Neutralizing antibody titers six months after Comirnaty vaccination: kinetics and comparison with SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays.

OBJECTIVES: mRNA vaccines, including Comirnaty (BNT162b2 mRNA, BioNTech-Pfizer), elicit high IgG and neutralizing antibody (NAb) responses after the second dose, but the progressive decrease in serum antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 following vaccination have raised questions concerning long-term immunity, decreased antibody levels being associated with breakthrough infections after vaccination, prompting the consideration of booster doses. METHODS: A total number of 189 Padua University-Hospital healthcare workers (HCW) who had received a second vaccine dose were asked to collect serum samples for determining Ab at 12 (t12) and 28 (t28) days, and 6 months (t6m) after their first Comirnaty/BNT162b2 inoculation. Ab titers were measured with plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT), and three chemiluminescent immunoassays, targeting the receptor binding domain (RBD), the trimeric Spike protein (trimeric-S), and surrogate viral neutralization tests (sVNT). RESULTS: The median percentages (interquartile range) for decrease in antibodies values 6 months after the first dose were 86.8% (67.1-92.8%) for S-RBD IgG, 82% (58.6-89.3%) for trimeric-S, 70.4% (34.5-86.4%) for VNT-Nab, 75% (50-87.5%) for PRNT50 and 75% (50-93.7%) for PRNT90. At 6 months, neither PRNT titers nor VNT-Nab and S-RBD IgG bAb levels correlated with age (p=0.078) or gender (p=0.938), while they were correlated with previous infection (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: After 6 months, a method-independent reduction of around 90% in anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was detected, while no significant differences were found between values of males and females aged between 24 and 65 years without compromised health status. Further efforts to improve analytical harmonization and standardization are needed.

A cohort analysis of SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) IgG levels and neutralizing antibodies in fully vaccinated healthcare workers.

OBJECTIVES: The waning of humoral immunity after COVID-19 vaccine booster (third dose) has not yet been fully evaluated. This study updates data on anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (S-RBD) binding antibodies (bAb) and neutralizing antibodies (NAb) levels in individuals with homologous vaccination 3-4 months after receiving the booster dose. METHODS: Fifty-five healthcare workers (HCW) from Padova University-Hospital were asked to collect serum samples for determining antibodies (Ab) at 12 (t12) and 28 (t28) days, at 6 months (t6m) after their first Comirnaty/BNT162b2 inoculation, and 3-4 months after receiving the 3rd homologous booster dose. HCW were monitored weekly for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Ab titers were measured by two chemiluminescent immunoassays, one targeting the S-RBD immunoglobulin G (IgG), and one surrogate viral neutralization test (sVNT), measuring NAb. RESULTS: Twenty of the HCW had natural COVID-19 infection (COVID+) at different times, before either the first or the second vaccination. Median S-RBD IgG and NAb levels and their interquartile ranges 3-4 months after the 3rd dose were 1,076 (529-3,409) kBAU/L and 15.8 (11.3-38.3) mg/L, respectively, for COVID-, and 1,373 (700-1,373) kBAU/L and 21 (12.8-53.9) mg/L, respectively, for COVID+. At multivariate regression analyses, with age and gender included as covariates, S-RBD IgG bAb and sVNT NAb levels were closely associated with the time interval between serological determination and the 3rd vaccine dose (log10 ßcoeff=-0.013, p=0.012 and log10 ßcoeff=-0.010, p=0.025) for COVID+, whereas no such association was found in COVID- individuals. CONCLUSIONS: The third booster dose increases anti-SARS-CoV-2 Ab levels, elevated levels persisting for up to 3-4 months. Waning of Ab levels appears to be less pronounced for COVID+ individuals.

Increasing referrals to emergency department for psychiatric consultation and treatment among 50,056 adolescents and young adults: Predictors and implications.

Objectives: To identify predictors and time trends over 10 years of psychiatric consultation or treatment in adolescents and young adults referring to Emergency Department (ED). Methods: Real-world cohort data from 50,056 adolescents and young adults referring 105,596 times to ED between 2007 and 2016. We tested whether gender, age, triage code (red, yellow, green, white with decreasing severity), and referral modality predicted primary (psychiatric consultation) or secondary outcomes (anxiolytic treatment, sedative treatment, psychiatric admission), and whether these outcomes increased over the last 10 years. Results: Mean age was 19.57(SD = 2.52), female percentage was 48.77%. Overall, 6.93% underwent psychiatric consultation, treatment, or admission. Among 2,547 adolescents and young adults undergoing a psychiatric consultation, 58.07% had either yellow or red triage code, and 47.2% were brought by ambulance. Female gender predicted psychiatric consultation and anxiolytic treatment, male gender predicted sedative treatment, suggesting gender differences in help-seeking behaviors. Older age predicted all outcomes. Severe triage presentation and being brought by ambulance increased the risk of primary and secondary outcomes. Psychiatric consultation (1.77% to 3.64%), anxiolytic (3.04% to 6.15%), or admission (0.40% to 0.98%) roughly doubled, and sedative (0.27% to 1.23%) treatment had a four-fold increase from 2007 to 2016. Conclusions: Among adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 years old ED appears to be necessary for young help-seeking subjects given the severe presentations and the increasing number of adolescents referring to ED. More studies should assess whether ED might be helpful in detecting subjects with sub-threshold or early psychiatric symptoms, or at risk for severe mental illness.

