School-Based Surveillance of Respiratory Pathogens on "High-Touch" Surfaces.

In order to assess the presence of respiratory pathogens on "high-touch" surfaces and inform sanitation practices at schools, pre-selected surfaces in elementary schools in Seattle, WA, USA were sampled weekly and tested by RT-PCR for 25 viral respiratory pathogens (including SARS-CoV-2 retrospectively) and during 2019-2020 winter respiratory illness season. Viral pathogens (rhinovirus, adenovirus, influenza) known to cause respiratory illness were detected on commonly touched surfaces, especially wooden surfaces, and matched the patterns of circulating virus in the community.

Infant Pneumococcal Carriage During Influenza, RSV, and hMPV Respiratory Illness Within a Maternal Influenza Immunization Trial.

In this post-hoc analysis of midnasal pneumococcal carriage in a community-based, randomized prenatal influenza vaccination trial in Nepal with weekly infant respiratory illness surveillance, 457 of 605 (75.5%) infants with influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), or human metapneumovirus (hMPV) illness had pneumococcus detected. Pneumococcal carriage did not impact rates of lower respiratory tract disease for these 3 viruses.

Measles and Rubella Seroprevalence in Mother-Infant Pairs in Rural Nepal and the United States: Pre- and Post-Elimination Populations.

We sought to compare seroprevalence of protective measles and rubella-specific antibody in mother-infant pairs across two populations: a pre-disease elimination Nepal population with recently introduced rubella vaccine and post-disease elimination U.S. population.