Tula Virus as Causative Agent of Hantavirus Disease in Immunocompetent Person, Germany

As COVID-19 remains an issue in transplantation medicine, a successful vaccination can prevent infections and life-threatening courses. The probability of poor immune response in liver transplant recipients gained attention and insecurity among those patients, leading us to investigate the humoral immune response alongside the influence of underlying diseases and immunosuppressive regimen on seroconversion rates. We included 118 patients undergoing anti-spike-protein-IgG testing at least 21 days after completed SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Ninety-seven patients also underwent anti-spike-protein-IgA testing. The influence of baseline demographics, immunosuppressive regimen and underlying disease on seroconversion was analyzed, and 92 of 118 patients (78.0%) developed anti-spike-protein-IgG antibodies. Patients with a history of alcoholic liver disease before transplantation showed significantly lower seroconversion rates (p = 0.006). Immunosuppression also significantly influenced antibody development (p < 0.001). Patients run on a mycophenolate mofetil (MMF)-based regimen were more likely not to develop antibodies compared to patients run on a non-MMF regimen (p < 0.001). All patients weaned off immunosuppression were seropositive. The seroconversion rate of 78.0% in our cohort of liver transplant recipients is promising. The identification of alcohol-induced cirrhosis as underlying disease and MMF for immunosuppression as risk factors for seronegativity may serve to identify vaccination non-responder after liver transplantation.

Background Antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDT) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) offer new opportunities for the quick and laboratory-independent identification of infected individuals for control of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Despite the potential benefits, nasopharyngeal sample collection is frequently perceived as uncomfortable by patients and requires trained healthcare personnel with protective equipment. Therefore, anterior nasal self-sampling is increasingly recognized as a valuable alternative. Methods We performed a prospective, single-center, point of care validation of an Ag-RDT using a polypropylene absorbent collector for standardized self-collected anterior nasal swabs. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) from combined oropharyngeal/nasopharyngeal swabs served as a comparator. Primary endpoint was sensitivity of the standardized Ag-RDT in symptomatic patients with medium or high viral concentration (≥1 million RNA copies on RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2). Results Between 12 February and 22 March 2021, 388 participants were enrolled. After exclusion of 9 patients for which no PCR result could be obtained, the novel Ag-RDT was evaluated based on 379 participants, of whom 273 were symptomatic and 106 asymptomatic. In 61 samples from symptomatic patients with medium or high viral load (≥1 million RNA copies), the sensitivity of the standardized Ag-RDT was 96.7% (59/61; 95% confidence interval (CI): 88.7–99.6%) for the primary endpoint. In total, 62 positive Ag-RDT results were detected out of 70 RT-PCR positive individuals, yielding an overall sensitivity of 88.6% (95% CI: 78.7–94.9%). Specificity was 99.7% (95% CI: 98.2–100%) in 309 RT-PCR negative individuals. Conclusions Here, we present a validation of a novel Ag-RDT with a standardized sampling process for anterior nasal self-collection, which meets World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria of ≥80% sensitivity and ≥97% specificity. Although less sensitive than RT-PCR, this assay could be beneficial due to its rapid results, ease of use, and suitability for standardized self-testing.