Publications by authors named "Andrea N Dietz"

Article Synopsis
  • The immune response to COVID-19 varies between children and adults, with children showing a unique plasmablast-driven initial response after mild or asymptomatic infections.
  • Four months post-infection, children exhibit an enhanced antibody response, but lower B and T cell responses compared to adults, while overall neutralizing antibody effectiveness improves in both groups.
  • After one year, children show signs of immune maturation, including increased S1-specific IgA and T cell development, indicating the potential benefit of booster vaccinations to strengthen their immune memory.
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Resolving the role of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission in households with members from different generations is crucial for containing the current pandemic. We conducted a large-scale, multicenter, cross-sectional seroepidemiologic household transmission study in southwest Germany during May 11-August 1, 2020. We included 1,625 study participants from 405 households that each had ≥1 child and 1 reverse transcription PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2-infected index case-patient.

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Zika virus (ZIKV) causes severe birth defects and can be transmitted via sexual intercourse. Semen from ZIKV-infected individuals contains high viral loads and may therefore serve as an important vector for virus transmission. Here we analyze the effect of semen on ZIKV infection of cells and tissues derived from the anogenital region.

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The human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) tegument protein pUL71 is required for efficient secondary envelopment and accumulates at the Golgi compartment-derived viral assembly complex (vAC) during infection. Analysis of various C-terminally truncated pUL71 proteins fused to enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) identified amino acids 23 to 34 as important determinants for its Golgi complex localization. Sequence analysis and mutational verification revealed the presence of an N-terminal tyrosine-based trafficking motif (YXXΦ) in pUL71.

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