detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA.ConclusionsvRNA was detectable at low viral loads in a minority of serum samples collected in acute infection, but was not associated with infectious SARS-CoV-2 (within the limitations of the assays used). This work helps to inform biosafety precautions for handling blood products from patients with current or previous COVID-19.

Published
2020

13. SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence, titres and neutralising activity in an antenatal cohort, United Kingdom, 14 April to 15 June 2020

Author

Kevin K Chau, Alexander J. Mentzer, Jai S Bolton, Susan Wareing, Sunetra Gupta, Sheila F Lumley, James Kavanagh, Brian D. Marsden, Kathryn Auckland, Philippa C Matthews, David I. Stuart, David W Eyre, Stephen Kennedy, Stephanie B Hatch, Monique Andersson, Louise O Downs, Derrick W. Crook, A Howarth, Laura Dunn, Anna L McNaughton, Paul Klenerman, Sarah Hoosdally, Gavin R. Screaton, Katie Jeffery, Kate E. Dingle, Justine K. Rudkin, Peto Tea., Daniel Ebner, S Cox, Anita Justice, Nicole Stoesser, Tim James, Alex Fyfe, Richard J. Cornall, Robert S. Paton, and Craig Thompson

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, serology, Antibodies, Viral, Serology, Cohort Studies, neutralisation, 0302 clinical medicine, Pregnancy, Seroepidemiologic Studies, antibody, Prenatal Diagnosis, Epidemiology, Single-Blind Method, 030212 general & internal medicine, Pregnancy Complications, Infectious, education.field_of_study, biology, Obstetrics, Middle Aged, England, Population Surveillance, Cohort, epidemiology, ELISA, Female, Antibody, Coronavirus Infections, Rapid Communication, Cohort study, Adult, medicine.medical_specialty, Adolescent, IgG, 030106 microbiology, Population, prevalence, Pneumonia, Viral, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, antenatal, 03 medical and health sciences, Betacoronavirus, Young Adult, Virology, medicine, Seroprevalence, Humans, education, Pandemics, business.industry, SARS-CoV-2, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, COVID-19, medicine.disease, Antibodies, Neutralizing, Pregnancy Trimester, First, Immunoglobulin G, biology.protein, business
Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 IgG screening of 1,000 antenatal serum samples in the Oxford area, United Kingdom, between 14 April and 15 June 2020, yielded a 5.3% seroprevalence, mirroring contemporaneous regional data. Among the 53 positive samples, 39 showed in vitro neutralisation activity, correlating with IgG titre (Pearson’s correlation p

Published
2020

14. SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in blood products from patients with COVID-19 is not associated with infectious virus

Author

Carolina V. Arancibia-Cárcamo, Julian C. Knight, J Kenneth Baillie, Gavin R. Screaton, Eleanor Barnes, Michael L. Knight, Philippa C Matthews, Christina Dold, Sheila F Lumley, Rutger J. Ploeg, David J. Roberts, Tim E. A. Peto, Jeremy Ratcliff, Tim Brooks, Rebecca A. Russell, Miles W. Carroll, Heli Harvala, Maria Zambon, Juthathip Mongkolsapaya, William James, Sarah Hoosdally, Lance Turtle, David W Eyre, Kate E. Dingle, Laura Dunn, Xu Liu, Louise O Downs, Derrick W. Crook, Javier Gilbert Jaramillo, Melanie J. Robbins, Justine K. Rudkin, Malcolm G Semple, Monique Andersson, Marta S Oliveira, Kathryn Auckland, Anna L McNaughton, Paul Klenerman, Sagida Bibi, Peter Simmonds, Alexander J. Mentzer, Katie Jeffery, Samreen Ijaz, Anita Justice, D T Skelly, Susan Wareing, Sarah Oakley, Nicole Stoesser, Tim James, and Tom Beneke

