Four COVID-19 screening strategies for early case identification within the homeless shelter population: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: To compare the effectiveness of four surveillance strategies for detecting SARS-CoV-2 within the homeless shelter population in Hamilton, ON and assess participant adherence over time for each surveillance method.

Methods: This was an open-label, cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in eleven homeless shelters in Hamilton, Ontario, from April 2020 to January 2021. All participants who consented to the study and participated in the surveillance were eligible for testing by self-swabbing.

The role of the microbiota in respiratory virus-bacterial pathobiont relationships in the upper respiratory tract.

The mechanisms by which respiratory viruses predispose to secondary bacterial infections remain poorly characterized. Using 2,409 nasopharyngeal swabs from 300 infants in Botswana, we performed a detailed analysis of factors that influence the dynamics of bacterial pathobiont colonization during infancy. We quantify the extent to which viruses increase the acquisition of , , and .

Sensitivity to Neutralizing Antibodies and Resistance to Type I Interferons in SARS-CoV-2 R.1 Lineage Variants, Canada.

Isolating and characterizing emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants is key to understanding virus pathogenesis. In this study, we isolated samples of the SARS-CoV-2 R.1 lineage, categorized as a variant under monitoring by the World Health Organization, and evaluated their sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies and type I interferons.

SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak Investigation Using Contact Tracing and Whole-Genome Sequencing in an Ontario Tertiary Care Hospital.

Genomic epidemiology can facilitate an understanding of evolutionary history and transmission dynamics of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak. We used next-generation sequencing techniques to study SARS-CoV-2 genomes isolated from patients and health care workers (HCWs) across five wards of a Canadian hospital with an ongoing SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Using traditional contact tracing methods, we show transmission events between patients and HCWs, which were also supported by the SARS-CoV-2 lineage assignments.

Corrigendum: CdsL regulates CdsN ATPase activity, and disruption with a peptide mimetic prevents bacterial invasion.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2011.

Investigating the impact of quarantine on mental health: insights from the COVID-19 international border surveillance study in Canada.

Background: Nations throughout the world are imposing mandatory quarantine on those entering the country. Although such measures may be effective in reducing the importation of COVID-19, the mental health implications remain unclear.

Aims: This study sought to assess mental well-being and factors associated with changes in mental health in individuals subject to mandatory quarantine following travel.

COVID-19 international border surveillance at Toronto's Pearson Airport: a cohort study.

Objectives: The primary objective was to estimate the positivity rate of air travellers coming to Toronto, Canada in September and October 2020, on arrival and on day 7 and day 14. The secondary objectives were to estimate the degree of risk based on country of origin and to assess knowledge and attitudes towards COVID-19 control measures and subjective well-being during the quarantine period.

Design: Prospective cohort of arriving international travellers.

Evaluation of mobile real-time polymerase chain reaction tests for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), calls for prompt and accurate diagnosis and rapid turnaround time for test results to limit transmission. Here, we evaluated two independent molecular assays, the Biomeme SARS-CoV-2 test, and the Precision Biomonitoring TripleLock SARS-CoV-2 test on a field-deployable point-of-care real-time PCR instrument, Franklin three9, in combination with Biomeme M1 Sample Prep Cartridge Kit for RNA 2.0 (M1) manual extraction system for rapid, specific, and sensitive detection of SARS-COV-2 in cell culture, human, and animal clinical samples.

Comparison of four COVID-19 screening strategies to facilitate early case identification within the homeless shelter population: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: 1. To compare the effectiveness of four different surveillance strategies in detecting COVID-19 within the homeless shelter population. 2.

Pandemic Planning in Homeless Shelters: A Pilot Study of a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Testing and Support Program to Mitigate the Risk of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Congregate Settings.

We tested 104 residents and 141 staff for coronavirus disease 2019 who failed daily symptom screening in homeless shelters in Hamilton, Canada. We detected 1 resident (1%), 7 staff (5%), and 1 case of secondary spread. Shelter restructuring to allow physical distancing, testing, and isolation can decrease outbreaks in shelters.

Update on Immunotherapeutics in the Management of Metastatic Melanoma.

Today, a number of treatment options are now available for metastatic melanoma. Within the last decade, the development of novel immunotherapies for cancer has significantly altered the course of the disease in patients with melanoma. With more patients receiving these potentially life-saving treatments, not only have we learned more about the interplay between the immune system and melanoma, but more importantly, which treatment options are most appropriate given the clinical picture.

Sputum autoantibodies in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma.

Background: The persistence of eosinophils in sputum despite high doses of corticosteroids indicates disease severity in asthmatic patients. Chronic inflamed airways can lose tolerance over time to immunogenic entities released on frequent eosinophil degranulation, which further contributes to disease severity and necessitates an increase in maintenance corticosteroids.

Objectives: We sought to investigate the possibility of a polyclonal autoimmune event in the airways of asthmatic patients and to identify associated clinical and molecular characteristics.

Considerations for the rational design of a Chlamydia vaccine.

Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause of preventable blindness and the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection. Remarkable progress in vaccine research over the past six decades has led to the advancement of novel C. trachomatis vaccine candidates into clinical trials.

Immunization with chlamydial type III secretion antigens reduces vaginal shedding and prevents fallopian tube pathology following live C. muridarum challenge.

Chlamydia trachomatis infections in women are often asymptomatic and if left untreated can lead to significant late sequelae including pelvic inflammatory disease and tubal factor infertility. Vaccine development efforts over the past three decades have been unproductive and there is no vaccine approved for use in humans. The existence of serologically distinct strains or serovars of C.

Chlamydia Outer Protein (Cop) B from Chlamydia pneumoniae possesses characteristic features of a type III secretion (T3S) translocator protein.

Background: Chlamydia spp. are believed to use a conserved virulence factor called type III secretion (T3S) to facilitate the delivery of effector proteins from the bacterial pathogen to the host cell. Important early effector proteins of the type III secretion system (T3SS) are a class of proteins called the translocators.

Chlamydia pneumoniae CopD translocator protein plays a critical role in type III secretion (T3S) and infection.

Pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria use type III secretion (T3S) to inject effector proteins into the host cell to create appropriate conditions for infection and intracellular replication. Chlamydia spp. are believed to use T3S to infect their host cell, and the translocator proteins are an essential component of this system.

Multiplex loop-mediated isothermal amplification (M-LAMP) assay for the detection of influenza A/H1, A/H3 and influenza B can provide a specimen-to-result diagnosis in 40 min with single genome copy sensitivity.

Background: Rapid isothermal amplification methods have recently been introduced and they offer significant advantages over PCR.

Objective: To develop a rapid and sensitive M-LAMP assay for the detection of influenza A (H1 and H3) and B that does not require RNA extraction.

Study Design: We designed six primers targeting the matrix genes of influenza H1 and H3 and the NS1 gene of influenza B and developed a M-LAMP assay using a commercially available Master Mix and a real time fluorometer (Genie II, Optigene, UK) that displays real time amplification, time to positivity and amplicon annealing temperature (Tm).

Development of a sensitive loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay that provides specimen-to-result diagnosis of respiratory syncytial virus infection in 30 minutes.

Rapid isothermal amplification methods have recently been introduced, and some of these methods offer significant advantages over PCR. The objective of this study was to develop a rapid and sensitive multiplex loop-mediated isothermal amplification (M-LAMP) assay for the detection of respiratory syncytial virus subgroups A and B (RSV A and B). We designed six primers each for the matrix gene of RSV A and the polymerase gene of RSV B and developed an M-LAMP assay by using a commercially available master mix and a real-time fluorometer (Genie II; Optigene, United Kingdom) that displays real-time amplification, time to positivity, and amplicon annealing temperature (Tm).

Structural characterization of a novel Chlamydia pneumoniae type III secretion-associated protein, Cpn0803.

Type III secretion (T3S) is an essential virulence factor used by gram-negative pathogenic bacteria to deliver effector proteins into the host cell to establish and maintain an intracellular infection. Chlamydia is known to use T3S to facilitate invasion of host cells but many proteins in the system remain uncharacterized. The C.

Chlamydia Pneumoniae CdsL Regulates CdsN ATPase Activity, and Disruption with a Peptide Mimetic Prevents Bacterial Invasion.

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular pathogens that likely require type III secretion (T3S) to invade cells and replicate intracellularly within a cytoplasmic vacuole called an inclusion body. Chlamydia pneumoniae possess a YscL ortholog, CdsL, that has been shown to interact with the T3S ATPase (CdsN). In this report we demonstrate that CdsL down-regulates CdsN enzymatic activity in a dose-dependent manner.

Interactions between flagellar and type III secretion proteins in Chlamydia pneumoniae.

Background: Flagellar secretion systems are utilized by a wide variety of bacteria to construct the flagellum, a conserved apparatus that allows for migration towards non-hostile, nutrient rich environments. Chlamydia pneumoniae is an obligate, intracellular pathogen whose genome contains at least three orthologs of flagellar proteins, namely FliI, FlhA and FliF, but the role of these proteins remains unknown.

Results: Full length FliI, and fragments of FlhA, FliF, and FliI, were cloned and expressed as either GST or His tagged proteins in E.

A novel inhibitor of Chlamydophila pneumoniae protein kinase D (PknD) inhibits phosphorylation of CdsD and suppresses bacterial replication.

Background: We have shown previously that Chlamydophila pneumoniae contains a dual-specific Ser/Thr protein kinase that phosphorylates CdsD, a structural component of the type III secretion apparatus. To further study the role of PknD in growth and development we sought to identify a PknD inhibitor to determine whether PknD activity is required for replication.

Results: Using an in vitro kinase assay we screened 80 known eukaryotic protein kinase inhibitors for activity against PknD and identified a 3'-pyridyl oxindole compound that inhibited PknD autophosphorylation and phosphorylation of CdsD.