Willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine among HIV positive men who have sex with men in China: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: People living with HIV(PLWH) are deemed more vulnerable to the SARS-CoV-2 infection than the uninfected population. Vaccination is an effective measure for COVID-19 control, yet, little knowledge exists about the willingness of men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV in China to be vaccinated. METHODS: This cross-sectional study evaluated the willingness of MSM living with HIV to receive COVID-19 vaccination in six cities of Guangdong, China, from July to September 2020. Factors associated with willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccination using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: In total, we recruited 944 HIV-positive MSM with a mean age of 29.2 ± 7.7 years. Of all participants, 92.4% of them were willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Participants who were separated, divorced, or widowed (adjusted OR: 5.29, 95%CI: 1.02-27.48), had an annual income higher than 9,000 USD (adjusted OR: 1.70, 95%CI: 1.01-2.86), had ever taken an HIV self-test (adjusted OR: 1.78, 95%CI: 1.07-2.95), had ever disclosed sexual orientation to a doctor/nurse (adjusted OR: 3.16, 95%CI: 1.33-7.50), had ever disclosed sexual orientation to others besides their male partners (adjusted OR: 2.18, 95%CI: 1.29-3.69) were more willing to receive the vaccine. Sex with a female partner in the past six months decreased the likelihood of willingness to receive the vaccine (adjusted OR: 0.40, 95%CI: 0.17-0.95). Economic burden, worry that my health condition could not bear the risk of receiving COVID-19 vaccines, and concern that the vaccination would affect the immune status and antiretroviral therapy were the main reasons for unwillingness to receive vaccination. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that HIV-positive MSM had a high willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Targeted interventions such as health education should be conducted among MSM with HIV infection to enhance COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

Development of a Handheld Nano-centrifugal Device for Visual Virus Detection.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) colorimetric assays based on distance-dependent optical characteristics have been widely employed for bioanalysis. However, this assay is not effective for visually detecting low-concentration targets due to the faint color change. Here, we developed a handheld nano-centrifugal device which could separate the crosslinked and non-crosslinked AuNPs. Results showed that the handheld nano-centrifugal device could easily reach more than 6000 r/min within 10 s simply by stretching and tightening the coiled rope in an appropriate rhythm. Further, combined with the CRISPR/Cas12a nucleic acids recognition system, a field-deployable colorimetric platform termed handheld nano-centrifugal device assisted CRISPR/Cas12a (Hand-CRISPR) has been validated. Moreover, clinical diagnostics applications for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection with high sensitivity and accuracy (100% consistency with reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) test results) have been demonstrated. Overall, the Hand-CRISPR platform showed great promise in point-of-care-test (POCT) application, expected to become a powerful supplement to the standard nucleic acid testing method in remote or poverty-stricken areas. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41664-022-00232-0.

Multiplex Real-Time Reverse Transcription PCR for Influenza A Virus, Influenza B Virus, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in late 2019, and the outbreak rapidly evolved into the current coronavirus disease pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory virus that causes symptoms similar to those caused by influenza A and B viruses. On July 2, 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for in vitro diagnostic use of the Influenza SARS-CoV-2 Multiplex Assay. This assay detects influenza A virus at 102.0, influenza B virus at 102.2, and SARS-CoV-2 at 100.3 50% tissue culture or egg infectious dose, or as few as 5 RNA copies/reaction. The simultaneous detection and differentiation of these 3 major pathogens increases overall testing capacity, conserves resources, identifies co-infections, and enables efficient surveillance of influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2.

Clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with COVID-19 disease severity in patients with cancer in Wuhan, China: a multicentre, retrospective, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has spread globally. Epidemiological susceptibility to COVID-19 has been reported in patients with cancer. We aimed to systematically characterise clinical features and determine risk factors of COVID-19 disease severity for patients with cancer and COVID-19. METHODS: In this multicentre, retrospective, cohort study, we included all adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with any type of malignant solid tumours and haematological malignancy who were admitted to nine hospitals in Wuhan, China, with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between Jan 13 and March 18, 2020. Enrolled patients were statistically matched (2:1) with patients admitted with COVID-19 who did not have cancer with propensity score on the basis of age, sex, and comorbidities. Demographic characteristics, laboratory examinations, illness severity, and clinical interventions were compared between patients with COVID-19 with or without cancer as well as between patients with cancer with non-severe or severe COVID-19. COVID-19 disease severity was defined on admission on the basis of the WHO guidelines. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, comorbidities, cancer type, tumour stage, and antitumour treatments, were used to explore risk factors associated with COVID-19 disease severity. This study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Register, ChiCTR2000030807. FINDINGS: Between Jan 13 and March 18, 2020, 13 077 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to the nine hospitals in Wuhan and 232 patients with cancer and 519 statistically matched patients without cancer were enrolled. Median follow-up was 29 days (IQR 22-38) in patients with cancer and 27 days (20-35) in patients without cancer. Patients with cancer were more likely to have severe COVID-19 than patients without cancer (148 [64%] of 232 vs 166 [32%] of 519; odds ratio [OR] 3·61 [95% CI 2·59-5·04]; p<0·0001). Risk factors previously reported in patients without cancer, such as older age; elevated interleukin 6, procalcitonin, and D-dimer; and reduced lymphocytes were validated in patients with cancer. We also identified advanced tumour stage (OR 2·60, 95% CI 1·05-6·43; p=0·039), elevated tumour necrosis factor α (1·22, 1·01-1·47; p=0·037), elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (1·65, 1·03-2·78; p=0·032), reduced CD4+ T cells (0·84, 0·71-0·98; p=0·031), and reduced albumin-globulin ratio (0·12, 0·02-0·77; p=0·024) as risk factors of COVID-19 severity in patients with cancer. INTERPRETATION: Patients with cancer and COVID-19 were more likely to deteriorate into severe illness than those without cancer. The risk factors identified here could be helpful for early clinical surveillance of disease progression in patients with cancer who present with COVID-19. FUNDING: China National Natural Science Foundation.