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Diagnostics
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Advances in Diagnosis and Prevention of COVID-19: Vaccine Effectiveness, Adverse...
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Advances in Diagnosis and Prevention of COVID-19: Vaccine Effectiveness, Adverse Events, SARS-CoV-2 Variants

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 4551

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Soheil Ebrahimpour

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Interests: infection; immunology of infectious diseases; tropical diseases; emerging infectious diseases; infectious disease diagnostics and treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mostafa Javanian

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
Interests: infection; tropical diseases; emerging infectious diseases; infectious disease diagnostics and treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

To date, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in global public health challenges. Quick and accurate testing tools for COVID-19 diagnosis have become a prerequisite to comprehending the detailed number of identified cases in the world. The available diagnosis tools have been based on the detection of viral genes, human antibodies, and viral antigens. Preventive measures are an essential strategy to limit the spread of cases. Preventive strategies are focused on careful infection control, including timely diagnosis, treatment, and vaccination. COVID-19 vaccination has been revealed to contribute to reducing hospitalization rates, disease severity, and deaths from infection as an important tool in prevention. In other words, safe and effective vaccines have played a critical role in controlling the current pandemic. Despite remarkable achievements in vaccine development, COVID-19 is not likely to be eradicated. This problem is in part due to new variants that can undercut the effectiveness of current COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, there is much work to be performed relating to the diagnosis and prevention of COVID-19. This Special Issue aims to identify essential knowledge for researchers who are working on the improvement of the future prevention of COVID-19.

Dr. Soheil Ebrahimpour
Dr. Mostafa Javanian
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • prevention of COVID-19
  • vaccine
  • effectiveness
  • safety
  • adverse events
  • SARS-CoV-2 variants
  • boosters

