18 May, 2021

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy -

Background: The presented meta-analysis was developed in response to the publication of several studies addressing COVID-19 vaccines hesitancy. We aimed to identify the proportion of vaccine acceptance and rejection, and factors affecting vaccine hesitancy worldwide especially with the fast emergency approval of vaccines. Methods: Online database search was performed, and relevant studies were included with no language restriction. A meta-analysis was conducted using R software to obtain the random effect model of the pooled prevalence of vaccine acceptance and rejection. Egger regression test was performed to assess publication bias. Quality assessment was assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment tool. Results: Thirty-nine out of 12246 articles met the predefined inclusion criteria. All studies were cross-sectional designs. The pooled proportion of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was 17% (95% CI: 14-20) while the pooled proportion of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was 75% (95% CI: 71-79). The vaccine hesitancy and the vaccine acceptance showed high heterogeneity (I 2 =100%). Case fatality ratio and the number of reported cases had significant effect on the vaccine acceptance as the pooled proportion of vaccine acceptance increased by 39.95% (95% CI: 20.1-59.8) for each 1% increase in case fatality (P<0.0001) and decreased by 0.1% (95% CI: -0.2-0.01) for each 1000 reported case of COVID-19, P= 0.0183). Conclusion: Transparency in reporting the number of newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases and deaths is mandatory as these factors are the main determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance.

🖺 Full Text HTML: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

Controlling risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in essential workers of enclosed food manufacturing facilities -

The SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic poses significant health risks to workers who are essential to maintaining the food supply chain. Using a quantitative risk assessment model, this study characterized the impact of risk reduction strategies for controlling SARS-CoV-2 transmission (droplet, aerosol, fomite-mediated) among front-line workers in a representative enclosed food manufacturing facility. We simulated: 1) individual and cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infection risks from close contact (droplet and aerosols at 1-3m), aerosol, and fomite-mediated exposures to a susceptible worker following exposure to an infected worker during an 8h-shift; and 2) the relative reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infection risk attributed to infection control interventions (physical distancing, mask use, ventilation, surface disinfection, hand hygiene). Without mitigation measures, the SARS-CoV-2 infection risk was largest for close contact (droplet and aerosol) at 1m (0.96, 95%CI: 0.67-1.0). In comparison, risk associated with fomite (0.26, 95%CI: 0.10-0.56) or aerosol exposure alone (0.05, 95%CI: 0.01-0.13) at 1m distance was substantially lower (73-95%). At 1m, droplet transmission predominated over aerosol and fomite-mediated transmission, however, this changed by 3m, with aerosols comprising the majority of the exposure dose. Increasing physical distancing reduced risk by 84% (1 to 2m) and 91% (1 to 3m). Universal mask use reduced infection risk by 52-88%, depending on mask type. Increasing ventilation (from 0.1 to 2-8 air changes/hour) resulted in risk reductions of 14-54% (1m) and 55-85% (2m). Combining these strategies, together with handwashing and surface disinfection, resulted in <1% infection risk. Current industry SARS-CoV-2 risk reduction strategies, particularly when bundled, provide significant protection to essential food workers.

🖺 Full Text HTML: Controlling risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in essential workers of enclosed food manufacturing facilities

Prediction of the effective reproduction number of COVID-19 in Greece. A machine learning approach using Google mobility data. -

This paper demonstrates how a short-term prediction of the effective reproduction number (Rt) of COVID-19 in regions of Greece is achieved based on online mobility data. Various machine learning methods are applied to predict Rt and attribute importance analysis is performed to reveal the most important variables that affect the accurate prediction of Rt. Our results are based on an ensemble of diverse Rt methodologies to provide non-precautious and non-indulgent predictions. The model demonstrates robust results and the methodology overall represents a promising approach towards COVID-19 outbreak prediction. This paper can help health related authorities when deciding non-nosocomial interventions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

🖺 Full Text HTML: Prediction of the effective reproduction number of COVID-19 in Greece. A machine learning approach using Google mobility data.

Non-differential risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection for members of polling stations on Catalan parliament voting day. -

We aimed to assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection for polling station members during the Catalan elections in February 2021. We compared the incidence 14 days after the elections between a cohort of polling station members (N= 18,304) and a control cohort paired by age, sex and place of residence. A total of 37 COVID-19 cases (0.2%) were confirmed in the members of the polling stations and 43 (0.23%) in the control group (p-value 0.576). Our study suggests that there was no greater risk of infection for the members of the polling stations.

