Vitamin-D levels and intensive care unit outcomes of a cohort of critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Objectives: The pattern of global COVID-19 has caused many to propose a possible link between susceptibility, severity and vitamin-D levels. Vitamin-D has known immune modulatory effects and deficiency has been linked to increased severity of viral infections.

Methods: We evaluated patients admitted with confirmed SARS-COV-2 to our hospital between March-June 2020.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Infections in Critical Care Staff: Beware the Risks Beyond the Bedside.

Objectives: Critical care workers were considered to be at high risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 infection from patients during the first wave of the pandemic. Staff symptoms, previous swab testing, and antibody prevalence were correlated with patient admissions to investigate this assumption.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Temporal development and neutralising potential of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalised COVID-19 patients: An observational cohort study.

Antibody responses are important in the control of viral respiratory infection in the human host. What is not clear for SARS-CoV-2 is how rapidly this response occurs, or when antibodies with protective capability evolve. Hence, defining the events of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion and the time frame for the development of antibodies with protective potential may help to explain the different clinical presentations of COVID-19.

Severely ill COVID-19 patients display impaired exhaustion features in SARS-CoV-2-reactive CD8 T cells.

The molecular properties of CD8 T cells that respond to SARS-CoV-2 infection are not fully known. Here, we report on the single-cell transcriptomes of >80,000 virus-reactive CD8 T cells, obtained using a modified Antigen-Reactive T cell Enrichment (ARTE) assay, from 39 COVID-19 patients and 10 healthy subjects. COVID-19 patients segregated into two groups based on whether the dominant CD8 T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 was 'exhausted' or not.

Increased case-finding and uptake of direct-acting antiviral treatment essential for micro-elimination of hepatitis C among people living with HIV: a national record linkage study.

Objectives: Micro-elimination of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in people living with HIV (PLHIV) and co-infected with HCV has been proposed as a key contribution to the overall goal of HCV elimination. While other studies have examined micro-elimination in HIV-treated cohorts, few have considered HCV micro-elimination among those not treated for HIV or at a national level.

Methods: Through data linkage of national and sentinel surveillance data, we examined the extent of HCV testing, diagnosis and treatment among a cohort of PLHIV in Scotland identified through the national database of HIV-diagnosed individuals, up to the end of 2017.

Genomic epidemiology reveals multiple introductions of SARS-CoV-2 from mainland Europe into Scotland.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first diagnosed in Scotland on 1 March 2020. During the first month of the outbreak, 2,641 cases of COVID-19 led to 1,832 hospital admissions, 207 intensive care admissions and 126 deaths. We aimed to identify the source and number of introductions of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) into Scotland using a combined phylogenetic and epidemiological approach.

Vaccine effectiveness of live attenuated and trivalent inactivated influenza vaccination in 2010/11 to 2015/16: the SIVE II record linkage study.

Background: There is good evidence of vaccine effectiveness in healthy individuals but less robust evidence for vaccine effectiveness in the populations targeted for influenza vaccination. The live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) has recently been recommended for children in the UK. The trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) is recommended for all people aged ≥ 65 years and for those aged < 65 years who are at an increased risk of complications from influenza infection (e.

Performance characteristics of the SpeeDx PlexPCR VHS assay for the molecular detection of herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, and Treponema pallidum in lesion swabs.

This study compares the performance of a commercial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for detection of herpes simplex virus (HSV) 1 and 2, varicella zoster virus (VZV), and Treponema pallidum with laboratory-developed assays. A panel of 250 samples, previously tested using in-house assays, was tested on the PlexPCR® VHS assay. The panel consisted of 202 positive specimens [HSV-1 (n=51); HSV-2 (n=51); VZV (n=51); T.

Incidence and outcomes of healthcare-associated COVID-19 infections: significance of delayed diagnosis and correlation with staff absence.

Background: The sudden increase in COVID-19 admissions in hospitals during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic of 2020 led to onward transmissions among vulnerable inpatients.

Aims: This study was performed to evaluate the prevalence and clinical outcomes of healthcare-associated COVID-19 infections (HA-COVID-19) during the 2020 epidemic and study factors which may promote or correlate with its incidence and transmission in a Teaching Hospital NHS Trust in London, UK.

