Soluble ACE2-mediated cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 via interaction with proteins related to the renin-angiotensin system.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can cause acute respiratory disease and multiorgan failure. Finding human host factors that are essential for SARS-CoV-2 infection could facilitate the formulation of treatment strategies. Using a human kidney cell line-HK-2-that is highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, we performed a genome-wide RNAi screen and identified virus dependency factors (VDFs), which play regulatory roles in biological pathways linked to clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We found a role for a secretory form of SARS-CoV-2 receptor, soluble angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (sACE2), in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further investigation revealed that SARS-CoV-2 exploits receptor-mediated endocytosis through interaction between its spike with sACE2 or sACE2-vasopressin via AT1 or AVPR1B, respectively. Our identification of VDFs and the regulatory effect of sACE2 on SARS-CoV-2 infection shed insight into pathogenesis and cell entry mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 as well as potential treatment strategies for COVID-19.

Transmission of Rat Hepatitis E Virus Infection to Humans in Hong Kong: A Clinical and Epidemiological Analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) variants causing human infection predominantly belong to HEV species A (HEV-A). HEV species C genotype 1 (HEV-C1) circulates in rats and is highly divergent from HEV-A. It was previously considered unable to infect humans, but the first case of human HEV-C1 infection was recently discovered in Hong Kong. The aim of this study is to further describe the features of this zoonosis in Hong Kong. APPROACH AND RESULTS: We conducted a territory-wide prospective screening study for HEV-C1 infection over a 31-month period. Blood samples from 2,860 patients with abnormal liver function (n = 2,201) or immunosuppressive conditions (n = 659) were screened for HEV-C1 RNA. In addition, 186 captured commensal rats were screened for HEV-C1 RNA. Sequences of human-derived and rat-derived HEV-C1 isolates were compared. Epidemiological and clinical features of HEV-C1 infection were analyzed. HEV-C1 RNA was detected in 6/2,201 (0.27%) patients with hepatitis and 1/659 (0.15%) immunocompromised persons. Including the previously reported case, eight HEV-C1 infections were identified, including five in patients who were immunosuppressed. Three patients had acute hepatitis, four had persistent hepatitis, and one had subclinical infection without hepatitis. One patient died of meningoencephalitis, and HEV-C1 was detected in cerebrospinal fluid. HEV-C1 hepatitis was generally milder than HEV-A hepatitis. HEV-C1 RNA was detected in 7/186 (3.76%) rats. One HEV-C1 isolate obtained from a rat captured near the residences of patients was closely related to the major outbreak strain. CONCLUSIONS: HEV-C1 is a cause of hepatitis E in humans in Hong Kong. Immunosuppressed individuals are susceptible to persistent HEV-C1 infection and extrahepatic manifestations. Subclinical HEV-C1 infection threatens blood safety. Tests for HEV-C1 are required in clinical laboratories.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus ORF8b Accessory Protein Suppresses Type I IFN Expression by Impeding HSP70-Dependent Activation of IRF3 Kinase IKKε.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a highly pathogenic human coronavirus causing severe disease and mortality. MERS-CoV infection failed to elicit robust IFN response, suggesting that the virus might have evolved strategies to evade host innate immune surveillance. In this study, we identified and characterized type I IFN antagonism of MERS-CoV open reading frame (ORF) 8b accessory protein. ORF8b was abundantly expressed in MERS-CoV-infected Huh-7 cells. When ectopically expressed, ORF8b inhibited IRF3-mediated IFN-ß expression induced by Sendai virus and poly(I:C). ORF8b was found to act at a step upstream of IRF3 to impede the interaction between IRF3 kinase IKKε and chaperone protein HSP70, which is required for the activation of IKKε and IRF3. An infection study using recombinant wild-type and ORF8b-deficient MERS-CoV further confirmed the suppressive role of ORF8b in type I IFN induction and its disruption of the colocalization of HSP70 with IKKε. Ectopic expression of HSP70 relieved suppression of IFN-ß expression by ORF8b in an IKKε-dependent manner. Enhancement of IFN-ß induction in cells infected with ORF8b-deficient virus was erased when HSP70 was depleted. Taken together, HSP70 chaperone is important for IKKε activation, and MERS-CoV ORF8b suppresses type I IFN expression by competing with IKKε for interaction with HSP70.

Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes Platform to Study SARS-CoV-2 Related Myocardial Injury.

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with myocardial injury, but there is a paucity of experimental platforms for the condition.Methods and Results:Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) infected by SARS-CoV-2 for 3 days ceased beating and exhibited cytopathogenic changes with reduced viability. Active viral replication was evidenced by an increase in supernatant SARS-CoV-2 and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocaspid protein within hiPSC-CMs. Expressions of BNP, CXCL1, CXCL2, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α were upregulated, while ACE2 was downregulated. CONCLUSIONS: Our hiPSC-CM-based in-vitro SARS-CoV-2 myocarditis model recapitulated the cytopathogenic effects and cytokine/chemokine response. It could be exploited as a drug screening platform.

A Rapid, Simple, Inexpensive, and Mobile Colorimetric Assay COVID-19-LAMP for Mass On-Site Screening of COVID-19.

To control the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent its resurgence in areas preparing for a return of economic activities, a method for a rapid, simple, and inexpensive point-of-care diagnosis and mass screening is urgently needed. We developed and evaluated a one-step colorimetric reverse-transcriptional loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay (COVID-19-LAMP) for detection of SARS-CoV-2, using SARS-CoV-2 isolate and respiratory samples from patients with COVID-19 (n = 223) and other respiratory virus infections (n = 143). The assay involves simple equipment and techniques and low cost, without the need for expensive qPCR machines, and the result, indicated by color change, is easily interpreted by naked eyes. COVID-19-LAMP can detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA with detection limit of 42 copies/reaction. Of 223 respiratory samples positive for SARS-CoV-2 by qRT-PCR, 212 and 219 were positive by COVID-19-LAMP at 60 and 90 min (sensitivities of 95.07% and 98.21%) respectively, with the highest sensitivities among nasopharyngeal swabs (96.88% and 98.96%), compared to sputum/deep throat saliva samples (94.03% and 97.02%), and throat swab samples (93.33% and 98.33%). None of the 143 samples with other respiratory viruses were positive by COVID-19-LAMP, showing 100% specificity. Samples with higher viral load showed shorter detection time, some as early as 30 min. This inexpensive, highly sensitive and specific COVID-19-LAMP assay can be useful for rapid deployment as mobile diagnostic units to resource-limiting areas for point-of-care diagnosis, and for unlimited high-throughput mass screening at borders to reduce cross-regional transmission.

Safety and immune response of a live-attenuated herpes zoster vaccine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a randomised placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: To study the safety and immunogenicity of a live-attenuated herpes zoster (HZ) vaccine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: Adult SLE patients having a SLEDAI <6 and stable immunosuppressive treatment for ≥6 months were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to receive HZ vaccine (Zostavax) or placebo injection. Anti-varicella zoster virus (VZV) IgG reactivity (baseline and week 6) was measured by an enzyme-linked fluorescence assay. Cell-mediated response was assessed by a VZV-stimulated interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked ELISPOT assay. Adverse events and immune responses of the two groups were compared. RESULTS: 90 SLE patients were recruited (age 45.6±14.1 years; 93% women) and assigned to Zostavax or placebo (in 1:1 ratio). Baseline clinical parameters were similar between the two groups. The change in anti-VZV IgG from week 0 to 6 was +59.8% in the vaccine and -2.1% in the placebo group. Week 6 anti-VZV IgG was significantly higher in vaccinated than placebo-treated patients, after adjustment for baseline (4.16±1.26 vs 3.32±1.01; p<0.001). The number of IFN-γ secreting T-cell spots decreased in the placebo-treated patients (-17%) but increased in vaccinated patients (+42%). The T-cell spots number at week 6 was significantly higher in vaccine-than placebo-treated patients after adjustment for baseline (38.1±78.2 vs 23.1±47.9; p=0.02). Significantly more vaccinated patients reported self-limiting injection site reaction than controls (31% vs 7%; p<0.01). Two vaccinated patients (4.4%) and one (2.2%) placebo-treated patient had mild/moderate SLE flares but no patients developed HZ eruption within 6 weeks postvaccination. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with stable SLE not receiving intensive immunosuppression, Zostavax was well-tolerated and provoked an immune response. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: US ClinicalTrials.gov registry (NCT02477150).