🖺 Full Text HTML: Non-differential risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection for members of polling stations on Catalan parliament voting day.

A novel deterministic epidemic model considering mass vaccination and lockdown against Covid-19 spread in Israel: Numerical study -

Why public health intervention by Israel government against COVID-19 spread has been successful while the most countries in the world is still coping with it? To give the answer, a simple numerical epidemic model is prepared to simulate an entire trend of various infection related variables considering vaccination campaign and simultaneous lockdown. The model is an extension of the deterministic physical model ATLM previously published by the authors that aims to predict an entire trend of variables in a single epidemic. The time series data of both vaccine dose ratio and lockdown period are employed in the model. Predictions have been compared with observed data in terms of daily new cases, isolated people, infectious at large and effective reproductive number and the model is verified. Moreover, parameter survey calculations for several scenarios have clarified a synergy effect of vaccination and lockdown have existed. In particular, it is suggested the key element of Israel success lies in a high dose rate of vaccination that avoids the onset of the rebound of daily new cases on the rescission of the lockdown.

🖺 Full Text HTML: A novel deterministic epidemic model considering mass vaccination and lockdown against Covid-19 spread in Israel: Numerical study

Occupation, Work-Related Contact, and SARS-CoV-2 Anti-Nucleocapsid Serological Status: Findings from the Virus Watch prospective cohort study -

Background: Workers differ in their risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection according to their occupation; however, few studies have been able to control for multiple confounders or investigate the work-related factors that drive differences in occupational risk. Using data from the Virus Watch community cohort study in England and Wales, we set out to estimate the total effect of occupation on SARS-CoV-2 serological status, whether this is mediated by frequency of close contact within the workplace, and how exposure to poorly ventilated workplaces varied across occupations. Methods: We used data from a sub-cohort (n =3761) of adults (≥18) tested for SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid antibodies between 01 February-28 April 2021 and responded to a questionnaire about work during the pandemic. Anti-nucleocapsid antibodies were used as a proxy of prior natural infection with COVID-19. We used logistic decomposition to estimate the total and direct effect of occupation and indirect effect of workplace contact frequency on odds of seropositivity, adjusting for age, sex, household income and region. We investigated the relationship between occupation and exposure to poorly-ventilated workplace environments using ordinal logistic regression. Results: Seropositivity was 16.0% (113/707) amongst workers with daily close contact, compared to 12.9% (120/933) for those with intermediate-frequency contact and 9.6% (203/2121) for those with no work-related close contact. Healthcare (OR= 2.14, 95% CI 1.47,3.12), indoor trade, process and plant (2.09, 1.31,3.33), leisure and personal service (1.96, 1.004,3.84), and transport and mobile machine (2.17, 1.12,4.18) workers had elevated total odds of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity compared to other professional and associate occupations. Frequency of workplace contact accounted for a variable part of the increased odds in different occupational groups (OR range 1.04 [1.0004,1.07] - 1.22 [1.07, 1.38]). Healthcare workers and indoor trades and process plant workers continued to have raised odds of infection after accounting for work-related contact, and also had had greater odds of frequent exposure to poorly-ventilated workplaces (respectively 2.15 [1.66, 2.79] and (1.51, [1.12, 2.04]). Discussion: Marked variations in occupational odds of seropositivity remain after accounting for age, sex, region, and household income. Close contact in the workplace appears to contribute substantially to this variation. Reducing frequency of workplace contact is a critical part of COVID-19 control measures.

🖺 Full Text HTML: Occupation, Work-Related Contact, and SARS-CoV-2 Anti-Nucleocapsid Serological Status: Findings from the Virus Watch prospective cohort study

A Time Series Analysis and Forecast of COVID-19 Healthcare Disparity -

This work focuses on a time series analysis and forecast of COVID 19. Decision makers and medical providers will find the work useful in improving cares to the disadvantaged demography, reduce the spread of the coronavirus and improve mitigation strategy to combat the impact of the disease. Our anatomy of COVID cases spans March 2020 to December 2020. COVID 19 forecasting cases and deaths models were built for the total population and blacks in eight states in the USA. State with medium to large populations of blacks were considered for the experiment. We defined COVID-19 Health Care Disparity (CHCD) as the difference between the percentage of Black Cases to Total Cases and Black Deaths to Total Deaths within a period. We hypothesized that a disparity exists if the ratio of black cases to the total COVID-19 population in a state, is less than the ratio of black deaths to the total deaths in the same state. The outcome of our experiment shows that there exists COVID-19 Health Care Disparity in the black community. Furthermore, all things being equal, our forecast suggests that the COVID-19 Health Care Disparities will continue at least till the end of the first quarter of 2021.

