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Background: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by fatigable weakness of the voluntary muscles and can exacerbate to life-threatening myasthenic crisis (MC), requiring intensive care treatment. Routine laboratory parameters are a cost-effective and widely available method for estimating the clinical outcomes of several diseases, but so far, such parameters have not been established to detect disease progression in MG., Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of selected laboratory parameters related to inflammation and hemogram for MG patients with MC compared to MG patients without MC. To identify potential risk factors for MC, we applied time-varying Cox regression for time to MC and, as a sensitivity analysis, generalized estimating equations logistic regression for the occurrence of MC at the next patient visit., Results: 15 of the 58 examined MG patients suffered at least one MC. There was no notable difference in the occurrence of MC by antibody status or sex. Both regression models showed that higher counts of basophils (per 0.01 unit increase: HR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.02-1.70), neutrophils (per 1 unit increase: HR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.14-1.72), potentially leukocytes (per 1 unit increase: HR = 1.15, 95% CI = 0.99-1.34), and platelets (per 100 units increase: HR = 1.54, 95% CI = 0.99-2.38) may indicate increased risk for a myasthenic crisis., Conclusion: This pilot study provides proof of the concept that increased counts of basophils, neutrophils, leukocytes, and platelets may be associated with a higher risk of developing MC in patients with MG., Competing Interests: SB is co-owner of exago.ml, a geoanalytics-focused machine learning company. SH has received speaker’s honoraria from Alexion, argenx, UCB and Roche and honoraria for attendance at advisory boards from Alexion, argenx and Roche, and is member of the medical advisory board of the German Myasthenia Society. SL has received speaker’s honoraria from Alexion, argenx, Hormosan and UCB, and honoraria for attendance of advisory boards from Alexion, argenx, Biogen, HUMA, UCB and Roche. FSt received speaker’s honoraria and honoria for attendance of advisory boards from Alexion, argenx and UCB Pharma. MS received speaker’s honoraria for attendance at patient events from argenx and Alexion. AM has received speaker’s honoraria, consulting fees or (institutional) financial research support from Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Argenx, Grifols SA, Hormosan Pharma GmbH, Janssen, Octapharma, and UCB Pharma, and is chairman of the medical advisory board of the German Myasthenia Society. PM has been on the board of HealthNextGen. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Mehnert, Bershan, Kollmus-Heege, Gerischer, Herdick, Hoffmann, Lehnerer, Scheibe, Stascheit, Stein, Buchan, Meisel, Aigner and Mergenthaler.)

After initial declines, in mid-2020 a resurgence in transmission of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred in the United States and Europe. As efforts to control COVID-19 disease are reintensified, understanding the age demographics driving transmission and how these affect the loosening of interventions is crucial. We analyze aggregated, age-specific mobility trends from more than 10 million individuals in the United States and link these mechanistically to age-specific COVID-19 mortality data. We estimate that as of October 2020, individuals aged 20 to 49 are the only age groups sustaining resurgent SARS-CoV-2 transmission with reproduction numbers well above one and that at least 65 of 100 COVID-19 infections originate from individuals aged 20 to 49 in the United States. Targeting interventions-including transmission-blocking vaccines-to adults aged 20 to 49 is an important consideration in halting resurgent epidemics and preventing COVID-19-attributable deaths., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)