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), viruses, Medicine (miscellaneous), 030204 cardiovascular system & hematology, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 03 medical and health sciences, viraemia, 0302 clinical medicine, blood, Medicine, 030212 general & internal medicine, Cytopathic effect, biology, business.industry, SARS-CoV-2, RNA, COVID-19, Covid19, Odds ratio, Articles, Virology, laboratory safety, viral load, 030104 developmental biology, biology.protein, Biomarker (medicine), biomarker, Antibody, business, Viral load, Research Article
Abstract

Background: Laboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection (the cause of COVID-19) uses PCR to detect viral RNA (vRNA) in respiratory samples. SARS-CoV-2 RNA has also been detected in other sample types, but there is limited understanding of the clinical or laboratory significance of its detection in blood.Methods: We undertook a systematic literature review to assimilate the evidence for the frequency of vRNA in blood, and to identify associated clinical characteristics. We performed RT-PCR in serum samples from a UK clinical cohort of acute and convalescent COVID-19 cases (n=212), together with convalescent plasma samples collected by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) (n=462 additional samples). To determine whether PCR-positive blood samples could pose an infection risk, we attempted virus isolation from a subset of RNA-positive samples.Results: We identified 28 relevant studies, reporting SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 0-76% of blood samples; pooled estimate 10% (95%CI 5-18%). Among serum samples from our clinical cohort, 27/212 (12.7%) had SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected by RT-PCR. RNA detection occurred in samples up to day 20 post symptom onset, and was associated with more severe disease (multivariable odds ratio 7.5). Across all samples collected ≥28 days post symptom onset, 0/494 (0%, 95%CI 0-0.7%) had vRNA detected. Among our PCR-positive samples, cycle threshold (ct) values were high (range 33.5-44.8), suggesting low vRNA copy numbers. PCR-positive sera inoculated into cell culture did not produce any cytopathic effect or yield an increase in detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA. There was a relationship between RT-PCR negativity and the presence of total SARS-CoV-2 antibody (p=0.02).Conclusions: vRNA was detectable at low viral loads in a minority of serum samples collected in acute infection, but was not associated with infectious SARS-CoV-2 (within the limitations of the assays used). This work helps to inform biosafety precautions for handling blood products from patients with current or previous COVID-19.

Published
2020

15. Genetic population structure of coagulase-negative staphylococci associated with carriage and disease in preterm infants

Author

Sharon J. Peacock, Andrew R. Wilkinson, Nicholas Pj Day, Jim Buttery, Anita Justice, M. Herbert, and G. D. I. de Silva

Subjects
Microbiology (medical), Coagulase, Male, Neonatal intensive care unit, Staphylococcus, Population, Bacteremia, Infant, Premature, Diseases, Microbiology, Intensive Care Units, Neonatal, Drug Resistance, Bacterial, medicine, Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, Humans, Blood culture, Prospective Studies, education, education.field_of_study, medicine.diagnostic_test, business.industry, cons, Infant, Newborn, Genetic Variation, Staphylococcal Infections, medicine.disease, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Bacterial Typing Techniques, Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field, Infectious Diseases, Carriage, Case-Control Studies, Female, business, Infant, Premature
Abstract

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are a leading cause of sepsis in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting. To evaluate the hypothesis that isolates of CoNS associated with disease belong to hypervirulent clones, as opposed to being drawn randomly from the neonatal unit carriage flora, we conducted a prospective, case-controlled study in a busy NICU. Using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), we compared the population structures of CoNS isolates associated with bacteremia with isolates from the skin of healthy and infected neonates and with blood culture contaminants. Endemic clones of CoNS were identified, but there was no difference in the distribution of the 6 species or 73 PFGE types between the carriage and disease isolate groups; this suggests that hypervirulent clones with an enhanced ability to cause disease were not present in this NICU setting.

