| 1. |
- King, Carina, et al.
(författare)
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COVID-19—a very visible pandemic
- 2020
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Ingår i: The Lancet. - : Elsevier. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 396:10248, s. 15-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 2. |
- Ahlm, Clas, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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Serologic evidence of Puumala virus infection in wild moose in northern Sweden
- 2000
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Ingår i: American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. - : American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. - 0002-9637 .- 1476-1645. ; 62:1, s. 106-111
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Puumala (PUU) virus is the causative agent of nephropathia epidemica, the Scandinavian form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. The infection is acquired by airborne transmission of PUU virus from its rodent reservoir, the bank vole. Besides serologic data indicating that the virus may spread also to heterologous rodents, there is little information on the susceptibility of wild living animals to PUU virus. We studied the occurrence of antibodies to PUU virus in serum samples from 427 wild-living moose, of which 260 originated from the PUU virus-endemic northern and central parts of Sweden and 167 originated from the southern, nonendemic part of Sweden. Samples from 5 animals showed reactivity in an ELISA for recombinant PUU virus nucleocapsid protein, an immunofluorescent assay, and a neutralization test. These 5 animals all originated from the PUU virus-endemic northern part of Sweden. In conclusion, 5 of 260 moose from the endemic region showed convincing serologic evidence of past PUU virus infection. The seroprevalence was low, suggesting that the moose is subjected to endstage infection rather than being part of an enzootic transmission cycle.
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| 3. |
- Akaberi, Dario, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Mitigation of the replication of SARS-CoV-2 by nitric oxide in vitro
- 2020
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Ingår i: Redox Biology. - : Elsevier. - 2213-2317. ; 37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is a global public health emergency posing a high burden on nations' health care systems and economies. Despite the great effort put in the development of vaccines and specific treatments, no prophylaxis or effective therapeutics are currently available. Nitric oxide (NO) is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial and a potent vasodilator that has proved to be effective in reducing SARS-CoV replication and hypoxia in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome. Given the potential of NO as treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infection, we have evaluated the in vitro antiviral effect of NO on SARS-CoV-2 replication. The NO-donor S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) had a dose dependent inhibitory effect on SARS-CoV-2 replication, while the non S-nitrosated NAP was not active, as expected. Although the viral replication was not completely abolished (at 200 μM and 400 μM), SNAP delayed or completely prevented the development of viral cytopathic effect in treated cells, and the observed protective effect correlated with the level of inhibition of the viral replication. The capacity of the NO released from SNAP to covalently bind and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 3CL recombinant protease in vitro was also tested. The observed reduction in SARS-CoV-2 protease activity was consistent with S-nitrosation of the enzyme active site cysteine.
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| 4. |
- Akaberi, Dario, et al.
(författare)
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Targeting the NS2B-NS3 protease of tick-borne encephalitis virus with pan-flaviviral protease inhibitors
- 2021
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Ingår i: Antiviral Research. - : Elsevier. - 0166-3542 .- 1872-9096. ; 190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a severe neurological disorder caused by tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), a member of the Flavivirus genus. Currently, two vaccines are available in Europe against TBEV. However, TBE cases have been rising in Sweden for the past twenty years, and thousands of cases are reported in Europe, emphasizing the need for antiviral treatments against this virus. The NS2B-NS3 protease is essential for flaviviral life cycle and has been studied as a target for the design of inhibitors against several well-known flaviviruses, but not TBEV. In the present study, Compound 86, a known tripeptidic inhibitor of dengue (DENV), West Nile (WNV) and Zika (ZIKV) proteases, was predicted to be active against TBEV protease using a combination of in silico techniques. Further, Compound 86 was found to inhibit recombinant TBEV protease with an IC50 = 0.92 mu M in the in vitro enzymatic assay. Additionally, two more peptidic analogues were synthetized and they displayed inhibitory activities against both TBEV and ZIKV proteases. In particular, Compound 104 inhibited ZIKV protease with an IC50 = 0.25 mu M. These compounds represent the first reported inhibitors of TBEV protease to date and provides valuable information for the further development of TBEV as well as pan-flavivirus protease inhibitors.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Charlotta Rydgard, et al.
