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Microorganisms
Special Issues
SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: Infection Models, Therapeutics and Vaccines, Second Edition
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SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: Infection Models, Therapeutics and Vaccines, Second Edition

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Public Health Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 866

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Rana Abdelnabi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Interests: antivirals and animals models for emerging viruses including SARS-CoV-2
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the continuation of our previous Special Issue, entitled “SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: Infection Models, Therapeutics and Vaccines”.

Almost two years after the emergence of SAR-CoV-2, more than 330 million cases of infection and 5.5 million fatal cases have been reported worldwide. Since the end of 2020, new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) have been emerging worldwide. These variants present new challenges to the control of the COVID-19 pandemic by greatly threatening the efficacies of available monoclonal antibody therapies and vaccines, which have been developed to target the parent strain of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, continued efforts are required to evaluate the efficacy of currently available and newly developed therapeutics and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 (including new variants) in relevant infection models in order to contain and combat this virus efficiently.

Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to provide a collection of articles that highlight recent advancements in the battle against the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. As the Guest Editor of this Special Issue, I invite you to submit research articles, review articles, and short communications related to SARS-CoV-2 infection models and the development of therapeutics and vaccines for use against this virus.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Rana Abdelnabi
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.

Keywords

  • SARS-CoV-2
  • animal models
  • antivirals
  • vaccine
  • monoclonal antibodies
  • assay models

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1335 KiB  
Article
Validation of a Pseudovirus Neutralization Assay for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2: A High-Throughput Method for the Evaluation of Vaccine Immunogenicity
by Zhaohui Cai, Raj Kalkeri, Mi Wang, Benjamin Haner, Dominic Dent, Bahar Osman, Paul Skonieczny, Jeremy Ross, Sheau-Line Feng, Rongman Cai, Mingzhu Zhu, Shane Cloney-Clark and Joyce S. Plested
Microorganisms 2024, 12(6), 1201; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12061201 - 14 Jun 2024
Viewed by 331
Abstract
The evaluation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine immunogenicity remains essential as the severe acute respiratory syncytial virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic continues to evolve and as additional variants emerge. Neutralizing antibodies are a known correlate of protection for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. A pseudovirus neutralization [...] Read more.
The evaluation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine immunogenicity remains essential as the severe acute respiratory syncytial virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic continues to evolve and as additional variants emerge. Neutralizing antibodies are a known correlate of protection for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. A pseudovirus neutralization (PNT) assay was developed and validated at Novavax Clinical Immunology Laboratories to allow for the detection of neutralizing antibodies in vaccine clinical trial sera. The PNT assay was precise, accurate, linear, and specific in measuring SARS-CoV-2 neutralization titers in human serum for ancestral strain and the Omicron subvariants BA.5 and XBB.1.5, with an overall geometric coefficient of variation of ≤43.4%, a percent relative bias within the expected range of −60% to 150%, and a linearity value of R2 > 0.98 for all three strains. This pseudovirus assay will be useful for the analysis of vaccine clinical trial samples to assess vaccine immunogenicity. Future work will focus on modifying the assay for emerging variants, including XBB.1.16, EG.5.1, BA.2.86, and any other variants that emerge in the ongoing pandemic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: Infection Models, Therapeutics and Vaccines, Second Edition)
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10 pages, 216 KiB  
Article
Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Cross-Sectional Study in Three Communities in the United States and Lebanon
by Mohamad Yasmin, Mohamad Ali Tfaily, Rayyan Wazzi Mkahal, Rita Obeid, Rebecca P. Emery, Habiba Hassouna, Mudita Bhugra, Robert A. Bonomo and Zeina A. Kanafani
Microorganisms 2024, 12(6), 1200; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12061200 - 14 Jun 2024
Viewed by 307
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the significance of vaccine hesitancy in shaping vaccination outcomes. Understanding the factors underpinning COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy is crucial for tailoring effective vaccination strategies. This cross-sectional study, conducted in three communities across the United States and Lebanon, employed surveys to [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the significance of vaccine hesitancy in shaping vaccination outcomes. Understanding the factors underpinning COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy is crucial for tailoring effective vaccination strategies. This cross-sectional study, conducted in three communities across the United States and Lebanon, employed surveys to assess respondents’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding COVID-19 infection and vaccination. Among the 7196 participants, comprising 6775 from the US and 422 from Lebanon, vaccine hesitancy rates were comparable at 12.2% and 12.8%, respectively. Notably, a substantial proportion of respondents harbored misconceptions, such as attributing the potential to alter DNA (86.4%) or track individuals (92.8%) to COVID-19 vaccines and believing in the virus’s artificial origins (81%). US participants had more misconceptions about the COVID-19 vaccine, such as altering DNA or causing infertility. Lebanese participants were more likely to question the origins of the virus and the speed of vaccine development. Additionally, US respondents were less worried about infection, while Lebanese respondents were more indecisive but less likely to outright reject the vaccine. Primary determinants of hesitancy included perceptions that the vaccine poses a greater risk than the infection itself (aOR = 8.7 and 9.4, respectively) and negative recommendations from healthcare providers (aOR = 6.5 and 5.4, respectively). Conversely, positive endorsements from healthcare providers were associated with reduced hesitancy (aOR = 0.02 and 0.4, respectively). Targeting healthcare providers to dispel misinformation and elucidate COVID-19 vaccine risks holds promise for enhancing vaccination uptake. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: Infection Models, Therapeutics and Vaccines, Second Edition)
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