COVID-19: Antivirals and Vaccines

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 17263

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Guest Editor
Institut für Pathologie, Klinikum der Privaten Universität Witten/Herdecke, Ostmerheimer Str. 200, D-51109 Köln, Germany
Interests: human bocavirus (HBoV); herpes simplex virus; respiratory viruses; viruses and cancer

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new Topical Collection entitled "COVID-19: Antivirals and Vaccines". This Special Issue aims to provide new insights into the broad topic of COVID-19 vaccine development and its application. We consider that this collection will be the best forum for disseminating excellent research findings as well as sharing innovative ideas in the field.

You are welcome to send a tentative title and a short abstract to our Editorial Office ([email protected]) for evaluation before submission. Please note that selected full papers will still be subject to a thorough and rigorous peer review.

We look forward to receiving your excellent work.

Prof. Dr. Oliver Schildgen
Guest Editor

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. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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.

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Research

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8 pages, 855 KiB  
Communication
Impact of Age and Sex on Antibody Response Following the Second Dose of COVID-19 BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine in Greek Healthcare Workers
by Niki Vassilaki, Antonios N. Gargalionis, Anastasia Bletsa, Nikolaos Papamichalopoulos, Elisavet Kontou, Meropi Gkika, Kostas Patas, Dimitrios Theodoridis, Ioannis Manolis, Anastasios Ioannidis, Raphaela S. Milona, Alexandra Tsirogianni, Emmanouil Angelakis and Stylianos Chatzipanagiotou
Microorganisms 2021, 9(8), 1725; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9081725 - 13 Aug 2021
Cited by 44 | Viewed by 3914
Abstract
Anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD (receptor-binding domain) IgG antibody levels were monitored in 1643 volunteer healthcare workers of Eginition, Evangelismos, and Konstantopoulio General Hospitals (Athens, Greece), who underwent vaccination with two doses of COVID-19 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer) and had no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. [...] Read more.
Anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD (receptor-binding domain) IgG antibody levels were monitored in 1643 volunteer healthcare workers of Eginition, Evangelismos, and Konstantopoulio General Hospitals (Athens, Greece), who underwent vaccination with two doses of COVID-19 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer) and had no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Venous blood was collected 20–30 days after the second vaccine dose and anti-RBD IgG levels were determined using CMIA SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant (Abbott) on ARCHITECT i System or ADVIA Centaur SARS-CoV-2 IgG (Siemens) on Centaur XP platform. From the total population of 1643 vaccinees (533 M/1110 F; median age = 49; interquartile range-IQR = 40–56), 1636 (99.6%) had anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG titers above the positivity threshold of the assay used. One-Way ANOVA Kruskal-Wallis H test showed a statistically significant difference in the median of antibody titers between the different age groups (p < 0.0001). Consistently, Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r) for IgGs and age as continuous variables was −0.2380 (p = 1.98 × 10−17). Moreover, antibody titers were slightly higher by 1.2-mean fold (p = 3 × 10−6) in the total female population of the three hospitals (median = 1594; IQR = 875–2584) as compared to males (median = 1292; IQR = 671.9–2188). The present study supports that BNT162b2 vaccine is particularly effective in producing high anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels in healthy individuals, and this humoral response is age- and gender-dependent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19: Antivirals and Vaccines)
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11 pages, 1367 KiB  
Article
Confounding Factors Influencing the Kinetics and Magnitude of Serological Response Following Administration of BNT162b2
by Jean-Louis Bayart, Laure Morimont, Mélanie Closset, Grégoire Wieërs, Tatiana Roy, Vincent Gerin, Marc Elsen, Christine Eucher, Sandrine Van Eeckhoudt, Nathalie Ausselet, Clara David, François Mullier, Jean-Michel Dogné, Julien Favresse and Jonathan Douxfils
Microorganisms 2021, 9(6), 1340; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9061340 - 21 Jun 2021
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4230
Abstract
Background: Little is known about potential confounding factors influencing the humoral response in individuals having received the BNT162b2 vaccine. Methods: Blood samples from 231 subjects were collected before and 14, 28, and 42 days following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination with BNT162b2. Anti-spike [...] Read more.
Background: Little is known about potential confounding factors influencing the humoral response in individuals having received the BNT162b2 vaccine. Methods: Blood samples from 231 subjects were collected before and 14, 28, and 42 days following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination with BNT162b2. Anti-spike receptor-binding-domain protein (anti-Spike/RBD) immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies were measured at each time-point. Impact of age, sex, childbearing age status, hormonal therapy, blood group, body mass index and past-history of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were assessed by multivariable analyses. Results and Conclusions: In naïve subjects, the level of anti-Spike/RBD antibodies gradually increased following administration of the first dose to reach the maximal response at day 28 and then plateauing at day 42. In vaccinated subjects with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, the plateau was reached sooner (i.e., at day 14). In the naïve population, age had a significant negative impact on anti-Spike/RBD titers at days 14 and 28 while lower levels were observed for males at day 42, when corrected for other confounding factors. Body mass index (BMI) as well as B and AB blood groups had a significant impact in various subgroups on the early response at day 14 but no longer after. No significant confounding factors were highlighted in the previously infected group. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19: Antivirals and Vaccines)
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12 pages, 326 KiB  
Opinion
“Don’t Look Up” Your Science—Herd Immunity or Herd Mentality?
by Botond Z. Igyártó
Microorganisms 2022, 10(7), 1463; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10071463 - 20 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 7828
Abstract
This analysis piece will attempt to examine some of the critical pandemic-related measures implemented in the United States from an immunological perspective and pinpoint caveats that should have been considered before their implementation. I also discuss alternative measures grounded in scientific data that [...] Read more.
This analysis piece will attempt to examine some of the critical pandemic-related measures implemented in the United States from an immunological perspective and pinpoint caveats that should have been considered before their implementation. I also discuss alternative measures grounded in scientific data that were not thoroughly explored and likely could have helped fight the pandemic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19: Antivirals and Vaccines)
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