Clinical Characteristics, Laboratory Identification, and In Vitro Antifungal Susceptibility of Yarrowia (Candida) lipolytica Isolates Causing Fungemia: a Multicenter, Prospective Surveillance Study.

Our case series showed that uncomplicated Yarrowia lipolytica fungemia might be treated with catheter removal alone. The Vitek 2 YST identification (ID) card system, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), and internal transcribed spacer and 25S nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) gene sequencing provided reliable identification. All isolates had low MICs to voriconazole, echinocandins, and amphotericin B.

Development and Evaluation of Novel Real-Time Reverse Transcription-PCR Assays with Locked Nucleic Acid Probes Targeting Leader Sequences of Human-Pathogenic Coronaviruses.

Based on findings in small RNA-sequencing (Seq) data analysis, we developed highly sensitive and specific real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assays with locked nucleic acid probes targeting the abundantly expressed leader sequences of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and other human coronaviruses. Analytical and clinical evaluations showed their noninferiority to a commercial multiplex PCR test for the detection of these coronaviruses.

Differential cell line susceptibility to the emerging novel human betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012: implications for disease pathogenesis and clinical manifestation.

The emerging novel human betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC) was recently isolated from patients with severe pneumonia and renal failure and was associated with an unexplained high crude fatality rate of 56%. We performed a cell line susceptibility study with 28 cell lines. HCoV-EMC was found to infect the human respiratory tract (polarized airway epithelium cell line Calu-3, embryonic fibroblast cell line HFL, and lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549), kidney (embryonic kidney cell line HEK), intestinal tract (colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line Caco-2), liver cells (hepatocellular carcinoma cell line Huh-7), and histiocytes (malignant histiocytoma cell line His-1), as evident by detection of high or increasing viral load in culture supernatants, detection of viral nucleoprotein expression by immunostaining, and/or detection of cytopathic effects. Although an infected human neuronal cell line (NT2) and infected monocyte and T lymphocyte cell lines (THP-1, U937, and H9) had increased viral loads, their relatively lower viral production corroborated with absent nucleoprotein expression and cytopathic effects. This range of human tissue tropism is broader than that for all other HCoVs, including SARS coronavirus, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-229E, and HCoV-NL63, which may explain the high mortality associated with this disease. A recent cell line susceptibility study showed that HCoV-EMC can infect primate, porcine, and bat cells and therefore may jump interspecies barriers. We found that HCoV-EMC can also infect civet lung fibroblast and rabbit kidney cell lines. These findings have important implications for the diagnosis, pathogenesis, and transmission of HCoV-EMC.

Mycolyltransferase is important for biofilm formation and pathogenesis of Tsukamurella keratitis.

Tsukamurella, a group of multi-drug resistant, Gram-positive, aerobic, and partially acid-fast bacteria, are emerging causes of bacterial conjunctivitis and keratitis. However, the pathogenesis of Tsukamurella keratitis is largely unknown. To address this, we used New Zealand White rabbits to develop the first eye infection model and conducted in vitro tests to study the pathogenesis mechanisms of Tsukamurella. There is increasing evidence that biofilms play a significant role in ocular infections, leading us to hypothesize that biofilm formation is crucial for effective Tsukamurella infection. In order to look for potential candidate genes which are important in biofilm formation and Tsukamurella keratitis. We performed genome sequencing of two ocular isolates, T. pulmonis-PW1004 and T. tyrosinosolvens-PW899, to identify potential virulence factors. Through in vitro and in vivo studies, we characterized their biological roles in mediating Tsukamurella keratitis. Our findings confirmed that Tsukamurella is an ocular pathogen by fulfilling Koch's postulates, and using genome sequence data, we identified tmytC, encoding a mycolyltransferase, as a crucial gene in biofilm formation and causing Tsukamurella keratitis in the rabbit model. This is the first report demonstrating the novel role of mycolyltransferase in causing ocular infections. Overall, our findings contribute to a better understanding of Tsukamurella pathogenesis and provide a potential target for treatment. Specific inhibitors targeting TmytC could serve as an effective treatment option for Tsukamurella infections.

The emerging novel Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus: the "knowns" and "unknowns".

