Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Until now, information on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Germany has been based mainly on data from the public health offices. It may be assumed that these data do not include many cases of asymptomatic and mild infection. ⋯ Seroprevalence was low after the first wave of the pandemic but rose markedly during the second and third waves. The missed-case rate trended downward over the course of the pandemic.
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We conducted a study to estimate the seroprevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Kobe, Japan with positive immunoglobulin G (IgG) rate of 3.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3%-4.6%) in April 2020. Because there were large concerns about the spread of COVID-19 among citizens thereafter, we conduct a follow-up cross-sectional study to estimate the seroprevalence, and we also added a validation study using a different assay. We conducted cross-sectional serologic testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibody using 1000 samples from patients at outpatient settings who visited the clinic from May 26 to June 7, 2020, stratified by the decade of age and sex. ⋯ Age and sex adjusted prevalence of positivity was calculated to be 0.17%. We found a lower seroprevalence than 2 months before in Kobe city although the figures were still higher than those detected by PCR. Kurabo assay showed more false positives than true positives despite reasonable sensitivity and specificity, due to low prevalence in Kobe.
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To prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, many countries instituted lockdown measures. As the virus was initially slow to spread to rural areas in South Africa, Mopani district in Limpopo Province did not experience a high incidence of COVID-19 until the second wave in December 2020. Until then, lockdown measures were more likely than SARS-CoV-2 infections to have an adverse impact on health services. ⋯ Declines were recorded for most indicators in Mopani, with HC being affected the most at the start of the first wave and not showing any significant recovery between waves. Strategies are required to mitigate the effects of future COVID-19 waves and encourage positive health-seeking behaviour.
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Vaccines are the only way to reduce the morbidity associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The appearance of new mutations urges us to increase the effectiveness of vaccines as a complementary alternative. ⋯ The immunomodulatory activity of this micronutrient attenuates the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines and at the same time, increases antibody production. Therefore, the present review proposes the use of vitamin D as adjuvant micronutrient to increase the efficacy of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Observational Study
Maternal and neonatal outcomes of COVID-19 in a high-risk pregnant cohort with and without HIV.
The impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women living with HIV (PLHIV) has not been described previously. ⋯ In this cohort of high-risk pregnant women, the impact of COVID-19 was severe, significantly increasing maternal mortality risk compared with baseline rates. Virally suppressed HIV infection was not associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes in pregnancy.