🖺 Full Text HTML: A Time Series Analysis and Forecast of COVID-19 Healthcare Disparity

Combined association of obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases with severe COVID-19 outcomes: a nationwide cross-sectional study of 21,773 Brazilian adult and elderly inpatients -

Objective: To investigate the combined association of obesity, diabetes mellitus (DM), and cardiovascular disease (CVD) with severe COVID-19 outcomes in adult and elderly inpatients. Design: Cross-sectional study based on registry data from Brazil9s influenza surveillance system. Setting: Public and private hospitals across Brazil. Participants: Eligible population included 21,942 inpatients aged 20 years or older with positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 until Jun 9th, 2020. Main outcome measures: Severe COVID-19 outcomes were non-invasive and invasive mechanical ventilation use, ICU admission, and death. Multivariate analyses were conducted separately for adults (20-59 years) and elders (>=60 years) to test the combined association of obesity (without and with DM and/or CVD) and degrees of obesity with each outcome. Results: A sample of 8,848 adults and 12,925 elders were included. Among adults, obesity with DM and/or CVD showed higher prevalence of invasive (PR 3.76, 95%CI 2.82-5.01) and non-invasive mechanical ventilation use (2.06, 1.58-2.69), ICU admission (1.60, 1.40-1.83), and death (1.79, 1.45-2.21) compared with the group without obesity, DM, and CVD. In elders, obesity alone (without DM and CVD) had the highest prevalence of ICU admission (1.40, 1.07-1.82) and death (1.67, 1.00-2.80). In both age groups, obesity alone and combined with DM and/or CVD showed higher prevalence in all outcomes than DM and/or CVD. A dose-response association was observed between obesity and death in adults: class I 1.32 (1.05-1.66), class II 1.41 (1.06-1.87), and class III 1.77 (1.35-2.33). Conclusions: The combined association of obesity, diabetes, and/or CVD with severe COVID-19 outcomes may be stronger in adults than in elders. Obesity alone and combined with DM and/or CVD had more impact on the risk of COVID-19 severity than DM and/or CVD in both age groups. The study also supports an independent relationship of obesity with severe outcomes, including a dose-response association between degrees of obesity and death in adults. These findings suggest important implications for the clinical care of patients with obesity and severe COVID-19 and support the inclusion of people with obesity in the high-risk and vaccine priority groups for protection from SARS-CoV-2.

🖺 Full Text HTML: Combined association of obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases with severe COVID-19 outcomes: a nationwide cross-sectional study of 21,773 Brazilian adult and elderly inpatients

Racism, Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, and Racial Disparity in the U.S. COVID-19 Syndemic -

The COVID-19 syndemic, with a disproportionately higher adverse impact on communities of color (i.e., COVID-19 infection and death), will likely exacerbate the existing health disparities in trauma-related symptoms between people of color (POC) and White Americans. However, no studies have examined the racial disparities in posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) during COVID-19. Grounded in ecological theory and racial trauma framework, we investigated rates of racial disparities in PTSS and three possible mechanisms, 1) COVID stress, 2) direct racism, and 3) indirect racism, for these discrepancies using a large U.S. national sample (N = 2,019). Results indicated that POC reported higher levels of PTSS than White Americans (d =.21). The PTSS racial disparity was accounted more by direct and indirect racism than by the COVID-19-specific stressors, after controlling for age, gender, education, income, parent status, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and intimate partner violence (IPV). Additional fine-grained analyses for Hispanic/Latinx Americans (n = 283), Black/African Americans (n = 279), and Asian American and Pacific Islanders (n = 123) by and large corroborated the above findings. Our findings highlighted the deleterious impact of the ongoing racism pandemic on the POC community as a public health crisis in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic.

