Correction: Improved sensitivity, safety, and rapidity of COVID-19 tests by replacing viral storage solution with lysis buffer.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Environmental surveillance of a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 outbreak in Israel between 2022 and 2023: a genomic epidemiology study.

Background: Similarly to wild poliovirus, vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) strains can cause acute flaccid paralysis, posing a considerable challenge to public health and the eradication of poliovirus. VDPV outbreaks, particularly VDPV type 2 (VDPV2), are increasing worldwide, including in high-income countries with high vaccine coverage. We aimed to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the molecular epidemiology of a widespread VDPV2 outbreak in Israel in 2022-23 using conventional polio identification techniques and whole-genome sequencing.

Factors Associated With Protection From SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant Infection and Disease Among Vaccinated Health Care Workers in Israel.

Importance: A correlation between antibody levels and risk of infection has been demonstrated for the wild-type, Alpha, and Delta SARS-COV-2 variants. High rates of breakthrough infections by the Omicron variant emphasized the need to investigate whether the humoral response elicited by mRNA vaccines is also associated with reduced risk of Omicron infection and disease.

Objective: To investigate whether the high antibody levels in individuals who have received at least 3 doses of an mRNA vaccine are associated with reduced risk of Omicron infection and disease.

Increased detection of Echovirus 6-associated meningitis in patients hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel 2021-2022.

Background: Outbreaks of enteroviral meningitis occur periodically and may lead to hospitalization and severe disease.

Objective: To analyze and describe the meningitis outbreak in patients hospitalized in Israel in 2021-2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: In December 2021, before the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant, an off-season increase in enterovirus (EV) infections was observed among patients hospitalized with meningitis.

Correlates of protection against COVID-19 infection and intensity of symptomatic disease in vaccinated individuals exposed to SARS-CoV-2 in households in Israel (ICoFS): a prospective cohort study.

Background: Identifying COVID-19 correlates of protection and immunity thresholds is important for policy makers and vaccine development. We aimed to identify correlates of protection of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccination against COVID-19.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, households within a radius of 40 km of the Sheba Medical Center in Israel in which a new SARS-CoV-2 infection (defined as the index case) was detected within the previous 24 h were approached between July 25 and Nov 15, 2021.

Immunogenicity of Omicron BA.1-adapted BNT162b2 vaccines: randomized trial, 3-month follow-up.

Objectives: The capability of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant to escape immunity conferred by mRNA vaccines has led to the development of Omicron-adapted vaccines. In this study, we aimed to compare the immune response with the ancestral strain and with the BA.1 Omicron variant after administration of the original vaccine and the Omicron-adapted vaccine.

Environmental surveillance detected type 3 vaccine-derived polioviruses in increasing frequency at multiple sites prior to detection of a poliomyelitis case.

Israel conducts routine environmental (15 sites) and acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance for poliovirus. During September 2021, increasing numbers of wastewater samples collected from more than one site in the Jerusalem region proved positive for ambiguous type 3 vaccine-derived poliovirus (aVDPV3), while environmental samples from remaining sampling sites were negative. In late February 2022, a VDPV3, genetically related to the Jerusalem environmental surveillance samples, was isolated from a stool sample collected from a non-immunodeficient, non-immunized child from Jerusalem who developed AFP, indicating that the aVDPV3s were circulating (cVDPV3s) rather than immunodeficiency-related VDPV3s (iVDPVs).

Cocirculation of A(H3N2) and B/Victoria increased morbidity in hospitalized patients in the 2019-2020 A(H1N1)pdm09 predominant influenza season in Israel.

Community surveillance found the 2019-2020 A(H1N1)pdm09 predominant influenza season in Israel to be a high-intensity season with an early and steep morbidity peak. To further characterize disease severity in the 2019-2020 season, we analyzed a cohort of hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza from this season (n = 636). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed on clinical samples to detect the presence of influenza.

Immunogenicity and efficacy of fourth BNT162b2 and mRNA1273 COVID-19 vaccine doses; three months follow-up.

Booster doses for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are under consideration in many countries. We report a three-month follow-up of 700 participants in a fourth vaccine dose study, comparing BNT162b2 and mRNA1273, administered four months after a third BNT162b2 dose. The primary outcomes are the levels of IgG, neutralizing antibodies, and microneutralization and the secondary outcomes are the levels of IgA and T cell activation, and clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection and substantial symptomatic disease.

The Association Between Prebooster Vaccination Antibody Levels and the Risk of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection.

The correlation between anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antibody levels and infection was reported. Here, we estimated the role of pre-fourth dose levels using data from 1098 healthcare workers. The risk of infection was reduced by 46% (95% confidence interval, 29%-59%) for each 10-fold increase in prebooster levels.

Omicron BA.2.75 variant is efficiently neutralised following BA.1 and BA.5 breakthrough infection in vaccinated individuals, Israel, June to September 2022.

We evaluated neutralising antibody titres against wild type (WT) SARS-CoV-2 and four Omicron variants (BA.1, BA.2, BA.

Estimated Infection and Vaccine Induced SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in Israel among Adults, January 2020-July 2021.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Israel in February 2020 and spread from then. In December 2020, the FDA approved an emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and on 20 December, an immunization campaign began among adults in Israel. We characterized seropositivity for IgG anti-spike antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 between January 2020 and July 2021, before and after the introduction of the vaccine in Israel among adults.

Comparing immunogenicity and efficacy of two different mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines as a fourth dose; six-month follow-up, Israel, 27 December 2021 to 24 July 2022.

We assess the immunogenicity and efficacy of Spikevax and Comirnaty as fourth dose COVID-19 vaccines. Six months post-fourth-dose, IgG levels were higher than pre-fourth dose at 1.58-fold (95% CI: 1.

HIV-1 Circulating Recombinant Forms (CRFs) and Unique Recombinant Forms (URFs) in Israel, 2010-2018.

Monitoring HIV-1 circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) and unique recombinant forms (URFs) is important for disease surveillance. Recombination may affect prevention efforts and interfere with the diagnosis and treatment of HIV-1 infection. Here, we characterized the epidemiology of HIV-1 CRFs and URFs in Israel.

Durability of Immune Response After COVID-19 Booster Vaccination and Association With COVID-19 Omicron Infection.

Importance: The BNT162b2 two-dose vaccine (BioNTech/Pfizer) has high effectiveness that wanes within several months. The third dose is effective in mounting a significant immune response, but its durability is unknown.

Objective: To compare antibody waning after second and third doses and estimate the association of antibody kinetics with susceptibility to infection with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.

COVID-19 vaccination and BA.1 breakthrough infection induce neutralising antibodies which are less efficient against BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants, Israel, March to June 2022.

This work evaluated neutralising antibody titres against wild type (WT) SARS-CoV-2 and four Omicron variants (BA.1, BA.2, BA.