(författare)
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Vaccine failures after active immunisation against tick-borne encephalitis
- 2010
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Ingår i: Vaccine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0264-410X .- 1873-2518. ; 28:16, s. 2827-2831
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a major disease of the central nervous system in Europe and is endemic in Sweden with about 200 notified cases annually. The far most effective protective measure against TBE is active immunisation. The vaccines available today induce a high degree of protection in field studies. However, vaccine failures have occasionally been reported and may be overlooked due to different, and sometimes confusing, antibody kinetics in vaccinees with TBEV infection. In this study, 27 patients with clinical and serological evidences of TBE despite adequate immunisation are presented. Vaccination failure is characterized by a slow, and initially non-detectable, development of the specific TBEV-IgM response, seen together with a rapid rise of IgG and neutralising antibodies in serum. The majority (70%) of the patients were more than 50 years of age, which may implicate a need for a modified immunisation strategy in the elderly.
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| 6. |
- Bucardo, Filemón, et al.
(författare)
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Association of Genetic Polymorphisms in DC-SIGN, Toll-Like Receptor 3, and Tumor Necrosis Factor a Genes and the Lewis-Negative Phenotype With Chikungunya Infection and Disease in Nicaragua
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Oxford University Press. - 0022-1899 .- 1537-6613. ; 223:2, s. 278-286
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundChikungunya infections range from subclinical infection to debilitating arthralgia and to chronic inflammatory rheumatism. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α, DC-SIGN (dendritic cell–specific intercellular adhesion molecule 3–grabbing nonintegrin), Toll-like receptor (TLR) 3, and blood groups have been directly or indirectly implicated in the susceptibility and pathogenesis of chikungunya.MethodsTo test the hypothesis that polymorphisms in genes coding for these molecules determine clinical outcomes of chikungunya infection, a retrospective case-control study was performed in León, Nicaragua. The study included 132 case patients and 132 controls, matched for age, sex and neighborhood. Case patients had clinical symptoms of chikungunya, which was diagnosed by means of polymerase chain reaction. Controls were individuals not reporting abrupt presentation of clinical chikungunya-like symptoms. Polymorphisms were identified by TaqMan single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping assays.ResultsAfter adjustment for sociodemographic risk factors, chikungunya disease was associated with polymorphism in DC-SIGN and TLR3 genes (odds ratios, 5.2 and 3.3, respectively), and TNF-α with reduced persistent joint pain (0.24). Persistent joint pain was also associated with age, female sex and other comorbid conditions. Most interestingly, the Lewis-negative phenotype was strongly associated with both symptomatic chikungunya and immunoglobulin G seropositivity (odds ratios, 2.7, and 3.3, respectively).ConclusionThis study identified polymorphisms in DC-SIGN, TLR3, and TNF-α genes as well as Lewis-negative phenotype as risk factors for chikungunya infection and disease progression.
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| 7. |
- Chen, Xiaoping, et al.
(författare)
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Risk factors for the delayed viral clearance in COVID‐19 patients
- 2021
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Ingår i: The Journal of Clinical Hypertension. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1524-6175 .- 1751-7176. ; 23:8, s. 1483-1489
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Comorbidities are important for the disease outcome of COVID-19, however, which underlying diseases that contribute the most to aggravate the conditions of COVID-19 patients are still unclear. Viral clearance is the most important laboratory test for defining the recovery of COVID-19 infections. To better understand which underlying diseases that are risk factors for delaying the viral clearance, we retrospectively analyzed 161 COVID-19 clinical cases in the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China between January 5 and March 13, 2020. The demographic, clinical and laboratory data, as well as patient treatment records were collected. Univariable and multivariable analysis were performed to explore the association between delayed viral clearance and other factors by using logistic regression. Survival analyses by Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression modeling were employed to identify factors negatively influencing the viral clearance negatively. We found that hypertension and intravenous immunoglobulin adversely affected the time of viral RNA shedding. Hypertension was the most important risk factor to delay the SARS-CoV-2 virus clearance, however, the use of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors(ACEI)/Angiotensin Receptor Blockers(ARB) did not shorten the time for virus clearance in these hypertensive patients’ virus clearance. We conclude that patients having hypertension and intravenous immunoglobulin may delay the viral clearance in COVID-19 patients.
