Tracking SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 dissemination: insights from nationwide spike gene target failure (SGTF) and spike gene late detection (SGTL) data, Portugal, week 49 2020 to week 3 2021.

We show that the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 lineage is highly disseminated in Portugal, with the odds of B.1.1.7 proportion increasing at an estimated 89% (95% confidence interval: 83-95%) per week until week 3 2021. RT-PCR spike gene target late detection (SGTL) can constitute a useful surrogate to track B.1.1.7 spread, besides the spike gene target failure (SGTF) proxy. SGTL/SGTF samples were associated with statistically significant higher viral loads, but not with substantial shift in age distribution compared to non-SGTF/SGTL cases.

Impact of a High Coverage Vaccination Rate on Human Papillomavirus Infection Prevalence in Young Women: A Cross-sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to compare the rate of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) genotypes in vaccinated (Gardasil [quadrivalent]) and unvaccinated cohorts of young women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional study, consisting of the comparison of the prevalence of HPV 16, 18, and other HR genotypes in 2183 women younger than 25 years, according to their birth year (born >1994 [mostly vaccinated <13 years]; born 1992-1994 [vaccinated at 17 years]; born <1992 [not vaccinated/vaccinated >17 years]), in a private laboratory. RESULTS: The rates of HPV 16, 18, 16/18, and others in the cohort born before 1992 (n = 331) were 6.3%, 1.5%, 7.9%, and 31.7%. In those born 1992-1994 (n = 901), the rates were 3.3%, 0.4%, 3.6%, and 32.5%; in the ones born after 1994 (n = 951), the rates were 0.7%, 0.2%, 0.9%, and 33.2%, respectively.There were no changes in the relative risk (RR) of HR-HPV infection by genotypes other than HPV 16/18 in any cohort.The RR was significantly reduced in the cohort born after 1994 for HPV 16 (0.12 [0.050-0.270], p < .0001), HPV 18 (0.14 [0.027-0.714], p = .02), and HPV 16/18 (0.12 [0.057-0.254], p < .0001).In those born 1992-1994, there was a nearly significant reduction in the RR of HPV 18 infection (0.29 [0.079-1.09], p = .07); the reduction was significant for HPV 16 (0.52 [0.305-0.904], p = .02) and HPV 16/18 (0.45 [0.274-0.747], p = .0018). CONCLUSIONS: Young women vaccinated before 13 years had a nearly 90% risk reduction of HPV 16/18, whereas if vaccinated at 17 years, the decrease was of 50%. There was no impact in the nonvaccine genotypes.Our data highlight the importance of vaccinating at young age and of introducing vaccines covering more HR genotypes.