Infectious Diseases (except HIV/AIDS)

Reconciling early-outbreak estimates of the basic reproductive number and its uncertainty: framework and applications to the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak

1. Sang Woo Park
2. Benjamin M. Bolker
3. David Champredon
4. David J. D. Earn
5. Michael Li
6. Joshua S. Weitz
7. Bryan T. Grenfell
8. Jonathan Dushoff

Reviewed by ScreenIT

The Dantu blood group prevents parasite growth in vivo: Evidence from a controlled human malaria infection study

1. Silvia N Kariuki
2. Alexander W Macharia
3. Johnstone Makale
4. Wilfred Nyamu
5. Stephen L Hoffman
6. Melissa C Kapulu
7. Philip Bejon
8. Julian C Rayner
9. Thomas N Williams
10. On behalf of for the CHMI-SIKA Study Team

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The large genetic association studies conducted in East Africa have shown that the Dantu blood group provides substantial protection against severe malaria since it increases the surface tension of red blood cells making it harder for malaria parasites to invade. In this important work, the authors show that parasite growth is indeed restricted in vivo by testing this hypothesis in adult Kenyan volunteers infected with P. falciparium under careful monitoring. They were able to show convincingly that indeed, parasite growth was reduced amongst Dantu adults.

Reviewed by eLife

Changes in transmission of Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) in England inferred from seroprevalence data

1. Margarita Pons-Salort
2. Ben Lambert
3. Everlyn Kamau
4. Richard Pebody
5. Heli Harvala
6. Peter Simmonds
7. Nicholas C Grassly

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The authors use data from 3 cross-sectional age-stratified serosurveys on Enterovirus D68 from England between 2006 and 2017 to examine the transmission dynamics of this pathogen in this setting. Understanding these dynamics, including how it changes over time, may help uncover potential changes in the transmissibility of the virus. While the topic is relevant, interpretation of the results challenging largely due to the great uncertainty around how to interpret the serological (serostatus) data, and the impact this has on the inferences made. We ask the authors to perform some additional analyses and to provide more intuition to understand some of the key findings of this analysis.

Reviewed by eLife

Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV (COVID-19): early estimation of epidemiological parameters and epidemic size estimates

1. Jonathan M. Read
2. Jessica R. E. Bridgen
3. Derek A. T. Cummings
4. Antonia Ho
5. Chris P. Jewell

Reviewed by PREreview, ScreenIT

Integrating contact tracing and whole-genome sequencing to track the elimination of dog-mediated rabies: An observational and genomic study

1. Kennedy Lushasi
2. Kirstyn Brunker
3. Malavika Rajeev
4. Elaine A Ferguson
5. Gurdeep Jaswant
6. Laurie Louise Baker
7. Roman Biek
8. Joel Changalucha
9. Sarah Cleaveland
10. Anna Czupryna
11. Anthony R Fooks
12. Nicodemus J Govella
13. Daniel T Haydon
14. Paul CD Johnson
15. Rudovick Kazwala
16. Tiziana Lembo
17. Denise Marston
18. Msanif Masoud
19. Matthew Maziku
20. Eberhard Mbunda
21. Geofrey Mchau
22. Ally Z Mohamed
23. Emmanuel Mpolya
24. Chanasa Ngeleja
25. Kija Ng'habi
26. Hezron Nonga
27. Kassim Omar
28. Kristyna Rysava
29. Maganga Sambo
30. Lwitiko Sikana
31. Rachel Steenson
32. Katie Hampson

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper presents an analysis of both contact tracing and whole-genome sequence data to track the elimination of dog-mediated rabies in Pemba Island, Tanzania. The work is a valuable contribution to the literature as it will have practical implications for the elimination of dog-mediated rabies in other regions/contexts. The main claims made are largely supported, but the strength of evidence for the cost-effectiveness is limited.

