CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry: Design, data collection, response rates, and cohort description.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed and implemented the CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry (C19VPR) to monitor vaccine safety.

Identifying possible inaccuracy in reported birth head circumference measurements among infants in the US Zika Pregnancy and Infant Registry.

Background: The US Zika Pregnancy and Infant Registry (USZPIR) monitors infants born to mothers with confirmed or possible Zika virus infection during pregnancy. The surveillance case definition for Zika-associated birth defects includes microcephaly based on head circumference (HC).

Methods: We assessed birth and follow-up data from infants with birth HC measurements <3rd percentile and birthweight ≥10th percentile to determine possible misclassification of microcephaly.

Update: Characteristics of Symptomatic Women of Reproductive Age with Laboratory-Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Pregnancy Status - United States, January 22-October 3, 2020.

Studies suggest that pregnant women might be at increased risk for severe illness associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (1,2). This report provides updated information about symptomatic women of reproductive age (15-44 years) with laboratory-confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. During January 22-October 3, CDC received reports through national COVID-19 case surveillance or through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) of 1,300,938 women aged 15-44 years with laboratory results indicative of acute infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Vital Signs: Zika-Associated Birth Defects and Neurodevelopmental Abnormalities Possibly Associated with Congenital Zika Virus Infection - U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States, 2018.

Introduction: Zika virus infection during pregnancy causes serious birth defects and might be associated with neurodevelopmental abnormalities in children. Early identification of and intervention for neurodevelopmental problems can improve cognitive, social, and behavioral functioning.

Methods: Pregnancies with laboratory evidence of confirmed or possible Zika virus infection and infants resulting from these pregnancies are included in the U.

Pregnancy Outcomes After Maternal Zika Virus Infection During Pregnancy - U.S. Territories, January 1, 2016-April 25, 2017.

Pregnant women living in or traveling to areas with local mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission are at risk for Zika virus infection, which can lead to severe fetal and infant brain abnormalities and microcephaly (1). In February 2016, CDC recommended 1) routine testing for Zika virus infection of asymptomatic pregnant women living in areas with ongoing local Zika virus transmission at the first prenatal care visit, 2) retesting during the second trimester for women who initially test negative, and 3) testing of pregnant women with signs or symptoms consistent with Zika virus disease (e.g.

Bending amplitude - a new quantitative assay of C. elegans locomotion: identification of phenotypes for mutants in genes encoding muscle focal adhesion components.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans uses striated muscle in its body wall for locomotion. The myofilament lattice is organized such that all the thin filament attachment structures (dense bodies, analogous to Z-disks) and thick filament organizing centers (M-lines) are attached to the muscle cell membrane. Thus, the force of muscle contraction is transmitted through these structures and allows locomotion of the worm.

PKN-1, a homologue of mammalian PKN, is involved in the regulation of muscle contraction and force transmission in C. elegans.

To examine the in vivo functions of protein kinase N (PKN), one of the effectors of Rho small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases), we used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a genetic model system. We identified a C. elegans homologue (pkn-1) of mammalian PKN and confirmed direct binding to C.