Protective mucosal SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the majority of the general population in the Netherlands.

Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 on the mucosal surfaces of the respiratory tract are understood to contribute to protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to describe the prevalence, levels, and functionality of mucosal antibodies in the general Dutch population. Nasal samples were collected from 778 randomly selected participants, 1-90 years of age, nested within the nationwide prospective SARS-CoV-2 PIENTER corona serosurvey in the Netherlands. Spike-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G was detected in the nasal samples of 94.6% (in case of the wild-type S1 variant) and 94.9% (Omicron BA.1) of the individuals, whereas 44.2% and 62.7% of the individuals were positive for wild-type and Omicron BA.1 S1 IgA, respectively. The lowest prevalence of mucosal antibodies was observed in children under 12 years of age. The prevalence and levels of IgA and IgG were higher in individuals with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Mucosal antibodies inhibited the binding of Wuhan, Delta, and Omicron BA.1 receptor binding domain to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in 94.4%, 95.4%, and 92.6% of the participants, respectively. Higher levels of mucosal antibodies were associated with a lower risk of future infection.

Effect of Palivizumab Prophylaxis on Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Very Preterm Infants in the First Year of Life in The Netherlands.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) poses a severe threat to infants, particularly preterm infants. Palivizumab, the standard preventive prophylaxis, is primarily utilized in high-risk newborns due to its cost. This study assessed palivizumab's effectiveness in preventing RSV infections in predominantly very preterm infants during their first year of life. Serum samples from a prospective multicentre cohort study in the Netherlands were analyzed to assess RSV infection rates by measuring IgG levels against three RSV proteins: nucleoprotein, pre-fusion, and post-fusion protein. Infants were stratified based on gestational age (GA), distinguishing very preterm (≤32 weeks GA) from moderate/late preterm (>32 to ≤36 weeks GA). In very preterm infants, palivizumab prophylaxis significantly reduced infection rates (18.9% vs. 48.3% in the prophylaxis vs. non-prophylaxis group. Accounting for GA, sex, birth season, and birth weight, the prophylaxis group showed significantly lower infection odds. In infants with >32 to ≤36 weeks GA, the non-prophylaxis group (55.4%) showed infection rates similar to the non-prophylaxis ≤32-week GA group, despite higher maternal antibody levels in the moderate/late preterm infants. In conclusion, palivizumab prophylaxis significantly reduces RSV infection rates in very premature infants. Future research should explore clinical implications and reasons for non-compliance, and compare palivizumab with emerging prophylactics like nirsevimab aiming to optimize RSV prophylaxis and improve preterm infant outcomes.

Anellovirus evolution during long-term chronic infection.

Human anelloviruses (AVs) are extremely genetically diverse, are widespread in the human population, and cause chronic infections. However, the evolutionary dynamics of AVs within single hosts is currently unknown, and it is unclear whether these changes have an implication on the long-term persistence of AVs in the host. Here, we assessed the evolutionary dynamics of six AV lineages during 30 years of chronic infection at single host resolution. The total number of substitutions and the number of variable sites increased over time. However, not all substitutions reached population fixation, showing that AV lineages form heterogeneous swarms within the host. Most substitutions occurred within a hypervariable region (HVR) located between nucleotide positions 800 and 1,300 of ORF1, which is known to be located within the spike domain. Different regions of the ORF1 gene undergo either positive or negative selection pressure. Sites under strong diversifying selection pressure were detected in the HVR, while the majority of the sites under purifying selection were detected outside this region. The HVR may play the role of an immunological decoy that prevents antibodies from binding to more vulnerable parts of ORF1. Moreover, the frequent substitutions in this region may increase the chances of AV particles escaping immune recognition.

How Do Consumers Living in European Capital Cities Perceive Foods with Sustainability Certificates?

