Eurosurveillance
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Background Rotavirus is a major cause of severe gastroenteritis in children worldwide. The disease burden has been substantially reduced in countries where rotavirus vaccines are used. Given the risk of vaccine-induced intussusception, the benefit–risk balance of rotavirus vaccination has been assessed in several countries, however mostly without considering indirect protection effects. Aim We performed a benefit–risk analysis of rotavirus vaccination accounting for indirect protection in France among the 2018 population of children under the age of 5 years. Methods To incorporate indirect protection effects in the benefit formula, we adopted a pseudo-vaccine approach involving mathematical approximation and used a simulation design to provide uncertainty intervals. ⋯ Should 90% of infants be vaccinated, indirect effectiveness would reach 57.9% (+/− 3.7) and the benefit–risk ratio would be 192.4 (95% uncertainty interval: 116.4–321.3). At a coverage level of 50%, indirect protection accounted for 27% of the prevented rotavirus gastroenteritis cases. The balance remained in favour of the vaccine even in a scenario with a high assumption for intussusception case fatality. Conclusions These findings contribute to a better assessment of the rotavirus vaccine benefit–risk balance.
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 viral load in the upper respiratory tract peaks around symptom onset and infectious virus persists for 10 days in mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease (n = 324 samples analysed). RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values correlate strongly with cultivable virus. Probability of culturing virus declines to 8% in samples with Ct > 35 and to 6% 10 days after onset; it is similar in asymptomatic and symptomatic persons. Asymptomatic persons represent a source of transmissible virus.
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On 13 March 2020, Israel's government declared closure of all schools. Schools fully reopened on 17 May 2020. ⋯ They were not epidemiologically linked. Testing of the complete school community revealed 153 students (attack rate: 13.2%) and 25 staff members (attack rate: 16.6%) who were COVID-19 positive.
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Laboratory preparedness with quality-assured diagnostic assays is essential for controlling the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. We conducted an external quality assessment study with inactivated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) samples to support clinical laboratories with a proficiency testing option for molecular assays. To analyse SARS-CoV-2 testing performance, we used an online questionnaire developed for the European Union project RECOVER to assess molecular testing capacities in clinical diagnostic laboratories.