Systematic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 reveals dynamics of variant mutagenesis and transmission in a large urban population.

Highly mutable pathogens generate viral diversity that impacts virulence, transmissibility, treatment, and thwarts acquired immunity. We previously described C19-SPAR-Seq, a high-throughput, next-generation sequencing platform to detect SARS-CoV-2 that we here deployed to systematically profile variant dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 for over 3 years in a large, North American urban environment (Toronto, Canada). Sequencing of the ACE2 receptor binding motif and polybasic furin cleavage site of the Spike gene in over 70,000 patients revealed that population sweeps of canonical variants of concern (VOCs) occurred in repeating wavelets.

Impact of steroid-sparing immunosuppressive agents on tumor outcome in the context of cancer immunotherapy with highlight on melanoma: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

Background: The impact of steroid-sparing immunosuppressive agents (SSIAs) for immune-related adverse events (irAEs) on tumor outcome is not well-known. This systematic review evaluates tumor outcomes for corticosteroid (CS) monotherapy versus CS with SSIA (CS-SSIA) for irAE treatment with a focus on melanoma.

Methods: Search was conducted through 1/5/23 using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Web of Science.

Aseptic Meningitis and White Matter Disease in Childhood-Onset Neuropsychiatric Lupus.

We reported a 10-year-old girl who had an atypical demyelinating disease as the presentation of her neuropsychiatric lupus. The patient had a 4-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus which had been on remission until she presented with fever and headache at the age of 10 years. Physical examination showed meningism.

Audiological performance and subjective satisfaction of the ADHEAR system in experienced pediatric users with unilateral microtia and aural atresia.

Introduction: Despite the reported auditory deficits and developmental challenges in children with unilateral microtia and aural atresia (UMAA), there remains a lack of consensus on early intervention with bone conduction hearing aids (BCHAs) to restore binaural hearing due to the uncertain clinical benefits and intolerability of the conventional devices. Previous studies investigating the auditory benefits under binaural hearing condition were limited and demonstrated controversial opinions in heterogenous patient groups with various devices. Our study aimed to evaluate the audiological performance, including monoaural and binaural hearing, and subjective satisfaction of the ADHEAR system, a novel adhesive BCHA, in experienced pediatric users with UMAA.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss in diabetes mellitus patients receiving intra-tympanic steroid injections.

Background: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is an acute hearing disorder typically managed using steroids. However, prognostic factors of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients undergoing intra-tympanic steroid injections (ITSIs) are unclear. We explored the prognostic factors for ITSI in DM patients with unilateral SSNHL.