Browsing by Author "Le Corre, Nicole"

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    Assessment of Mutations Associated With Genomic Variants of SARS-CoV-2: RT-qPCR as a Rapid and Affordable Tool to Monitoring Known Circulating Variants in Chile, 2021
    (SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, 2022) Angulo, Jenniffer; Martinez-Valdebenito, Constanza; Pardo-Roa, Catalina; Almonacid, Leonardo I. I.; Fuentes-Luppichini, Eugenia; Contreras, Ana Maria; Maldonado, Constanza; Le Corre, Nicole; Melo, Francisco; Medina, Rafael A. A.; Ferres, Marcela
    Since the first report of SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans, the virus has mutated to develop new viral variants with higher infection rates and more resistance to neutralization by antibodies elicited after natural SARS-CoV-2 infection or by vaccines. Therefore, rapid identification of viral variants circulating in the population is crucial for epidemiological assessment and efforts to contain the resurgence of the pandemic. Between January and November 2021, we performed a large variant RT-qPCR-based screening of mutations in the spike protein of 1851 SARS-CoV-2-positive samples derived from outpatients from the UC-Christus Health Network in Chile. In a portion of samples (n = 636), we validated our RT-qPCR-pipeline by WGS, obtaining a 99.2% concordance. Our results indicate that from January to March 2021 there was a dominance of non-identifiable variants by the RT-qPCR-based screening; however, throughout WGS we were able to identify the Lambda (C.37) variant of interest (VOI). From March to July, we observed the rapid emergence of mutations associated with the Gamma variant (P.1), which was quickly replaced by the appearance of a combination of samples harboring mutations associated with the Delta variant (B.1.617.2), which predominated until the end of the study. Our results highlight the applicability of cost-effective RT-qPCR-based screening of mutations associated with known variants of concern (VOC), VOI and variants under monitoring (VUM) of SARS-CoV-2, being a rapid and reliable tool that complements WGS-based surveillance.
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    Different Safety Pattern of an Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (CoronaVac®) According to Age Group in a Pediatric Population from 3 to 17 Years Old, in an Open-Label Study in Chile
    (2023) Le Corre, Nicole; Abarca Villaseca, Katia; Astudillo, Patricio André; Potin Santander, Marcela Patricia; López, Sofía; Goldsack, Macarena; Valenzuela Guerrero, Vania; Schilling Redlich, Andrea; Gaete, Victoria; Rubio, Lilian; Calvo, Mario; Twele, Loreto; González, Marcela; Fuentes, Daniela; Gutiérrez Muñoz, Valentina José; Reyes Zaldivar, Felipe Tomás; Tapia, Lorena I.; Villena, Rodolfo; Retamal Díaz, Angello; Cárdenas, Antonio; Alarcón Bustamante, Eduardo; Xin, Qianqian; González Aramundiz, José Vicente; Álvarez Figueroa, María Javiera; González Muñoz, Pablo Alberto; Bueno Ramírez, Susan; Soto Ramírez, Jorge Andrés; Perret Pérez, Cecilia; Meng, Xing; Kalergis Parra, Alexis Mikes
    During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of vaccinating children against SARS-CoV-2 was rapidly established. This study describes the safety of CoronaVac® in children and adolescents between 3- and 17-years-old in a multicenter study in Chile with two vaccine doses in a 4-week interval. For all participants, immediate adverse events (AEs), serious AEs (SAEs), and AEs of special interest (AESIs) were registered throughout the study. In the safety subgroup, AEs were recorded 28 days after each dose. COVID-19 surveillance was performed throughout the study. A total of 1139 individuals received the first and 1102 the second dose of CoronaVac®; 835 were in the safety subgroup. The first dose showed the highest number of AEs: up to 22.2% of participants reported any local and 17.1% systemic AE. AEs were more frequent in adolescents after the first dose, were transient, and mainly mild. Pain at the inoculation site was the most frequent AE for all ages. Fever was the most frequent systemic AE for 3–5 years old and headache in 6–17 years old. No SAEs or AESIs related to vaccination occurred. Most of the COVID-19 cases were mild and managed as outpatients. CoronaVac® was safe and well tolerated in children and adolescents, with different safety patterns according to age.