A cross-sectional national investigation of COVID-19 outbreaks in nurseries during rapid spread of the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant of SARS-CoV-2 in England.

Background: In England, the emergence the more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variant Alpha (B.1.1.

Perceptions of adolescents on the COVID-19 pandemic and returning to school: qualitative questionnaire survey, September 2020, England.

Background: Little is known about the views of adolescents returning to secondary school during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: In September 2020, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), formerly known as Public Health England (PHE),recruited staff and students in secondary schools to provide nasal swabs, oral fluid and blood samples for SARS-CoV-2 infection and antibody testing. Students aged 11-18 years in five London schools completed a short questionnaire about their perception of the pandemic, returning to school, risk to themselves and to others and infection control measures, and participating in school testing.

Feasibility and acceptability of SARS-CoV-2 testing and surveillance in primary school children in England: Prospective, cross-sectional study.

Background: The reopening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about widespread infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in educational settings. In June 2020, Public Health England (PHE) initiated prospective national surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in primary schools across England (sKIDs). We used this opportunity to assess the feasibility and agreeability of large-scale surveillance and testing for SARS-CoV-2 infections in school among staff, parents and students.

SARS-CoV-2 infection, antibody positivity and seroconversion rates in staff and students following full reopening of secondary schools in England: A prospective cohort study, September-December 2020.

Background: Older children have higher SARS-CoV-2 infection rates than younger children. We investigated SARS-CoV-2 infection, seroprevalence and seroconversion rates in staff and students following the full reopening of all secondary schools in England.

Methods: Public Health England (PHE) invited secondary schools in six regions (East and West London, Hertfordshire, Derbyshire, Manchester and Birmingham) to participate in SARS-CoV-2 surveillance during the 2020/21 academic year.

COVID-19 outbreaks following full reopening of primary and secondary schools in England: Cross-sectional national surveillance, November 2020.

Background: The full reopening of schools in September 2020 was associated with an increase in COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in educational settings across England.

Methods: Primary and secondary schools reporting an outbreak (≥2 laboratory-confirmed cases within 14 days) to Public Health England (PHE) between 31 August and 18 October 2020 were contacted in November 2020 to complete an online questionnaire.

Interpretation: There were 969 school outbreaks reported to PHE, comprising 2% ( = 450) of primary schools and 10% ( = 519) of secondary schools in England.

Paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS): Prospective, national surveillance, United Kingdom and Ireland, 2020.

Background: Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS), first identified in April 2020, shares features of both Kawasaki disease (KD) and toxic shock syndrome (TSS). The surveillance describes the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of PIMS-TS in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Methods: Public Health England initiated prospective national surveillance of PIMS-TS through the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit.

Serological surveillance of SARS-CoV-2: Six-month trends and antibody response in a cohort of public health workers.

Background: Antibody waning after SARS-CoV-2 infection may result in reduction in long-term immunity following natural infection and vaccination, and is therefore a major public health issue. We undertook prospective serosurveillance in a large cohort of healthy adults from the start of the epidemic in England.

Methods: Clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers were recruited across three English regions and tested monthly from March to November 2020 for SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein and nucleoprotein (N) antibodies using five different immunoassays.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in primary schools in England in June-December, 2020 (sKIDs): an active, prospective surveillance study.

Background: Little is known about the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in educational settings. Public Health England initiated a study, COVID-19 Surveillance in School KIDs (sKIDs), in primary schools when they partially reopened from June 1, 2020, after the first national lockdown in England to estimate the incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, seroprevalence, and seroconversion in staff and students.

Methods: sKIDs, an active, prospective, surveillance study, included two groups: the weekly swabbing group and the blood sampling group.

Epidemiology and clinical features of childhood chronic hepatitis B infection diagnosed in England.

Background: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of childhood chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection diagnosed in England using capture-recapture analysis of 2 independent data sources and to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics, management, complications and outcome of children with CHB.

Methods: Pediatric specialists were contacted to report all CHB cases in children aged <16 years and complete a standardized questionnaire. Capture-recapture analysis of cases diagnosed during 2001-2009 using 2 independent data sources was performed to estimate the prevalence of childhood CHB.

The performance of approximations of farm contiguity compared to contiguity defined using detailed geographical information in two sample areas in Scotland: implications for foot-and-mouth disease modelling.

Background: When modelling infectious diseases, accurately capturing the pattern of dissemination through space is key to providing optimal recommendations for control. Mathematical models of disease spread in livestock, such as for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), have done this by incorporating a transmission kernel which describes the decay in transmission rate with increasing Euclidean distance from an infected premises (IP). However, this assumes a homogenous landscape, and is based on the distance between point locations of farms.

YeiR: a metal-binding GTPase from Escherichia coli involved in metal homeostasis.

A comparative genomic analysis predicted that many members of the under-characterized COG0523 subfamily of putative P-loop GTPases function in metal metabolism. In this work we focused on the uncharacterized Escherichia coli protein YeiR by studying both the physiology of a yeiR mutant and the in vitro biochemical properties of YeiR expressed as a fusion with the maltose-binding protein (YeiR-MBP). Our results demonstrate that deletion of yeiR increases the sensitivity of E.

Invasive meningococcal disease in England and Wales: implications for the introduction of new vaccines.

A number of meningococcal vaccines have either been recently licensed or are in late-phase clinical trials. To inform national vaccination policy, it is important to define the burden of disease and the potential impact of any new vaccine. This study describes the epidemiology of invasive meningococcal disease across all age groups in England and Wales for recent epidemiological years between 2006 and 2010.