Certification aims at ensuring food quality and safety, as well as confirming other beneficial credence attributes, such as local origin and sustainability. In order to explore the visibility and credibility of such certification labels functioning in the European Union, a study was conducted among residents of two EU Member States, Poland and Belgium. Face-to-face questionnaire-based interviews and focus group interviews were conducted among 701 adults living in Warsaw and Brussels-the capital cities of these countries. Almost 44% of Belgian respondents and 33% of Polish respondents considered certified foods as being of better quality compared to unlabeled products. Focus group interviews demonstrated that Belgian consumers had more extensive knowledge and a higher level of trust in certified foods compared to Warsaw inhabitants. Our findings suggest that certificates are moderately important factors of food choice due to the wide variety of certificates, leading to consumer confusion, a lack of label uniformity, greenwashing, limited visibility and availability at points of sale, consumer price sensitivity and the prioritization of other factors. These constraints can be alleviated by introducing food labeling standards and regulations. Increasing consumer awareness and the availability and affordability of certified foods can also boost the demand for sustainable products in the region.

Control of Human Anelloviruses by Cytosine to Uracil Genome Editing.

Anelloviruses are the most common viruses infecting humans. Every human carries a nonpathogenic personal anellovirus virome (anellome), yet it is unknown which mechanisms contribute to its stability. Here, we assessed the dynamics and impact of a host antiviral defense mechanism-cytidine deaminase activity leading to C to U editing in anelloviruses-on the stability of the anellome. We investigated anellome sequence data obtained from serum samples collected every 6 months from two healthy subjects followed for more than 30 years. The subjects were infected by a total of 64 anellovirus lineages. Minus-stranded C to U editing was observed in lineages belonging to the Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammatorquevirus genera. The edited genomes were present within virus particles, therefore editing must have occurred at the late stages of the virus life cycle. Editing was favored by 5'-TC contexts in the virus genome, indicating that apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like, catalytic subunit 3 or A3 (APOBEC3) proteins are involved. Within a lineage, mutational dynamics varied over time and few fixations of mutations were detected, indicating that C to U editing is a dead end for a virus genome. We detected an editing coldspot in the GC-rich regions, suggesting that the GC-rich region is crucial for genome packaging, since only packaged virus particles were included in the analysis. Finally, we noticed a lineage-specific reduced concentration after an editing event, yet no clearance. In conclusion, cytidine deaminase activity does not clear anelloviruses, nor does it play a major role in virus evolution, but it does contribute to the stability of the anellome. IMPORTANCE Despite significant attention on anellovirus research, the interaction between the anellovirus virome and the human host remains unknown. We show the dynamics of APOBEC3-mediated cytidine deaminase activity on anelloviruses during a 30-year period of chronic infection and postulate that this antiviral mechanism controls anelloviruses. These results expand our knowledge of anellovirus-host interactions, which may be important for the design of gene therapies.

Transmission of anelloviruses to HIV-1 infected children.

Anelloviruses (AVs) are widespread in the population and infect humans at the early stage of life. The mode of transmission of AVs is still unknown, however, mother-to-child transmission, e.g., via breastfeeding, is one of the likely infection routes. To determine whether the mother-to-child transmission of AVs may still occur despite the absence of natural birth and breastfeeding, 29 serum samples from five HIV-1-positive mother and child pairs were Illumina-sequenced. The Illumina reads were mapped to an AV lineage database "Anellometrix" containing 502 distinct ORF1 sequences. Although the majority of lineages from the mother were not shared with the child, the mother and child anellomes did display a significant similarity. These findings suggest that AVs may be transmitted from mothers to their children via different routes than delivery or breastfeeding.

Early-Life Colonization by Anelloviruses in Infants.

Anelloviruses (AVs) are found in the vast majority of the human population and are most probably part of a healthy virome. These viruses infect humans in the early stage of life, however, the characteristics of the first colonizing AVs are still unknown. We screened a collection of 107 blood samples from children between 0.4 and 64.8 months of age for the presence of three AV genera: the Alpha-, Beta- and Gammatorquevirus. The youngest child that was positive for AV was 1.2 months old, and a peak in prevalence (100% of samples positive) was reached between the twelfth and eighteenth months of life. Intriguingly, the beta- and gammatorqueviruses were detected most at the early stage of life (up to 12 months), whereas alphatorqueviruses, the most common AVs in adults, increased in prevalence in children older than 12 months. To determine whether that order of colonization may be related to oral transmission and unequal presence of AV genera in breast milk, we examined 63 breast milk samples. Thirty-two percent of the breast milk samples were positive in a qPCR detecting beta- and gammatorqueviruses, while alphatorqueviruses were detected in 10% of the samples, and this difference was significant (p = 0.00654). In conclusion, we show that beta- and gammatorqueviruses colonize humans in the first months of life and that breastfeeding could play a role in AV transmission.