A novel lineage C betacoronavirus, originally named human coronavirus EMC/2012 (HCoV-EMC) and recently renamed Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), that is phylogenetically closely related to Tylonycteris bat coronavirus HKU4 and Pipistrellus bat coronavirus HKU5, which we discovered in 2007 from bats in Hong Kong, has recently emerged in the Middle East to cause a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like infection in humans. The first laboratory-confirmed case, which involved a 60-year-old man from Bisha, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), who died of rapidly progressive community-acquired pneumonia and acute renal failure, was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) on September 23, 2012. Since then, a total of 70 cases, including 39 fatalities, have been reported in the Middle East and Europe. Recent clusters involving epidemiologically-linked household contacts and hospital contacts in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa strongly suggested possible human-to-human transmission. Clinical and laboratory research data generated in the past few months have provided new insights into the possible animal reservoirs, transmissibility, and virulence of MERS-CoV, and the optimal laboratory diagnostic options and potential antiviral targets for MERS-CoV-associated infection.

Management of an incident of failed sterilization of surgical instruments in a dental clinic in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: We describe an investigation of an incident of failed sterilization procedure in a dental clinic. We aim to illustrate the principles in performing such investigations and to highlight some of the important checkpoints in sterilization procedures. METHODS: In response to this incident, proper sterilization of all equipment was performed immediately. On-site investigation was conducted by the investigation panel to identify the cause and risks, to coordinate post-exposure management in affected patients, and to make recommendations to prevent similar occurrence of such incidents in the future. RESULTS: The incident was due to a rare lapse of monitoring during the autoclaving cycle. A total of 127 sources and 250 exposed patients were identified within 24 hours of the discovery of the incident for risk assessment and testing for blood-borne viruses, including hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A protocol was devised to manage the exposed patients against HBV, HCV, and HIV. Immunization and hyperimmune globulin for hepatitis B, and tetanus toxoids were given to the exposed patients where indicated. Exposed patients were followed-up for 6 months. We came to the decision that dating of instrument packages and signed documentation of each autoclave printout, color change of chemical indicators of each load and daily autoclave performance should be made mandatory with immediate effect. CONCLUSION: Rapid response is extremely crucial in minimizing the impact of this incident and relieving the anxiety of the affected patients. Proper recording and documentation of autoclave cycles and regular auditing should be enforced to prevent similar incidents.

A sensitive and simple RT-LAMP assay for sarbecovirus screening in bats.

IMPORTANCE: We report the application of a colorimetric and fluorescent reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay to facilitate mass screening for sarbecoviruses in bats. The assay was evaluated using a total of 838 oral and alimentary samples from bats and demonstrated comparable sensitivity and specificity to quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR), with a simple setup. The addition of SYTO9, a fluorescent nucleic acid stain, also allows for quantitative analysis. The scalability and simplicity of the assay are believed to contribute to improving preparedness for detecting emerging coronaviruses by applying it to field studies and surveillance.

Induction of amphotericin B resistance in susceptible Candida auris by extracellular vesicles.

Drug resistance derived from extracellular vesicles (EVs) is an increasingly important research area but has seldom been described regarding fungal pathogens. Here, we characterized EVs derived from a triazole-resistant but amphotericin B-susceptible strain of Candida auris. Nano- to microgram concentrations of C. auris EVs prepared from both broth and solid agar cultures could robustly increase the yeast's survival against both pure and clinical amphotericin B formulations in a dose-dependent manner, resulting in up to 16-fold changes of minimum inhibitory concentration. Meanwhile, this effect was not observed upon addition of these EVs to C. albicans, nor upon addition of C. albicans EVs to C. auris. No change in susceptibilities was observed upon EV treatment for fluconazole, voriconazole, micafungin, and flucytosine. Mass spectrometry indicated the presence of immunogenic-/drug resistance-implicated proteins in C. auris EVs, including alcohol dehydrogenase 1 as well as C. albicans Mp65-like and Xog1-like proteins in high quantities. Based on these observations, we propose a potential species-specific role for EVs in amphotericin B resistance in C. auris. These observations may provide critical insights into treatment of multidrug-resistant C. auris.

Fatal Pneumonia Associated With a Novel Genotype of Human Coronavirus OC43.

