ABSTRACT
The N501Y mutation in SARS-CoV-2 variants found in several strains from the UK, South Africa and Brazil has been linked to increased transmission. In order to discriminate N501Y variants quickly, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discrimination assay was designed and validated. It was then deployed prospectively in 757 nasopharyngeal swabs. Validation of the novel variant discrimination assay corroborated the results in all validation panel samples (n = 63) through sequencing. This novel variant discrimination assay was then deployed prospectively in 757 clinical nasopharyngeal swabs during the last week of January 2021. N501Y was found in 206 (27.4 %) of the samples: 94 (28.2 %) men and 112 (26.85 %) women (p = 0.73). The patients in whom it was identified had a mean age of 47.8 ± 25.8 (0-96) years, similar to that of patients without this variant: 51.7 ± 25.9 (0-104) years (p = 0.06). 501Y variant was confirmed in 34 samples by sequence method and 501 N wild type was confirmed in 67. This method is sensitive, specific, and simple to apply in any microbiology lab.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing/methods , COVID-19/diagnosis , Mutation , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , COVID-19/virology , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Middle Aged , Nasopharynx/virology , Prospective Studies , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Sensitivity and Specificity , Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/genetics , Young AdultSubject(s)
Exanthema/drug therapy , Exanthema/immunology , Immunoglobulin G4-Related Disease/drug therapy , Immunoglobulin G4-Related Disease/immunology , Exanthema/pathology , Humans , Immunoglobulin G , Immunoglobulin G4-Related Disease/pathology , Male , Skin/pathology , Vaccination/adverse effects , Vaccines/adverse effects , Young AdultSubject(s)
Antirheumatic Agents/adverse effects , Chickenpox/drug therapy , Chickenpox/etiology , Methotrexate/adverse effects , Aged , Antirheumatic Agents/therapeutic use , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/complications , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy , Chickenpox/virology , Chickenpox Vaccine , DNA, Viral/genetics , Female , Herpesvirus 3, Human/genetics , Humans , Methotrexate/therapeutic use , Pancytopenia/drug therapy , Pancytopenia/etiology , VaccinationABSTRACT
A total of 186 blood samples from 24 HIV-1 seropositive hemophiliac patients, monitored every four months for 29 months, were investigated for the presence of viral antigen in plasma. In addition, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were cultured for HIV-1, using normal PBMC as a target for replication. Antigenemia was detected in 51% of the patients and from PBMC in 87.5% of the patients. The incidence of HIV isolation in asymptomatic patients (42.8%) was similar to that found in symptomatic patients (51.4%). Patients with opportunistic infections had a higher incidence of lymphocytic viremia (p < 0.05). Plasma viremia was closely associated (p < 0.05) with low CD4+ counts and infection progression. The persistence of antigenemia was also a marker of a poor clinical course. In treated patients, plasma viremia was the marker that better correlated with the clinical course, and it did not appear during the first nine months of therapy. Zidovudine doses of > 500 mg/day significantly lowered the appearance of antigenemia and lymphocytic viremia (p < 0.05).
