No abstract

Studies are urgently needed to characterize immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) mRNA vaccines in kidney transplant (KT) recipients, excluded from major clinical trials. Complex ELISPOT and other cellular response techniques have been applied, but simpler tools are needed. An easy‐to‐use real‐world monitoring of SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG antibodies against the Spike protein and QuantiFERON ® SARS‐CoV‐2 IFNγ release assay (IGRA) were performed at baseline and 28 days after the second dose in KT recipients and controls (dialysis patients and healthy ones). All healthy controls and >95% dialysis controls became positive for anti‐S IgG antibodies, while only 63.3% of KT patients seroconverted with a very low antibody level. A positive IGRA was documented in 96.9% of controls, 89.3% peritoneal dialysis, 77.6% hemodialysis, 61.3% of KT patients transplanted more than 1 year ago and only 36% of those transplanted within the previous 12 months. Overall, 100% of healthy controls, 95.4% of dialysis patients and 78.8% KT recipients developed any immune response (humoral and/or cellular) against SARS‐CoV‐2. KT patients showed low rates of immune responses to mRNA Coronavirus infectious disease 2019 vaccines, especially those with recent transplantations. Simple humoral and cellular monitoring is advisable, so that repeated doses may be scheduled according to the results.

No abstract

A new immunochromatographic membrane assay for detecting Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 antigen in urine samples (Binax Now Legionella Urinary Antigen Test; Binax, USA) was evaluated. Its sensitivity, specificity and level of agreement with the Binax enzyme immunoassay were compared using nonconcentrated and concentrated urine samples. The overall agreement between the two tests was 98.1%; the specificity of both was 100%. The sensitivity of the immunochromatographic assay was 55.5% in nonconcentrated urine and 97.2% in concentrated urine in comparison with the enzyme immunoassay, using concentrated urine as the reference test. This immunochromatographic assay screens successfully for Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 soluble antigen in concentrated urine samples.