Since its first discovery in 1967, human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) has been associated with mild self-limiting upper respiratory infections worldwide. Fatal primary pneumonia due to HCoV-OC43 is not frequently described. This study describes a case of fatal primary pneumonia associated with HCoV-OC43 in a 75-year-old patient with good past health. The viral loads of the respiratory tract specimens (bronchoalveolar lavage and endotracheal aspirate) from diagnosis to death were persistently high (3.49 × 106-1.10 × 1010 copies/ml). HCoV-OC43 at a 6.46 × 103 copies/ml level was also detected from his pleural fluid 2 days before his death. Complete genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis showed that the present HCoV-OC43 forms a distinct cluster with three other HCoV-OC43 from United States, with a bootstrap value of 100% and sharing 99.9% nucleotide identities. Pairwise genetic distance between this cluster and other HCoV-OC43 genotypes ranged from 0.27 ± 0.02% to 1.25 ± 0.01%. In contrast, the lowest pairwise genetic distance between existing HCoV-OC43 genotypes was 0.26 ± 0.02%, suggesting that this cluster constitutes a novel HCoV-OC43 genotype, which we named genotype I. Unlike genotypes D, E, F, G, and H, no recombination event was observed for this novel genotype. Structural modeling revealed that the loop with the S1/S2 cleavage site was four amino acids longer than other HCoV-OC43, making it more exposed and accessible to protease, which may have resulted in its possible hypervirulence.

The limited value of triage vital signs in predicting influenza infection in children aged 5 years and under in the emergency department: A single-center retrospective cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: Diagnosing influenza in children aged 5 years and under can be challenging because of their difficulty in verbalizing symptoms. This study aimed to explore the value of the triage heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and temperature, either alone or when combined with individual symptoms and signs, in predicting influenza infection in this age group.This was a retrospective study covering 4 influenza seasons from 2017 to 2019 in an emergency department (ED) in Hong Kong. We recruited patients ≤5 years of age who had an reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction influenza test within 48 hours of ED presentation. The diagnostic performance of the triage HR, RR, and temperature was evaluated as dichotomized or categorized values with diagnostic odds ratios (DORs) calculated based on different age-appropriate thresholds. Linear discriminant analysis was performed to assess the combined discriminatory effect of age, HR, RR, and temperature as continuous variables.Of 322 patients (median age 26 months), 99 had influenza A and 13 had influenza B infection. For HR and RR dichotomized based on age-appropriate thresholds, the DORs ranged from 1.16 to 1.54 and 0.78 to 1.53, respectively. A triage temperature ≥39.0 °C had the highest DOR (3.32) among different degrees of elevation of temperature. The diagnostic criteria that were based on the presence of fever and cough and/or rhinitis symptoms had a higher DOR compared with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention influenza-like illness criteria (4.42 vs 2.41). However, combining HR, RR, or temperature with such diagnostic criteria added very little to the diagnostic performance. The linear discriminant analysis model had a high specificity of 92.5%, but the sensitivity (18.3%) was too low for clinical use.Triage HR, RR, and temperature had limited value in the diagnosis of influenza in children ≤5 years of age in the ED. Fever and cough and/or rhinitis symptoms had a better diagnostic performance than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention influenza-like illness criteria in predicting influenza in this age group.

Co-circulation of a Novel Dromedary Camel Parainfluenza Virus 3 and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in a Dromedary Herd With Respiratory Tract Infections.