Diversity and Long-Term Dynamics of Human Blood Anelloviruses.

Anelloviruses (AVs) are commensal members of the human blood virome. Even though it was estimated that over 90% of the human population carries AVs, the dynamics of the AV virome ("anellome") are unknown. We investigated the dynamics of blood anellomes in two healthy people followed up for more than 30 years. Both subjects were positive for AVs in the majority of samples. Alphatorquevirus (torque teno virus [TTV]) was the most common genus in both subjects, followed by Betatorquevirus (torque teno minivirus [TTMV]) and Gammatorquevirus (torque teno midivirus [TTMDV]). Almost five times more lineages were found in subject 1 than in subject 2, and the anellomes differed phylogenetically. Both anellomes remained compositionally stable, and 9 out of 64 AV lineages were detected in over half of the time points. We confirmed the long-term and short-term persistence of 13 lineages by specific quantitative PCR (qPCR). AV lineages were detected in blood for over 30 years. Noticeable differences in anellome richness were found between the tested subjects, but both anellomes remained compositionally stable over time. These findings demonstrate that the human blood anellome is personal and that AV infection is chronic and potentially commensal. IMPORTANCE Knowledge of the persistence of AVs in humans is crucial to our understanding of the nature of AV infection (chronic or acute) and the role of AV in the host. We therefore investigated the dynamics of anellovirus infection in two healthy people followed up for 30 years. Our findings suggest that the human blood anellovirus virome (anellome) remains stable and personal for decades.

Is Eating Less Meat Possible? Exploring the Willingness to Reduce Meat Consumption among Millennials Working in Polish Cities.

Reducing the consumption of meat constitutes an important part of the global shift towards more sustainable food systems. At the same time, meat is firmly established in the food culture of most human beings, and better understanding of individual behaviors is essential to facilitate a durable change in contemporary eating patterns. To determine the level and nature of attachment to meat among consumers, the Meat Attachment Questionnaire (MAQ) in relation to the phases of behaviour change in the meat consumption reduction process was utilised. Data collected through a survey carried out among Poles aged 25-40 years living in cities were analysed with the use of Spearman's correlations and one-way ANOVA with Tukey's post-hoc tests. The biggest share of the studied group of millennials (N = 317) never considered reducing their meat consumption (Phase 1-41%) and was described by the highest level of MAQ score in all its categories: hedonism, affinity, dependence, and entitlement. More than half of the respondents in Phase 2 participants ("planners") declared a willingness to cut down meat consumption but had not yet put their intentions into practice. Respondents qualified in Phase 3 declared the highest willingness to reduce meat consumption and were significantly less attached to meat regarding all MAQ categories than respondents in Phase 1. The 9% of the study participants (Phase 4) had already limited the frequency of their meat consumption to "several times a week", this however still remains insufficient compared to the ambitious goals of sustainable healthy diets. Results indicated that meat attachment categories, especially hedonism and dependence, were identified as predictors of willingness to reduce meat consumption. Research exploring the determinants of change and possibilities of effective communication about meat reduction on an individual level in different cultural settings are needed.

In Vitro and In Vivo Assessment of the Potential of Escherichia coli Phages to Treat Infections and Survive Gastric Conditions.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and Shigella ssp. infections are associated with high rates of mortality, especially in infants in developing countries. Due to increasing levels of global antibiotic resistance exhibited by many pathogenic organisms, alternative strategies to combat such infections are urgently required. In this study, we evaluated the stability of five coliphages (four Myoviridae and one Siphoviridae phage) over a range of pH conditions and in simulated gastric conditions. The Myoviridae phages were stable across the range of pH 2 to 7, while the Siphoviridae phage, JK16, exhibited higher sensitivity to low pH. A composite mixture of these five phages was tested in vivo in a Galleria mellonella model. The obtained data clearly shows potential in treating E. coli infections prophylactically.

