The prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders related symptoms and the association with working place among healthcare workers who were in the fighting against COVID-19 in regional China.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) related symptoms among healthcare workers (HWs) who were in the fighting against COVID-19 in Nanjing of China, and further to examine the association between working place and FGIDs-related symptoms among HWs during the period of COVID-19 epidemic. Methods: An online anonymous survey was conducted among those HWs without history of FGIDs, who took part in the fighting against the COVID-19 epidemic between July and September of 2021 in Nanjing, China. All the 15 FGIDs-related symptoms included in the Rome IV diagnostic questionnaire for adults were investigated in this study. The outcome variable was the presence of FGIDs-related symptoms ("Yes" or "No"), while the independent measure was participants' working place ("in-ward" or "out-ward"). Logistics regression models were applied to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the association of working place with FGIDs-related symptoms among those healthcare workers. Results: Totally, 336 eligible participants completed the survey. The prevalence of FGIDs-related symptoms was 48.8% (95%CI = 43.4%, 54.3%) among overall participants, with 40.7% (95%CI = 33.14%, 48.71%) and 56.3% (95%CI = 48.59%, 63.73%) for in-ward and out-ward HWs, respectively. Compared to their in-ward counterparts, those out-ward HWs were at a 1.88-fold likelihood (95%CI = 1.22, 2.89) to experience FGIDs-related symptoms during the period of fighting against the COVID-19 epidemic. After adjustment for potential confounders, such a positive association attenuated but still remained significant. Conclusions: A high prevalence of FGIDs-related symptoms was observed among those HWs who were without history of FGIDs during the fighting against COVID-19, and out-ward HWs were at a significantly higher risk to experience FGIDs-related symptoms relative to their in-ward counterparts in regional China. It has important implications that particular attention shall be paid to functional gastrointestinal issues for healthcare workers, especially those who are at uncertain risks of infectious diseases, when they participate in response to public health emergencies in future.

Tracking cryptic SARS-CoV-2 lineages detected in NYC wastewater.

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity is strongly indicated because diversifying selection may lead to the emergence of novel variants resistant to naturally acquired or vaccine-induced immunity. To monitor New York City (NYC) for the presence of novel variants, we deep sequence most of the receptor binding domain coding sequence of the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from the New York City wastewater. Here we report detecting increasing frequencies of novel cryptic SARS-CoV-2 lineages not recognized in GISAID's EpiCoV database. These lineages contain mutations that had been rarely observed in clinical samples, including Q493K, Q498Y, E484A, and T572N and share many mutations with the Omicron variant of concern. Some of these mutations expand the tropism of SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses by allowing infection of cells expressing the human, mouse, or rat ACE2 receptor. Finally, pseudoviruses containing the spike amino acid sequence of these lineages were resistant to different classes of receptor binding domain neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. We offer several hypotheses for the anomalous presence of these lineages, including the possibility that these lineages are derived from unsampled human COVID-19 infections or that they indicate the presence of a non-human animal reservoir.