Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Humoral Response Following Vaccination with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Covishield™) and/or Sinopharm, BBIBP-CorV (Vero cell™).

BACKGROUND: Billions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been introducing in the world to prevent pandemic COVID-19. Higher efficacy but limited data are available for its longevity. We aimed to find out the IgG Anti-SARS Cov-2 antibody level among frontline healthcare workers after two doses of vaccines. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried among 170 HCPs of Seti Provincial Hospital of western Nepal, who were more than 18 years, and had taken two doses of either one of COVID 19 vaccine. All those participants, who were on leave during the data collection tenure (1st February 2022 to 28th February 2022) and/or did not consent to participate were excluded. Mindray SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG assay kit based on CLIA method, was used whose target antigen is S-RBD (spike protein of receptor binding domain) antigen. The IgG immunoglobulin is detected and cut off value ≥10 AU/ml is considered positive. RESULTS: Based on the recommended cut off, the antibody was present in more than 90% across both groups of vaccinee i.e. the positive antibody titer at a mean duration of 7.31 months was 93.53% overall (93.75% and 93.44% in Vero cell™ and Covishield™ vaccinees respectively). There were 3.92 times high odds of high antibody titer (≥250 AU/ml) in Covishield™ group (OR: 3.92, 95% CI: 1.86-8.26, P-value: <0.001) than in Vero cell™ group of vaccinee. Similarly, there were significant difference of high titer of antibody across groups with more than six months of elapse of vaccination (OR: 2.18, 95% CI: 1.06-4.49, P-value: <0.001) than with less than six months of elapse of vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: The humoral response was higher among HCPs who received two-doses vaccination with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Covishield™) and/or Sinopharm, BBIBP-CorV (Vero cell™) vaccine, and among those with six or more months of elapse of vaccination. The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 following two-doses vaccination among HCPs was more than nine-tenths.

Serum iron Profile of Patients with Sickle Cell Disease and its Association with Socio-demographic Characteristics and Duration of Diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Sickle cell anemia is the most common hemoglobinopathy in the world. The study aimed to evaluate the iron profile and its association with socio-demographic characteristics in patients with sickle cell disease. METHODS: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to know the iron profile and its socio-demographic association in patients with sickle cell disease. RESULTS: The average serum iron, TIBC, and transferrin saturation were 16.75 ± 6.40 mcgMole/L, 69.46 ± 16.94 mcg/dl and 25.15 ± 12.51% respectively. The serum ferritin ranged from 10.00 to 3000.00 ng/ml. The proportion of participants with normal serum iron, TIBC, serum ferritin, and transferrin saturation were 86.10%, 0.00%, 33.90% and 36.40% respectively. All of the participants of this study had low TIBC (1005), and more than half of the participants had elevated serum ferritin (56.40%). CONCLUSIONS: Iron overload is a common complication of sickle cell disease. There was no association of age and sex with iron profile. The TIBC variation between the Chaudhary ethnic group compared to other ethnic groups signifies the ethnic role in the iron profile.

Possible high risk of transmission of the Nipah virus in South and South East Asia: a review.

Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic, single-stranded RNA virus from the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus. NiV is a biosafety-level-4 pathogen that is mostly spread by Pteropus species, which serve as its natural reservoir host. NiV is one of the major public health challenges in South and South East Asia. However, few molecular studies have been conducted to characterise NiV in a specific region. The main objective of this review is to understand the epidemiology, pathogenesis, molecular surveillance, transmission dynamics, genetic diversity, reservoir host, clinical characteristics, and phylogenetics of NiV. South and South East Asian nations have experienced NiV outbreaks. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that two primary clades of NiV are in circulation. In humans, NiV causes severe respiratory illness and/or deadly encephalitis. NiV is mainly diagnosed by ELISA along with PCR. Therefore, we recommend that the governments of the region support the One Health approach to reducing the risk of zoonotic disease transmission in their respective countries.

Preparatory phase for clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine in Nepal.

Public health data suggested a rapid rise in COVID-19-confirmed cases in Nepal along with increased deaths. There has been a wide variation in clinical outcomes of this disease. Control of this pandemic depends on the availability of vaccines or drugs for SARS-CoV-2. Thus, viral and human genetics/genomics and immunology are necessary to understand whether these factors will affect clinical trials of vaccines in Nepal.