Subject(s)
Respiratory Tract Infections , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary , Humans , Prospective Studies , South Africa/epidemiology , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/epidemiology , Child , Male , Female , Respiratory Tract Infections/epidemiology , Respiratory Tract Infections/microbiology , Lung/physiopathology , Child, Preschool , Respiratory Function Tests , AdolescentABSTRACT
Accumulating evidence supports the high prevalence of co-infections among Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) patients, and their potential to worsen the clinical outcome of COVID-19. However, there are few data on Southern Hemisphere populations, and most studies to date have investigated a narrow spectrum of viruses using targeted qRT-PCR. Here we assessed respiratory viral co-infections among SARS-CoV-2 patients in Australia, through respiratory virome characterization. Nasopharyngeal swabs of 92 SARS-CoV-2-positive cases were sequenced using pan-viral hybrid-capture and the Twist Respiratory Virus Panel. In total, 8% of cases were co-infected, with rhinovirus (6%) or influenzavirus (2%). Twist capture also achieved near-complete sequencing (> 90% coverage, > tenfold depth) of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in 95% of specimens with Ct < 30. Our results highlight the importance of assessing all pathogens in symptomatic patients, and the dual-functionality of Twist hybrid-capture, for SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequencing without amplicon generation and the simultaneous identification of viral co-infections with ease.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/virology , Coinfection/diagnosis , Coinfection/virology , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Virome/genetics , Australia/epidemiology , Coinfection/epidemiology , Computational Biology , Genome, Viral , Humans , Open Reading Frames/genetics , Reproducibility of Results , Whole Genome SequencingABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to present our prospectively evaluated positron emission tomography (PET)-directed policy for managing the neck in node-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (N+HNSCC) after definitive radiotherapy (RT) with or without concurrent systemic therapy. METHODS: One hundred twelve consecutive patients who achieved a complete response at the primary site underwent a 12-week posttherapy nodal response assessment with PET and diagnostic CT. Patients with an equivocal PET underwent a repeat PET 4 to 6 weeks later. Patients with residual CT nodal abnormalities deemed PET-negative were uniformly observed regardless of residual nodal size. RESULTS: Median follow-up from commencement of RT was 28 months (range, 13-64 months). Residual CT nodal abnormalities were present in 50 patients (45%): 41 PET-negative and 9 PET-positive. All PET-negative residual CT nodal abnormalities were observed without subsequent isolated nodal failure. CONCLUSION: PET-directed management of the neck after definitive RT in node-positive HNSCC appropriately spares neck dissections in patients with PET-negative residual CT nodal abnormalities.