Reviewed by eLife

Pharmacometrics of high-dose ivermectin in early COVID-19 from an open label, randomized, controlled adaptive platform trial (PLATCOV)

1. William HK Schilling
2. Podjanee Jittamala
3. James A Watson
4. Maneerat Ekkapongpisit
5. Tanaya Siripoon
6. Thundon Ngamprasertchai
7. Viravarn Luvira
8. Sasithorn Pongwilai
9. Cintia Cruz
10. James J Callery
11. Simon Boyd
12. Varaporn Kruabkontho
13. Thatsanun Ngernseng
14. Jaruwan Tubprasert
15. Mohammad Yazid Abdad
16. Nattaporn Piaraksa
17. Kanokon Suwannasin
18. Pongtorn Hanboonkunupakarn
19. Borimas Hanboonkunupakarn
20. Sakol Sookprome
21. Kittiyod Poovorawan
22. Janjira Thaipadungpanit
23. Stuart Blacksell
24. Mallika Imwong
25. Joel Tarning
26. Walter RJ Taylor
27. Vasin Chotivanich
28. Chunlanee Sangketchon
29. Wiroj Ruksakul
30. Kesinee Chotivanich
31. Mauro Martins Teixeira
32. Sasithon Pukrittayakamee
33. Arjen M Dondorp
34. Nicholas PJ Day
35. Watcharapong Piyaphanee
36. Weerapong Phumratanaprapin
37. Nicholas J White
38. on behalf of the PLATCOV Collaborative Group

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This highly important paper uses a Bayesian linear regression approach in a clinical trial to establish that ivermectin does not increase the clearance rate of SARS-CoV-2 relative to no study drug. The strength of evidence is compelling. Particular strengths are that the paper is clearly written, a novel and important adaptive study design, and linear mixed modeling to account for participant heterogeneity. The work will be of interest to clinicians, statisticians, and public health departments.

Reviewed by eLife

Within-host virus evolution during the extended treatment of RSV infection with mutagenic drugs

1. Christopher J. R. Illingworth
2. Alexandra Y. Kreins
3. Adriana Margarit-Soler
4. Tim Best
5. Patricia Dyal
6. Giovanna Lucchini
7. Kanchan Rao
8. Rachel Williams
9. Austen Worth
10. Judith Breuer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Illingworth et al. investigate the effectiveness of ribavirin and favipiravir on the treatment of a paediatric patient with chronic RSV and identify an increase in mutations caused by ribavirin while favipiravir had no apparent mutagenic effect. Strength of evidence is incomplete for the mathematical model and solid for the mutational load analysis with potential for improvement in both cases with clarification of the methods. Major strengths are an interesting hypothesis and appropriate modeling methodology that will be of interest to virologists, clinicians and evolutionary biologists. Weaknesses in methodology pertain to mutational load measures possibly also capturing clonal expansion of new mutants and lack of clarity about how viral fitness is related to viral load in the mathematical model.

Reviewed by eLife

International multicenter study comparing COVID-19 in patients with cancer to patients without cancer: Impact of risk factors and treatment modalities on survivorship

1. Issam I Raad
2. Ray Hachem
3. Nigo Masayuki
4. Tarcila Datoguia
5. Hiba Dagher
6. Ying Jiang
7. Vivek Subbiah
8. Bilal Siddiqui
9. Arnaud Bayle
10. Robert Somer
11. Ana Fernández Cruz
12. Edward Gorak
13. Arvinder Bhinder
14. Nobuyoshi Mori
15. Nelson Hamerschlak
16. Samuel Shelanski
17. Tomislav Dragovich
18. Yee Elise Vong Kiat
19. Suha Fakhreddine
20. Abi Hanna Pierre
21. Roy F Chemaly
22. Victor Mulanovich
23. Javier Adachi
24. Jovan Borjan
25. Fareed Khawaja
26. Bruno Granwehr
27. Teny John
28. Eduardo Yepez Yepez
29. Harrys A Torres
30. Natraj Reddy Ammakkanavar
31. Marcel Yibirin
32. Cielito C Reyes-Gibby
33. Mala Pande
34. Noman Ali
35. Raniv Dawey Rojo
36. Shahnoor M Ali
37. Rita E Deeba
38. Patrick Chaftari
39. Takahiro Matsuo
40. Kazuhiro Ishikawa
41. Ryo Hasegawa
42. Ramón Aguado-Noya
43. Alvaro Garcia García
44. Cristina Traseira Puchol
45. Dong Gun Lee
46. Monica Slavin
47. Benjamin Teh
48. Cesar A Arias
49. Data-Driven Determinants for COVID-19 Oncology Discovery Effort (D3CODE) Team
50. Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis
51. Alexandre E Malek
52. Anne-Marie Chaftari