Methods: Electronic laboratory, patient and staff self-reported sickness records were interrogated from 1 March to 18 April 2020.

Evaluation of dried blood spot testing using the Abbott Alinity i.

Background: The West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre currently uses the Abbott Architect for DBS serology. The new Abbott Alinity i will replace the Architect in our laboratory. In this study, mock and stored patient DBS samples were tested on both platforms and results compared.

Investigating utilising the Alinity m platform to detect hepatitis C virus RNA in dried blood spot samples.

Background: Elimination of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) relies on increasing HCV diagnostic rates in hard to reach populations. Dried blood spot (DBS) samples are a convenient sample type for HCV testing, as they can be collected in non-traditional settings such as drug services and prison settings, increasing access to HCV testing.

Objectives: Herein we investigate an off-label DBS protocol for use on the Abbott Alinity m platform.

Using next-generation sequencing of microRNAs to identify host and/or pathogen nucleic acid signatures in samples from children with biliary atresia - a pilot study.

Biliary atresia (BA) is a progressive disease affecting infants resulting in inflammatory obliteration and fibrosis of the extra- and intra-hepatic biliary tree. BA may be grouped into type 1 isolated; type 2 syndromic, where other congenital malformations may be present; type 3 cystic BA, where there is cyst formation within an otherwise obliterated biliary tree; and cytomegalovirus-associated BA. The cause of BA is unclear, with immune dysregulation, inflammation and infection, particularly with cytomegalovirus (CMV), all implicated.

The first case of HIV-2 in Scotland.

HIV-1 infects an estimated 37 million people worldwide, while the rarer HIV-2 infects 1-2 million worldwide. HIV-2 is mainly restricted to West African countries. The majority of patients in Scotland are diagnosed with HIV-1, but in 2013 the West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre (WoSSVC) diagnosed Scotland's first HIV-2 positive case in a patient from Côte d'Ivoire.

Enhanced Detection of DNA Viruses in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of Encephalitis Patients Using Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing.

The long and expanding list of viral pathogens associated with causing encephalitis confounds current diagnostic procedures, and in up to 50% of cases, the etiology remains undetermined. Sequence-agnostic metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) obviates the need to specify targets in advance and thus has great potential in encephalitis diagnostics. However, the low relative abundance of viral nucleic acids in clinical specimens poses a significant challenge.

A Study of Universal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 RNA Testing Among Residents and Staff in a Large Group of Care Homes in South London.

Background: Care homes have experienced a high number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related deaths among residents since the onset of the pandemic. However, up to May 2020, there has been a lack of information about the extent of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among residents and staff in care homes and limited testing in this setting.

Methods: Combined nose and throat swab testing for SARS-CoV-2 RNA was carried out in 2455 residents and staff across 37 care homes in the London Borough of Bromley across a 3-week period.

From Hospital to the Community: Redesigning the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Clinical Service Model to Respond to an Outbreak of HIV Among People Who Inject Drugs.

An outbreak of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among people who inject drugs in Glasgow, Scotland started in 2014. We describe 156 cases over 5 years and evaluate the impact of clinical interventions using virological and phylogenetic analysis. We established (1) HIV services within homeless health facilities, including outreach nurses, and (2) antiretroviral therapy (ART) via community pharmacies.

Staging and treatment outcomes in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a single-centre UK cohort.

The 8 edition of the UICC TNM (UICC 8) staging rules for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) acknowledges dichotomous disease biology based on the human papillomavirus (HPV) tumour status. This retrospective study was undertaken to validate those staging rules in a single UK treatment centre. Given a recent resurgence of interest in primary surgery for OPSCC, a secondary objective was to identify subsets of patients who might benefit.

Multicenter clinical evaluation of alinity m HCV assay performance.

Background: Nucleic acid testing is essential for the detection and quantification of HCV RNA in the diagnosis of HCV infection and treatment monitoring. The Alinity m HCV assay was recently developed by Abbott Molecular for rapid detection and quantification of HCV RNA on the fully automated, continuous, random-access Alinity m analyzer.

Objectives: Our study assessed the performance of the new Alinity m HCV assay for detection and quantification of HCV RNA in a large series of patient samples of various genotypes.