Emerging infectious diseases
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Emerging Infect. Dis. · Jul 2020
Case ReportsFatal Invasive Aspergillosis and Coronavirus Disease in an Immunocompetent Patient.
Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is a complication in critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, especially those with severe influenza pneumonia. We report a fatal case of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in an immunocompetent patient in France who had severe coronavirus disease-associated pneumonia.
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Emerging Infect. Dis. · Jul 2020
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2-Specific Antibody Responses in Coronavirus Disease Patients.
A new coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has recently emerged to cause a human pandemic. Although molecular diagnostic tests were rapidly developed, serologic assays are still lacking, yet urgently needed. Validated serologic assays are needed for contact tracing, identifying the viral reservoir, and epidemiologic studies. ⋯ We demonstrated that most PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2-infected persons seroconverted by 2 weeks after disease onset. We found that commercial S1 IgG or IgA ELISAs were of lower specificity, and sensitivity varied between the 2 assays; the IgA ELISA showed higher sensitivity. Overall, the validated assays described can be instrumental for detection of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies for diagnostic, seroepidemiologic, and vaccine evaluation studies.
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Emerging Infect. Dis. · Jul 2020
High Contagiousness and Rapid Spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is the causative agent of the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic. Initial estimates of the early dynamics of the outbreak in Wuhan, China, suggested a doubling time of the number of infected persons of 6-7 days and a basic reproductive number (R0) of 2.2-2.7. We collected extensive individual case reports across China and estimated key epidemiologic parameters, including the incubation period (4.2 days). ⋯ Results show that the doubling time early in the epidemic in Wuhan was 2.3-3.3 days. Assuming a serial interval of 6-9 days, we calculated a median R0 value of 5.7 (95% CI 3.8-8.9). We further show that active surveillance, contact tracing, quarantine, and early strong social distancing efforts are needed to stop transmission of the virus.
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Emerging Infect. Dis. · Jul 2020
Community Responses during Early Phase of COVID-19 Epidemic, Hong Kong.
During the early phase of the coronavirus disease epidemic in Hong Kong, 1,715 survey respondents reported high levels of perceived risk, mild anxiety, and adoption of personal-hygiene, travel-avoidance, and social-distancing measures. Widely adopted individual precautionary measures, coupled with early government actions, might slow transmission early in the outbreak.