COVID-19 transmission in Hong Kong despite universal masking.

Objectives: mask-wearing outside the home has been almost universal in Hong Kong since late January 2020 with very high compliance. Nevertheless, community spread of COVID-19 has still occurred. We aimed to assess the settings where COVID-19 transmission occurred and determine the fraction of transmission events that occurred in settings where masks are not usually worn.

Multiple hepatic and splenic abscesses due to Burkholderia pseudomallei.

We report a case of melioidosis in an alcoholic and diabetic male patient presenting with multiple hepatic and splenic abscesses. Melioidosis is caused by an environmental bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. The clinical manifestations vary from asymptomatic infection to fulminant septic shock with abscesses in multiple internal organs.

Soluble ACE2-mediated cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 via interaction with proteins related to the renin-angiotensin system.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can cause acute respiratory disease and multiorgan failure. Finding human host factors that are essential for SARS-CoV-2 infection could facilitate the formulation of treatment strategies. Using a human kidney cell line-HK-2-that is highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, we performed a genome-wide RNAi screen and identified virus dependency factors (VDFs), which play regulatory roles in biological pathways linked to clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Robust SARS-CoV-2 infection in nasal turbinates after treatment with systemic neutralizing antibodies.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is characterized by a burst in the upper respiratory portal for high transmissibility. To determine human neutralizing antibodies (HuNAbs) for entry protection, we tested three potent HuNAbs (IC range, 0.0007-0.

Performance of at-home self-collected saliva and nasal-oropharyngeal swabs in the surveillance of COVID-19.

: SARS-CoV-2 quickly spreads in the worldwide population, imposing social restrictions to control the infection, being the massive testing another essential strategy to break the chain of transmission. : To compare the performance of at-home self-collected samples - saliva and combined nasal-oropharyngeal swabs (NOP) - for SARS-CoV-2 detection in a telemedicine platform for COVID-19 surveillance. : We analyzed 201 patients who met the criteria of suspected COVID-19.

Alternative vanHAX promoters and increased vanA-plasmid copy number resurrect silenced glycopeptide resistance in Enterococcus faecium.

Background: Vancomycin variable enterococci (VVE) are van-positive isolates with a susceptible phenotype that can convert to a resistant phenotype during vancomycin selection.

Objectives: To describe a vancomycin-susceptible vanA-PCR positive ST203 VVE Enterococcus faecium isolate (VVESwe-S) from a liver transplantation patient in Sweden which reverted to resistant (VVESwe-R) during in vitro vancomycin exposure.

Methods: WGS analysis revealed the genetic differences between the isolates.

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Hong Kong and in residents evacuated from Hubei province, China: a multicohort study.

Background: The role of subclinical severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections in perpetuating the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown because population seroprevalence data are absent. We aimed to establish the sensitivity and specificity of our enzyme immunoassay and microneutralisation assay, and the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Hong Kong before and after the pandemic, as well as in Hong Kong residents evacuated from Hubei province, China.

Methods: We did a multicohort study in a hospital and university in Hong Kong.

Coinfection by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Virus Enhances the Severity of Pneumonia in Golden Syrian Hamsters.

Background: Clinical outcomes of the interaction between the co-circulating pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and seasonal influenza viruses are unknown.

Methods: We established a golden Syrian hamster model coinfected by SARS-CoV-2 and mouse-adapted A(H1N1)pdm09 simultaneously or sequentially. The weight loss, clinical scores, histopathological changes, viral load and titer, and serum neutralizing antibody titer were compared with hamsters challenged by either virus.

Corrigendum: Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of Rhinovirus and Influenza Virus Infection.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.

Convalescent plasma - Is it useful for treating SARS Co-V2 infection?

The world is challenged with the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Although preventive measures such as social distancing, personal protective equipment and isolation would decrease the spread of the infection, a definitive treatment is still under way. Antivirals, immunisation, convalescent plasma (CP) and many more modalities are under trial, and there has been no definite answer to the management of COVID-19 infection.

COVID-19 and haematology services in a cancer centre from a middle-income country: adapting service delivery, balancing the known and unknown during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions in multiple spheres of healthcare delivery in the world. Developing nations have had to tackle this unanticipated crisis in the midst of various other healthcare delivery issues and resource constraints. As a tertiary level cancer care provider located in an eastern Indian city, a COVID-19 hotspot, we share our experience from the perspective of haematology and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) services.

