November 7, 2025

SARS-CoV-2

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of 3-Year-Old Children Exposed to Maternal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection in Utero
Investigators conducted a retrospective cohort study of 18,124 live births to individuals who delivered between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021, within the Mass General Brigham health system. The exposure of interest was maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, defined as a positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction test result during pregnancy. The outcome of interest was presence of any neurodevelopmental diagnosis up to 36 months after birth. Among the 861 individuals with SARS-CoV-2-exposed pregnancies (4.8%), 140 offspring (16.3%) received a neurodevelopmental diagnosis by 36 months after birth, compared with 1,680 of 17,263 unexposed offspring (9.7%) (unadjusted odds ratio 1.80, 95% CI,1.49–2.17; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.29, 95% CI,1.05–1.57, P=.01). In sensitivity analyses, largest effects were observed in third trimester exposures, overall (aOR 1.36, 95% CI,1.07–1.72, P=.01), and among male offspring (aOR 1.43, 95% CI,1.05–1.91, P=.02). Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy was associated with increased risk of adverse neurodevelopmental diagnoses by age 3 years, with effects most pronounced after third-trimester exposure and in male offspring.

HPV Vaccination

Impact of Vaccinating Adult Women Who Are HPV-Positive or with Confirmed Cervical SIL with the 9-Valent Vaccine — A Systematic Review
Background: Infection with certain types of HPV cause of anogenital, head, and neck diseases, including warts, precancerous lesions, and cancer. We estimate that almost all cervical cancer is due to HPV. Almost all, if not all of these cancers, could be prevented by vaccination. In this systematic review that identified a number of cohort studies they found that complete HPV remission was achieved in up to 72.4% of vaccinated women, compared to 45.7% among unvaccinated controls. Vaccination after conization lowered the recurrence risk of CIN2+ lesions by 87%, with benefits seen regardless of timing. The most significant effect was observed when vaccine administration was performed before the surgical procedure. Furthermore, HPV vaccination notably enhanced viral clearance and decreased the likelihood of repeated surgical interventions.

Bird Flu

Asymptomatic Human Infections With Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus Confirmed by Molecular and Serologic Testing A Scoping Review.
Since 1997, more than 1,000 infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus among humans have been reported globally. The objective was to identify and characterize reported cases of asymptomatic A(H5N1) virus infection among humans with confirmation by both molecular testing. The team identified 10 reports of 18 asymptomatic human H5N1 infection, including two with molecular and serologic confirmation (MSC) and 16 with molecular confirmation alone (MC).

COVID: Active Vaccination/Immunity

Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases After COVID-19 Infection and Vaccination in Children and Young People in England: A Retrospective, Population-based Cohort Study Using Linked Electronic Health Records
The goal of this investigation is to look at the incidence of severe diseases following COVID-19 infection versus COVID-19 vaccination-related adverse effects. Authors analysed whole-population linked electronic health records for all individuals in England aged younger than 18 years, registered with a general practitioner, and with known age, sex, and region of residence, between Jan 1, 2020, and Dec 31, 2022. Outcomes were arterial thrombotic events, venous thrombotic events, thrombocytopenia, myocarditis or pericarditis, and inflammatory conditions. Adjusted hazard ratios(aHRs) for all outcomes were estimated by time since a first COVID-19 diagnosis during Jan 1, 2020–March 31, 2022, and by time since a first COVID-19 vaccination during Aug 6, 2021–Dec 31, 2022, adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, region, deprivation, general practitioner contact frequency, and medication use. Conclusion: Children and young people have higher risks of rare vascular and inflammatory diseases up to 12 months after a first COVID-19 diagnosis and higher risk of rare myocarditis or pericarditis up to 4 weeks after a first BNT162b2 vaccine, although the risk following vaccination is substantially lower than the risk following infection.

COVID: Early Viral Stage

Real-World Effectiveness of Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir in Preventing Coronavirus Disease 2019–Associated Hospitalization: A Population-Based Cohort Study in the Province of Québec, Canada
These are the results of a retrospective cohort study of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2–infected outpatients between 15 March and 15 October 2022, using data from the Québec clinico-administrative databases. A total of 14,756 treated outpatients were matched to controls. Regardless of vaccination status, nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment was associated with a 74% reduced RR of hospitalization (RR, 0.26 [95% confidence interval [CI],.23–.29]; number needed to treat [NNT, 15). The effect was more pronounced in outpatients with an incomplete primary vaccination course (RR,0.13 [95% CI,.08–.20] ;NNT, 9). Benefit was also found in those with a complete primary vaccination course (RR, 0.28 [95% CI,.25–.32]; NNT, 17) regardless of age and the delay since the last vaccination.

COVID: The Late Phase/PASC/Long COVID

SARS-CoV-2 Spike-specific IgG4 Class Switching Associates with Clinical Recovery in Long COVID
Authors prospectively enrolled 105 Long COVID patients at a specialized post-COVID clinic in Tokyo, Japan, between November 2022 and January 2023. All patients met the World Health Organization(WHO) criteria for the post-COVID-19 condition, had paired serum samples at baseline and 6-week follow-up, and no reinfection or vaccination during observation.
Of 105 patients, 48 (45.7%) showed clinical improvement during the observation period, achieving median scores of 14 (IQR 7-28) with a median reduction of 10 points(IQR 5.8-13.8), while non-improvers showed no change (p<0.001)(Supplementary Table S1). Improved patients demonstrated significantly lower S-IgG1% (p=0.025), higher S-IgG2% (p=0.029) and higher S-IgG4% (p=0.012) compared to non-improvers (Fig. 1A). Analysis of quartile combinations revealed that patients with low S-IgG1% combined with high S-IgG4%—indicative of enhanced S-IgG4 class switching—achieved 66.7% improvement versus 40.5% in other patterns (p=0.031).