Predominance of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Typhi genotype 4.3.1 with low-level ciprofloxacin resistance in Zanzibar.

Background: Typhoid fever is a common cause of febrile illness in low- and middle-income countries. While multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) has spread globally, fluoroquinolone resistance has mainly affected Asia.

Tracing the adaptive evolution of SARS-CoV-2 during vaccine roll-out in Norway.

Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 has greatly mitigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, concerns have been raised about the degree to which vaccination might drive the emergence and selection of immune escape mutations that will hamper the efficacy of the vaccines. In this study, we investigate whether vaccination impacted the micro-scale adaptive evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in the Oslo region of Norway, during the first nine months of 2021, a period in which the population went from near-zero to almost 90 per cent vaccine coverage in the population over 50 years old.

Effects of remdesivir in patients hospitalised with COVID-19: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Background: Interpretation of the evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of remdesivir in patients treated in hospital for COVID-19 is conflicting. We aimed to assess the benefits and harms of remdesivir compared with placebo or usual care in these patients, and whether treatment effects differed between prespecified patient subgroups.

Methods: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane COVID-19 trial registry, ClinicalTrials.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; can it be used as a rapid typing method of Neisseria gonorrhoeae?

Background: Typing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is necessary for epidemiologic surveillance, while time consuming and resource intensive. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has shown promising results when typing several bacterial species. This study investigates whether FTIR spectroscopy can be used as a rapid method for typing clinical N.

Titers of antibodies against ancestral SARS-CoV-2 correlate with levels of neutralizing antibodies to multiple variants.

Diagnostic assays currently used to monitor the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines measure levels of antibodies to the receptor-binding domain of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 (RBDwt). However, the predictive value for protection against new variants of concern (VOCs) has not been firmly established. Here, we used bead-based arrays and flow cytometry to measure binding of antibodies to spike proteins and receptor-binding domains (RBDs) from VOCs in 12,000 serum samples.

Omicron Variant Generates a Higher and More Sustained Viral Load in Nasopharynx and Saliva Than the Delta Variant of SARS-CoV-2.

The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 spreads more easily than earlier variants, possibly as a result of a higher viral load in the upper respiratory tract and oral cavity. Hence, we investigated whether the Omicron variant generates a higher viral load than that of the Delta variant in saliva and nasopharynx. Both specimens were collected from 52 Omicron and 17 Delta cases at two time points one week apart and analyzed by qRT-PCR.

Breakthrough infections with the omicron and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 result in similar re-activation of vaccine-induced immunity.

Background: Results showing that sera from double vaccinated individuals have minimal neutralizing activity against Omicron have been interpreted as indicating the need for a third vaccine dose for protection. However, there is little information about early immune responses to Omicron infection in double vaccinated individuals.

Methods: We measured inflammatory mediators, antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleocapsid proteins, and spike peptide-induced release of interferon gamma in whole blood in 51 double-vaccinated individuals infected with Omicron, in 14 infected with Delta, and in 18 healthy controls.

Persistent T-cell exhaustion in relation to prolonged pulmonary pathology and death after severe COVID-19: Results from two Norwegian cohort studies.

Background: T-cell activation is associated with an adverse outcome in COVID-19, but whether T-cell activation and exhaustion relate to persistent respiratory dysfunction and death is unknown.

Objectives: To investigate whether T-cell activation and exhaustion persist and are associated with prolonged respiratory dysfunction and death after hospitalization for COVID-19.

Methods: Plasma and serum from two Norwegian cohorts of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 (n = 414) were analyzed for soluble (s) markers of T-cell activation (sCD25) and exhaustion (sTim-3) during hospitalization and follow-up.

Detailed stratified GWAS analysis for severe COVID-19 in four European populations.

