COVID-19 vaccination among health care workers in Finland: coverage, perceptions and attitudes.

AIMS: In this study, we examined the voluntary COVID-19 vaccine coverage among health care workers (HCWs) working in close patient contact. HCWs' beliefs about COVID-19 infection, their opinions of vaccination and reasons for having or declining the COVID-19 vaccination were also evaluated. METHODS: In October 2021, a cross-sectional observational study was carried out in five hospitals in Central and Eastern Finland. The anonymous and voluntary survey was targeted at 5120 doctors and nurses working in close patient contact. RESULTS: Some 1837 responses were included in the study. Ninety-seven per cent of the respondents had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine and 68% of the respondents agreed that all HCWs working in close patient contact should be vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccination coverage and support for vaccination were higher among older HCWs and doctors. HCWs' main reasons for having the COVID vaccine were willingness to protect themselves, their family and their patients from COVID-19. Concerns about adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine was the main reason for declining it. CONCLUSIONS: The overall COVID-19 vaccination coverage and support for vaccinations among HCWs working in close patient contact were high without actual mandatory policies being introduced. Prioritising HCWs for COVID-19 vaccinations and widespread vaccine availability, as well as low general vaccine hesitancy and high seasonal influenza vaccination coverage among the study population were check marks in achieving high COVID-19 vaccination coverage rapidly.

Three clusters of carbapenemase-producing Citrobacter freundii in Finland, 2016-20.

OBJECTIVES: Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) have spread widely into health care facilities (HCF) but clusters caused by carbapenemase-producing (CP) Citrobacter freundii have been uncommon until recent years. Here we describe CP C. freundii clusters detected in Finland during 2016-20. METHODS: As a part of the national CPE surveillance, clinical microbiology laboratories send potential CP C. freundii isolates to the reference laboratory for confirmation and further characterization. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) with Illumina MiSeq sequencer was used to detect clusters. Resistance genes and STs were analysed using SRST2 and typing with core genome (cg) MLST. A case was defined as a patient with a CP C. freundii isolate belonging to one of the detected clusters. RESULTS: We detected three CP C. freundii clusters: cluster 1 included 16 cases in five HCFs during 2016-20, cluster 2 had two cases in two HCFs during 2018-19 and cluster 3 had two cases in one HCF in 2020. The isolates (11 clinical and 5 screening) in cluster 1 had KPC-2 carbapenemase and were sequence type (ST)18. Cluster 2 (2 clinical isolates) had OXA-181/GES-5 carbapenemases and were ST604 and cluster 3 (two screening isolates) had KPC-3 carbapenemase and were ST116. None of the cases had a history of recent travel abroad. CONCLUSIONS: CP C. freundii also causes outbreaks and can be a reservoir of carbapenemase genes. The long intervals between successive cases, mostly found in clinical specimens in two clusters, suggest that besides unknown carriers, environmental contamination may play a role in transmission.

NF2 mutations in secretory and other rare variants of meningiomas.

The WHO classification defines different histological variants of meningiomas. Mutations of the tumor suppressor gene NF2 on 22q have been described in 30% to 60 % of sporadic meningiomas. However, the vast majority of the meningiomas that have been subject to NF2 analysis belong to the most frequent variants like transitional, fibroblastic and meningothelial meningiomas. Within these subtypes, transitional and fibroblastic meningiomas harbor significantly more NF2 mutations than meningothelial meningiomas, indicating molecular subsets of these tumors. To determine whether rare meningioma variants carry NF2 mutations we analyzed 80 tumors. NF2 mutations were detected in 5 (36%) of 14 psammomatous, 1 (11%) of 9 angiomatous, 2 (22%) of 9 clear cell, 1 (33%) of 3 chordoid and 1 (100%) of 1 papillary meningioma. In the single papillary meningioma, 2 different NF2 mutations were observed. No NF2 mutations were found in 33 secretory, 7 microcystic, 2 lymphoplasmacyte-rich, one rhabdoid and one metaplastic meningioma. In the control group of 25 fibroblastic meningiomas, 11 cases were identified to carry an NF2 mutation. These results support the concept of different molecular subgroups of meningiomas which overlap with histological variants.