🖺 Full Text HTML: Racism, Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, and Racial Disparity in the U.S. COVID-19 Syndemic

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment situation and financial well-being of families with children in Austria: Evidence from the first ten months of the crisis -

Objective: This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment situation of parents and in turn on the subjective financial well-being of families with children in Austria. Background: The pandemic had strong repercussions on the Austrian labour market. The short-time work (STW) programme covered a third of employees in the first half of 2020 and helped to maintain employment levels. We provide evidence on how an unprecedented labour market crisis of this sort and in particular the exceptionally wide use of STW had affected the (gendered) employment situation of parents and the financial well-being of different types of families. Method: The study draws on representative panel survey data that cover 905 families with underage children. The data include information on the employment situation and financial well-being of single and cohabiting parents before the onset of the crisis, three months and ten months after its onset. Results: In contrast to other countries, mothers were not more strongly affected by the labour market crisis of 2020 than childless women or fathers. About a third of couples with underage children experienced income losses. Despite the wide use of STW and government support to families, the share of families in financial difficulties has substantially increased, especially among those with many children and single parents, many of who were at risk of poverty already before the crisis. Conclusion: Substantial shares of dual-earner families that had low poverty risks before the crisis were in financial difficulties in 2020. Potential spill-over effects of financial shocks on children are discussed.

🖺 Full Text HTML: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment situation and financial well-being of families with children in Austria: Evidence from the first ten months of the crisis

“How do we do this at a distance?!” A descriptive study of remote undergraduate research programs during COVID-19 -

The COVID-19 pandemic shut down undergraduate research programs across the U.S. Twenty-three sites offered remote undergraduate research programs in the life sciences during summer 2020. Given the unprecedented offering of remote research experiences, we carried out a study to describe and evaluate these programs. Using structured templates, we documented how programs were designed and implemented, including who participated. Through focus groups and surveys, we identified programmatic strengths and shortcomings as well as recommendations for improvements from the perspectives of participating students. Strengths included the quality of mentorship, opportunities for learning and professional development, and development of a sense of community. Weaknesses included limited cohort building, challenges with insufficient structure, and issues with technology. Although all programs had one or more activities related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, these topics were largely absent from student reports even though programs coincided with a peak in national consciousness about racial inequities and structural racism. Our results provide evidence for designing remote REUs that are experienced favorably by students. Our results also indicate that remote REUs are sufficiently positive to further investigate their affordances and constraints, including the potential to scale up offerings, with minimal concern about disenfranchising students.

🖺 Full Text HTML: “How do we do this at a distance?!” A descriptive study of remote undergraduate research programs during COVID-19

Targeted redesign of suramin analogs for novel antimicrobial lead development -

The emergence of new viral infections and drug resistant bacteria urgently necessitates expedient therapeutic development. Repurposing and redesign of existing drugs against different targets is one potential way in which to accelerate this process. Suramin was initially developed as a successful anti-parasitic drug, but has also shown promising antiviral and antibacterial activities. However, due to its high conformational flexibility and negative charge, suramin is considered quite promiscuous towards positively charged sites within nucleic acid binding proteins. Although some suramin analogs have been developed against specific targets, only limited structure activity relationship (SAR) studies were performed, and virtual screening has yet to be used to identify more specific inhibitor(s) based on its scaffold. Using available structures, we investigated suramin’s target diversity, confirming that suramin preferentially binds to protein pockets which are both positively charged and enriched in aromatic or leucine residues. Further, suramin’s high conformational flexibility allows adaptation to structurally diverse binding surfaces. From this platform, we developed a framework for structure- and docking-guided elaboration of suramin analog scaffolds using virtual screening of suramin and heparin analogs against a panel of diverse therapeutically relevant viral and bacterial protein targets. Use of this new framework to design potentially specific suramin analogs is exemplified using the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and nucleocapsid protein, identifying leads that might inhibit a wide range of coronaviruses. The approach presented here establishes a new computational framework for designing suramin analogs against different bacterial and viral targets and repurposing existing drugs for more specific inhibitory activity.