Published
2016

16. ASSOCIATION OF HAPTOGLOBIN LEVELS WITH AGE, PARASITE DENSITY, AND HAPTOGLOBIN GENOTYPE IN A MALARIA-ENDEMIC AREA OF GABON

Author

Phillipe Deloron, Freya J. I. Fowkes, Heather Imrie, Adrian J. F. Luty, Pascal Michon, Florence Migot-Nabias, Anita Justice, and Karen P. Day

Subjects
Male, Aging, ANALYSE DE COHORTES, Physiology, Plasmodium malariae, Parasitemia, 0302 clinical medicine, Genotype, TECHNIQUE PCR, Child, ANALYSE STATISTIQUE, 0303 health sciences, education.field_of_study, biology, Haptoglobin, AGE PHYSIOLOGIQUE, DENSITE DE POPULATION, GENOTYPE, 3. Good health, Pathogenesis and modulation of inflammation [N4i 1], ENFANT, Infectious Diseases, Child, Preschool, Female, Plasmodium falciparum, 030231 tropical medicine, Population, Sickle Cell Trait, 03 medical and health sciences, TEST ELISA, Virology, ABO blood group system, PROTEINE, parasitic diseases, medicine, Animals, Humans, Gabon, PARASITE, education, HAPTOGLOBINE, 030304 developmental biology, SAISON HUMIDE, Sickle cell trait, Haptoglobins, Infant, PALUDISME, biology.organism_classification, medicine.disease, Malaria, Cross-Sectional Studies, Immunology, biology.protein, Parasitology, Microbial pathogenesis and host defense [UMCN 4.1], Immunity, infection and tissue repair [NCMLS 1]
Abstract

Item does not contain fulltext Haptoglobin (Hp) levels were investigated in relation to host genotype in a malaria-endemic area in Gabon. A cross-sectional study of 1-12-year-old children was conducted in the rainy season, a period of high malaria transmission, to examine this relationship. Variables that influenced Hp levels were Hp genotype, location, and age interacting with parasite density. At low parasite densities, there was a negative correlation between Hp levels and age. At higher densities, there was a positive correlation with age. This suggests that in the presence of greater parasite-induced hemolysis, older children are capable of increased production of Hp. Sickle cell trait and ABO blood group was not associated with Hp levels in this population.

Published
2006

17. The ica Operon and Biofilm Production in Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci Associated with Carriage and Disease in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Author

Nicholas Pj Day, Maria Kantzanou, Ruth C. Massey, Sharon J. Peacock, Andrew R. Wilkinson, G. D. I. de Silva, and Anita Justice

Subjects
Coagulase, Microbiology (medical), Neonatal intensive care unit, genetic structures, Staphylococcus, Bacteremia, Microbial Sensitivity Tests, Biology, Staphylococcal infections, medicine.disease_cause, Microbiology, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Intensive Care Units, Neonatal, Drug Resistance, Bacterial, Operon, medicine, Humans, Blood culture, Prospective Studies, Skin, medicine.diagnostic_test, Polysaccharides, Bacterial, Infant, Newborn, Biofilm, Bacteriology, Staphylococcal Infections, medicine.disease, biology.organism_classification, Culture Media, Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field, Blood, Biofilms, Case-Control Studies, Carrier State, Immunology
Abstract

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are a major cause of sepsis in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We evaluated the hypothesis that the ica operon and biofilm production are associated with CoNS disease in this setting. CoNS associated with bacteremia or blood culture contamination and from the skin of infants with CoNS bacteremia or healthy controls were obtained during a prospective case-control study on a busy NICU. A total of 180 strains were identified, of which 122 (68%) were Staphylococcus epidermidis and the remainder were S. capitis ( n = 29), S. haemolyticus ( n = 11), S. hominis ( n = 9), S. warneri ( n = 8), and S. auricularis ( n = 1). The presence of the genes icaA, icaB, icaC , and icaD was determined by PCR, and biofilm production was examined using qualitative (Congo red agar [CRA]) and quantitative (microtiter plate) techniques. There were no significant differences in the presence of the ica operon or CRA positivity among the four groups of strains. However, quantitative biofilm production was significantly greater in strains isolated from either the blood or the skin of neonates with S. epidermidis bacteremia. We conclude that the quantity of biofilm produced may be associated with the ability to cause CoNS infection. This conclusion suggests that the regulation of biofilm expression may play a central role in the disease process.