Nutritional Significance of Fruit and Fruit Products in the Average Polish Diet.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the supply of energy, 19 nutrients, free sugars, and dietary fiber in the average Polish diet from fruit and fruit products. Our analysis is based on 2016 data from the national representative household budget survey conducted on a sample of 36,886 households, yielding a population of 99,230 individuals. Fruit and fruit products provided 3.12% of energy to the average diet in Poland with the highest share of bananas and apples. The highest significance of this food group was found for vitamin C (23.65%), including citrus fruits providing 8.03% of vitamin C, berries (5.97%), other fruits (3.45%), and apples (3.13%). The share of fruit and their products in the supply of free sugars is equally high and amounts to 23.52%. This means that apples provide 6.34% of free sugars, while other fruits also have a high supply of free sugars, including berries 3.68%, stone fruits 3.06%, bananas 2.56%, and citrus fruits 2.54%. The proportion of supply exceeding the percentage of energy (which was 3.12%) was obtained for carbohydrate (5.79%), and fiber (13.66%). The food group studied was particularly important (more than 5% share) in providing four minerals: potassium (8.59%), iron (5.07%), magnesium (5.51%), copper (8.81%), and three vitamins: vitamin C (23.65%), vitamin B6 (5.74%), and vitamin E (5.53%). The influence of sociodemographic and economic characteristics of households on the structure of energy and nutrient supply from fruit and fruit products was assessed using cluster analysis. There were four clusters characterized by different energy, nutrient, and fiber supply. The factors with the highest statistical significance on the supply of energy, nutrients, and fiber from fruit and fruit products were month of study, income, degree of urbanization, education, size of town, and land use. The obtained results concerning energy and nutrient supply from fruits and fruit products are important for the Polish society from the public health point of view, as indicated in the discussion of results and conclusions.

Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children as a Challenging Problem for Pediatric Surgeons in the COVID 19 Pandemic-A Case Report.

The first cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were identified at the end of 2019 and, in the next few months, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread throughout the world. Initially, it was believed that this disease mainly affected elderly individuals with comorbidities, in whom respiratory failure often occurs. It was believed that children fell ill from the infection more often, although the course of infection in the vast majority of pediatric cases has been asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. In April and May 2020, the first report of a rapidly progressing disease, similar to Kawasaki syndrome, was found in children who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Shortly thereafter, children with symptoms of pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS-ST [temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection]) began presenting to pediatric hospitals around the world. The syndrome has a mortality rate of up to 2%. Symptoms of PIMS-TS include those that may suggest the need for surgical treatment (severe abdominal pain with the presence of peritoneal symptoms, ascites, high levels of inflammatory markers, intestinal inflammation, and appendages revealed on ultrasound examination). However, there are few reports addressing surgical cases associated with this condition. The authors present a case involving an 11-year-old boy who was admitted to hospital with severe abdominal pain and underwent surgery for symptoms of peritonitis and was diagnosed with PIMS in the post-operative period. Due to the large number of illnesses caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection in recent months, the diagnosis of PIMS-TS/MISC should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute abdominal symptoms, especially in atypical courses and interviews indicating exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

