Efficacy and Safety of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Prefusion F Protein Vaccine (RSVPreF3 OA) in Older Adults Over 2 RSV Seasons

Background. The adjuvanted RSV prefusion F protein–based vaccine (RSVPreF3 OA) was efficacious against RSV-related lower respiratory tract disease (RSV-LRTD) in ≥60-years-olds over 1 RSV season. We evaluated efficacy and safety of 1 RSVPreF3 OA dose and of 2 RSVPreF3 OA doses given 1 year apart against RSV-LRTD over 2 RSV seasons post–dose 1. Methods. In this phase 3, blinded trial, ≥60-year-olds were randomized (1:1) to receive RSVPreF3 OA or placebo pre–season 1. RSVPreF3 OA recipients were re-randomized (1:1) to receive a second RSVPreF3 OA dose (RSV_revaccination group) or placebo (RSV_1dose group) pre–season 2; participants who received placebo pre–season 1 received placebo pre–season 2 (placebo group). Efficacy of both vaccine regimens against RSV-LRTD was evaluated over 2 seasons combined (confirmatory secondary objective, success criterion: lower limits of 2-sided CIs around efficacy estimates >20%). Results. The efficacy analysis comprised 24 967 participants (RSV_1dose: 6227; RSV_revaccination: 6242; placebo: 12 498). Median efficacy follow-up was 17.8 months. Efficacy over 2 seasons of 1 RSVPreF3 OA dose was 67.2% (97.5% CI: 48.2–80.0%) against RSV-LRTD and 78.8% (95% CI: 52.6–92.0%) against severe RSV-LRTD. Efficacy over 2 seasons of a first dose followed by revaccination was 67.1% (97.5% CI: 48.1–80.0%) against RSV-LRTD and 78.8% (95% CI: 52.5–92.0%) against severe RSV-LRTD. Reactogenicity/safety of the revaccination dose were similar to dose 1. Conclusions. One RSVPreF3 OA dose was efficacious against RSV-LRTD over 2 RSV seasons in ≥60-year-olds. Revaccination 1 year post–dose 1 was well tolerated but did not seem to provide additional efficacy benefit in the overall study population. Clinical Trials Registration. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04886596

Copy Number Variants Are Ovarian Cancer Risk Alleles at Known and Novel Risk Loci

Abstract Background Known risk alleles for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) account for approximately 40% of the heritability for EOC. Copy number variants (CNVs) have not been investigated as EOC risk alleles in a large population cohort. Methods Single nucleotide polymorphism array data from 13 071 EOC cases and 17 306 controls of White European ancestry were used to identify CNVs associated with EOC risk using a rare admixture maximum likelihood test for gene burden and a by-probe ratio test. We performed enrichment analysis of CNVs at known EOC risk loci and functional biofeatures in ovarian cancer–related cell types. Results We identified statistically significant risk associations with CNVs at known EOC risk genes; BRCA1 (PEOC = 1.60E-21; OREOC = 8.24), RAD51C (Phigh-grade serous ovarian cancer [HGSOC] = 5.5E-4; odds ratio [OR]HGSOC = 5.74 del), and BRCA2 (PHGSOC = 7.0E-4; ORHGSOC = 3.31 deletion). Four suggestive associations (P &amp;lt; .001) were identified for rare CNVs. Risk-associated CNVs were enriched (P &amp;lt; .05) at known EOC risk loci identified by genome-wide association study. Noncoding CNVs were enriched in active promoters and insulators in EOC-related cell types. Conclusions CNVs in BRCA1 have been previously reported in smaller studies, but their observed frequency in this large population-based cohort, along with the CNVs observed at BRCA2 and RAD51C gene loci in EOC cases, suggests that these CNVs are potentially pathogenic and may contribute to the spectrum of disease-causing mutations in these genes. CNVs are likely to occur in a wider set of susceptibility regions, with potential implications for clinical genetic testing and disease prevention. </jats:sec

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Prefusion F Protein Vaccine Is Efficacious in Older Adults With Underlying Medical Conditions

