ABSTRACT
T-cell recognition of antigenic peptides presented by HLA molecules at the cell surface is critical for mounting an efficient adaptive immune response during acute viral infection such as COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. Recent data suggest that the depth of peptide coverage and the breadth of T cells that are able to respond are both important parameters associated with disease outcome. Strong T-cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 have also been reported in unexposed individuals, pointing to a possible role of heterologous immunity. In this study, we performed immunosequencing of the TCR CDR3beta region in a large cohort of 116 alloHSCT recipients and their corresponding healthy donors collected prior to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. We used bioinformatics analyses and a large database of about 150,000 SARS-CoV-2 specific T-cell sequences in order to investigate the composition of the TCR repertoire regarding the presence of SARS-CoV-2 specific clonotypes in unexposed subjects among the more than 3.5 million CDR3beta sequences that we retrieved by immunosequencing. We also performed peptide binding predictions based on the reference proteome of the virus and by using the HLA class I high resolution typing data of the 116 patients. We could show that every individual is equipped with a large and diverse repertoire of clonotypes sharing their CDR3beta sequence with a SARS-CoV-2 specific T cell. Furthermore, the composition of the anti-SARSCoV- 2 repertoire was very similar among individuals, in healthy donors but also in the context of immune reconstitution in recipients, despite significant differences previously reported when accounting for the whole repertoire or for CMV-specific clonotypes only. In addition, each individual had the potential to cover a diverse repertoire of SARS-CoV-2 derived peptides (i.e., a few thousands strong and weak binders), but, interestingly, some interindividual differences were observed when only accounting for a strong affinity level of binding.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on everyone’s life. Like many other professionals, social workers have been forced to adapt to these new working conditions and new challenges in order to support clients during the pandemic, as new needs have arisen. Together with professional associations from three nations (Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands), we used a coordinated approach to explore the consequences of the pandemic for social work professionals. This study was conducted during the most severe contact and hygiene restrictions of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the winter of 2020/2021. The data addresses the changes perceived by social work professionals in relation to their contact and communication with clients, the use of digital technology in the context of work, the professional response in terms of innovation, the working conditions and the psychosocial risks they face. Methods Cross-sectional data was collected from 7,241 social workers in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands through online surveys. Results The results show an increase in the workload of professional social workers and compounding problems of clients, together with a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communication and contact with clients. All of this takes place within the framework of changing working conditions and contexts. Our data shows that the use of digital technologies does not cause bigger problems for most of the participating social workers. It should in fact be noted that professionals have many positive associations with the use of digital technology in general. Conclusions There are both remarkable and alarming results concerning the mental health of social workers and their working conditions, as well as the position of the social work profession in general. © This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.