🖺 Full Text HTML: Targeted redesign of suramin analogs for novel antimicrobial lead development

High level production and characterization of truncated human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 in Nicotiana benthamiana plant as a potential therapeutic target in COVID-19 -

The COVID-19 pandemic, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly spread to more than 222 countries and has put global public health at high risk. The world urgently needs safe, a cost-effective SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus vaccine, therapeutic and antiviral drugs to combat the COVID-19. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), as a key receptor for SARS-CoV-2 infections, has been proposed as a potential therapeutic target in COVID-19 patients. In this study, we report high level production (about ~0.75 g /kg leaf biomass) of glycosylated and non-glycosylated forms of recombinant human truncated ACE2 in Nicotiana benthamiana plant. The plant produced recombinant human truncated ACE2s successfully bind to the SARC-CoV-2 spike protein, but deglycosylated ACE2 binds more strongly than the glycosylated counterpart. Importantly, both deglycosylated and glycosylated forms of AEC2 stable at elevated temperatures for prolonged periods and demonstrated strong anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vitro. The IC50 values of glycosylated and deglycosylated AEC2 were 0.4 and 24 g/ml, respectively, for the pre-entry infection, when incubated with 100TCID50 of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, plant produced truncated ACE2s are promising cost-effective and safe candidate as a potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

🖺 Full Text HTML: High level production and characterization of truncated human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 in Nicotiana benthamiana plant as a potential therapeutic target in COVID-19

Sociodemographic inequality in COVID-19 vaccination coverage amongst elderly adults in England: a national linked data study -

Objective: To examine inequalities in COVID-19 vaccination rates amongst elderly adults in England Design: Cohort study Setting: People living in private households and communal establishments in England Participants: 6,829,643 adults aged 70 years or above (mean 78.7 years, 55.2% female) who were alive on 15 March 2021. Main outcome measures: Having received the first dose of a vaccine against COVID-19 by 15 March 2021. We calculated vaccination rates and estimated unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios using logistic regression models. Results: By 15 March 2021, 93.2% of people living in England aged 70 years and over had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. While vaccination rates differed across all factors considered apart from sex, the greatest disparities were seen between ethnic and religious groups. The lowest rates were in people of Black African and Black Caribbean ethnic backgrounds, where only 67.2% and 73.9% had received a vaccine, with adjusted odds of not being vaccinated at 5.01 (95% CI 4.86 - 5.16) and 4.85 (4.75 - 4.96) times greater than the White British group. The proportion of individuals self-identifying as Muslim and Buddhist who had received a vaccine was 79.1% and 84.1%, respectively. Older age, greater area deprivation, less advantaged socio-economic position (proxied by living in a rented home), being disabled and living either alone or in a multi-generational household were also associated with higher odds of not having received the vaccine. Conclusion: People disproportionately affected seem most hesitant to COVID-19 vaccinations. Policy Interventions to improve these disparities are urgently needed.

🖺 Full Text HTML: Sociodemographic inequality in COVID-19 vaccination coverage amongst elderly adults in England: a national linked data study

**HLA-B*15:01 is associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection** -

Background. Evidence has shown that a large proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals do not experience symptomatic disease. Owing to its critical role in immune response, we hypothesized that variation in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) loci may underly asymptomatic infection. Methods. We enrolled 29,947 individuals registered in the National Marrow Donor Program for whom high-resolution HLA genotyping data were available in a smartphone-based study designed to track COVID-19 symptoms and outcomes. Among 21,893 individuals who completed the baseline survey, our discovery (N=640) and replication (N=788) cohorts were comprised of self-identified White subjects who reported a positive test result for SARS-CoV-2. We tested for association of five HLA loci (HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1) with asymptomatic vs. symptomatic infection. Results. HLA-B15:01 was significantly increased in asymptomatic individuals in the discovery cohort compared to symptomatic (OR = 2.45; 95%CI 1.38-4.24, p = 0.0016, pcorr = 0.048), and we reproduced this association in the replication cohort (OR= 2.32; 95%CI = 1.10-4.43, p = 0.017). We found robust association of HLA-B15:01 in the combined dataset (OR=2.40 95% CI = 1.54-3.64; p = 5.67 x10-5) and observed that homozygosity of this allele increases more than eight times the chance of remaining asymptomatic after SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR = 8.58, 95%CI = 1.74-34.43, p = 0.003). Finally, we demonstrated the association of HLA-B15:01 with asymptomatic SARS-Cov-2 infection is enhanced by the presence of HLA-DRB104:01 Conclusion. HLA-B*15:01 is strongly associated with asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2 and is likely to be involved in the mechanism underlying early viral clearance.

🖺 Full Text HTML: HLA-B*15:01 is associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection

Covid-19 Sentry

Contents

From Preprints

From Clinical Trials

From PubMed

From Patent Search