By Victoria Socha
Results of previous analyses have demonstrated that adolescent solid organ transplant recipients who receive three doses of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine experience high seroconversion rates and antibody persistence for up to 3 months. There are few data available on the long-term antibody durability in that patient population. Read the article in DocWire News.
By Caitlyn Stulpin
When given together, Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus vaccine and the seasonal influenza vaccine generated robust immune responses and were well tolerated among older adults when coadministered, data from a recent study showed. Read the article in Healio.
“Long before COVID-19 changed the world, organ transplant recipients were wearing masks to shield themselves from airborne threats.
Immunosuppressive medicines, which often are a lifelong requirement after a transplant, add an extra layer of protection against viruses as common as a cold or as dangerous as COVID. Transplant patients are told to use masks for any group gatherings or airplane flights, and hand sanitizing is a must.
While COVID has brought a heightened awareness of these patients’ health risks and fragility, a recent study by Johns Hopkins University researchers in Baltimore, Maryland, and a report from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, may raise their sense of unease even further.”
Read the full article, here.
“Transplant recipients without prior polymerase chain reaction–confirmed COVID-19 were recruited from across the US to participate in this prospective cohort through a digital campaign. Those who completed the 2-dose SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine series between December 16, 2020, and March 13, 2021, were included and followed up through April 13, 2021. As described previously,3 semiquantitative antispike serologic testing was undertaken with the Roche Elecsys anti–SARS-CoV-2 S enzyme immunoassay, positive cutoff of at least 0.8 U/mL, which tests for the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, or the EUROIMMUN enzyme immunoassay, positive cutoff of at least 1.1 arbitrary units, which tests for the S1 domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, both key measures of humoral immune response.4,5 This study was approved by the Johns Hopkins institutional review board; participants provided informed consent electronically.
The proportion of patients who developed a positive antibody response was assessed with an exact binomial confidence interval. The Fisher exact test was used to compare categorical variables, such as antimetabolite immunosuppression, and the Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables. All tests were 2-sided with α = .05. Analyses were performed using Stata 16.1/Windows.”
See the full study results, here.
“Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers are working tirelessly to find ways to better understand, treat and eventually eliminate COVID-19 and the illness that results from infection. New discoveries and observations from Johns Hopkins that we share here, especially those related to clinical therapies, are almost uniformly early in concept. They will require rigorous research, testing and peer review before solid conclusions for clinical care and disease prevention can be made.
In addition, Johns Hopkins researchers are conducting a variety of clinical trials to find new ways to detect, prevent and treat COVID-19. These trials include studies involving Johns Hopkins employees, people who have COVID-19 and analysis of collected data about the illness. Results of these clinical trials will be available when data is analyzed, peer-reviewed and published.”
You can stay up to date on information and resources, here.
Incase you missed it! You can watch the recording of the webinar here.
Duration: 1 hour and 3 minutes.