ABSTRACT
UK National Health Service (NHS) Clinical Virology Departments provide a repertoire of tests on clinical samples to detect the presence of viral genomic material or host immune responses to viral infection. In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged which quickly developed into a global pandemic; NHS laboratories responded rapidly to upscale their testing capabilities. To date, there is little information on the impact of increased SARS-CoV-2 screening on non-SARS-CoV-2 testing within NHS laboratories. This report details the virology test requests received by the Leicester-based NHS Virology laboratory from January 2018 to May 2022. Data show that in spite of a dramatic increase in screening, along with multiple logistic and staffing issues, the Leicester Virology Department was mostly able to maintain the same level of service for non-respiratory virus testing while meeting the new increase in SARS-CoV-2 testing.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , State Medicine , COVID-19 Testing , Laboratories , Clinical Laboratory Techniques , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , United Kingdom/epidemiologyABSTRACT
During the "first wave" of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United Kingdom (March-June 2020), the city of Leicester was particularly hard hit, resulting in reimposed lockdown measures. Although initial polymerase chain reaction testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was attempted within the community, testing was soon abandoned due to an inability to keep up with demand by local laboratories. It is therefore feasible that undiagnosed transmission of COVID-19 in the community by asymptomatic individuals was a real possibility. Therefore, retrospective SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) testing of archived sera from out-patients visiting University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust service was performed to investigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the community. A total of 1779 sera samples were tested from samples collected between 16th March and 3rd June 2020, of which 202 (11.35%) were SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive. Positivity was lowest in March (2.54%) at the beginning of the pandemic before peaking in April (17.16%) before a decline in May and June (11.16% and 12.68%, respectively). This retrospective screening offers some insight into the early patterns of SARS-CoV-2 transmission within a sampled community population during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic; supporting the argument for more community screening during high incidences of pandemics.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/blood , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , Immunoglobulin G/blood , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Immunologic Tests , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Mass Screening/statistics & numerical data , Middle Aged , Pandemics , Retrospective Studies , United Kingdom/epidemiology , Young AdultABSTRACT
We performed a retrospective screening of 428 serum samples for anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin during a period of low prevalence. Employing two different serological tests yielded discrepant results for 10 samples; highlighting an increased risk of potential false positive results and the need for further confirmatory testing before publication of data.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , SARS-CoV-2 , Brazil , False Positive Reactions , Humans , Immunoglobulins , Prevalence , Retrospective Studies , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is generally a relatively mild illness in children. An emerging disease entity coined as pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) has been reported recently, but is very rare and only affects a very small minority of children. Here we describe the clinical presentations and outcomes of three teenagers with serologically-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit for PIMS-TS. Although their initial presentations were very similar, their COVID-19-related disease varied in severity.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/physiopathology , Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome/diagnosis , Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome/physiopathology , Adolescent , COVID-19/therapy , COVID-19 Serological Testing , Female , Humans , Intensive Care Units/statistics & numerical data , Male , Severity of Illness Index , Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome/therapy , United KingdomABSTRACT
Between March 10, 2020 and April 17, 2020, of 8/70 (11.4%) SARS-CoV-2 positive infants that presented, 5/8 (63%) developed fever, 4/8 (50%) had lower respiratory tract involvement, 2/8 (25%) had neutropenia and thrombocytosis, and 4/8 infants (50%) were treated for suspected sepsis with broad-spectrum antibiotics. Only 1/8 (13%) required pediatric intensive care. All patients were eventually discharged home well.
