We performed viral culture of nasopharyngeal specimens in individuals aged 79 and older, infected with severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 10 days after symptom onset. A positive viral culture was obtained in 10 (45%) of 22 participants, including 4 (33%) of 12 individuals with improving symptoms. The results of this small study suggest that infectivity may be prolonged among older individuals.

Invasive meningococcal disease has high morbidity and mortality, with infants and young children among those at greatest risk. This phase III, open-label, randomised study in toddlers aged 12–23 months evaluated the immunogenicity and safety of meningococcal tetanus toxoid-conjugate vaccine (MenACYW-TT), a tetanus toxoid conjugated vaccine against meningococcal serogroups A, C, W and Y, when coadministered with paediatric vaccines (measles, mumps and rubella [MMR]; varicella [V]; 6-in-1 combination vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b [DTaP-IPV-HepB-Hib] and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine [PCV13])(NCT03205371). Immunogenicity to each meningococcal serogroup was assessed by serum bactericidal antibody assay using human complement (hSBA). Vaccine safety profiles were described up to 30 days post-vaccination. A total of 1183 participants were enrolled. The proportion with seroprotection (hSBA ≥1:8) to each meningococcal serogroup at Day 30 was comparable between the MenACYW-TT and MenACYW-TT + MMR + V groups (≥92 and ≥96%, respectively), between the MenACYW-TT and MenACYW-TT + DTaP-IPV-HepB-Hib groups (≥90% for both) and between the MenACYW-TT and MenACYW-TT + PCV13 groups (≥91 and ≥84%, respectively). The safety profiles of MenACYW-TT, and MMR + V, DTaP-IPV-HepB-Hib, and PCV13, with or without MenACYW-TT, were generally comparable. Coadministration of MenACYW-TT with paediatric vaccines in toddlers had no clinically relevant effect on the immunogenicity and safety of any of the vaccines.

The study examined the developmental trajectories of deliberate self-harm behavior (e.g. of non-suicidal self-injury, suicidality and substance use) in a community sample of 514 adolescents from 14.5 to 16.5 years of age. Data were taken from the German sample of the Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe study (SEYLE; Wasserman et al., 2010) and its consecutive follow-up assessments. Using general growth mixture modeling, distinctive classes for each self-harm behavior were identified. The high risk non-suicidal self-injury class as well as the high risk suicidality class demonstrated high initial values with a gradual decrease over adolescence. The substance use high risk class had a low initial value and presented acceleration with time. The high overlap between the three high-risk classes supports the notion that certain personality traits such as affective dysregulation or impulsivity may underlie these three behaviors. Compared to the low or moderate risk classes, individuals belonging to high risk classes revealed significantly higher scores in the SCID-II questionnaire for DSM-IV borderline personality disorder.

The COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) project is a large international collaborative effort to analyze individual-level phenotype data from twins in multiple cohorts from different environments. The main objective is to study factors that modify genetic and environmental variation of height, body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) and size at birth, and additionally to address other research questions such as long-term consequences of birth size. The project started in 2013 and is open to all twin projects in the world having height and weight measures on twins with information on zygosity. Thus far, 54 twin projects from 24 countries have provided individual-level data. The CODATwins database includes 489,981 twin individuals (228,635 complete twin pairs). Since many twin cohorts have collected longitudinal data, there is a total of 1,049,785 height and weight observations. For many cohorts, we also have information on birth weight and length, own smoking behavior and own or parental education. We found that the heritability estimates of height and BMI systematically changed from infancy to old age. Remarkably, only minor differences in the heritability estimates were found across cultural–geographic regions, measurement time and birth cohort for height and BMI. In addition to genetic epidemiological studies, we looked at associations of height and BMI with education, birth weight and smoking status. Within-family analyses examined differences within same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins in birth size and later development. The CODATwins project demonstrates the feasibility and value of international collaboration to address gene-by-exposure interactions that require large sample sizes and address the effects of different exposures across time, geographical regions and socioeconomic status.

Background: NEDA is a composite measure that may ultimately influence clinical decisions concerning switches of disease modifying therapy (DMT) for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients. Cohort studies from MS clinics suggest NEDA is not sustained over time in most patients despite DMT but may be limited by referral bias. We investigated NEDA in a population-based RRMS cohort. Methods: We identified all incident cases of RRMS in Olmsted County from 01/01/2000-12/31/2011. Retrospective chart review was conducted to determine persistence of NEDA -following RRMS diagnosis. NEDA failure was defined as new MRI activity, relapse, or expanded disability status scale (EDSS) -worsening. Results: There were 93 incident cases of RRMS with 82 individuals having sufficient follow-up to determine persistence of NEDA. Prior to NEDA failure 44 were not on DMT, 37 were on first-tier, injectable DMT, and 1 received mitoxantrone. NEDA was maintained by 63% at 1 year, 38% at 2 years, 19% at 5 years, and 12% at 10 years. Disability measured by EDSS was no different at 10 years in patients maintaining NEDA versus those that failed NEDA at one year (p=0.3). Conclusions: Maintenance of NEDA beyond 2 years is infrequent among a population-based cohort of newly diagnosed RRMS patients and similar to prior clinic-based cohorts.