Published
2002

18. Risk factors for hematogenous complications of intravascular catheter-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia

Author

Nicholas P. J. Day, Daniel K. Benjamin, Steven J Campbell, Christopher W. Woods, G. Ralph Corey, Sharon J. Peacock, Anita Justice, L. Barth Reller, Catrin E. Moore, and Vance G. Fowler

Subjects
Microbiology (medical), Adult, Male, medicine.medical_specialty, Staphylococcus aureus, Virulence Factors, medicine.medical_treatment, Bacteremia, medicine.disease_cause, Gastroenterology, Catheterization, Risk Factors, Internal medicine, Medicine, Humans, Risk factor, business.industry, Odds ratio, Middle Aged, Staphylococcal Infections, medicine.disease, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Surgery, Catheter, Infectious Diseases, Multivariate Analysis, Septic arthritis, Female, Methicillin Resistance, Hemodialysis, business
Abstract

BACKGROUND: The role of both host and pathogen characteristics in hematogenous seeding following Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia is incompletely understood. METHODS: Consecutive patients with intravascular catheter-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia were prospectively recruited over a 91-month period. The corresponding bloodstream isolates were examined for the presence of 35 putative virulence determinants. Patient and bacterial characteristics associated with the development of hematogenous complications (HCs) (i.e., septic arthritis, vertebral osteomyelitis, or endocarditis) were defined. RESULTS: HC occurred in 42 (13%) of 324 patients. Patient characteristics at diagnosis that were associated with HC included community onset (relative risk [RR], 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24-4.07; P=.007), increased symptom duration (odds ratio for each day, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.06-1.2; P

Published
2004

19. Determinants of acquisition and carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in infancy

Author

Anita Justice, Nicholas P. J. Day, David J. Griffiths, Derrick W. Crook, Sharon J. Peacock, Maria Kantzanou, G. D. I. de Silva, and Karen Sleeman

Subjects
Microbiology (medical), Serotype, Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcaceae, Mothers, Staphylococcal infections, medicine.disease_cause, Microbiology, Pregnancy, medicine, Humans, Risk factor, Pregnancy Complications, Infectious, Serotyping, biology, Infant, Newborn, Infant, Bacteriology, Staphylococcal Infections, biology.organism_classification, medicine.disease, Carriage, Breast Feeding, Carrier State, Multilocus sequence typing, Female, Breast feeding
Abstract

Nasal carriage ofStaphylococcus aureusis a major risk factor for invasiveS. aureusdisease. The aim of this study was to define factors associated with carriage. We conducted a prospective, longitudinal community-based study of infants and their mothers for a period of 6 months following delivery. The epidemiology of carriage was examined for 100 infant-mother pairs. Infant carriage varied significantly with age, falling from 40 to 50% during the first 8 weeks to 21% by 6 months. Determinants of infantS. aureuscarriage included maternal carriage, breastfeeding, and number of siblings. Bacterial typing ofS. aureuswas performed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing. The majority of individuals carried a single strain ofS. aureusover time, and the mother was the usual source for colonizing isolates in infants. The effect of other components of the normal nasal flora on the development ofS. aureuscarriage was examined in 157 consecutive infants. Negative associations (putative bacterial interference) betweenS. aureusand other species occurred early in infancy but were not sustained. An increasing antistaphylococcal effect observed over time was not attributable to bacterial interference.S. aureuscarriage in infants is likely to be determined by a combination of host, environmental, and bacterial factors, but bacterial interference does not appear to be an ultimate determinant of carrier status.