Analysis of Selection Methods to Develop Novel Phage Therapy Cocktails Against Antimicrobial Resistant Clinical Isolates of Bacteria.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major problem globally. The main bacterial organisms associated with urinary tract infection (UTI) associated sepsis are E. coli and Klebsiella along with Enterobacter species. These all have AMR strains known as ESBL (Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase), which are featured on the WHO priority pathogens list as "critical" for research. Bacteriophages (phages), as viruses that can infect and kill bacteria, could provide an effective tool to tackle these AMR strains. There is currently no "gold standard" for developing a phage cocktail. Here we describe a novel approach to develop an effective phage cocktail against a set of ESBL-producing E. coli and Klebsiella largely isolated from patients in United Kingdom hospitals. By comparing different measures of phage efficacy, we show which are the most robust, and suggest an efficient screening cascade that could be used to develop phage cocktails to target other AMR bacterial species. A target panel of 38 ESBL-producing clinical strains isolated from urine samples was collated and used to test phage efficacy. After an initial screening of 68 phages, six were identified and tested against these 38 strains to determine their clinical coverage and killing efficiency. To achieve this, we assessed four different methods to assess phage virulence across these bacterial isolates. These were the Direct Spot Test (DST), the Efficiency of Plating (EOP) assay, the planktonic killing assay (PKA) and the biofilm assay. The final ESBL cocktail of six phages could effectively kill 23/38 strains (61%), for Klebsiella 13/19 (68%) and for E. coli 10/19 (53%) based on the PKA data. The ESBL E. coli collection had six isolates from the prevalent UTI-associated ST131 sequence type, five of which were targeted effectively by the final cocktail. Of the four methods used to assess phage virulence, the data suggests that PKAs are as effective as the much more time-consuming EOPs and data for the two assays correlates well. This suggests that planktonic killing is a good proxy to determine which phages should be used in a cocktail. This assay when combined with the virulence index also allows "phage synergy" to inform cocktail design.

Vegetables, Potatoes and Their Products as Sources of Energy and Nutrients to the Average Diet in Poland.

The aim of our study was to analyse vegetables, potatoes and their products as sources of energy and nutrients in the average diet in Poland. Representative data of the 2016 Household Budget Survey from 36,886 households were used. This is the largest study sample in Poland, so we generalized the conclusions to the whole population using the statement 'average diet'. We analysed three main product groups: vegetables, vegetable products, and potatoes and potatoes products, dividing them into 14 subgroups (e.g., tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, other vegetables, and mushrooms). The percentages of energy, protein, carbohydrates, total fat, nine vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin E), seven minerals (calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, iron, magnesium and zinc), and fibre from the analysed food subgroups are presented. Additionally, the influence of household characteristics on the supply of energy and nutrients from each subgroup of vegetables, potatoes, and their products was evaluated using cluster analysis. In the analysis, R programme and Kohonen neural networks were applied. Our study showed that vegetables, potatoes, and their products provide 7.3% of daily dietary energy supply. Vegetables contribute more than 20% of the supply of six nutrients: vitamin C (51.8%), potassium (32.5%), folate (31.0%), vitamin A (30.6%), vitamin B6 (27.8%), and magnesium (20.2%), as well as fibre (31.8%). Cluster analysis distinguished three clusters that differed in nutritional supply from vegetables, potatoes, and their products. Educational level, income measured by quintile groups, village size, socio-economic characteristics, urbanization degree, and land use were the most important factors determining differences between clusters.

Parental Food Choices and Engagement in Raising Children's Awareness of Sustainable Behaviors in Urban Poland.

Promoting sustainable food consumption patterns and understanding factors driving environmentally-friendly food choices is one of the challenges of public health nutrition policies in the 2020s and crucial for the future wellbeing of humans, food systems and the planet as a whole. To assess the impact of sustainability issues on the behaviors of parents living with young school-aged children in Poland a CAWI survey of 1035 adults in urban areas was conducted. A clustering procedure revealed that two of the identified clusters (73% of the sample) rated sustainability factors as important when purchasing food for children but only one of these clusters (29% of the sample) was actively engaged in raising their child's awareness about sustainable behaviors. The third cluster (27% of the sample) had no intentions to teach their children about food sustainability because of lack of time or distrust in these topics. More than 80% of the sample agreed that parents share a responsibility in teaching children about the links between food, health and environment. Principles of healthy and sustainable diets should be incorporated into public health programmes to empower family members to engage in raising their children's awareness and adopt more healthy and environmentally-friendly food consumption practices.

Seasonal coronavirus protective immunity is short-lasting.

A key unsolved question in the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the duration of acquired immunity. Insights from infections with the four seasonal human coronaviruses might reveal common characteristics applicable to all human coronaviruses. We monitored healthy individuals for more than 35 years and determined that reinfection with the same seasonal coronavirus occurred frequently at 12 months after infection.

