Apophatic love, contagion, and surveillance: Orthodox Christian responses to the global pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Orthodox Christians globally reacted to the possibility of contagion and risk in dialogue with theological positions about materials, their own long history which includes surviving previous pandemics and plagues, governmental and civil expectations and edicts, and pious - but often unofficial - understandings about protection and the sacrality of religious artefacts and the space of the temple. This article draws upon primary ethnographic research amongst Orthodox Christians in the UK, Serbia, Greece and Russia, as well as news articles about and primary ecclesiastical documents from Orthodox Churches more widely, to highlight commonalities and divergences in Orthodox Christian responses to the pandemic. Examining both the theological basis, and socio-political differences, this article considers how the Orthodox theology of apophaticism and relationality impacts wider discourses of contagion (both positive and negative), and consequently compliance with public health initiatives. Comparison across diverse Orthodox settings suggests that Orthodox Christians are concerned with the neighbour - both in terms of who may be watching (and reporting) them, and who may fall sick because of them.

The B.1.427/1.429 (epsilon) SARS-CoV-2 variants are more virulent than ancestral B.1 (614G) in Syrian hamsters.

As novel SARS-CoV-2 variants continue to emerge, it is critical that their potential to cause severe disease and evade vaccine-induced immunity is rapidly assessed in humans and studied in animal models. In early January 2021, a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant designated B.1.429 comprising 2 lineages, B.1.427 and B.1.429, was originally detected in California (CA) and it was shown to have enhanced infectivity in vitro and decreased antibody neutralization by plasma from convalescent patients and vaccine recipients. Here we examine the virulence, transmissibility, and susceptibility to pre-existing immunity for B 1.427 and B 1.429 in the Syrian hamster model. We find that both variants exhibit enhanced virulence as measured by increased body weight loss compared to hamsters infected with ancestral B.1 (614G), with B.1.429 causing the most marked body weight loss among the 3 variants. Faster dissemination from airways to parenchyma and more severe lung pathology at both early and late stages were also observed with B.1.429 infections relative to B.1. (614G) and B.1.427 infections. In addition, subgenomic viral RNA (sgRNA) levels were highest in oral swabs of hamsters infected with B.1.429, however sgRNA levels in lungs were similar in all three variants. This demonstrates that B.1.429 replicates to higher levels than ancestral B.1 (614G) or B.1.427 in the oropharynx but not in the lungs. In multi-virus in-vivo competition experiments, we found that B.1. (614G), epsilon (B.1.427/B.1.429) and gamma (P.1) dramatically outcompete alpha (B.1.1.7), beta (B.1.351) and zeta (P.2) in the lungs. In the nasal cavity, B.1. (614G), gamma, and epsilon dominate, but the highly infectious alpha variant also maintains a moderate size niche. We did not observe significant differences in airborne transmission efficiency among the B.1.427, B.1.429 and ancestral B.1 (614G) and WA-1 variants in hamsters. These results demonstrate enhanced virulence and high relative oropharyngeal replication of the epsilon (B.1.427/B.1.429) variant in Syrian hamsters compared to an ancestral B.1 (614G) variant.

SARS-CoV-2 Infection of Rhesus Macaques Treated Early with Human COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma.

Human clinical studies investigating use of convalescent plasma (CP) for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have produced conflicting results. Outcomes in these studies may vary at least partly due to different timing of CP administration relative to symptom onset. The mechanisms of action of CP include neutralizing antibodies but may extend beyond virus neutralization to include normalization of blood clotting and dampening of inflammation. Unresolved questions include the minimum therapeutic titer in the CP units or CP recipient as well as the optimal timing of administration. Here, we show that treatment of macaques with CP within 24 h of infection does not reduce viral shedding in nasal or lung secretions compared to controls and does not detectably improve any clinical endpoint. We also demonstrate that CP administration does not impact viral sequence diversity in vivo, although the selection of a viral sequence variant in both macaques receiving normal human plasma was suggestive of immune pressure. Our results suggest that CP, administered to medium titers, has limited efficacy, even when given very early after infection. Our findings also contribute information important for the continued development of the nonhuman primate model of COVID-19. These results should inform interpretation of clinical studies of CP in addition to providing insights useful for developing other passive immunotherapies and vaccine strategies. IMPORTANCE Antiviral treatment options for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remain very limited. One treatment that was explored beginning early in the pandemic (and that is likely to be tested early in future pandemics) is plasma collected from people who have recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), known as convalescent plasma (CP). We tested if CP reduces viral shedding or disease in a nonhuman primate model. Our results demonstrate that administration of CP 1 day after SARS-CoV-2 infection had no significant impact on viral loads, clinical disease, or sequence diversity, although treatment with normal human plasma resulted in selection of a specific viral variant. Our results demonstrate that passive immunization with CP, even during early infection, provided no significant benefit in a nonhuman primate model of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

