COVID 19 Special Collection
COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Special Collection
Latest COVID-19 Articles
ASM is committed to broadly disseminating research relevant to public health emergencies. This collection highlights all COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 research published across ASM Journals. All content is free to read and available for text and data mining via PubMed Central.
-
Letter to the Editor
Evaluation and Comparison of the Hologic Aptima SARS-CoV-2 and the CDC 2019 nCoV real-time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel using a Four-Sample Pooling Approach
To expand testing capacity during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, numerous molecular assays have been granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for testing individual patient samples but not for sample pooling.…
Accepted Manuscript Posted 18 September 2020, JCM
-
Research Article
Impaired Cytotoxic CD8+ T Cell Response in Elderly COVID-19 Patients
Cytotoxic T cells are responsible for the elimination of infected cells and are key players in the control of viruses. CD8+ T cells with an effector phenotype express cytotoxic molecules and are able to perform target cell killing. COVID-19 patients with a mild disease course were analyzed for the differentiation status and cytotoxic profile of CD8+ T cells. SARS-CoV-2 infection induced a vigorous cytotoxic CD8+ T cell response. However, this cytotoxic profile of T cells was not detected in COVID-19 patients over the age of 80 years. Thus, the absence of a cytotoxic response in elderly patients might be a possible reason for the more frequent severity of COVID-19 in this age group than in younger patients.
18 September 2020, mBio
-
Perspective
The Social Distancing Imposed To Contain COVID-19 Can Affect Our Microbiome: a Double-Edged Sword in Human Health
Hygienic measures imposed to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and contain COVID-19 have proven effective in controlling the pandemic. In this article, we argue that these measures could impact the human microbiome in two different and disparate ways, acting as a double-edged sword in human health. New lines of research have shown that the diversity of human intestinal and oropharyngeal microbiomes can shape pulmonary viral infection progression. Here, we suggest that the disruption in microbial sharing, as it is associated with dysbiosis (loss of bacterial diversity associated with an imbalance of the microbiota with deleterious consequences for the host), may worsen the prognosis of COVID-19 disease. In addition, social detachment can also decrease the rate of transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Therefore, it seems crucial to perform new studies combining the pandemic control of COVID-19 with the diversity of the human microbiome.
16 September 2020, mSphere