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A study published in the Journal of Medical Virology examined the emergence of resistance mutations in COVID-19 patients receiving the antiviral drug nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. The study analyzed 60 patients who received the drug and found that none of the known resistance mutations were identified in the patients. However, low-frequency substitutions and fixed mutations were observed in some patients, particularly those who were immunosuppressed. The study suggests that the emergence of resistance mutations to nirmatrelvir/ritonavir is currently rare. [Extracted from the article]

We report a corona virus disease (COVID‐19) case with unprecedented viral complexity. In the first severe episode, two different severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) strains (superinfection) were identified within a week. Three months after discharge, the patient was readmitted and was infected in a nosocomial outbreak with a different strain, suffering a second milder COVID‐19 episode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Costa Rica has a low incidence of tuberculosis. Thus, identifying transmission hotspots is key to implement interventions. A tuberculosis outbreak was suspected in a prison in Costa Rica. Given the suboptimal quality of the samples received in our laboratory in Madrid, we applied alternative schemes for their analysis. In the first scheme, we bypassed the standard approach of applying systematic mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR) and used a strain-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that allowed identifying a cluster involving six cases (C1). The second scheme followed the canonical MIRU-VNTR path coupled with a whole-genomic amplification step, by which a second unsuspected overlapping cluster (C2), was detected in the same prison. These findings justified the implementation of a surveillance programme adapted to local resources based on a tailored multiplex allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO)-PCR targeting C1 and C2. Presence of the C2 strain at a different prison was determined. ASO-PCR was applied extensively and alerted to the active circulation of one of the strains within and beyond prisons. Our study shows that alternative methodological strategies may provide useful data in settings with lack of resources for performing systematic standard molecular epidemiology programmes and/or with suboptimal material for analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recurrent tuberculosis occurs due to exogenous reinfection or reactivation/persistence. We analysed 90 sequential MDR Mtb isolates obtained in Argentina from 27 patients with previously diagnosed MDR‐TB that recurred in 2018 (1–10 years, 2–10 isolates per patient). Three long‐term predominant strains were responsible for 63% of all MDR‐TB recurrences. Most of the remaining patients were infected by strains different from each other. Reactivation/persistence of the same strain caused all but one recurrence, which was due to a reinfection with a predominant strain. One of the prevalent strains showed marked stability in the recurrences, while in another strain higher SNP‐based diversity was observed. Comparisons of intra‐ versus inter‐patient SNP distances identified two possible reinfections with closely related variants circulating in the community. Our results show a complex scenario of MDR‐TB infections in settings with predominant MDR Mtb strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SARS‐CoV‐2 RT‐PCR cycle threshold values from 18,803 cases (2 March–4 October) in Madrid define three stages: (i) initial ten weeks with sustained reduction in viral load (Ct: 23.4–32.3), (ii) stability with low viral loads (Ct: 31.9–35.5) in the next nine weeks and (iii) sudden increase with progressive higher viral loads until reaching stability at high levels in the next twelve weeks, coinciding with an increased percentage of positive cases and reduced median age. These data indicate differential virological/epidemiological patterns between the first and second COVID‐19 waves in Madrid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beijing genotype Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains associate with increased virulence, resistance and/or higher transmission rates. This study describes a specific Beijing strain predominantly identified in the Panamanian province of Colon with one of the highest incidences of tuberculosis in the country. Retrospective mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit/variable number of tandem repeats analysis of 42 isolates collected between January and August 2018 allowed to identify a cluster (Beijing A) with 17 (40.5%) Beijing isolates. Subsequent prospective strain‐specific PCR‐based surveillance from September 2019 to March 2020 confirmed the predominance of the Beijing A strain (44.1%) in this province. Whole‐genome sequencing revealed higher‐than‐expected diversity within the cluster, suggesting long‐term prevalence of this strain and low number of cases caused by recent transmission. The Beijing A strain belongs to the Asian African 3 (Bmyc13, L2.2.5) branch of the modern Beijing sublineage, with their closest isolates corresponding to cases from Vietnam, probably introduced in Panama between 2000 and 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG) is a conserved DNA repair enzyme involved in uracil excision from DNA. Here, we report the biochemical characterization of UDG encoded by Bacillus subtilis, a model low G+C Gram-positive organism. The purified enzyme removes uracil preferentially from single-stranded DNA over double-stranded DNA, exhibiting higher preference for U:G than U:A mismatches. Furthermore, we have identified key amino acids necessary for B. subtilis UDG activity. Our results showed that Asp-65 and His-187 are catalytic residues involved in glycosidic bond cleavage, whereas Phe-78 would participate in DNA recognition. Recently, it has been reported that B. subtilis phage φ29 encodes an inhibitor of the UDG enzyme, named protein p56, whose role has been proposed to ensure an efficient viral DNA replication, preventing the deleterious effect caused by UDG when it eliminates uracils present in the φ29 genome. In this work, we also show that a φ29-related phage, GA-1, encodes a p56-like protein with UDG inhibition activity. In addition, mutagenesis analysis revealed that residue Phe-191 of B. subtilis UDG is critical for the interaction with φ29 and GA-1 p56 proteins, suggesting that both proteins have similar mechanism of inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]