Violence against health workers: findings from three emergency departments in the teaching hospital of Padua, Italy.

Emergency departments (EDs) are high-risk places for Workplace Violence (WPV). In Italy, this phenomenon is scarcely investigated. The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence, experiencing and perception of WPV in the general ED (GED), paediatric ED (PED) and obstetric-gynaecological ED (OGED) of the teaching hospital Azienda Ospedaliera in Padua (AOP). We led a cross-sectional study among the GED, OGED and PED staffs, submitting an anonymous questionnaire, regarding personal information, verbal and physical aggression experiences, risk factors and proposals for corrective actions. Our sample consists of 73 people from GED, 45 from OGED and 53 from PED. Aggressions are common. Verbal aggressions are almost never recorded, even in the case of physical aggressions, 41% did not signal the event. Both in GED and in OGED, most of the staff (68.9% and 75.0%, respectively) underwent aggression by neither psychiatric nor substance abuser patients (PSAPs). Physical aggressions are more common in GED than in OGED and in PED; most of professionals were assaulted by PSAPs. In all EDs, verbal or physical assault has been lived through by anger, resignation or fear, rarely by indifference. Professionals think there are structural characteristics and risk factors that could be corrected. They do not know how to manage assaults and would deem it useful training meetings with experts. Our results regarding how staff perceive and experience violence in the ED concern a local situation, that nevertheless reflect current evidence about the topic of WPV which plagues EDs across the globe.

Emergency department and early detection of adolescents and young adults at risk of developing mental disorders: an exploratory study.

The objective of this study is to assess the potential role of Emergency Department (ED) for early detection of mental disorders. Two cohorts (6,759 subjects aged 14 to 24 accessing ED, 165 subjects with mental disorders) were matched by ID and merged. Primary outcome was the proportion of individuals accessing ED before receiving a diagnosis of mental disorder in Mental Health Service (MHS). Secondary outcomes were age of first access to ED in subjects later accessing to MHS, and time from first ED access to receiving a diagnosis of mental disorder at MHS. We assessed whether gender, severity of ED presentation, and number of ED accesses predicted primary outcome. Almost half of individuals who later developed mental disorders (49.7%) accessed ED before access to MHS. Mean age of first ED contact among those later accessing to MHS was 17.34 (2.1), and ED access preceded access to MHS by 3.68 (2.11) years. Gender and severity of ED presentation were not associated with the access to MHS, while higher number of ED accesses was associated with later access to MHS (OR range: 1.17-1.36, p<0.05). Despite its limitations, the present study suggests ED might represent a contact point for individuals who later access to MHS. Future early detection programs should involve ED in their outreach and screening approaches. Additional studies are needed to assess if subjects earlier accessing to ED are at risk-of-developing or already suffer from a mental disorder, and to validate screening instruments specifically designed for ED.

Relationship between anatomical sites and severity of the lesions and use of alcohol and psychotropic substances in traumatized drivers admitted to the Emergency Department of Padua, Italy.

INTRODUCTION: Driving under the influence of alcohol and/or psychoactive substances increases the risk of road accidents, but it is controversial whether this affects site and severity of injuries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We search for alcohol, cannabinoids, cocaine, benzodiazepines, opioids, methadone, amphetamines and barbiturates in biological fluids of 1764 traumatized drivers admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) of Padua between 2010 and 2014. RESULTS: We note correlation between alcohol and benzodiazepines and admission in ICU and between all the intoxications and the reserved prognosis. The sites of injuries were: head (37.13%), maxillofacial (8.33%), spinal column (44.67%), thoracic (15.31%), abdominal (5%), pelvic (2.55%) and limb traumas (23.58%). We observed a correlation between head trauma (p < 0.0001), maxillofacial trauma (p = 0.0418), thoracic trauma (p = 0.0215), pelvic trauma (p = 0.0008), spinal column trauma (p < 0.0001) and the totality of the intoxication and an association between benzodiazepines and thoracic and pelvic trauma. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol and benzodiazepines intoxication increases the risk of reserved prognosis and admission in ICU; benzodiazepines intoxication correlates with thoracic and pelvic trauma.