Divergent COVID-19 vaccine policies: Policy mapping of ten European countries.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the fragmented nature of governmental policy decisions in Europe. However, the extent to which COVID-19 vaccination policies differed between European countries remains unclear. Here, we mapped the COVID-19 vaccination policies that were in effect in January 2022 as well as booster regulations in April 2022 in Austria, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. METHODS: National public health and health policy experts from these ten European nations developed and completed an electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire included a series of questions that addressed six critical components of vaccine implementation, including (1) authorization, (2) prioritization, (3) procurement and distribution, (4) data collection, (5) administration, and (6) mandate requirements. RESULTS: Our findings revealed significant variations in COVID-19 vaccination policies across Europe. We observed critical differences in COVID-19 vaccine formulations authorized for use, as well as the specific groups that were provided with priority access. We also identified discrepancies in how vaccination-related data were recorded in each country and what vaccination requirements were implemented. CONCLUSION: Each of the ten European nations surveyed in this study reported different COVID-19 vaccination policies. These differences complicated efforts to provide a coordinated pandemic response. These findings might alert policymakers in Europe of the need to coordinate their efforts to avoid fostering divergent and socially disruptive policies.

The far-right and anti-vaccine attitudes: lessons from Spain's mass COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.

BACKGROUND: Far-right politicians in several countries have been vocal opponents of COVID-19 vaccination. But can this threaten vaccine roll-out? METHODS: We take advantage of repeated cross-sectional surveys with samples of around 3800 individuals across Spain conducted monthly from December 2020 to January 2022 (n = 51 294) to examine any association between far-right politics and vaccine hesitancy through the whole vaccine roll-out. RESULTS: Consistent with prior data, we found that far-right supporters were almost twice as likely to be vaccine-hesitant than the overall population in December 2020, before vaccines became available. However, with a successful vaccine roll out, this difference shrank, reaching non-significance by September 2021. From October 2021, however, vaccine hesitancy rebounded among this group at a time when the leadership of the far-right promoted a 'freedom of choice' discourse common among anti-vax supporters. By the latest month analysed (January 2022), far-right voters had returned to being twice as likely to be vaccine-hesitant and 7 percentage points less likely to be vaccinated than the general population. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with evidence that far-right politicians can encourage vaccine hesitancy. Nonetheless, we show that public attitudes towards vaccination are not immutable. Whereas a rapid and effective vaccine rollout can help to overcome the resistance of far-right voters to get vaccinated, they also seem to be susceptible to their party leader's discourse on vaccines.

Preparation of monoclonal antibody against porcine saperovirus VP1 protein and identification of its antigenic epitope

As a member of the family Picornaviridae, porcine sapelovirus (PSV) is often infected with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, teschovirus and so on. In recent years, PSV has been isolated from porcine in many provinces of China. It suggests that it is necessary to strengthen the research on PSV. In this study, according to the sequence of PSV HuN2 strain, VP1 gene was inserted into the pGEX-6 P-1 vector, and expressed the recombinant protein. BALB/c mice aged 6-8 weeks were immunized according to the standard procedure. After the third immunization, the mouse orbital blood was collected to identify the antibody level. The highly positive mouse spleen cells were selected for cell fusion. The positive hybridoma cells and two subclones were screened by IFA method, and then a PSV VP1 monoclonal antibody was obtained, named as 33-2 A. The results of IFA showed that PSV could be recognized by 33-2 A MAb, and specific green fluorescence appeared in the cytoplasm;The results of WB and IP showed that PSV infected porcine cell could specifically bind to 33-2 A, and there was a specific band at 32 ku. We also identified the B-cell antigen epitope of 33-2 A, it was at amino acids 40-46 of PSV VP1 protein, and the polypeptide sequence was 40PALTAAE46. The results showed that the monoclonal antibody can react with PSV VP1 protein. The epitope was analyzed with the PSV sequences uploaded in NCBI, 33-2 A antibody can react with most PSV strains and has a certain universal to PSV. This study laid a foundation for the study of the etiology and pathogenesis of PSV.

A paper-based assay for the colorimetric detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants at single-nucleotide resolution.

The evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has highlighted the need for versatile diagnostic assays that can discriminate among emerging variants of the virus. Here we report the development and performance benchmarking of an inexpensive (approximately US$0.30 per test) assay for the rapid (sample-to-answer time within 30 min) colorimetric detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants. The assay, which we integrated into foldable paper strips, leverages nucleic acid strand-displacement reactions, the thermodynamic energy penalty associated with single-base-pair mismatches and the metal-ion-controlled enzymatic cleavage of urea to amplify the recognition of viral RNAs for the colorimetric readout of changes in pH via a smartphone. For 50 throat swab samples, the assay simultaneously detected the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and mutations specific to the SARS-CoV-2 variants Alpha, Beta and Gamma, with 100% concordance with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and RNA sequencing. Customizable and inexpensive paper-based assays for the detection of viruses and their variants may facilitate viral surveillance.

Single point mutations can potentially enhance infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 revealed by in silico affinity maturation and SPR assay† † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: ESI 1 and ESI file 2. See DOI: 10.1039/d1ra00426c

The RBD (receptor binding domain) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus S (spike) protein mediates viral cell attachment and serves as a promising target for therapeutics development. Mutations on the S-RBD may alter its affinity to the cell receptor and affect the potency of vaccines and antibodies. Here we used an in silico approach to predict how mutations on RBD affect its binding affinity to hACE2 (human angiotensin-converting enzyme2). The effect of all single point mutations on the interface was predicted. SPR assay results show that 6 out of 9 selected mutations can strengthen binding affinity. Our prediction has reasonable agreement with the previous deep mutational scan results and recently reported mutants. Our work demonstrated the in silico method as a powerful tool to forecast more powerful virus mutants, which will significantly benefit the development of broadly neutralizing vaccine and antibody. The RBD (receptor binding domain) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus S (spike) protein mediates viral cell attachment and serves as a promising target for therapeutics development.

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown announcements on mental health: quasi-natural experiment in Lombardy, Italy.

BACKGROUND: Evidence showed that mental health problems have risen markedly during COVID-19. It is unclear if part of the mental sufferings relates to the climate of uncertainty and confusion originated from rough communication by health officials and politicians. Here, we test the impact of unanticipated policy announcements of lockdown policies on mental health of the older population. METHODS: We used a representative telephone-based survey of 4400 people aged 65 years or older in Italy's Lombardy region to compare information on self-reported symptoms of anxiety, depression and poor-quality sleep of subjects interviewed on the days of the policy announcement with that of subjects interviewed on other days. We used regression models adjusting for potential socio-demographic confounders as well study design with inverse probability weighting. RESULTS: On days when policymakers announced to extend the lockdown, mental health deteriorated on average by 5.5 percentage points [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-9.8] for self-reported anxiety symptoms and 5.1 percentage points (95% CI: 2.7-7.4) for self-reported depressive symptoms. The effect of the announcement to shorten the lockdown is more moderate but statistically significant. These associations were short term in duration; after just 1 day, self-reported mental health and sleep quality return to levels better than pre-announcement until a new policy change. CONCLUSIONS: Our research shows that lockdown policy announcements are associated with short-term worsening in mental distress, highlighting the importance of appropriate communication strategies and political determinations in crisis times.

CRISPR-Cas13a cascade-based viral RNA assay for detecting SARS-CoV-2 and its mutations in clinical samples.

SARS-CoV-2 is one of the greatest threats to global human health. Point-of-care diagnostic tools for SARS-CoV-2 could facilitate rapid therapeutic intervention and mitigate transmission. In this work, we report CRISPR-Cas13a cascade-based viral RNA (Cas13C) assay for label-free and isothermal determination of SARS-CoV-2 and its mutations in clinical samples. Cas13a/crRNA was utilized to directly recognize the target of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, and the recognition events sequentially initiate the transcription amplification to produce light-up RNA aptamers for output fluorescence signal. The recognition of viral RNA via Cas13a-guide RNA ensures a high specificity to distinguish SARS-CoV-2 from MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, as well as viral mutations. A post transcription amplification strategy was triggered after CRISPR-Cas13a recognition contributes to an amplification cascade that achieves high sensitivity for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA, with a limit of detection of 0.216 fM. In addition, the Cas13C assay could be able to discriminate single-nucleotide mutation, which was proven with N501Y in SARS-Cov-2 variant. This method was validated by a 100% agreement with RT-qPCR results from 12 clinical throat swab specimens. The Cas13C assay has the potential to be used as a routine nucleic acid test of SARS-CoV-2 virus in resource-limited regions.