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study has looked at the 30-day mortality risk from COVID-19 in a large population of unvaccinated patients with and without cancer. Age and cancer were independent risk factors for death. In particular haematological malignancies and lung cancer presented the highest risk. These data add to the body of evidence regarding the risk of COVID-19 in patients with cancer. This manuscript is of broad interest to oncologists, internists, and infectious disease specialists in managing patients with COVID-19 and cancer.

Reviewed by eLife

Procalcitonin for antimicrobial stewardship among cancer patients admitted with COVID-19

1. Hiba Dagher
2. Anne-Marie Chaftari
3. Patricia Mulanovich
4. Ying Jiang
5. Ray Hachem
6. Alexandre E Malek
7. Jovan Borjan
8. George M Viola
9. Issam Raad

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  One must appreciate the challenges of antimicrobial stewardship in an immunocompromised population. This retrospective single-institution study provides support for the working hypothesis that initial procalcitonin levels might be used in cancer patients admitted with COVID-19 infection to omit, reduce, or de-escalate the need for empiric antimicrobial therapy. In the setting of a global pandemic, this is a common issue with COVID-19 patients in generally, but far more difficult in a cancer patient population. The results presented here support the authors' conclusions, however, future subgroup analysis of more specific scenarios among cancer patients with COVID-19 (e.g., neutropenia, active chemotherapy, and need for intensive care) are warranted.

Reviewed by eLife

Efficacy of ultra-short, response-guided sofosbuvir and daclatasvir therapy for hepatitis C in a single-arm mechanistic pilot study

1. Barnaby Flower
2. Le Manh Hung
3. Leanne Mccabe
4. M Azim Ansari
5. Chau Le Ngoc
6. Thu Vo Thi
7. Hang Vu Thi Kim
8. Phuong Nguyen Thi Ngoc
9. Le Thanh Phuong
10. Vo Minh Quang
11. Thuan Dang Trong
12. Thao Le Thi
13. Tran Nguyen Bao
14. Cherry Kingsley
15. David Smith
16. Richard M Hoglund
17. Joel Tarning
18. Evelyne Kestelyn
19. Sarah L Pett
20. Rogier van Doorn
21. Jennifer Ilo Van Nuil
22. Hugo Turner
23. Guy E Thwaites
24. Eleanor Barnes
25. Motiur Rahman
26. Ann Sarah Walker
27. Jeremy N Day
28. Nguyen VV Chau
29. Graham S Cooke

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This work provides valuable knowledge to the ongoing research to establish an algorithm to shorten the duration of hepatitis C therapy with direct-acting antivirals. This is an important study that is a nice addition to previous reports evaluating the utility of response-guided therapy for shortening the duration of HCV treatment. Given the disease burden and the high costs of treatment, especially in low-income countries, this is a major goal that was also advocated by the WHO. Although the main objective (shortening therapy to 4 weeks) was not adequately achieved (<90% success rate), the study's results may suggest that re-treatment in case of failure is safe and efficient, although further studies with a larger number of patients are needed for confirmation.

Reviewed by eLife