ABSTRACT
During August 2020, we carried out a serological survey among students and employees at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), Japan, testing for the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. We used a FDA-authorized 2-step ELISA protocol (1, 2) in combination with at-home self-collection of blood samples using a custom low-cost finger prick-based capillary blood collection kit. Although our survey did not find any COVID-19 seropositive individuals among the OIST cohort, it reliably detected all positive control samples obtained from a local hospital and excluded all negatives controls. We found that high serum antibody titers can persist for at least up to 6.5 months post infection. Among our controls, we found strong cross-reactivity of antibodies in samples from a serum pool from two MERS patients in the anti-SARS-CoV-2-S ELISA. Here we show that a centralized ELISA in combination with patient-based capillary blood collection using as little as one drop of blood can reliably assess the seroprevalence among communities. Anonymous sample tracking and an integrated website created a stream-lined procedure. Major parts of the workflow were automated on a liquid handler, demonstrating scalability. We anticipate this concept to serve as a prototype for reliable serological testing among larger populations.
ABSTRACT
We report a case of a 36 year old female with coronary artery obstructive disease(Left coronary osteal stenosis), who had been admitted due to severe headache and vomitting. In admission, she was diagnosed as moyamoya disease on cerebral angiogram. She had no history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, smoking. She had experienced angina for 2 years, and 1 year ago she ws diagnosed as bypass surgery with left main coronary artery angioplasty. In moyamoya disease, several portions of extracranial arteries have been found to be involved, but so far, only one case has been reported the coronary involvement on coronary angiogram in the world. And, there has not been a report about moyamoya disease combined with left main osteal lesion yet. This present case indicates that we need to exam for extracranial vascular system including the heart in moyamoya disease.