Entamoeba and Giardia parasites implicated as hosts of CRESS viruses.

Metagenomic techniques have enabled genome sequencing of unknown viruses without isolation in cell culture, but information on the virus host is often lacking, preventing viral characterisation. High-throughput methods capable of identifying virus hosts based on genomic data alone would aid evaluation of their medical or biological relevance. Here, we address this by linking metagenomic discovery of three virus families in human stool samples with determination of probable hosts. Recombination between viruses provides evidence of a shared host, in which genetic exchange occurs. We utilise networks of viral recombination to delimit virus-host clusters, which are then anchored to specific hosts using (1) statistical association to a host organism in clinical samples, (2) endogenous viral elements in host genomes, and (3) evidence of host small RNA responses to these elements. This analysis suggests two CRESS virus families (Naryaviridae and Nenyaviridae) infect Entamoeba parasites, while a third (Vilyaviridae) infects Giardia duodenalis. The trio supplements five CRESS virus families already known to infect eukaryotes, extending the CRESS virus host range to protozoa. Phylogenetic analysis implies CRESS viruses infecting multicellular life have evolved independently on at least three occasions.

Human anelloviruses: diverse, omnipresent and commensal members of the virome.

Anelloviruses are small, single stranded circular DNA viruses. They are extremely diverse and have not been associated with any disease so far. Strikingly, these small entities infect most probably the complete human population, and there are no convincing examples demonstrating viral clearance from infected individuals. The main transmission could be via fecal-oral or airway route, as infections occur at an early age. However, due to the lack of an appropriate culture system, the virus-host interactions remain enigmatic. Anelloviruses are obviously mysterious viruses, and their impact on human life is not yet known, but, with no evidence of a disease association, a potential beneficial effect on human health should also be investigated.

A Quest of Great Importance-Developing a Broad Spectrum Escherichiacoli Phage Collection.

Shigella ssp. and enterotoxigenic Escherichiacoli are the most common etiological agents of diarrheal diseases in malnourished children under five years of age in developing countries. The ever-growing issue of antibiotic resistance and the potential negative impact of antibiotic use on infant commensal microbiota are significant challenges to current therapeutic approaches. Bacteriophages (or phages) represent an alternative treatment that can be used to treat specific bacterial infections. In the present study, we screened water samples from both environmental and industrial sources for phages capable of infecting E. coli laboratory strains within our collection. Nineteen phages were isolatedand tested for their ability to infect strains within the ECOR collection and E. coli O157:H7 Δstx. Furthermore, since coliphages have been reported to cross-infect certain Shigella spp., we also evaluated the ability of the nineteen phages to infect a representative Shigella sonnei strain from our collection. Based on having distinct (although overlapping in some cases) host ranges, ten phage isolates were selected for genome sequence and morphological characterization. Together, these ten selected phages were shown to infect most of the ECOR library, with 61 of the 72 strains infected by at least one phage from our collection. Genome analysis of the ten phages allowed classification into five previously described genetic subgroups plus one previously underrepresented subgroup.

Production of Bioactive Compounds by Food Associated Galactomyces geotrichum 38, as Determined by Proteome Analysis.

Fried cottage cheese is a dairy product, popular in some parts of Poland. Proteomic analysis of a culture of the mold Galactomyces geotrichum 38 isolated from fried cottage cheese was performed using UHPLC/MS. From the proteins identified, we selected those involved in the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds and those useful in industry. In the G. geotrichum 38 culture, the production quantities of vitamin B2 (224 µg/L), ergosterol (54.63 mg/kg), and trehalose (0.91 g/L) were determined by HPLC. The identified proteins were also used to prepare a hypothetical fatty acid biosynthesis pathway, and the percentage of individual sphingolipids in the culture was determined. Sphingolipids are also bioactive compounds. During culturing of G. geotrichum 38, the percentage of three sphingolipids increased. The last step of the research was to prepare a model of fried cottage cheese. The mold G. geotrichum 38, used in the process of ripening fried cottage cheese, synthesized vitamin B2 and erogsterol, which influenced the nutritional value of the product.