Broad-spectrum anti-SARS-CoV-2 strategies that can inhibit the infection of wild-type and mutant strains would alleviate their threats to global public health. Here, we propose an icosahedral DNA framework for the assembly of up to 30 spatially arranged neutralizing aptamers (IDNA-30) to inhibit viral infection. Each triangular plane of IDNA-30 is composed of three precisely positioned aptamers topologically matching the SARS-CoV-2 spike trimer, thus forming a multivalent spatially patterned...

In this review, we discuss the epidemiological dynamics of different viral infections to project how the transition from a pandemic to endemic Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) might take shape. Drawing from theories of disease invasion and transmission dynamics, waning immunity in the face of viral evolution and antigenic drift, and empirical data from influenza, dengue, and seasonal coronaviruses, we discuss the putative periodicity, severity, and age dynamics of...

On June 17, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) amendments for the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged 6 months-5 years, administered as 2 doses (25 µg [0.25 mL] each), 4 weeks apart, and BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged 6 months-4 years, administered as 3 doses (3 µg [0.2 mL] each), at intervals of 3 weeks between doses 1 and 2 and ≥8 weeks between doses 2 and 3. On June 18, 2022, the...

SUMMARY: We have developed a database, Ab-CoV, which contains manually curated experimental interaction profiles of 1780 coronavirus related neutralizing antibodies. It contains more than 3200 datapoints on half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50), half maximal effective concentration (EC50) and binding affinity (KD). Each data with experimentally known three-dimensional structures are complemented with predicted change in stability and affinity of all possible point mutations of interface...

CONCLUSION: At the beginning of the pandemic in Croatia, in February 2020, there was a significant increase in suicides compared to 2019, which may indicate that the spread of the pandemic since the end of 2019, with uncertainty and cataclysmic atmosphere, had a negative effect on mental health.

As a newly emerged infectious disease, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused millions of deaths, resulting in a global health challenge. Currently, several vaccines have been approved with significant benefits against disease transmission. However, effective therapies are still needed for the clinical management of infected COVID-19 patients. Available evidence has indicated elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), in COVID-19 patients, with...

Monoclonal antibodies are an efficacious therapy against SARS-CoV-2. However, rapid viral mutagenesis, led to escape from most of these therapies, outlining the need for an antibody cocktail with a broad neutralizing potency. Using an unbiased interrogation of the memory B cell repertoire of convalescent COVID-19 patients, we identified human antibodies with broad antiviral activity in vitro and efficacy in vivo against all tested SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including Delta, Omicron BA.1 and...

Bats are important hosts of zoonotic viruses with pandemic potential, including filoviruses, MERS-Coronavirus (CoV), SARS-CoV -1, and likely SARS-CoV-2. Viral infection and transmission among wildlife are dependent on a combination of factors that include host ecology and immunology, life history traits, roosting habitats, biogeography, and external stressors. Between 2016 and 2018, four species of insectivorous bats from a readily accessed roadside cave and buildings in Ethiopia were sampled...

CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with type 2 diabetes and peripheral neuropathy would need technological and personal assistance (connection, device, guidance) to complete a long-term telehealth intervention. Despite technology needs, participants were interested in telehealth interventions.

Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI) has become increasingly popular for collecting data on sensitive topics among populations with lower levels of literacy. However, the development of an ACASI tool is an involved process that can be further complicated when working in humanitarian contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study describes the development of an ACASI tool to be used in a family-focused intervention evaluation. Participants included adolescent girls aged 10-14,...

COVID-19 is a global public health crisis, and is turning to be a major mental health problem. This review provides a broad overview of mental health situations during COVID-19 pandemic in Africa and globally, while some preventive methods to improve mental health conditions during the pandemic were provided. In the Africa context, various government authorities must ensure the provision and accessibility to mental health care services such as routine preventive information, mental health...

COVID-19 was accompanied with the increasing broadcast of fake news, misinformation and excessive information via social media platforms. This phenomenon has been termed "infodemic", to describe an overwhelming amount of mostly fake, false or inaccurate information which spreads rapidly and impacts negatively on achieving a solution. It would therefore be desirable to use a cautious approach which utilizes culturally sensitive and country specific measures to deal with this occurrence. We aim to...

CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the study contributed to the structuring of psychological health services to be offered within the scope of public health during the Covid-19 pandemic and the understanding of the complex nature of the relationship between psychological factors and satisfaction with life. Possible explanations and limitations were discussed.

BACKGROUND: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) developed for point of care detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen are recommended by WHO to use trained health care workers to collect samples. We hypothesised that self-taken samples are non-inferior for use with RDTs to diagnose COVID-19. We designed a prospective diagnostic evaluation comparing self-taken and healthcare worker (HCW)-taken throat/nasal swabs to perform RDTs for SARS-CoV-2, and how these compare to RT-PCR.

COVID-19 can lead to severe outcomes in children, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome, hospitalization, and death (1,2). On November 2, 2021, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices issued an interim recommendation for use of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine in children aged 5-11 years for the prevention of COVID-19; however, vaccination coverage in this age group remains low (3). As of June 7, 2022, 36.0% of children aged 5-11 years in the United States had received ≥1 of...

CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide insight into the nuanced and complex ways health consumers make decisions to engage with and perform smart HT and how they may react to positive results in terms of public-private and personal-distant dimensions. Moreover, the study illuminates the role that providers and smart HT sources can play to better support digitally engaged health consumers in the smart HT decision process.