Resurgence of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in Venezuela as a Regional Public Health Threat in the Americas.

Venezuela's tumbling economy and authoritarian rule have precipitated an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Hyperinflation rates now exceed 45,000%, and Venezuela's health system is in free fall. The country is experiencing a massive exodus of biomedical scientists and qualified healthcare professionals. Reemergence of arthropod-borne and vaccine-preventable diseases has sparked serious epidemics that also affect neighboring countries. In this article, we discuss the ongoing epidemics of measles and diphtheria in Venezuela and their disproportionate impact on indigenous populations. We also discuss the potential for reemergence of poliomyelitis and conclude that action to halt the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases within Venezuela is a matter of urgency for the country and the region. We further provide specific recommendations for addressing this crisis

The prevalence and persistence of sigma virus, a biparentally transmitted parasite of Drosophila melanogaster

Question: How do vertically transmitted parasites persist? Organisms: Drosophila melanogaster (host) and sigma virus (parasite). Field site: Peach stands in northern Georgia, USA, on a transect between Macon and Athens. Empirical methods: We estimated prevalence in the field. We also estimated male and female transmission in the laboratory, using field-collected animals as parents. We further quantified patrilineal (father to son) transmission in the laboratory, and estimated cost of infection (virulence) by quantifying decreased egg production of infected flies. Mathematical methods: Discrete-time, deterministic models for prevalence; analysis of stability of disease-free and endemic equilibria; numerical computation of equilibria based on empirical estimates. Key assumptions: Random mating, discrete generations, cost of infection to females only. Predictions and conclusions: The model allows persistence under parameter estimates obtained for this population. Uncertainty in parameters leads to wide confidence intervals on the predicted prevalence, which may be systematically underestimated due to Jensen’s inequality. Male transmission is required for persistence, and multiple generations of strictly patrilineal transmission are possible in the laboratory, albeit with decreasing transmission efficiency

Complete genome sequence of dengue virus serotype 2, Asian/American genotype, isolated from the urine of a Venezuelan child with hemorrhagic fever in 2016

CITATION: Blohm, G. M., et la. 2018. Complete genome sequence of dengue virus serotype 2, Asian/American genotype, isolated from the urine of a venezuelan child with hemorrhagic fever in 2016. Genome Announcements, 6(24):e00529-18, doi:10.1128/genomeA.00529-18.The original publication is available at https://mra.asm.orgThe complete genome sequence was obtained for a Dengue virus 2 isolate from the urine of an 8-year-old girl who was hospitalized with dengue hemorrhagic fever in 2016 in Venezuela.https://mra.asm.org/content/6/24/e00529-18Publisher's versio

Complete genome sequences of identical zika virus isolates in a nursing mother and her infant

CITATION: Blohm, G. M., et al. 2017. Complete genome sequences of identical zika virus isolates in a nursing mother and her infant. Genome Announcements, 5(17):1-2, doi:10.1128/genomeA.00231-17.The original publication is available at https://mra.asm.orgENGLISH ABSTRACT: Complete genome sequences were obtained for Zika viruses isolated from the breast milk of a Venezuelan patient and her child, who was exclusively breastfeeding at the time. These sequences are the first to be reported from a presumptive autochthonous postnatal transmission case from mother to child in Venezuela.https://mra.asm.org/content/5/17/e00231-17Publisher's versio