Cohort profile: the Johns Hopkins COVID Long Study (JHCLS)-a US nationwide prospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: COVID-19 continues to affect millions of individuals worldwide, both in the short and long term. The post-acute complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection, referred to as long COVID, result in diverse symptoms affecting multiple organ systems. Little is known regarding how the symptoms associated with long COVID progress and resolve over time. The Johns Hopkins COVID Long Study aims to prospectively examine the short-term and long-term consequences of COVID-19 in individuals both with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection using self-reported data collected in an online survey. PARTICIPANTS: 16 764 adults with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and 799 adults without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection who completed an online baseline survey. FINDINGS TO DATE: This cohort profile describes the baseline characteristics of the Johns Hopkins COVID Long Study. Among 16 764 participants with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and defined long COVID status, 75% reported a very good or excellent health status prior to infection, 99% reported experiencing at least one COVID-19 symptom during the acute phase of infection, 9.9% reported hospitalisation and 63% were defined as having long COVID using the WHO definition. FUTURE PLANS: Analysis of longitudinal data will be used to investigate the progression and resolution of long COVID symptoms over time.

Cohort profile: the Johns Hopkins COVID Long Study (JHCLS), a United States Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: COVID-19 disease continues to affect millions of individuals worldwide, both in the short and long term. The post-acute complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection, referred to as long COVID, result in diverse symptoms affecting multiple organ systems. Little is known regarding how the symptoms associated with long COVID progress and resolve over time. The Johns Hopkins COVID Long Study aims to prospectively examine the short- and long-term consequences of COVID-19 disease in individuals both with and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection using self-reported data collected in an online survey. Participants: Sixteen thousand, seven hundred sixty-four adults with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and 799 adults without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection who completed an online baseline survey. Findings to date: This cohort profile describes the baseline characteristics of the Johns Hopkins COVID Long Study. Among 16,764 participants with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and defined long COVID status, 75% reported a good or excellent health status prior to infection, 99% reported experiencing at least one COVID-19 symptom during the acute phase of infection, 9.9% reported a hospitalization, and 63% were defined as having long COVID using the WHO definition. Future plans: Analysis of longitudinal data will be used to investigate the progression and resolution of long COVID symptoms over time.

A hepatitis B virus (HBV) sequence variation graph improves alignment and sample-specific consensus sequence construction.

Nearly 300 million individuals live with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (CHB), for which no curative therapy is available. As viral diversity is associated with pathogenesis and immunological control of infection, improved methods to characterize this diversity could aid drug development efforts. Conventionally, viral sequencing data are mapped/aligned to a reference genome, and only the aligned sequences are retained for analysis. Thus, reference selection is critical, yet selecting the most representative reference a priori remains difficult. We investigate an alternative pangenome approach which can combine multiple reference sequences into a graph which can be used during alignment. Using simulated short-read sequencing data generated from publicly available HBV genomes and real sequencing data from an individual living with CHB, we demonstrate alignment to a phylogenetically representative 'genome graph' can improve alignment, avoid issues of reference ambiguity, and facilitate the construction of sample-specific consensus sequences more genetically similar to the individual's infection. Graph-based methods can, therefore, improve efforts to characterize the genetics of viral pathogens, including HBV, and have broader implications in host-pathogen research.

Algunas característica epidemiológicas del asma en una región tropical

Para determinar algunas características epidemiológicas del asma en la costa caribe colombiana, se examinaron cuatro mil personas de Cartagena para establecer la prevalencia de esta enfermedad y los registros de defunciones ocurridas desde 1986 hasta 1990 en dos departamentos representativos del sector geográfico (Bolivar y Atlántico), con el fin de investigar la tendencia de la tasa de mortalidad por asma en ese período. Además, se investigó la importancia del asma entre otras enfermedades alérgicas haciendo un estudio poblacional con los pacientes que asistieron a un consultorio de alergias en Cartagena, en el cual se obtuvieron las frecuencias de las enfermedades alérgicas por la que consultaron. Los resultados mostraron una prevalencia de asma acumulativa y puntual de 8.8 por ciento y 12.2 por ciento respectivamente y una tasa de mostalidad en ascenso con valores que van desde 0.74 en 1986 hasta 1.62 en 1990. Setenta por ciento de la población general afectada por asma tenían menos de 15 años de edad y en la consulta de alergias se observó que el asma era la segunda enfermedad más frecuente después de la rinitis. Los datos de estos estudios sugieren que la frecuencia de asma es alta, la mortalidad por dicha enfermedad no es muy diferente a la encontrada en otros sitios y la distribución de las enfermedades alérgicas muestra un predominio de los procesos respiratorios.