SARS-CoV-2 infection induces germinal center responses with robust stimulation of CD4 T follicular helper cells in rhesus macaques

CD4 T follicular helper (T fh ) cells are important for the generation of long-lasting and specific humoral protection against viral infections. The degree to which SARS-CoV-2 infection generates T fh cells and stimulates the germinal center response is an important question as we investigate vaccine options for the current pandemic. Here we report that, following infection with SARS-CoV-2, adult rhesus macaques exhibited transient accumulation of activated, proliferating T fh cells in their peripheral blood on a transitory basis. The CD4 helper cell responses were skewed predominantly toward a T h 1 response in blood, lung, and lymph nodes, reflective of the interferon-rich cytokine environment following infection. We also observed the generation of germinal center T fh cells specific for the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins, and a corresponding early appearance of antiviral serum IgG antibodies but delayed or absent IgA antibodies. Our data suggest that a vaccine promoting Th1-type Tfh responses that target the S protein may lead to protective immunity.

SARS-CoV-2 induces robust germinal center CD4 T follicular helper cell responses in rhesus macaques.

CD4 T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are important for the generation of durable and specific humoral protection against viral infections. The degree to which SARS-CoV-2 infection generates Tfh cells and stimulates the germinal center (GC) response is an important question as we investigate vaccine induced immunity against COVID-19. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 infection in rhesus macaques, either infused with convalescent plasma, normal plasma, or receiving no infusion, resulted in transient accumulation of pro-inflammatory monocytes and proliferating Tfh cells with a Th1 profile in peripheral blood. CD4 helper cell responses skewed predominantly toward a Th1 response in blood, lung, and lymph nodes. SARS-CoV-2 Infection induced GC Tfh cells specific for the SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleocapsid proteins, and a corresponding early appearance of antiviral serum IgG antibodies. Collectively, the data show induction of GC responses in a rhesus model of mild COVID-19.

SARS-CoV-2 infection induces robust germinal center CD4 T follicular helper cell responses in rhesus macaques.

CD4 T follicular helper (T fh ) cells are important for the generation of durable and specific humoral protection against viral infections. The degree to which SARS-CoV-2 infection generates T fh cells and stimulates the germinal center response is an important question as we investigate vaccine options for the current pandemic. Here we report that SARS-CoV-2 infection resulted in transient accumulation of pro-inflammatory monocytes and proliferating T fh cells with a T h 1 profile in peripheral blood. CD4 helper cell responses were skewed predominantly toward a T h 1 response in blood, lung, and lymph nodes. We observed the generation of germinal center T fh cells specific for the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins, and a corresponding early appearance of antiviral serum IgG antibodies. Our data suggest that a vaccine promoting T h 1-type T fh responses that target the S protein may lead to protective immunity.

SARS-CoV-2 infection induces germinal center responses with robust stimulation of CD4 T follicular helper cells in rhesus macaques.

CD4 T follicular helper (T fh ) cells are important for the generation of long-lasting and specific humoral protection against viral infections. The degree to which SARS-CoV-2 infection generates T fh cells and stimulates the germinal center response is an important question as we investigate vaccine options for the current pandemic. Here we report that, following infection with SARS-CoV-2, adult rhesus macaques exhibited transient accumulation of activated, proliferating T fh cells in their peripheral blood on a transitory basis. The CD4 helper cell responses were skewed predominantly toward a T h 1 response in blood, lung, and lymph nodes, reflective of the interferon-rich cytokine environment following infection. We also observed the generation of germinal center T fh cells specific for the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins, and a corresponding early appearance of antiviral serum IgG antibodies but delayed or absent IgA antibodies. Our data suggest that a vaccine promoting Th1-type Tfh responses that target the S protein may lead to protective immunity.