Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Risk of death after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has fallen during the pandemic, largely due to immunity from vaccination. In England, the timing and extent of this reduction varied due to staggered eligibility during the primary vaccination campaign, based on age and clinical risk group. Duration of protection is less well understood. Our objective was to estimate the case fatality risk (CFR) by vaccination status and time since last dose during a period of widespread community testing, to better understand the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination and duration of protection. ⋯ COVID-19 CFR reduced after vaccination, with the lowest CFR seen across all age bands when vaccinated up to 6 months prior to specimen date. This provides some evidence for continued booster doses in older age groups.
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Multicenter Study
Impact of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine rollout on Hispanic and non-Hispanic admission and mortality trends: an interrupted time series analysis.
Challenges with SARS-CoV-2 vaccine prioritization, access, and hesitancy have influenced vaccination uptake. ⋯ SARS-CoV-2 vaccine rollout was associated with improved COVID-19 admission trends among non-Hispanic vs Hispanic patients. Vaccine rollout was not shown to influence mortality trends in either group, which were four times higher among Hispanic patients. Improved vaccine rollout may have reduced disparities in admission trends for Hispanic patients, but other factors influenced their mortality trends.
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Prior research demonstrates that SARS-COV-2 infection can be associated with a broad range of mental health outcomes including depression symptoms. Veterans, in particular, may be at elevated risk of increased depression following SARS-COV-2 infection given their high rates of pre-existing mental and physical health comorbidities. However, few studies have tried to isolate SARS-COV-2 infection associations with long term, patient-reported depression symptoms from other factors (e.g., physical health comorbidities, pandemic-related stress). ⋯ SARS-COV-2 infection was associated with more depression symptoms among Veterans at 18-months post-infection. Routine evaluation of depression symptoms over time following SARS-COV-2 infection is important to facilitate adequate assessment and treatment.
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Despite the undeniable effect of vaccination against COVID-19 in reducing disease severity, there is still a need to monitor and limit SARS-CoV-2 circulation and transmission. Thus, this study evaluated the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 genome on the surfaces of highly touched objects manipulated in the biological sample collection point and at the reception unit of the diagnostic laboratory. Surfaces were sampled once a week, for 6 weeks, between September 18th and October 23rd, 2020. ⋯ It can also reflect the low incidence of SARS-CoV-2 during the study's development period. Despite the low frequency of SARS-CoV-2 genome detection, our findings show that the virus was present in the environment at some point. This highlights the importance of adopting personal preventive measures to reduce respiratory virus spread, especially during epidemics and outbreaks.
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Background & objectives Genetic analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains circulating in India during 2020-2022 was carried out to understand the evolution of potentially expanding and divergent clades. Methods SARS-CoV-2 sequences (n=612) randomly selected from among the sequences of samples collected through a nationwide network of Virus Research Diagnostic Laboratories during 2020 (n=1532) and Indian sequences available in Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data during March 2020-March 2022 (n=53077), were analyzed using the phylo-geo haplotype network approach with reference to the Wuhan prototype sequence. Results On haplotype analysis, 420 haplotypes were revealed from 643 segregating sites among the sequences. ⋯ Interpretation & conclusions The haplotype analysis revealed that the G and GR clades were co-evolved and an epicentrefor the evolution of the GH, GK and GRA clades. GH was more frequently identified in northern parts of India than in other parts, whereas GK was detected less in north India than in other parts. Thus, the network analysis facilitated a detailed illustration of the pathways of evolution and circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants.