Publications by authors named "Kristina Franck"

Background: Vaccine breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections are common and of clinical and public health concern. However, little is known about the immunological characteristics of patients hospitalized due to these infections. We aimed to investigate and compare immune cell subpopulations and induced immune responses in vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19.

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Article Synopsis
  • Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) infections can cause severe respiratory issues and acute flaccid myelitis, with a significant rise reported during the fall-winter season of 2021-2022 across Europe.
  • The study by the European Non-Polio Enterovirus Network (ENPEN) analyzed over 10,481 samples from 19 countries, identifying 1,004 as EV-D68, predominantly affecting young children, where 37.9% required hospitalization.
  • Additionally, genetic analyses uncovered two new B3-derived lineages without regional patterns, indicating a notable impact of the infections and the emergence of new virus strains.
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The microbiological analysis of wastewater samples is increasingly used for the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 globally. We described the setup process of the national SARS-CoV-2 wastewater-based surveillance system in Denmark, presented its main results during the first year of activities, from July 2021 to June 2022, and discussed their operational significance. The Danish SARS-CoV-2 wastewater-based surveillance system was designed to cover 85 % of the population in Denmark and it entailed taking three weekly samples from 230 sites.

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  • A study in Denmark identified 10 cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.2.86, showcasing its genetic characteristics and presence in low levels through wastewater analysis.
  • The World Health Organization classified BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring on August 17, 2023, due to its numerous mutations in the spike gene.
  • There is an ongoing need for global monitoring of COVID-19 and its variants, including BA.2.86, to track their spread and impact.
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Analysis of wastewater is used in many settings for surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, but it remains unclear how well wastewater testing results reflect incidence. Denmark has had an extensive wastewater analysis system that conducts 3 weekly tests in ≈200 sites and has 85% population coverage; the country also offers free SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests to all residents. Using time series analysis for modeling, we found that wastewater data, combined with information on circulating variants and the number of human tests performed, closely fitted the incidence curve of persons testing positive.

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Objective: To estimate the incidence of neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection and the number of neonates with suspected invasive bacterial infection (IBI) needed to treat (NNT) with acyclovir to ensure prompt treatment of invasive HSV infections.

Design: A nationwide population-based cohort study.

Setting: All neonatal and paediatric emergency departments in Denmark from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019.

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Background: Viral shedding and neutralizing antibody (NAb) dynamics among patients hospitalized with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and immune correlates of protection have been key questions throughout the pandemic. We investigated the duration of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positivity, infectious viral shedding and NAb titers as well as the association between NAb titers and disease severity in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Denmark 2020-2021.

Materials And Methods: Prospective single-center observational cohort study of 47 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

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Background: Neurological complications during and after SARS-CoV-2 infection have been frequently described. The detection of either SARS-CoV-2 RNA or specific antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in cerebrospinal fluid in the context of concomitant neurological manifestations indicates neuroinfection.

Methods And Results: This is a retrospective descriptive analysis of cerebrospinal fluids and serum samples from 2 hospitalized patients and autopsy findings from 2 patients who died at home.

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We report wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern by using mutation-specific, real-time PCR and rapid nanopore sequencing. This surveillance might be useful for an early warning in a scenario in which a new variant is emerging, even in areas that have low virus incidences.

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Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is spreading geographically, and new risk areas are expected throughout Denmark. In this case report, we describe the first Danish case of vaccine breakthrough tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in a 76-year old female suffering from severe symptoms with need of intensive-care therapy. We want to draw attention to TBE as a differential diagnosis in all undiagnosed patients with symptoms of viral encephalitis, regardless of travel history and vaccine status.

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Human orthopneumovirus, formerly known as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), is a frequent cause of hospitalization among infants due to respiratory tract infection. Fast, reliable, and easy to perform tests are needed to optimize treatment and to identify children that should be contact isolated to avoid nosocomial outbreaks. We prospectively tested 200 respiratory samples with a new assay (ImmuView RSV Antigen Test, SSI Diagnostica) and compared the results to the Alere BinaxNOW RSV Card by using our laboratory-developed real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as reference.

