Do fully automated immunoassays for the evaluation of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are commutable?

On December 30, 2019, the city of Wuhan, China, experienced an outbreak of unexplained pneumonia. From January 7, 2020, a new betacoronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus was identified (SARS-CoV-2). The World Health Organization (WHO) has since declared a pandemic with millions of confirmed cases worldwide. As part of the fight against the epidemic, laboratories have a critical role in assessing the reliability of new serological assays before taking part of diagnostic protocols or made available broader to the community and to evaluate commutability between assays. The aim of this study was to perform a comparison between two automated assays for SARS-CoV-2 IgG testing, the MAGLUMI ® 800 and the LIAISON ® XL. Among the patients confirmed positive for COVID-19, the two automated assays were significantly correlated (r = 0.811; p < 0.0001). The overall concordance made for MAGLUMI 2019-nCoV IgG positive/negative vs. LIAISON® SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive/negative results was 79% (Index Kappa of Cohen). We list the discrepancies between the two analyzers among the 44 tested patients. In conclusion, the overall agreement between the two automated assays for SARS-CoV-2 was good. However, the MAGLUMI assay might be more sensitive at the early stages of antibody development and there is a lack of specificity with LIAISON XL.

Improvement of diabetic control and acceptability of a three-injection insulin regimen in diabetic adolescents. A multicenter controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness and acceptability of a three-injection insulin regimen with the conventional two-injection therapy in an unselected population of diabetic adolescents. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Some 205 patients aged 10-18 yr with IDDM, who were previously treated with two daily insulin injections, were included without any selection into a randomized trial. They were either switched to three (regular prebreakfast, regular prelunch, and [regular+ultralente] predinner) or remained on two ([regular+intermediary] prebreakfast and predinner) subcutaneous injections. They were evaluated after 1 yr of treatment. The major criteria of outcome of efficacy were the concentration of GHb, the frequency of severe hypoglycemia and DKA, and body weight. RESULTS: Of the patients, 82% accepted the three-injection regimen, and 83% accepted the two-injection regimen. At entry into the trial, no significant differences appeared between the two treatment groups nor among patients refusing the allocated regimen. Significant explanatory variables predicting initial diabetes control were duration of disease and adherence to diet. GHb, decreased from 9.8 +/- 0.1 to 9.3 +/- 0.2% (P < 0.05) in the three-injection group, whereas it increased from 9.5 +/- 0.3 to 9.8 +/- 0.3% (P < 0.05) in the two-injection group, resulting in a modest (0.75%) but significant difference (P < 0.05) between GHb change in the two groups. The difference reached 1.4% (P < 0.0002) in patients with GHb > 11.2% at entry. The frequency of hypoglycemia and DKA was similar in the two groups. None of the parameters known to potentially influence glycemic control changed during the trial, and, therefore, the improvement of GHb could be attributed to the pattern of daily insulin distribution per se. CONCLUSIONS: In the general diabetic adolescent population, the efficacy of a three-injection regimen is somewhat superior to that of a conventional two-injection regimen, particularly in patients previously poorly controlled. The acceptability of this regimen being excellent, its increased use should be considered in this age-group.

[Psychology and dentofacial orthopedics. Apropos of various results]. / Psychologie et orthopédie dento-faciale. A propos de quelques résultats.

What should be done about the child who sucks his thumb? If the child has no dento-maxillary deformity, he should be left to suck his thumb. In the presence of deformities, it would seem wise not to interfere before the age of 6 or 7 years. Firstly, the majority of thumb suckers abandon this behavior spontaneously between 3 and 7 years, and secondly it is only at the age of 6 years that the milk teeth begin to be replaced by the adult dentition. An early intervention has the risk of being ineffective or even of reinforcing the habit and leading to other problems. After 7 years, the child with deformities should be examined and in the absence of an psychological contraindication, "invigoration psychotherapy" should be undertaken in order to put a stop to the thumb sucking habit. Finally, when the 8 year old continues to suck his thumb despite psychotherapy by the psychologist or the stomatologist, the advice of a child psychiatrist must be sought in order to determine whether the symptom which the habit represents should be disturbed or not.