Field Performance and Public Health Response Using the BinaxNOWTM Rapid Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Antigen Detection Assay During Community-Based Testing.

Among 3302 persons tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by BinaxNOWTM and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in a community setting, rapid assay sensitivity was 100%/98.5%/89% using RT-PCR cycle thresholds of 30, 35, and no threshold. The specificity was 99.9%. Performance was high across ages and those with and without symptoms. Rapid resulting permitted immediate public health action.

High Likelihood of Accepting COVID-19 Vaccine in a Latinx Community at High SARS-CoV-2 Risk in San Francisco.

Of 4133 persons surveyed at a low-barrier coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test site with high positivity in an urban Latinx community in January 2021, 86% indicated that they would accept a COVID-19 vaccination. The top reasons for vaccine hesitancy included concerns around side effects and safety and distrust of health care systems.

The COVID-19 Symptom to Isolation Cascade in a Latinx Community: A Call to Action.

BACKGROUND: Rapid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis and isolation of infectious persons are critical to stopping forward transmission, and the care cascade framework can identify gaps in the COVID-19 response. METHODS: We described a COVID-19 symptom to isolation cascade and barriers among symptomatic persons who tested polymerase chain reaction positive for severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) at a low-barrier testing site serving a low-income Latinx community in San Francisco. Steps in the cascade are defined as days from symptom onset to test, test to result, and result to counseling on self-isolation. We examined SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold (Ct) values to assess the likelihood of infectiousness on the day of testing and during missed isolation days. RESULTS: Among 145 persons, 97% were Latinx and 81% had an income of <$50 000. The median time from symptom onset to isolation (interquartile range [IQR]) was 7 (5-10) days, leaving a median (IQR) of 3 (0-6) days of isolation. Eighty-three percent had moderate to high levels of virus (Ct <33), but by disclosure 23% were out of their isolation period. The longest intervals were symptom onset to test (median [IQR], 4 [2-9] days) and test to results notification (median [IQR], 3 [2-4] days). Access to a test site was the most common barrier to testing, and food and income loss was the most common barrier to isolation. CONCLUSIONS: Over half of the 10-day isolation period passed by the time of disclosure, and over a fifth of people were likely outside the window of infectiousness by the time they received results. Improvements in test access and turnaround time, plus support for isolation, are needed for epidemic control of SARS-CoV-2 in highly impacted communities.

Algae-produced Pfs25 elicits antibodies that inhibit malaria transmission.

Subunit vaccines are significantly more expensive to produce than traditional vaccines because they are based primarily on recombinant proteins that must be purified from the expression system. Despite the increased cost, subunit vaccines are being developed because they are safe, effective, and can elicit antibodies that confer protection against diseases that are not currently vaccine-preventable. Algae are an attractive platform for producing subunit vaccines because they are relatively inexpensive to grow, genetically tractable, easily scaled to large volumes, have a short generation time, and are devoid of inflammatory, viral, or prion contaminants often present in other systems. We tested whether algal chloroplasts can produce malaria transmission blocking vaccine candidates, Plasmodium falciparum surface protein 25 (Pfs25) and 28 (Pfs28). Antibodies that recognize Pfs25 and Pfs28 disrupt the sexual development of parasites within the mosquito midgut, thus preventing transmission of malaria from one human host to the next. These proteins have been difficult to produce in traditional recombinant systems because they contain tandem repeats of structurally complex epidermal growth factor-like domains, which cannot be produced in bacterial systems, and because they are not glycosylated, so they must be modified for production in eukaryotic systems. Production in algal chloroplasts avoids these issues because chloroplasts can fold complex eukaryotic proteins and do not glycosylate proteins. Here we demonstrate that algae are the first recombinant system to successfully produce an unmodified and aglycosylated version of Pfs25 or Pfs28. These antigens are structurally similar to the native proteins and antibodies raised to these recombinant proteins recognize Pfs25 and Pfs28 from P. falciparum. Furthermore, antibodies to algae-produced Pfs25 bind the surface of in-vitro cultured P. falciparum sexual stage parasites and exhibit transmission blocking activity. Thus, algae are promising organisms for producing cysteine-disulfide-containing malaria transmission blocking vaccine candidate proteins.