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Viral gastroenteritis causes high morbidity worldwide. In this study, stool samples from 179 children aged 0-6 years attending Danish day care centers were investigated for gastrointestinal viruses. Each child was observed for one year with submission of samples and questionnaires every two months.

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Denmark is a low prevalence country with regard to methicillin resistant (MRSA). In 2008 and 2014, two neonatal wards in the Copenhagen area experienced outbreaks with a typical community acquired MRSA belonging to the same type and sequence type (t015:ST45) and both were PVL and ACME negative. In outbreak 1, the isolates harbored SCC IVa and in outbreak 2 SCC V.

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Antiviral treatment of immunocompromised patients with prolonged influenza virus infection can lead to multidrug resistance. This study reveals the selection of antiviral resistance mutations in influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus in an immunocompromised patient during a 6-month period. The patient was treated with two courses of oseltamivir (5 days and 2 months, respectively), with the first course starting at symptom onset, and subsequently zanamivir (2 months and 10 days, respectively).

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Objectives: During the last decades, a changing epidemiological pattern of genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection has emerged. Primary infection is now caused as often by HSV-1 as by HSV-2. Once established, HSV can be reactivated leading to recurrent mucocutaneous lesions as well as meningitis.

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Despite the introduction of safe, effective vaccines decades ago and joint global public health efforts to eliminate measles, this vaccine-preventable disease continues to pose threats to children's health worldwide. During 2013 and 2014, measles virus was introduced into Denmark through several independent importations. This resulted in a number of secondary cases (n=7), with two clusters in 2013 and one in 2014.

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Background: Norovirus (NoV) is a major cause of gastroenteritis and hospital outbreaks, leading to substantial morbidity and direct healthcare expenses as well as indirect societal costs. The aim of the study was to estimate the proportion of nosocomial NoV infections among inpatients testing positive for NoV in Denmark, 2002-2010, and to study the distribution of NoV genotypes among inpatients with nosocomial and community-acquired NoV infections, respectively.

Methods: Admission and stool sampling dates from 3656 NoV-infected patients were used to estimate the proportion of nosocomial infections.

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Background: Norovirus (NoV) is the predominant cause of foodborne disease outbreaks. Virus contamination may occur during all steps of food processing, from production to preparation and serving. The relative importance of these different routes of contamination is unknown.

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Short sleep duration increases the risk of several diseases, possibly involving compromised immune function. However, most previous studies are based on experimentally induced sleep deprivation, and only a few have studied natural variations in sleep duration. Thus our aim was to study how natural variations in sleep duration affect immune function.

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The clinical picture of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection includes genital blisters and less frequently meningitis, and some individuals suffer from recurrent episodes of these manifestations. We hypothesized that adaptive and/or innate immune functional deficiencies may be a major contributing factor in susceptibility to recurrent HSV-2 meningitis. Ten patients with recurrent HSV-2 meningitis were studied during clinical remission.

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Cytokine profile assessment is important to characterize immune responses to pathogens. To identify optimal time points for determination of cytokine profiles, we diluted whole blood 1:10, to enable daily cytokine measurements during one week. Cultures for 10 blood donors were set up in the presence of phytohemagglutinin (PHA), cytomegalovirus (CMV) or Candida.

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The assessment of cytokine production is an important component of studies of cell-mediated immune responses (CMI) to immunological challenges. In this study, we present a method to enhance the detection of cytokine-producing cells by allowing antigen-specific cells to expand in long-term culture. We investigated the influence of the degree of dilution of whole blood and the duration of the incubation period on whole blood as well as peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), cultured in the absence or presence of mitogens, superantigens or specific antigens, for intracellular cytokine production (IFNgamma, TNFalpha, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-13) by CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes using four-colour flow cytometry.

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