Metallodrug ranitidine bismuth citrate suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication and relieves virus-associated pneumonia in Syrian hamsters.

SARS-CoV-2 is causing a pandemic of COVID-19, with high infectivity and significant mortality. Currently, therapeutic options for COVID-19 are limited. Historically, metal compounds have found use as antimicrobial agents, but their antiviral activities have rarely been explored.

Prophage exotoxins enhance colonization fitness in epidemic scarlet fever-causing Streptococcus pyogenes.

The re-emergence of scarlet fever poses a new global public health threat. The capacity of North-East Asian serotype M12 (emm12) Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus, GAS) to cause scarlet fever has been linked epidemiologically to the presence of novel prophages, including prophage ΦHKU.vir encoding the secreted superantigens SSA and SpeC and the DNase Spd1.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic: how does it spread and how do we stop it?

Purpose Of Review: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global health threat associated with major socioeconomic disruptions. Understanding on the transmission characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for optimizing preventive strategies.

Recent Findings: SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted efficiently between persons through respiratory droplets and direct and indirect contact.

Viruses harness YxxØ motif to interact with host AP2M1 for replication: A vulnerable broad-spectrum antiviral target.

Targeting a universal host protein exploited by most viruses would be a game-changing strategy that offers broad-spectrum solution and rapid pandemic control including the current COVID-19. Here, we found a common YxxØ-motif of multiple viruses that exploits host AP2M1 for intracellular trafficking. A library chemical, -(p-amylcinnamoyl)anthranilic acid (ACA), was identified to interrupt AP2M1-virus interaction and exhibit potent antiviral efficacy against a number of viruses in vitro and in vivo, including the influenza A viruses (IAVs), Zika virus (ZIKV), human immunodeficiency virus, and coronaviruses including MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.

Rare/cryptic Aspergillus species infections and importance of antifungal susceptibility testing.

Background: The number of patients infected with Aspergillus rose dramatically in recent years. However, studies on the clinical spectrum and antifungal susceptibilities of non-classical (non-fumigatus, non-flavus, non-niger and non-terreus) pathogenic Aspergillus species are very limited.

Objectives: We examined the clinical spectrum and antifungal susceptibilities of 34 non-duplicated, non-classical Aspergillus isolates collected from Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

Comparative tropism, replication kinetics, and cell damage profiling of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV with implications for clinical manifestations, transmissibility, and laboratory studies of COVID-19: an observational study.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was reported from China in January, 2020. SARS-CoV-2 is efficiently transmitted from person to person and, in 2 months, has caused more than 82 000 laboratory-confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 2800 deaths in 46 countries. The total number of cases and deaths has surpassed that of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV).

COVID-19 salivary signature: diagnostic and research opportunities.

The COVID-19 (caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) epidemic started in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China) in mid-December 2019 and quickly spread across the world as a pandemic. As a key to tracing the disease and to implement strategies aimed at breaking the chain of disease transmission, extensive testing for SARS-CoV-2 was suggested. Although nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs are the most commonly used biological samples for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, they have a number of limitations related to sample collection and healthcare personnel safety.

Immuno-informatics approach for multi-epitope vaccine designing against SARS-CoV-2.

The novel Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has set the fatality rates ablaze across the world. So, to combat this disease, we have designed a multi-epitope vaccine from various proteins of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with an immuno-informatics approach, validated in silico to be stable, non-allergic and antigenic. Cytotoxic T-cell, helper T-cell, and B-cell epitopes were computationally predicted from six conserved protein sequences among four viral strains isolated across the world.

Two cases of bacteraemia in solid organ transplant recipients.

Nocardiosis is an opportunistic infection occurring in immunosuppressed patients. While disseminated nocardiosis is common in immunosuppressed patients, Nocardia bacteraemia is rare. There are few reports of Nocardia bacteraemia following solid organ transplantation.

Differential immune activation profile of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV infection in human lung and intestinal cells: Implications for treatment with IFN-β and IFN inducer.

Objectives: Respiratory and intestinal tract are two primary target organs of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, detailed characterization of the host-virus interplay in infected human lung and intestinal epithelial cells is lacking.

Methods: We utilized immunofluorescence assays, flow cytometry, and RT-qPCR to delineate the virological features and the innate immune response of the host cells against SARS-CoV-2 infection in two prototype human cell lines representing the human lung (Calu3) and intestinal (Caco2) epithelium when compared with SARS-CoV.