Healthcare employees were tested for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Among 734 employees, the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 1.6%. Employees with heavy COVID-19 exposure had similar antibody prevalence as those with limited or no exposure. Guidelines for PPE use seem effective for preventing COVID-19 infection in healthcare workers.

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CpxRA is an envelope stress response system found in all members of the family ; CpxA has kinase activity for CpxR and phosphatase activity for phospho-CpxR, a transcription factor. CpxR also accepts phosphate groups from acetyl phosphate, a glucose metabolite. Activation of CpxR increases the transcription of genes encoding membrane repair and downregulates virulence determinants. We hypothesized that activation of CpxR could serve as an antimicrobial/antivirulence strategy and discovered compounds that activate CpxR in by inhibiting CpxA phosphatase activity. As a prelude to testing such compounds , here we constructed (in the presence of glucose, CpxR is activated because of a lack of CpxA phosphatase) and (system absent) deletion mutants of uropathogenic (UPEC) CFT073. By RNA sequencing, few transcriptional differences were noted between the mutant and its parent, but in the mutant, several UPEC virulence determinants were downregulated, including the and operons, and it exhibited reduced mannose-sensitive hemagglutination of guinea pig red blood cells In competition experiments with mice, both mutants were less fit than the parent in the urine, bladder, and kidney; these fitness defects were complemented in Unexpectedly, in single-strain challenges, only the mutant was attenuated for virulence in the kidney but not in the bladder or urine. For the mutant, this may be due to the preferential use of amino acids over glucose as a carbon source in the bladder and urine by UPEC. These studies suggest that CpxA phosphatase inhibitors may have some utility for treating complex urinary tract infections.

Background: COVID-19 is a novel disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Methods: We conducted a retrospective evaluation of patients admitted with COVID-19 to one site in March 2020. Patients were stratified into 3 groups: survivors who did not receive mechanical ventilation (MV), survivors who received MV, and those who received MV and died during hospitalization. Results: There were 140 hospitalizations; 22 deaths (mortality rate 15.7%), 83 (59%) survived and did not receive MV, 35 (25%) received MV and survived; 18 (12.9%) received MV and died. Thee mean age of each group was 57.8, 55.8 and 72.7 years, respectively (P = .0001). Of those who received MV and died, 61% were male (P = .01). More than half the patients (n = 90, 64%) were African American. First measured d-dimer >575.5 ng/mL, procalcitonin > 0.24 ng/mL, lactate dehydrogenase >445.6 units/L, and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) >104.75 pg/mL had odds ratios of 10.5, 5, 4.5 and 2.9, respectively for MV (P < .05 for all). Peak BNP >167.5 pg/mL had an odds ratio of 6.7 for inpatient mortality when mechanically ventilated (P = .02). Conclusions: Age and gender may impact outcomes in COVID-19. D-dimer, procalcitonin, lactate dehydrogenase and BNP may serve as early indicators of disease trajectory.