Background Older adults with chronic cardiorespiratory or endocrine/metabolic conditions are at increased risk of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related acute respiratory illness (RSV-ARI) and severe respiratory disease. In an ongoing, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicountry, phase 3 trial in &amp; GE;60-year-old participants, an AS01E-adjuvanted RSV prefusion F protein-based vaccine (RSVPreF3 OA) was efficacious against RSV-related lower respiratory tract disease (RSV-LRTD), severe RSV-LRTD, and RSV-ARI. We evaluated efficacy and immunogenicity among participants with coexisting cardiorespiratory or endocrine/metabolic conditions that increase the risk of severe RSV disease ("conditions of interest").Methods Medically stable &amp; GE;60-year-old participants received 1 dose of RSVPreF3 OA or placebo. Efficacy against first RSV-LRTD and RSV-ARI episodes was assessed in subgroups with/without coexisting cardiorespiratory or endocrine/metabolic conditions of interest. Immunogenicity was analyzed post hoc in these subgroups.Results In total, 12 467 participants received RSVPreF3 OA and 12 499 received placebo. Of these, 39.6% (RSVPreF3 OA) and 38.9% (placebo) had &amp; GE;1 coexisting condition of interest. The median efficacy follow-up was 6.7 months. Efficacy against RSV-LRTD was high in participants with &amp; GE;1 condition of interest (94.6%), &amp; GE;1 cardiorespiratory (92.1%), &amp; GE;1 endocrine/metabolic (100%), and &amp; GE;2 conditions of interest (92.0%). Efficacy against RSV-ARI was 81.0% in participants with &amp; GE;1 condition of interest (88.1% for cardiorespiratory, 79.4% for endocrine/metabolic conditions) and 88.0% in participants with &amp; GE;2 conditions of interest. Postvaccination neutralizing titers were at least as high in participants with &amp; GE;1 condition of interest as in those without.Conclusions RSVPreF3 OA was efficacious against RSV-LRTD and RSV-ARI in older adults with coexisting medical conditions associated with an increased risk of severe RSV disease.Clinical Trials Registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04886596.Graphical Abstrac

Search for relativistic magnetic monopoles with IceCube

We present the first results in the search for relativistic magnetic monopoles with the IceCube detector, a subsurface neutrino telescope located in the South Polar ice cap containing a volume of 1  km3. This analysis searches data taken on the partially completed detector during 2007 when roughly 0.2  km3 of ice was instrumented. The lack of candidate events leads to an upper limit on the flux of relativistic magnetic monopoles of Φ90%C.L.~3×10−18  cm−2 sr−1 s−1 for β ≥0.8. This is a factor of 4 improvement over the previous best experimental flux limits up to a Lorentz boost γ below 107. This result is then interpreted for a wide range of mass and kinetic energy values

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron is an immune escape variant with an altered cell entry pathway

Vaccines based on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 are a cornerstone of the public health response to COVID-19. The emergence of hypermutated, increasingly transmissible variants of concern (VOCs) threaten this strategy. Omicron (B.1.1.529), the fifth VOC to be described, harbours multiple amino acid mutations in spike, half of which lie within the receptor-binding domain. Here we demonstrate substantial evasion of neutralization by Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants in vitro using sera from individuals vaccinated with ChAdOx1, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273. These data were mirrored by a substantial reduction in real-world vaccine effectiveness that was partially restored by booster vaccination. The Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 did not induce cell syncytia in vitro and favoured a TMPRSS2-independent endosomal entry pathway, these phenotypes mapping to distinct regions of the spike protein. Impaired cell fusion was determined by the receptor-binding domain, while endosomal entry mapped to the S2 domain. Such marked changes in antigenicity and replicative biology may underlie the rapid global spread and altered pathogenicity of the Omicron variant

SARS-CoV-2 lineage dynamics in England from September to November 2021: high diversity of Delta sub-lineages and increased transmissibility of AY.4.2

