Environmental Sampling for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 During a COVID-19 Outbreak on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship.

During a COVID-19 outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship we sampled environmental surfaces after passengers and crew vacated cabins. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 58 of 601 samples (10%) from case cabins 1-17 days after cabins were vacated but not from noncase cabins. There was no difference in detection proportion between cabins of symptomatic (15%, 28/189; cycle quantification [Cq], 29.

Profile of organ dysfunction and predictors of mortality in severe scrub typhus infection requiring intensive care admission.

Background And Aims: Scrub typhus, a zoonotic rickettsial infection, is an important reason for intensive care unit (ICU) admission in the Indian subcontinent. We describe the clinical profile, organ dysfunction, and predictors of mortality of severe scrub typhus infection.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective study of patients admitted with scrub typhus infection to a tertiary care university affiliated teaching hospital in India during a 21-month period.

Elevated procalcitonin is associated with increased mortality in patients with scrub typhus infection needing intensive care admission.

Context: Procalcitonin is a biomarker of bacterial sepsis. It is unclear if scrub typhus, a rickettsial illness, is associated with elevated procalcitonin levels.

Aim: To assess if scrub typhus infection is associated with high procalcitonin levels and whether high levels portend a poorer prognosis.

Lack of role for CsA-sensitive or Fas pathways in the tolerization of CD4 T cells via BMT and anti-CD40L.

Anti-CD40L mAb plus bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and recipient CD8 T-cell depletion permits long-term mixed hematopoietic chimerism and systemic donor-specific tolerance to be achieved across full MHC barriers. Initial tolerance is characterized by peripheral deletion of donor-reactive CD4 cells. In regimens using costimulatory blockade without BMT to achieve allograft survival, cyclosporine inhibited graft survival, suggesting that the combination may not be clinically applicable.