Given the highly variable clinical phenotype of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a deeper analysis of the host genetic contribution to severe COVID-19 is important to improve our understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. Here, we describe an extended genome-wide association meta-analysis of a well-characterized cohort of 3255 COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure and 12 488 population controls from Italy, Spain, Norway and Germany/Austria, including stratified analyses based on age, sex and disease severity, as well as targeted analyses of chromosome Y haplotypes, the human leukocyte antigen region and the SARS-CoV-2 peptidome. By inversion imputation, we traced a reported association at 17q21.

Corticosteroids and superinfections in COVID-19 patients on invasive mechanical ventilation.

Objectives: To determine the incidence and characteristics of superinfections in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients, and the impact of dexamethasone as standard therapy.

Methods: This multicentre, observational, retrospective study included patients ≥ 18 years admitted from March 1 2020 to January 31 2021 with COVID-19 infection who received mechanical ventilation. Patient characteristics, clinical characteristics, therapy and survival were examined.

Malaria prevalence and performance of diagnostic tests among patients hospitalized with acute undifferentiated fever in Zanzibar.

Background: Control efforts in Zanzibar reduced the burden of malaria substantially from 2000 to 2015, but re-emergence of falciparum malaria has been observed lately. This study evaluated the prevalence of malaria and performance of routine diagnostic tests among hospitalized fever patients in a 1.5 years period in 2015 and 2016.

Persistent pulmonary pathology after COVID-19 is associated with high viral load, weak antibody response, and high levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9.

The association between pulmonary sequelae and markers of disease severity, as well as pro-fibrotic mediators, were studied in 108 patients 3 months after hospital admission for COVID-19. The COPD assessment test (CAT-score), spirometry, diffusion capacity of the lungs (DL), and chest-CT were performed at 23 Norwegian hospitals included in the NOR-SOLIDARITY trial, an open-labelled, randomised clinical trial, investigating the efficacy of remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Thirty-eight percent had a CAT-score ≥ 10.

Rapid SARS-CoV-2 variant monitoring using PCR confirmed by whole genome sequencing in a high-volume diagnostic laboratory.

Objectives: The emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoC), B.1.1.

Evaluation of the Effects of Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine on Viral Clearance in COVID-19 : A Randomized Trial.

Background: New treatment modalities are urgently needed for patients with COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity trial showed no effect of remdesivir or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) on mortality, but the antiviral effects of these drugs are not known.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of remdesivir and HCQ on all-cause, in-hospital mortality; the degree of respiratory failure and inflammation; and viral clearance in the oropharynx.

Increased interleukin-6 and macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 are associated with respiratory failure in COVID-19.

In SARS-CoV-2 infection there is an urgent need to identify patients that will progress to severe COVID-19 and may benefit from targeted treatment. In this study we analyzed plasma cytokines in COVID-19 patients and investigated their association with respiratory failure (RF) and treatment in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Hospitalized patients (n = 34) with confirmed COVID-19 were recruited into a prospective cohort study.

Elevated plasma sTIM-3 levels in patients with severe COVID-19.

Background: The pathogenesis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still incompletely understood, but it seems to involve immune activation and immune dysregulation.

Objective: We examined the parameters of activation of different leukocyte subsets in COVID-19-infected patients in relation to disease severity.

Methods: We analyzed plasma levels of myeloperoxidase (a marker of neutrophil activation), soluble (s) CD25 (sCD25) and soluble T-cell immunoglobulin mucin domain-3 (sTIM-3) (markers of T-cell activation and exhaustion), and sCD14 and sCD163 (markers of monocyte/macrophage activation) in 39 COVID-19-infected patients at hospital admission and 2 additional times during the first 10 days in relation to their need for intensive care unit (ICU) treatment.

Systemic complement activation is associated with respiratory failure in COVID-19 hospitalized patients.

Respiratory failure in the acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is hypothesized to be driven by an overreacting innate immune response, where the complement system is a key player. In this prospective cohort study of 39 hospitalized coronavirus disease COVID-19 patients, we describe systemic complement activation and its association with development of respiratory failure. Clinical data and biological samples were obtained at admission, days 3 to 5, and days 7 to 10.