Since the emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012, there have been a surge in the discovery and evolutionary studies of viruses in dromedaries. Here, we investigated a herd of nine dromedary calves from Umm Al Quwain, the United Arab Emirates that developed respiratory signs. Viral culture of the nasal swabs from the nine calves on Vero cells showed two different types of cytopathic effects (CPEs), suggesting the presence of two different viruses. Three samples showed typical CPEs of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Vero cells, which was confirmed by partial RdRp gene sequencing. Complete genome sequencing of the three MERS-CoV strains showed that they belonged to clade B3, most closely related to another dromedary MERS-CoV isolate previously detected in Dubai. They also showed evidence of recombination between lineages B4 and B5 in ORF1ab. Another three samples showed non-typical CPEs of MERS-CoV with cell rounding, progressive degeneration, and detachment. Electron microscopy revealed spherical viral particles with peplomers and diameter of about 170nm. High-throughput sequencing and metagenomic analysis showed that the genome organization (3'-N-P-M-F-HN-L-5') was typical of paramyxovirus. They possessed typical genome features similar to other viruses of the genus Respirovirus, including a conserved motif 323FAPGNYALSYAM336 in the N protein, RNA editing sites 5'-717AAAAAAGGG725-3', and 5'-1038AGAAGAAAGAAAGG1051-3' (mRNA sense) in the P gene with multiple polypeptides coding capacity, a nuclear localization signal sequence 245KVGRMYSVEYCKQKIEK261 in the M protein, a conserved sialic acid binding motif 252NRKSCS257 in the HN protein, conserved lengths of the leader (55nt) and trailer (51nt) sequences, total coding percentages (92.6-93.4%), gene-start (AGGANNAAAG), gene-end (NANNANNAAAAA), and trinucleotide intergenic sequences (CTT, mRNA sense). Phylogenetic analysis of their complete genomes showed that they were most closely related to bovine parainfluenza virus 3 (PIV3) genotype C strains. In the phylogenetic tree constructed using the complete L protein, the branch length between dromedary camel PIV3 (DcPIV3) and the nearest node is 0.04, which is >0.03, the definition used for species demarcation in the family Paramyxoviridae. Therefore, we show that DcPIV3 is a novel species of the genus Respirovirus that co-circulated with MERS-CoV in a dromedary herd in the Middle East.

Clinical, laboratory, and radiological features indicative of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in emergency departments: a multicenter case-control study in Hong Kong.

Objectives: Little is known about the value of routine clinical assessment in identifying patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the emergency department (ED). We aimed to compare the exposure history, signs and symptoms, laboratory, and radiographic features of ED patients who tested positive and negative for COVID-19. Methods: This was a case-control study in 7 EDs in Hong Kong from 20 January to 29 February 2020. Thirty-seven patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were age- and sex-matched to 111 controls. We compared the groups with univariate analysis and calculated the odds ratio (OR) of having COVID-19 for each characteristic that was significantly different between the groups with adjustment for age and presumed location of acquiring the infection. Results: There were no significant differences in patient characteristics and reported symptoms between the groups. A positive contact history within 14 days (adjusted OR 37.61, 95% CI: 10.86-130.19), bilateral chest radiograph shadow (adjusted OR 13.19, 95% CI: 4.66-37.35), having prior medical consultation (adjusted OR 7.43, 95% 2.89-19.09), a lower white blood cell count (adjusted OR 1.30, 95% CI: 1.11-1.51), and a lower platelet count (adjusted OR 1.07, 95% CI: 1.01-1.12) were associated with a higher odds of COVID-19 separately. A higher neutrophil count was associated with a lower odds of COVID-19 (adjusted OR 0.77, 95% CI: 0.65-0.91). Conclusion: This study highlights a number of clinical features that may be useful in identifying high-risk patients for early testing and isolation while waiting for the test result. Further studies are warranted to verify the findings.

Antibiotics create a shift from mutualism to competition in human gut communities with a longer-lasting impact on fungi than bacteria.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic treatment has a well-established detrimental effect on the gut bacterial composition, but effects on the fungal community are less clear. Bacteria in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract may limit fungal colonization and invasion. Antibiotic drugs targeting bacteria are therefore seen as an important risk factor for fungal infections and induced allergies. However, antibiotic effects on gut bacterial-fungal interactions, including disruption and resilience of fungal community compositions, were not investigated in humans. We analysed stool samples collected from 14 healthy human participants over 3 months following a 6-day antibiotic administration. We integrated data from shotgun metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metabolomics, and fungal ITS2 sequencing. RESULTS: While the bacterial community recovered mostly over 3 months post treatment, the fungal community was shifted from mutualism at baseline to competition. Half of the bacterial-fungal interactions present before drug intervention had disappeared 3 months later. During treatment, fungal abundances were associated with the expression of bacterial genes with functions for cell growth and repair. By extending the metagenomic species approach, we revealed bacterial strains inhibiting the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans. We demonstrated in vitro how C. albicans pathogenicity and host cell damage might be controlled naturally in the human gut by bacterial metabolites such as propionate or 5-dodecenoate. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that antibacterial drugs have long-term influence on the human gut mycobiome. While bacterial communities recovered mostly 30-days post antibacterial treatment, the fungal community was shifted from mutualism towards competition. Video abstract.