A rare presentation of anti-synthetase syndrome requiring intensive care in the midst of a COVID wave.

A 24-year-old female with pneumonia two months prior presented with fever, cough and worsening dyspnea in the midst of a COVID-19 spike. Her initial episode was treated as COVID-19 pneumonia. On presentation, her chest CT was suggestive of bilateral lower zone organizing pneumonia with mild fibrosis and was attributed to post COVID sequelae with an infective exacerbation. Oral steroids and antibiotics were administered following which she had initial improvement and then subsequent deterioration requiring ICU care. A detailed clinical examination (in-person and virtually) at this point revealed the presence of pigmented rashes over the knuckles and weakness of hip muscles. Laboratory work showed elevated creatine kinase levels, positive anti-Ro and anti-Jo1 antibodies which pointed to a diagnosis of anti-synthetase syndrome (ASS). Unique attributes of this case include younger age of presentation in an atypical ethnic group and possibly incited by COVID-19 infection in the peak of a COVID-19 wave. The work-up, diagnosis and initial management of this patient was carried out through a hybrid ICU model which functioned as a traditional ICU in the day and a tele-ICU at night with an appropriate network of sub-specialists including Rheumatologists consulting, thus highlighting a collaborative model in a low resource setting capable of managing rare cases even in the midst of increasing critical care needs during the pandemic.

The next frontier in vaccine design: blending immune correlates of protection into rational vaccine design.

Despite the extraordinary speed and success in SARS-Cov-2 vaccine development, the emergence of variants of concern perplexed the vaccine development community. Neutralizing antibodies waned antibodies waned and were evaded by viral variants, despite the preservation of protection against severe disease and death across vaccinated populations. Similar to other vaccine design efforts, the lack of mechanistic correlates of immunity against Coronavirus Disease 2019, raised questions related to the need for vaccine redesign and boosting. Hence, our limited understanding of mechanistic correlates of immunity - across pathogens - remains a major obstacle in vaccine development. The identification and incorporation of mechanistic correlates of immunity are key to the accelerated design of highly impactful globally relevant vaccines. Systems-biology tools can be applied strategically to define a complete understanding of mechanistic correlates of immunity. Embedding immunological dissection and target immune profile identification, beyond canonical antibody binding and neutralization, may accelerate the design and success of durable protective vaccines.

COVID-19-related disruptions to routine vaccination services in India: a survey of paediatric providers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to disruptions in essential health services globally. We surveyed Indian paediatric providers on their perceptions of the impact of the pandemic on routine vaccination. Among 424 (survey 1) and 141 (survey 2) respondents representing 26 of 36 Indian states and union territories, complete suspension of vaccination services was reported by 33.4% and 7.8%, respectively. In April-June 2020, 83.1% perceived that vaccination services dropped by half, followed by 32.6% in September 2020, indicating slow resumption of services. Concerns that vaccine coverage gaps can lead to mortality were expressed by 76.6%. Concerted multipronged efforts are needed to sustain gains in vaccination coverage.

Comparing COVID-19 vaccine allocation strategies in India: A mathematical modelling study.

BACKGROUND: The development and widespread use of an effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine could prevent substantial morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 and mitigate the secondary effects associated with non-pharmaceutical interventions. METHODS: We used an age-structured, expanded SEIR model with social contact matrices to assess age-specific vaccine allocation strategies in India. We used state-specific age structures and disease transmission coefficients estimated from confirmed incident cases of COVID-19 between 1 July and 31 August 2020. Simulations were used to investigate the relative reduction in mortality and morbidity of vaccine allocation strategies based on prioritizing different age groups, and the interactions of these strategies with concurrent non-pharmaceutical interventions. Given the uncertainty associated with COVID-19 vaccine development, we varied vaccine characteristics in the modelling simulations. RESULTS: Prioritizing COVID-19 vaccine allocation for older populations (i.e., >60 years) led to the greatest relative reduction in deaths, regardless of vaccine efficacy, control measures, rollout speed, or immunity dynamics. Preferential vaccination of this group often produced relatively higher total symptomatic infections and more pronounced estimates of peak incidence than other assessed strategies. Vaccine efficacy, immunity type, target coverage, and rollout speed significantly influenced overall strategy effectiveness, with the time taken to reach target coverage significantly affecting the relative mortality benefit comparative to no vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support global recommendations to prioritize COVID-19 vaccine allocation for older age groups. Relative differences between allocation strategies were reduced as the speed of vaccine rollout was increased. Optimal vaccine allocation strategies will depend on vaccine characteristics, strength of concurrent non-pharmaceutical interventions, and region-specific goals.