Background A greater understanding of the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in an infected population is important for the development of a vaccination. Aim To investigate SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgG antibodies in Thai patients with differing severities of COVID-19. Methods Plasma from the following patient groups was examined: 118 adult patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, 49 patients under investigation (without confirmed infections), 20 patients with other respiratory infections, and 102 healthy control patients. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from EUROIMMUN was performed to assess for IgA and IgG antibodies. The optical density (OD) ratio cutoff for a positive result was 1.1 for IgA and 0.8 for IgG. Additionally, the association of the antibody response with both the severity of disease and the date after onset of symptoms was analyzed. Results A total of 289 participants were enrolled and 384 samples analyzed from March 10 to May 31, 2020. Patients were categorized, based on their clinical manifestations, as mild (n = 59), moderate (n = 27), or severe (n = 32). The overall sensitivity of IgA and IgG from the

Aims: To identify roles of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and solar elastosis as the risk factors for conjunctival squamous cell neoplasia (CSCN). Methods: 30 consecutive pathological specimens, ranging from conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia, carcinoma in situ, to invasive squamous cell carcinoma were retrieved from tissue archives. 30 controls were disease free conjunctiva from age and sex matched patients undergoing extracapsular cataract extraction. Two masked pathologists studied haematoxylin and eosin stains on paraffin embedded conjunctival tissues. Elastic stain for solar elastosis was blindly interpreted in comparison with negative and positive controls. HPV infection was studied by polymerase chain reaction and dot hybridisation. Results: The mean age of CSCN patients was 54.9 years. The male to female ratio was 1:1. Solar elastosis was seen in 53.3% of CSCN and in 3.3% of controls with an odds ratio of 16.0 (95% CI, 2.49 to 670.96; p value = 0.0003). HPV DNA were not detected in any of the specimens. Conclusion: Solar elastosis is much more frequently found in CSCN cases than in their matched controls and is a risk factor for CSCN. These data are insufficient to conclude that HPV infection is a risk factor for CSCN. C onjunctival squamous cell neoplasia (CSCN) is the most common malignant tumour of the ocular surface.1 2 The disease is prevalent in tropical areas including Thailand.3 4 Early manifestations are small masses at or around the limbus mimicking pterygia, occurring in middle aged patients. The tumours then grow slowly, invading the nearby tissues including the eyeball, eyelids, and orbital tissues leading to severe visual loss, loss of the eye, and severe facial deformities.Similar to the squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, the stagings of conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma are classified by the thickness of epithelial dysplastic changes and the tumour invasion into the substantia propria. The disease severity varies from conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), carcinoma in situ (CIS), to invasive squamous cell carcinoma.So far the causes of the disease are not adequately understood. There have been a number of investigations on the relation between the tumour to several factors, including solar exposure 5-7 and human papillomavirus (HPV). 8-12Solar exposure has been observed to cause the epithelial malignancy. Newton et al 5 related the prevalence of this malignancy to tropical location of the patient dwellings. Sun et al 6 found an association between ultraviolet exposure and the prevalence of squamous cell neoplasia of the conjunctiva and the eyelids. However, these two studies were conducted as non-comparative studies. Lee et al 7 found a relation of sun exposure to squamous cell dysplasia in a case-control study, but did not include the pathological study on the actinic damage of the tissue.A number of studies have been successful in detecting HPV type 16 and 18 in CSCN. [8][9][10][11][12] However, benign conjunctival lesions have been shown to contain the ...

Administration of the 2 doses of varicella vaccine resulted in high seroconversion rates without serious adverse reactions. Varicella vaccination for HIV-infected children should be encouraged.

Please cite this paper as: Boonyasuppayakorn et al. (2010) Molecular and demographic analysis of respiratory syncytial virus infection in King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital admitted patients, Thailand, 2007. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 4(5), 313–323. Objectives:  To preliminary preview the molecular character and its possible clinical correlation of RSV subgroups in Thailand. Design:  Cross‐sectional analytic design. Setting:  Admitted acute lower respiratory tract infection patients of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, during Jun–Dec, 2007 were recruited. Sample:  Nasopharyngeal aspirations were collected. Main outcome measures:  All samples were analyzed for the presence of RSV glycoprotein G gene by reverse transcription PCR. Molecular character of each subgroup was determined by sequencing. Admission records were also analyzed for clinical correlations. Results:  Equal infectivity and severity of both RSV subgroups to the patients was shown. Mixed infection was shown to be as common as each single infection, higher than previously reported. GA2 of subgroup A and BA‐IV of subgroup B were the most widespread genotypes and showed their monophyletic origins. From admission records, either type of infection did not show significantly preference in demographic record or clinical severity. Comorbidity, however, was statistically significant that more congenital heart disease was found in negative RSV cases, while more chronic pulmonary disease was in positive cases. Nevertheless, the clinical severity was insignificantly different suggesting that only patients with chronic pulmonary underlying were prone to be infected with RSV. Conclusions:  This preliminary RSV study showed prevalence of subgroups, types of infection, and common genotypes in an epidemic, uncorrelated to demography or clinical severity.

Background: More understanding of antibody responses in the SARS-CoV-2 infected population is useful for vaccine development. Aim: To investigate SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgG among COVID-19 Thai patients with different severity. Methods: We used plasma from 118 adult patients who have confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and 49 patients under investigation without infection, 20 patients with other respiratory infections, and 102 healthy controls. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgG were performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay from Euroimmun. The optical density ratio cut off for positive test was 1.1 for IgA and 0.8 for IgG. The association of antibody response with the severity of diseases and the day of symptoms was performed. Results: From Mar 10 to May 31, 2020, 289 participants were enrolled, and 384 samples were analyzed. Patients were categorized by clinical manifestations to mild (n=59), moderate (n=27) and severe (n=32). The overall sensitivity of IgA and IgG from samples collected after day 7 is 87.9% (95% CI 79.8-93.6) and 84.8% (95% CI 76.2-91.3), respectively. The severe group had a significantly higher level of specific IgA and IgG to S1 antigen compared to the mild group. All moderate to severe patients have specific IgG while 20% of the mild group did not have any IgG detected after two weeks. Interestingly, SARS-CoV-2 IgG level was significantly higher in males compared to females among the severe group (p=0.003). Conclusion: The serologic test for SARS-CoV-2 has high sensitivity after the second week after onset of illness. Serological response differs among patients with different severity and different sex.