Real-world effectiveness and causal mediation study of BNT162b2 on long COVID risks in children and adolescents.

Background: The impact of pre-infection vaccination on the risk of long COVID remains unclear in the pediatric population. We aim to assess the effectiveness of BNT162b2 on long COVID risks with various strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in children and adolescents, using comparative effectiveness methods. We further explore if such pre-infection vaccination can mitigate the risk of long COVID beyond its established protective benefits against SARS-CoV-2 infection using causal mediation analysis.

A Single-center Experience With >200 Lung Transplant Recipients With COVID-19 Infection.

Background: Although COVID-19 is no longer a declared global health emergency, data remain limited on the impact of COVID-19 in lung transplant recipients.

Methods: We identified lung transplant recipients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 from March 2020 through August 2022 in our institutional database and investigated clinical outcomes. We then analyzed outcomes based on date of COVID-19 diagnosis (first wave March 2020-October 2020; second wave November 2020-2021; third wave December 2021-September 2022) and compared these results.

Vaccine Effectiveness Against Long COVID in Children.

Objectives: Vaccination reduces the risk of acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children, but it is less clear whether it protects against long COVID. We estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against long COVID in children aged 5 to 17 years.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used data from 17 health systems in the RECOVER PCORnet electronic health record program for visits after vaccine availability.

Vaccine Effectiveness Against Long COVID in Children: A Report from the RECOVER EHR Cohort.

Objective: Vaccination reduces the risk of acute COVID-19 in children, but it is less clear whether it protects against long COVID. We estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against long COVID in children aged 5-17 years.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study used data from 17 health systems in the RECOVER PCORnet electronic health record (EHR) Program for visits between vaccine availability, and October 29, 2022.

COVID-19 Vaccine Antibody Response in a Single-Center Urban Hemodialysis Unit.

Background: The longitudinal response to the COVID-19 vaccines among patients on hemodialysis with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection has not been well characterized.

Methods: To guide vaccination strategies in patients on hemodialysis, it is critical to characterize the longevity and efficacy of the vaccine; therefore, we conducted a prospective single-center monthly antibody surveillance study between March 2021 and March 2022 to investigate the dynamic humoral response to a series of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in patients on hemodialysis with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Monthly quantitative antibody testing was performed using the Beckman Coulter Access SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibody Test©, which detects IgG antibodies targeting the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

EFFICACY OF MARIBAVIR IN VALGANCICLOVIR-RESISTANT CYTOMEGALOVIRUS RETINITIS.

Purpose: To determine whether maribavir is effective at treating ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus retinitis.

Methods: Retrospective case report of a lung-transplant patient with bilateral cytomegalovirus retinitis documented with serum and aqueous humor studies and color fundus photographs.

Results: A 72-year-old lung-transplant patient with active ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus was treated with intravitreal foscarnet therapy in one eye.

Effects of reported beta-lactam allergies on pneumonia outcomes in lung transplant recipients.

Background: The effects of reported beta-lactam allergies on clinical outcomes have been understudied in lung transplant recipients. We evaluated reported beta-lactam allergies on clinical outcomes in this population.

Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort analysis was performed.

COVID-19 Vaccination in Lung Transplant Recipients.

Lung transplant patients are at increased risk of infection due to immunosuppression. Vaccination is a key source of protection; however, after transplant, patients tend to have diminished host response. This is an important concern given the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Letermovir treatment of cytomegalovirus infection or disease in solid organ and hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.

Background: Few options are available for cytomegalovirus (CMV) treatment in transplant recipients resistant, refractory, or intolerant to approved agents. Letermovir (LET) is approved for prophylaxis in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients, but little is known about efficacy in CMV infection. We conducted an observational study to determine the patterns of use and outcome of LET treatment of CMV infection in transplant recipients.

Emerging fungal pathogens in solid organ transplantation.

Purpose Of Review: This review examines recent cases and updated literature on emerging or newly resistant fungal infections in solid organ transplantation.

Recent Findings: Candida auris, a newly described candida capable of drug resistance and persistence in the environment, is a growing concern with both published cases on donor-derived transmission and a hospital outbreak involving liver transplant recipients. Infections with non-albicans candida species are also increasing in incidence in SOT recipients, leading to increasing antifungal resistance and higher mortality.

SARS-CoV-2 Infections among Recent Organ Recipients, March-May 2020, United States.

We conducted public health investigations of 8 organ transplant recipients who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. Findings suggest the most likely source of transmission was community or healthcare exposure, not the organ donor. Transplant centers should educate transplant candidates and recipients about infection prevention recommendations.

Blurred Molecular Epidemiological Lines Between the Two Dominant Methicillin-Resistant Clones.

Background: Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) causes life-threatening infections in both community and hospital settings and is a leading cause of health care-associated infections (HAIs). We sought to describe the molecular epidemiological landscape of patients with MRSA bloodstream infections (BSIs) at an urban medical center by evaluating the clinical characteristics associated with the two dominant endemic clones.

Methods: Comprehensive clinical data from the electronic health records of 227 hospitalized patients ≥18 years old with MRSA BSI over a 33-month period in New York City were collected.

Elevated Serum Beta-D-Glucan with Pseudomonas, Aspergillus, and a Partially Acid-Fast Organism in Respiratory Cultures: A Case of Hickam's Dictum Over Occam's Razor.

We describe a case of a man with ectopic Cushing's syndrome, elevated serum beta-D-glucan, and respiratory cultures with Pseudomonas, Aspergillus, and a partially acid-fast organism. Our case highlights challenges in diagnosis and management of coinfection in an immunocompromised host.

Remote patient monitoring in chronic heart failure.

Heart failure (HF) poses a significant economic burden on our health-care resources with very high readmission rates. Remote monitoring has a substantial potential to improve the management and outcome of patients with HF. Readmission for decompensated HF is often preceded by a stage of subclinical hemodynamic decompensation, where therapeutic interventions would prevent subsequent clinical decompensation and hospitalization.

Sex-specific influence of aging on exercising leg blood flow.

Our previous work suggests that healthy human aging is associated with sex-specific differences in leg vascular responses during large muscle mass exercise (2-legged cycling) (Proctor DN, Parker BA. Microcirculation 13: 315-327, 2006). The present study determined whether age x sex interactions in exercising leg hemodynamics persist during small muscle mass exercise that is not limited by cardiac output.

Sex differences in leg vasodilation during graded knee extensor exercise in young adults.

Limb vascular conductance responses to pharmacological and nonexercise vasodilator stimuli are generally augmented in women compared with men. In the present investigation, we tested the hypothesis that exercise-induced vasodilator responses are also greater in women than men. Sixteen women and 15 men (20-30 yr) with similar fitness and activity levels performed graded quadriceps exercise (supine, single-leg knee extensions, 40 contractions/min) to maximal exertion.