Single point mutations can potentially enhance infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 revealed by in silico affinity maturation and SPR assay.

The RBD (receptor binding domain) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus S (spike) protein mediates viral cell attachment and serves as a promising target for therapeutics development. Mutations on the S-RBD may alter its affinity to the cell receptor and affect the potency of vaccines and antibodies. Here we used an in silico approach to predict how mutations on RBD affect its binding affinity to hACE2 (human angiotensin-converting enzyme2). The effect of all single point mutations on the interface was predicted. SPR assay results show that 6 out of 9 selected mutations can strengthen binding affinity. Our prediction has reasonable agreement with the previous deep mutational scan results and recently reported mutants. Our work demonstrated the in silico method as a powerful tool to forecast more powerful virus mutants, which will significantly benefit the development of broadly neutralizing vaccine and antibody.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Its Mutated Variants via CRISPR-Cas13-Based Transcription Amplification.

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused a global health emergency, and its gene mutation and evolution further posed uncertainty of epidemic risk. Herein, we reported a light-up CRISPR-Cas13 transcription amplification method, which enables the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and its mutated variants. Sequence specificity was ensured by both the ligation process and Cas13a/crRNA recognition, allowing us to identify viral RNA mutation. Light-up RNA aptamer allows sensitive output of amplification signals via target-activated ribonuclease activity of CRISPR-Cas13a. The RNA virus assay has been designed to detect coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and SARS, as well as the influenza viruses such as, H1N1, H7N9, and H9N2. It was accommodated to sense as low as 82 copies of SARS-CoV-2. Particularly, it allowed us to strictly discriminate key mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 variant, D614G, which may induce higher epidemic and pathogenetic risk. The proposed RNA virus assays are promising for point-of-care monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 and its risking variants.

Identify the Risk Factors of COVID-19-Related Acute Kidney Injury: A Single-Center, Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: The kidney is a target organ that could be infected by SARS-CoV-2, and acute kidney injury (AKI) was associated with a higher risk of COVID-19 patients' in-hospital death. However, no published works discussed about the risk factors of COVID-19 related AKI. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study, recruiting COVID-19 inpatients from the Sino-French branch of Tongji Hospital. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory data were collected and compared. We used univariable and multivariable logistic regression methods to identify the risk factors of COVID-19-related AKI. Results: Of the 116 patients in our study, 12 (10.3%) were recognized as AKI, including 5 (4.3%) in-hospital AKI. Multivariable regression showed increasing odds of COVID-19-related AKI associated with COVID-19 clinical classification (OR = 8.155, 95% CI = 1.848-35.983, ref = non-critical, p = 0.06), procalcitonin more than 0.1 ng/mL (OR = 4.822, 95% CI = 1.095-21.228, p = 0.037), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (OR = 13.451, 95% CI = 1.617-111.891, p = 0.016). Conclusions: COVID-19-related AKI was likely to be related to multiorgan failure rather than the kidney tropism of SARS-CoV-2. The potential risk factors of COVID-19 clinical classification, procalcitonin more than 0.1 ng/mL, and eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 could help clinicians to identify patients with kidney injury at an early stage.

The impact of the great economic crisis on mental health care in Italy.

The great economic crisis in 2008 has affected the welfare of the population in countries such as Italy. Although there is abundant literature on the impact of the crisis on physical health, very few studies have focused on the causal implications for mental health and health care. This paper, therefore, investigates the impact of the recent economic crisis on hospital admissions for severe mental disorder at small geographic levels in Italy and assesses whether there are heterogeneous effects across areas with distinct levels of income. We exploit 9-year (2007-2015) panel data on hospital discharges, which is merged with employment and income composition at the geographic units that share similar labour market structures. Linear and dynamic panel analysis are used to identify the causal effect of rising unemployment rate on severe mental illness admissions per 100,000 residents to account for time-invariant heterogeneity. We further create discrete income levels to identify the potential socioeconomic gradients behind this effect across areas with different economic characteristics. The results show a significant impact of higher unemployment rates on admissions for severe mental disorders after controlling for relevant economic factors, and the effects are concentrated on the most economically disadvantaged areas. The results contribute to the literature of spatio-temporal variation in the broader determinants of mental health and health care utilisation and shed light on the populations that are most susceptible to the effects of the economic crisis.