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| 8. |
- Cunningham, Janet, et al.
(författare)
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Antibody Responses to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in the Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Neurological Symptoms
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0022-1899 .- 1537-6613. ; 225:6, s. 965-970
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antibody responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 16 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 and neurological symptoms were assessed using 2 independent methods. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) specific for the virus spike protein was found in 81% of patients in serum and in 56% in CSF. SARS-CoV-2 IgG in CSF was observed in 2 patients with negative serological findings. Levels of IgG in both serum and CSF were associated with disease severity (P < .05). All patients with elevated markers of central nervous system damage in CSF also had CSF antibodies (P = .002), and CSF antibodies had the highest predictive value for neuronal damage markers of all tested clinical variables.
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| 9. |
- Elfving, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Dissemination of Spotted Fever Rickettsia Agents in Europe by Migrating Birds
- 2010
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Migratory birds are known to play a role as long-distance vectors for many microorganisms. To investigate whether this is true of rickettsial agents as well, we characterized tick infestation and gathered ticks from 13,260 migratory passerine birds in Sweden. A total of 1127 Ixodes spp. ticks were removed from these birds and the extracted DNA from 957 of them was available for analyses. The DNA was assayed for detection of Rickettsia spp. using real-time PCR, followed by DNA sequencing for species identification. Rickettsia spp. organisms were detected in 108 (11.3%) of the ticks. Rickettsia helvetica, a spotted fever rickettsia associated with human infections, was predominant among the PCR-positive samples. In 9 (0.8%) of the ticks, the partial sequences of 17kDa and ompB genes showed the greatest similarity to Rickettsia monacensis, an etiologic agent of Mediterranean spotted fever-like illness, previously described in southern Europe as well as to the Rickettsia sp. IrITA3 strain. For 15 (1.4%) of the ticks, the 17kDa, ompB, gltA and ompA genes showed the greatest similarity to Rickettsia sp. strain Davousti, Rickettsia japonica and Rickettsia heilongjiangensis, all closely phylogenetically related, the former previously found in Amblyomma tholloni ticks in Africa and previously not detected in Ixodes spp. ticks. The infestation prevalence of ticks infected with rickettsial organisms was four times higher among ground foraging birds than among other bird species, but the two groups were equally competent in transmitting Rickettsia species. The birds did not seem to serve as reservoir hosts for Rickettsia spp., but in one case it seems likely that the bird was rickettsiemic and that the ticks had acquired the bacteria from the blood of the bird. In conclusion, migratory passerine birds host epidemiologically important vector ticks and Rickettsia species and contribute to the geographic distribution of spotted fever rickettsial agents and their diseases.
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| 10. |
- Haemig, Paul, et al.
(författare)
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Red fox and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in humans: Can predators influence public health?
- 2008
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0036-5548 .- 1651-1980. ; 40:6-7, s. 527-532
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Analysing datasets from hunting statistics and human cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), we found a positive correlation between the number of human TBE cases and the number of red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Time lags were also present, indicating that high numbers of red fox in 1 y translated into high numbers of human TBE cases the following y. Results for smaller predators were mixed and inconsistent. Hares and grouse showed negative correlations with human TBE cases, suggesting that they might function as dilution hosts. Combining our findings with food web dynamics, we hypothesize a diversity of possible interactions between predators and human disease – some predators suppressing a given disease, others enhancing its spread, and still others having no effect at all. Larger-sized predators that suppress red fox numbers and activity (i.e. wolf, Canis lupus; European lynx, Lynx lynx) were once abundant in our study area but have been reduced or extirpated from most parts of it by humans. We ask what would happen to red foxes and TBE rates in humans if these larger predators were restored to their former abundances.Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00365540701805446
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