Ongoing toxin-positive diphtheria outbreaks in a federal asylum centre in Switzerland, analysis July to September 2022.

Two diphtheria outbreaks occurred in a Swiss asylum center from July to October 2022, one is still ongoing. Outbreaks mainly involved minors and included six symptomatic respiratory diphtheria cases requiring antitoxin. Phylogenomic analyses showed evidence of imported and local transmissions of toxigenic strains in respiratory and skin lesion samples.

Accuracy of serological testing for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies: First results of a large mixed-method evaluation study.

Background: Serological immunoassays that can identify protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 are needed to adapt quarantine measures, assess vaccination responses, and evaluate donor plasma. To date, however, the utility of such immunoassays remains unclear. In a mixed-design evaluation study, we compared the diagnostic accuracy of serological immunoassays that are based on various SARS-CoV-2 proteins and assessed the neutralizing activity of antibodies in patient sera.

Clinical significance of interleukin-2/gamma interferon ratios in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific T-cell signatures.

The simultaneous determination of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and gamma interferon (IFN-γ) in QuantiFERON-TB test plasma supernatants permitted the detection of shifts in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific T-cell signatures. A subset of the 84 subjects tested revealed a significantly elevated IL-2/IFN-γ ratio, which may be a marker for the successful elimination of M. tuberculosis infection.