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1701 KiB  
Article
The Suitability of RNA from Positive SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Tests for Whole Virus Genome Sequencing and Variant Identification to Maintain Genomic Surveillance
by Annamaria Cucina, Flavia Contino, Giuseppina Brunacci, Valentina Orlando, Mario La Rocca, Sergio Indelicato and Francesca Di Gaudio
Diagnostics 2023, 13(24), 3618; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13243618 - 07 Dec 2023
Viewed by 839
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed laboratory management, with a surge in demand for diagnostic tests prompting the adoption of new diagnostic assays and the spread of variant surveillance tools. Rapid antigen tests (RATs) were initially used only for screening and later as suitable [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed laboratory management, with a surge in demand for diagnostic tests prompting the adoption of new diagnostic assays and the spread of variant surveillance tools. Rapid antigen tests (RATs) were initially used only for screening and later as suitable infection assessment tools. This study explores the feasibility of sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 genome from the residue of the nasopharyngeal swab extraction buffers of rapid antigen tests (RATs) to identify different COVID-19 lineages and sub-lineages. Methods: Viral RNA was extracted from the residue of the nasopharyngeal swab extraction buffers of RATs and, after a confirmation of positivity through a reaction of RT-PCR, viral genome sequencing was performed. Results: Overall, the quality of the sequences obtained from the RNA extracted from the residue of the nasopharyngeal swab extraction buffers of RATs was adequate and allowed us to identify the SARS-CoV-2 variants’ circulation and distribution in a period when the use of molecular swabs had been drastically reduced. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the potential for genomic surveillance by sequencing SARS-CoV-2 from the residue of the nasopharyngeal swab extraction buffers of RATs, highlighting alternative possibilities for tracking variants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Diagnosis and Prevention of COVID-19: Vaccine Effectiveness, Adverse Events, SARS-CoV-2 Variants)
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12 pages, 861 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Two Commercially Available Interferon-γ Release Assays for T-Cell-Mediated Immunity and Evaluation of Humoral Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in Healthcare Workers
by Alexandra Lochmanová, Jan Martinek, Hana Tomášková, Hana Zelená, Kersten Dieckmann, Evelin Grage-Griebenow, Eduard Ježo and Jaroslav Janošek
Diagnostics 2023, 13(4), 637; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13040637 - 08 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1517
Abstract
Cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2 is an important component of the immune response to the virus. At present, two such tests based on interferon-gamma release (interferon-γ release assays, IGRAs) are available—Quan-T-Cell SARS-CoV-2 by EUROIMMUN and T-SPOT.COVID by Oxford Immunotec. In this paper, we compared [...] Read more.
Cellular immunity against SARS-CoV-2 is an important component of the immune response to the virus. At present, two such tests based on interferon-gamma release (interferon-γ release assays, IGRAs) are available—Quan-T-Cell SARS-CoV-2 by EUROIMMUN and T-SPOT.COVID by Oxford Immunotec. In this paper, we compared the results of these two tests in 90 subjects employed at the Public Health Institute Ostrava who had previously undergone COVID-19 infection or were vaccinated against that disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first head-to-head comparison of these two tests evaluating T-cell-mediated immunity against SARS-CoV-2. In addition, we also evaluated humoral immunity in the same individuals using the in-house virus neutralization test and IgG ELISA assay. The evaluation yielded similar results for both IGRAs, with Quan-T-Cell appearing to be insignificantly (p = 0.08) more sensitive (all 90 individuals were at least borderline positive) than T-SPOT.COVID (negative results found in five patients). The overall qualitative (presence/absence of immune response) agreement of both tests with virus neutralization test and anti-S IgG was also excellent (close or equal to 100% in all subgroups, with the exception of unvaccinated Omicron convalescents, a large proportion of whom, i.e., four out of six subjects, were IgG negative while at least borderline positive for T-cell-mediated immunity measured by Quan-T). This implies that the evaluation of T-cell-mediated immunity is a more sensitive indicator of immune response than the evaluation of IgG seropositivity. This is true at least for unvaccinated patients with a history of being infected only by the Omicron variant, but also likely for other groups of patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Diagnosis and Prevention of COVID-19: Vaccine Effectiveness, Adverse Events, SARS-CoV-2 Variants)
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12 pages, 1522 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Efficacy of BBIBP-CorV Inactivated Vaccine Combined with BNT62b2 mRNA Booster Vaccine
by Éva Rákóczi, Gusztáv Magócs, Sára Kovács, Béla Nagy, Jr., Gabriella Szűcs and Zoltán Szekanecz
Diagnostics 2023, 13(3), 556; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13030556 - 02 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1454
Abstract
Objectives: In this prospective study, SARS-CoV−2 spike protein specific total immunoglobulin (Ig) levels were analyzed before and after BNT162 b2 mRNA booster vaccination in individuals previously administered with two doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccine in comparison to immunized participants with three doses of BNT162 [...] Read more.
Objectives: In this prospective study, SARS-CoV−2 spike protein specific total immunoglobulin (Ig) levels were analyzed before and after BNT162 b2 mRNA booster vaccination in individuals previously administered with two doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccine in comparison to immunized participants with three doses of BNT162 b2 vaccination. Methods: Sixty-one Caucasian volunteers (39 females, 22 males) vaccinated by BBIBP-CorV were included (mean age: 63.9 years). Sixty-one patients (41 females, 20 males) as controls were vaccinated with BNT162b2 (mean age: 59.9 years). Both groups received the third booster BNT162b2 vaccine. Total anti-SARS-CoV−2 S1-RBD Ig levels were measured by an immunoassay (Roche Diagnostics) and their calculated ratios after/before booster dose were compared between the two groups. Results: At baseline, significantly lower anti-SARS-CoV−2 S1-RBD total antibody levels were determined after initial immunization by two doses of inactivated BBIBP-CorV compared to BNT62b2 mRNA vaccine (p < 0.001). After BNT162b2 boosters, similarly high total Ig levels were detected in both the heterologous (27,195 [15,604–42,754] BAU/mL, p < 0.001) and the homologous booster cohort (24,492 [13,779−42,671] BAU/mL, p < 0.001) compared to baseline. Hence, the ratio of after/before total Ig levels was significantly higher with heterologous vs homologous immunization (p < 0.001). Conclusion: To address the concept that basic BBIBP-CorV vaccination is not as effective as BNT162b, we analyzed the effect of heterologous vaccination with BNT162b2. Our results suggest that BNT162b2 can successfully boost the effects of two-dose BBIBP-CorV vaccination. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Diagnosis and Prevention of COVID-19: Vaccine Effectiveness, Adverse Events, SARS-CoV-2 Variants)
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