Alcohol consumption is a possible co-factor of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) persistence, a major step in cervical carcinogenesis, but the association between alcohol and continuous HPV infection remains unclear. This prospective study identified the association between alcohol consumption and HR-HPV persistence. Overall, 9230 women who underwent screening during 2002–2011 at the National Cancer Center, Korea were analysed in multivariate logistic regression. Current drinkers [odds ratio (OR) 2·49, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·32–4·71] and drinkers for ⩾5 years (OR 2·33, 95% CI 1·17–4·63) had a higher risk of 2-year HR-HPV persistence (HPV positivity for 3 consecutive years) than non-drinkers and drinkers for <5 years, respectively (vs. HPV negativity for 3 consecutive years). A high drinking frequency (⩾twice/week) and a high beer intake (⩾3 glasses/occasion) had higher risks of 1-year (OR 1·80, 95% CI 1·01–3·36) HPV positivity for 2 consecutive years) and 2-year HR-HPV persistence (OR 3·62, 95% CI 1·35–9·75) than non-drinkers. Of the HPV-positive subjects enrolled, drinking habit (OR 2·68, 95% CI 1·10–6·51) and high consumption of beer or soju (⩾2 glasses/occasion; OR 2·90, 95% CI 1·06–7·98) increased the risk of 2-year consecutive or alternate HR-HPV positivity (vs. consecutive HPV negativity). These findings suggest that alcohol consumption might increase the risk of cervical HR-HPV persistence in Korean women.

The Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System (BOOTES), is a global roboticobservatory network, which started in 1998 with Spanish leadership devoted to studyoptical emissions from gamma ray bursts (GRBs) that occur in the Universe. We present shothistory and current status of BOOTES network. The Network philosophy, science and somedetails of 117 GRBs followed-up are discussed.

Hypermucoviscous (HV) isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae have been linked to virulence potential in experimental infections. We examined 33 isolates of K. pneumoniae from patients with bacteraemia for the HV phenotype on agar culture, and determined their virulence potential by screening for capsular (K) serotype by polymerase chain reaction and the presence of seven virulence factor genes. Fourteen (42·4%) isolates expressed the HV phenotype and 11 of these were serotype K1 or K2; these serotypes were not identified in HV-negative isolates. The genes rmpA, rmpA2, aerobactin, wabG and allS were significantly more frequent in HV than non-HV isolates. Multilocus sequence typing identified 21 sequence types (ST), eight of which were found in HV-positive isolates and the clonal relatedness of isolates of the most frequent types (ST23 and ST11) from different hospitals was confirmed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The HV phenotype was more associated with community-acquired infection with a lower frequency of fatal underlying illness, but with significantly more focal infections, notably liver abscesses. Clinicians should be aware of such clinical impacts of the HV phenotype.

An effective method of tsetse eradication has been demonstrated on a practical scale in country infested with Glossina morsitans morsitans Westw. in the Western Province of Zambia. An area of slightly over 600 miles2 (1 600 km2) was sprayed from aircraft five times, at approximately three-week intervals, with endosulfan in oil solution at an average of 8·2 gal/mile2 (14·4 litre/km2), so that the area dosage of active ingredient was 17 lb/mile2 (3 kg/km2) per application or approximately 2 oz/acre (0·15 kg/ha) for the whole operation. The insecticide was dispensed as an aerosol (most droplets of 20 μm diameter) made by injecting the spray liquid into the extended exhausts of the aeromotors. Post-spray fly-rounds showed that tsetse eradication was apparently achieved except near an unsatisfactory isolation barrier. The total cost was about K300/mile2 (£175 sterling).

Our aim was to determine whether the index of left ventricular mass increases during the acute and subacute phase of Kawasaki disease, and to investigate any relationship between this index and clinical and echocardiographic variables. We performed, therefore, a retrospective study of 66 children with Kawasaki disease, having a mean age of 2.85 years, comparing the findings with those obtained from 57 normal controls, having a mean age of 2.99 years. The data from the patients used for comparison was obtained during the acute and subacute phase of the illness, as well as during the phase of convalescence. We performed correlation analysis of the findings during the acute and subacute phase, determining the relationship between the index of left ventricular mass and other variables. The index was higher (p = 0.0461), and the velocity of propagation of left ventricular early diastolic flow was lower (p < 0.0001), during the acute and subacute phase when compared to control values. The index then reduced (p = 0.0001) during the phase of convalescent when compared to the acute and subacute phase. Levels of albumin in the serum (p = 0.0193), peak E velocity (p = 0.0479), and velocity of propagation (p = 0.0360) were found to be related to the index of left ventricular mass. Significant relationships were found between the differences in this index and differences in body weight when findings during the acute and subacute phase were compared to those of the phase of convalescence. The index of left ventricular mass, therefore, is increased during the acute and subacute phase of Kawasaki disease, and is associated with altered diastolic indexes. This elevation may be due to generalized myocardial swelling from acute inflammation and increased vascular permeability. Measuring this index as a potential predictor of diastolic function should be added to studies of cardiac function during the acute and subacute phase of Kawasaki disease.

Surveillance is an important component of influenza control. This report describes the establishment and first results of the Korean Influenza Surveillance Scheme (KISS), an integrated clinical and laboratory surveillance network involving 622 public health centres (PHCs) and private clinics. Sentinel physicians reported cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) weekly and forwarded specimens for virus isolation and characterization. Influenza activity during the opening 2000–2001 season was milder and delayed compared with previous years. The ILI consultation rate corresponded well with the number of influenza virus isolates, both peaking in week 10 of 2001. Influenza A(H3N2) was the dominant isolate. The peak ILI consultation rate was higher in private clinics than in PHCs (5·04 vs 1·79 cases/1000 visits). An evaluation questionnaire generated potential enhancements to the scheme. KISS appears to represent the pattern of influenza activity accurately and will have a valuable role in monitoring and preventing epidemics in Korea.