Published
2003

20. Comparison of multilocus sequence typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis as tools for typing Staphylococcus aureus isolates in a microepidemiological setting

Author

G. D. I. de Silva, Sharon J. Peacock, A. Cowland, C. G. Winearls, Anita Justice, Nicholas Pj Day, and Catrin E. Moore

Subjects
Microbiology (medical), Adult, DNA, Bacterial, Male, Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcaceae, Adolescent, medicine.disease_cause, Microbiology, medicine, Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, Humans, Typing, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, biology, Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, Genetic Variation, Bacteriology, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Middle Aged, biology.organism_classification, bacterial infections and mycoses, Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field, Carriage, Nasal Swab, Carrier State, Multilocus sequence typing, Female, Methicillin Resistance
Abstract

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of Staphylococcus aureus is well suited to the study of global or long-term epidemiology, but its role in local epidemiology has not been defined. The present study has compared MLST with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) by using S. aureus isolates associated with carriage and disease in a busy regional renal unit. One hundred forty-four patients were prospectively recruited, of whom 103 were receiving hemodialysis and 41 were on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Three nasal swab specimens were obtained 1 month apart on entering the study. A nasal swab was positive for S. aureus on at least one occasion in 50 patients (35%). Typing of the 104 carriage isolates demonstrated 21 PFGE types and 21 sequence types (STs). Thirty-one carriers had two or more positive nasal swabs; of these, the isolates in all swabs from a given carrier had identical PFGE types for 29 carriers; the isolates in all of the same 29 swabs had identical STs. The carriage strain in two patients changed both PFGE type and STs during the period of swabbing. Eight patients (6%) had an episode of S. aureus bacteremia during the 12-month study period, and two of these were nasal carriers. One of these invasive isolates had the same PFGE type and ST as the carriage isolate. There were no differences between Simpson's index of diversity for PFGE and Simpson's index of diversity for MLST for both invasive and carriage isolates, suggesting that the two methods have very similar discriminatory abilities. We conclude that PFGE and MLST performed equally in this study.

Published
2002

21. Virulent combinations of adhesin and toxin genes in natural populations of Staphylococcus aureus

Author

Maria Kantzanou, Kathryn Mackie, Lisa Story, Catrin E. Moore, Anita Justice, Sharon J. Peacock, Nicholas P. J. Day, and Gael O'Neill

Subjects
DNA, Bacterial, Staphylococcus aureus, Gene Transfer, Horizontal, Genotype, Immunology, Population, Bacterial Toxins, Virulence, Molecular Genomics, Biology, Staphylococcal infections, medicine.disease_cause, Microbiology, Linkage Disequilibrium, medicine, Humans, Allele, education, Adhesins, Bacterial, Alleles, Genetics, education.field_of_study, Cross Infection, Base Sequence, Genetic transfer, Genetic Variation, Staphylococcal Infections, medicine.disease, Bacterial adhesin, Community-Acquired Infections, Infectious Diseases, Genetics, Population, Phenotype, Genes, Bacterial, Multivariate Analysis, Parasitology
Abstract

Most cases of severe Staphylococcus aureus disease cannot be explained by the action of a single virulence determinant, and it is likely that a number of factors act in combination during the infective process. This study examined the relationship between disease in humans and a large number of putative virulence determinants, both individually and in combination. S. aureus isolates ( n = 334) from healthy blood donors and from patients with invasive disease were compared for variation in the presence of 33 putative virulence determinants. After adjusting for the effect of clonality, seven determinants ( fnbA , cna , sdrE , sej , eta , hlg , and ica ) were significantly more common in invasive isolates. All seven factors contributed independently to virulence. No single factor predominated as the major predictor of virulence, their effects appearing to be cumulative. No combinations of the seven genes were either more or less likely to cause disease than others with the same number of virulence-associated genes. There was evidence of considerable horizontal transfer of genes on a background of clonality. Our findings also suggested that allelic variants of a polymorphic locus can make different contributions to the disease process, further study of which is likely to expand our understanding of staphylococcal disease pathogenesis.

Published
2002

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