Background Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, evolutionary pressure has driven large increases in the transmissibility of the virus. However, with increasing levels of immunity through vaccination and natural infection the evolutionary pressure will switch towards immune escape. Genomic surveillance in regions of high immunity is crucial in detecting emerging variants that can more successfully navigate the immune landscape. Methods We present phylogenetic relationships and lineage dynamics within England (a country with high levels of immunity), as inferred from a random community sample of individuals who provided a self-administered throat and nose swab for rt-PCR testing as part of the REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission-1 (REACT-1) study. During round 14 (9 September–27 September 2021) and 15 (19 October–5 November 2021) lineages were determined for 1322 positive individuals, with 27.1% of those which reported their symptom status reporting no symptoms in the previous month. Results We identified 44 unique lineages, all of which were Delta or Delta sub-lineages, and found a reduction in their mutation rate over the study period. The proportion of the Delta sub-lineage AY.4.2 was increasing, with a reproduction number 15% (95% CI 8–23%) greater than the most prevalent lineage, AY.4. Further, AY.4.2 was less associated with the most predictive COVID-19 symptoms (p = 0.029) and had a reduced mutation rate (p = 0.050). Both AY.4.2 and AY.4 were found to be geographically clustered in September but this was no longer the case by late October/early November, with only the lineage AY.6 exhibiting clustering towards the South of England. Conclusions As SARS-CoV-2 moves towards endemicity and new variants emerge, genomic data obtained from random community samples can augment routine surveillance data without the potential biases introduced due to higher sampling rates of symptomatic individuals

Neurological manifestations of COVID-19 in adults and children

Different neurological manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adults and children and their impact have not been well characterized. We aimed to determine the prevalence of neurological manifestations and in-hospital complications among hospitalized COVID-19 patients and ascertain differences between adults and children. We conducted a prospective multicentre observational study using the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) cohort across 1507 sites worldwide from 30 January 2020 to 25 May 2021. Analyses of neurological manifestations and neurological complications considered unadjusted prevalence estimates for predefined patient subgroups, and adjusted estimates as a function of patient age and time of hospitalization using generalized linear models. Overall, 161 239 patients (158 267 adults; 2972 children) hospitalized with COVID-19 and assessed for neurological manifestations and complications were included. In adults and children, the most frequent neurological manifestations at admission were fatigue (adults: 37.4%; children: 20.4%), altered consciousness (20.9%; 6.8%), myalgia (16.9%; 7.6%), dysgeusia (7.4%; 1.9%), anosmia (6.0%; 2.2%) and seizure (1.1%; 5.2%). In adults, the most frequent in-hospital neurological complications were stroke (1.5%), seizure (1%) and CNS infection (0.2%). Each occurred more frequently in intensive care unit (ICU) than in non-ICU patients. In children, seizure was the only neurological complication to occur more frequently in ICU versus non-ICU (7.1% versus 2.3%, P &lt; 0.001). Stroke prevalence increased with increasing age, while CNS infection and seizure steadily decreased with age. There was a dramatic decrease in stroke over time during the pandemic. Hypertension, chronic neurological disease and the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were associated with increased risk of stroke. Altered consciousness was associated with CNS infection, seizure and stroke. All in-hospital neurological complications were associated with increased odds of death. The likelihood of death rose with increasing age, especially after 25 years of age. In conclusion, adults and children have different neurological manifestations and in-hospital complications associated with COVID-19. Stroke risk increased with increasing age, while CNS infection and seizure risk decreased with age

The Epidemiology of Childhood Cancers

In this article, the recent epidemiological literature on childhood cancer is reviewed. This includes findings from descriptive, case-control and cohort studies. The aetiology of most childhood cancers is unclear. Both genetic and environmental factors are likely to contribute. Increasing incidence, findings of clustering and seasonality in the incidence of certain cancers support a role for environmental agents in aetiology. The evidence concerning putative risk factors is considered and suggests that the aetiology is likely to be multifactorial and involve a number of different agents. These include infections, ionising radiation, certain chemical exposures, parental smoking, parental alcohol consumption and hair dyes. Conversely, breastfeeding and certain dietary supplements may convey protection. Recent findings regarding electromagnetic fields suggest that this factor is not likely to have a major role in aetiology.</jats:p