IntroductionDuring the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, vitamin D has been established as an immune-modulator that reduces pro-inflammatory damage which effectively diminish the severity of COVID-19. Vitamin D also has a significant effect against influenza and dengue and increase the seroconversion following influenza vaccination. To date, the role of vitamin D in optimizing the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines remains unclear. This study aimed to analyze the correlation between serum 25-hydroxy-cholecalciferol or 25(OH)D levels and anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG and neutralizing antibody levels among cancer patients.MethodologyA multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among solid and hematologic cancer patients who were vaccinated with two doses of the same types of COVID-19 vaccines (either mRNA, non-replicating viral vector, or inactivated) within 6 months.ResultThe median serum 25(OH)D level in 119 cancer patients was 36.36 [IQR = 30.30] ng/mL. The seropositivity of S-RBD IgG and NAb reached 93.3 and 94.1%, respectively. The S-RBD IgG level was significantly higher in the sufficient group (median = 414.07 [1,441.83] AU/mL) than in the deficient group (median = 91.56 [652.00] AU/mL) (p-value = 0.049). Among non-chemotherapy subjects, the anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG levels had a significant positive correlation with 25(OH)D levels (p-value = 0.03; R = 0.588). The NAb levels also showed significantly positive correlation with 25(OH)D level (p-value = 0.005; R = 0.561). The 25(OH)D levels were positively correlated with S-RBD IgG levels among subjects younger than 60 years old (p-value = 0.047; R = 0.136). However, serum 25 (OH)D levels showed no such correlation with S-RBD IgG levels among subjects older than 60 years old (p-value = 0.933; R = 0.136).ConclusionBoth anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG and NAb levels developed moderate correlation with 25(OH)D levels among subjects treated without chemotherapy. The S-RBD IgG levels also had positive correlation with 25(OH)D levels among subjects younger than 60 years old. Thus, we recommended cancer patients to maintain serum 25(OH)D levels above 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L) to enhance the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

Leprosy remains a public health problem in Indonesia. Diagnostic tools have been developed in order to aid early diagnosis and prompt treatment. Phenolic glycolipid (PGL)-1 has been considered as a good candidate for leprosy diagnosis but has been found to have several limitations. More recently, the conjugation between natural disaccharide octyl (NDO) and leprosy IDRI diagnostic (LID)-1, known as NDO-LID, shows great promise because of its high specificity and sensitivity and its ability to detect leprosy before any clinical signs are present. The test incorporates the detection of IgM antibodies towards NDO and IgG antibodies towards LID-1. This study aimed to show the profile of IgM, IgG, and IgAMG antibody titers against NDO-LID to further discover its diagnostic potential. Sera from eight new leprosy patients from Surabaya, Indonesia were evaluated using ELISA detecting levels of IgG, IgM and IgAMG antibodies against NDO-LID antigen. Skin slit biopsy was also taken for smear and histopathology test. This study shows that the titer levels IgAMG anti NDO-LID were consistent with the results from smear and were consistently higher compared to IgM or IgG titer alone. IgAMG might have the potential to improve the sensitivity of NDO-LID serologic tests but further investigation is needed.

Background Cancer patients have an increased risk of a severe COVID-19 infection with higher mortality rate. This study aimed to analyze the levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG and NAB among cancer patients who were vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines, either with BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, AZD1222/ChAdOx1nCoV-19, or Coronavac/BBIBP-CorV vaccines. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted among subjects with either solid or hematological cancers who had received two doses of either mRNA or non-mRNA vaccines within 6 months. The levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG and NAb were analyzed using the Mindray Immunoassay Analyzer CL-900i. Statistical analysis was conducted using mean comparison and regression analysis. Result The mRNA-1273 vaccine had the highest median levels of S-RBD IgG and NAb, followed by BNT162b, ChAdOx1nCoV-19, and BBIBP-CorV/Coronavac. The levels of S-RBD IgG and NAb in subjects vaccinated with mRNA vaccines were significantly higher than those of non-mRNA vaccines when grouped based on their characteristics, including age, type of cancer, chemotherapy regimen, and comorbidity (p<0.05). Furthermore, the S-RBD IgG and NAb levels between the subjects vaccinated with non-mRNA vaccines and the subjects vaccinated with mRNA vaccines were significantly different (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the same types of vaccines. This study demonstrated a very strong correlation between the level of S-RBD IgG and the level of NAb (R = 0.962; p<0.001). The level of anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG was consistently higher compared to the level of NAb. Conclusions Generally, mRNA vaccines produced significantly higher anti-SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD IgG and NAb levels than non-mRNA vaccines in cancer subjects.

The high prevalence among children shows continued transmission from adult and lack of disease control by the health system. Detection of anti-NDO-LID-1 has been known to be more effective to predict the development of leprosy in household contacts than just detecting PGL-1 or LID- 1 alone. However, serodiagnosis is not available in poorer-settings area and the procedure (venepuncture) is still inconvenient to some people. These problems can be solved by using finger-prick blood sample on filter paper. This study aims to prove the effectiveness of using capillary blood samples on filter paper to detect the positivity of Ig G antibody against NDO-LID-1 antigen in asymptomatic household contacts. Seventeen samples of capillary blood on filter paper and sera were tested for IgG anti-NDO-LID-1 using ELISA. There was no significant difference between IgG level from filter paper and serum (p=0.754) and there was also a strong positive correlation (R=0.906) between the two procedures. These findings show that the use of filter paper and NDO-LID-1 is worthy of further investigations, especially for those with lower bacillary load or contacts of leprosy patients.

<b>Background</b>: In the era of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it is mandatory to identify vulnerable people with cancers as they have impaired immune system that can lead to high mortality. This study analyzes the complete blood count (CBC) derived inflammatory biomarkers and the level of anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody (NAb) and spike protein’s receptor-binding domain immunoglobulin G (S-RBD IgG) among cancer survivors.<br /> <b>Methods</b>: A cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with either solid or hematological cancers who had received two-doses of COVID-19 vaccinations within six months.<br /> <b>Results</b>: From 119 subjects, the COVID-19 vaccines demonstrated laboratory efficacy (median NAb=129.03 AU/mL; median S-RBD IgG=270.53 AU/mL). The seropositive conversion of NAb reached 94.1% and S-RBD IgG reached 93.3%. Additionally, the S-RBD IgG had very weak correlation with absolute monocyte count (R=-0.185; <i>p</i>-value=0.044). The NAb also had very weak correlation with leukocyte (Kendall’s tau-b (τb)=-0.147; <i>p</i>-value=0.019), absolute neutrophil count (τb=-0.126; <i>p</i>-value=0.044), absolute eosinophil count (τb=-0.132; <i>p</i>-value=0.034).<br /> <b>Conclusion</b>: The seropositivity rate of anti-SARS-CoV-2 NAb and S-RBD IgG were significantly high. However, the CBC derived inflammatory biomarkers had poor correlation with anti-SARS-CoV-2 NAb and S-RBD IgG. Thus, anti-SARS-CoV-2 NAb and S-RBD IgG are currently the only reliable markers for measuring the COVID-19 vaccine efficacy which should be widely accessible.