Publications by authors named "Aurora Bettini"

Background: Pre-exposure vaccination with MVA-BN has been widely used against mpox to contain the 2022 outbreak. Many countries have defined prioritized strategies, administering a single dose to those historically vaccinated for smallpox, to achieve quickly adequate coverage in front of low supplies. Using epidemiological models, real-life effectiveness was estimated at approximately 36%-86%, but no clinical trials were performed.

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  • * The most effective method was heating at 70 °C, which decreased MPXV titer significantly, while Triton X-100 was the least effective.
  • * While UV-C and heat effectively reduced MPXV infectiousness, they negatively affected the detection of MPXV DNA and proteins, highlighting a trade-off in sample handling procedures.
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When the Mpox virus (MPXV) began spreading globally in 2022, it became critical to evaluate whether residual immunity from smallpox vaccination provided cross-protection. To assess the cross-immune response to MPXV, we collected serum samples ( = 97) and PBMCs ( = 30) from healthy-donors, either born before 1974 and reporting smallpox vaccination during childhood or born after 1975 and not vaccinated with Vaccinia virus (VACV)-based vaccines. We evaluated the levels of anti-MPXV IgG and neutralizing antibodies (Nabs) and the presence of a T cell response against MPXV.

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  • * This case is unique as it documents necrotizing mpox in an individual with advanced HIV, with the virus persisting for over 11 months and extensive immunological analysis performed.
  • * The study highlights that severe immune deficiency and co-infections may weaken immune responses, necessitating further research on immune reactions to monkeypox in immunosuppressed individuals to enhance treatment and prevention strategies.
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Information on the immune response during the mpox virus (MPXV) infection is still scarce or limited to past studies when cross-reactive immunity from smallpox vaccination was predominant. Here, we describe the short-term kinetics of the antibody response in patients with acute MPXV infection during the 2022 multicountry outbreak. A total of 64 samples from 18 MPXV-positive patients were longitudinally collected from the day of symptom onset (DSO) up to 20 days after and tested for anti-MPXV immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, IgA, and neutralizing antibodies (nAb) using the whole-live virus isolated in May 2022.

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Ebola is a highly pathogenic virus, which in humans reaches a mortality rate above 50%. Due to a lack of laboratories in territories where Ebola viruses are endemic and the limited number of surveillance programmes, tests for the confirmation of suspected cases of Ebola are often performed in Reference Laboratories. While this provides guarantees regarding the accuracy of results, the shipment of samples to a centralized facility where the diagnostic test can be performed and the time required to achieve the results takes several days, which increases costs and entails delays in the isolation of positive subjects and therapeutic intervention with negative consequences both for patients and the community.

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We report the follow-up laboratory investigation of three MPXV cases infected in May-June 2022 from diagnosis to disease resolution, monitoring viral shedding in different body fluids and antibody kinetics. Out of 138 non-lesion samples, viral DNA was found in 92.3% saliva, 85.

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Background: The decline of humoral response to COVID-19 vaccine led to authorise a booster dose. Here, we characterised the kinetics of B-cell and T-cell immune responses in patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) after the booster dose.

Methods: We enrolled 22 PwMS and 40 healthcare workers (HCWs) after 4-6 weeks from the booster dose (T3).

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Objectives: To characterize the kinetics of humoral and T-cell responses in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-patients followed up to 4-6 weeks (T3) after the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster dose.

Methods: Health care workers (HCWs, n = 38) and patients with RA (n = 52) completing the messenger RNA vaccination schedule were enrolled at T3. In each cohort, 25 subjects were sampled after 5 weeks (T1) and 6 months (T2) from the first vaccine dose.

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  • The study aimed to evaluate how well the immune response from vaccinated individuals neutralizes different SARS-CoV-2 variants, focusing on variants of concern (VOCs) like Delta and Omicron.
  • Researchers used a pseudovirus-based neutralization assay (PVNA) to measure neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) in sera collected from vaccinated individuals and COVID-19 convalescents, comparing the effectiveness of different vaccines.
  • Results showed that while PVNA correlated well with the traditional micro-neutralization test, there was decreased nAb activity over time and significant reductions against Delta and Omicron compared to the wild type, although booster doses improved response against Omicron.
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  • Development of new vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 aims to improve availability in low-income areas, despite existing effective vaccines.
  • A study tracked immune responses in young and old volunteers after receiving the GRAd-COV2 vaccine, showing strong antibody and T-cell responses that were maintained for 3 months but declined by 6 months.
  • GRAd-COV2 demonstrated good safety and immune response, making it a promising candidate for further clinical development as part of the COVID-19 vaccination strategy.
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With SARS-CoV-2 infection, pregnant women may be at a high risk of severe disease and adverse perinatal outcomes. A COVID-19 vaccination campaign represents the key strategy to combat the pandemic; however, public acceptance of maternal immunization has to be improved, which may be achieved by highlighting the promising mechanism of passive immunity as a strategy for protecting newborns against SARS-CoV-2 infection. We tested the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody response following COVID-19 full-dose vaccination in the serum and amniotic fluid of two pregnant women who presented between April and June 2021, at the Center for the Treatment and Prevention of Infections in Pregnancy of the National Institute for Infectious Diseases "L.

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The new Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, first identified in November 2021, is rapidly spreading all around the world. Omicron has become the dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2. There are many ongoing studies evaluating the effectiveness of existing vaccines.

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Objectives: Comparative analysis between different monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 are lacking. We present an emulation trial from observational data to compare effectiveness of Bamlanivimab/Etesevimab (BAM/ETE) and Casirivimab/Imdevimab (CAS/IMD) in outpatients with early mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in a real-world scenario of variants of concern (VoCs) from Alpha to Delta.

Methods: Allocation to treatment was subject to mAbs availability, and the measured factors were not used to determine which combination to use.

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  • The study examined the changes in antibody levels in healthcare workers after receiving two doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, measuring specific IgG and neutralizing antibodies at various time points.
  • Anti-RBD IgG levels showed a significant decline over time, decreasing by 4.5 times at 3 months and 13 times at 6 months, while anti-Trimeric S IgG levels decreased less dramatically, suggesting different decay rates for these antibody types.
  • The findings indicate complex dynamics of antibody maturation post-vaccination and highlight the challenges in establishing reliable protection markers due to inconsistent laboratory standards.
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