Aphid Species Specializing on Milkweed Harbor Taxonomically Similar Bacterial Communities That Differ in Richness and Relative Abundance of Core Symbionts

Host plant range is arguably one of the most important factors shaping microbial communities associated with insect herbivores. However, it is unclear whether host plant specialization limits microbial community diversity or to what extent herbivores sharing a common host plant evolve similar microbiomes. To investigate whether variation in host plant range influences the assembly of core herbivore symbiont populations we compared bacterial diversity across three milkweed aphid species (Aphis nerii, Aphis asclepiadis, Myzocallis asclepiadis) feeding on a common host plant (Asclepias syriaca) using 16S rRNA metabarcoding. Overall, although there was significant overlap in taxa detected across all three aphid species (i.e. similar composition), some structural differences were identified within communities. Each aphid species harbored bacterial communities that varied in terms of richness and relative abundance of key symbionts. However, bacterial community diversity did not vary with degree of aphid host plant specialization. Interestingly, the narrow specialist A.asclepiadis harbored significantly higher relative abundances of the facultative symbiont Arsenophonus compared to the other two aphid species. Although many low abundance microbes were shared across all milkweed aphids, key differences in symbiotic partnerships were observed that could influence host physiology or additional ecological variation in traits that are microbially-mediated. Overall, this study suggests overlap in host plant range can select for taxonomically similar microbiomes across herbivore species, but variation in core aphid symbionts within these communities may still occur

Impact of hepatitis B and delta virus co-infection on liver disease in Mauritania: a cross sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: Mauritania is a highly endemic region for hepatitis B (HBV) and delta (HDV) viruses. No data are available on HDV\u27s impact on the severity of liver disease in consecutive HBV-infected patients in Africa. This study evaluated the degree of liver fibrosis in a cohort of chronic HBV carriers. METHODS: Three-hundred consecutive HBV-infected Mauritanian patients were checked for HDV infection via the detection of anti-HDV antibodies (Ab) and viral RNA. HBV- vs. HBV/HDV-infected patients were compared by physical examination, biological analyses, and the APRI (aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index) and FibroMeter tests for determination of liver fibrosis. RESULTS: More than 30% of the patients had anti-HDVAb. Among these, 62.2% were HDV-RNA positive. Co-infected patients were older (>8-years) than HBV-mono-infected patients. They had more liver tests abnormalities and clinical or ultrasound signs of liver fibrosis. APRI and FibroMeter scores were also significantly increased in these patients. In multivariate analysis, beyond HDVAb, male gender and HBV-VL >3.7 log IU/mL were the only markers linked to significant liver fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: In Mauritania, HDV co-infection worsens liver disease, both clinically and biologically, as confirmed by the APRI and FibroMeter tests. These tests may be useful for the management of delta hepatitis, which is a major health problem in Mauritania

Prevalence, risk factors, and molecular epidemiology of hepatitis B and hepatitis delta virus in pregnant women and in patients in Mauritania

No recent data are available on hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) prevalence in Mauritania. One thousand twenty pregnant women and 946 patients visiting for routine checkups were screened for HBV and HDV infection. Demographic, epidemiological, ethnic, clinical, and biological data were recorded. HBV and HDV genotypes were determined by sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. In the pregnant women and patients cohorts, respectively, the prevalence of HBsAg (10.7% and 18.3%) and anti-HBcAb (66.3% and 76.5%) indicated high HBV endemicity. In pregnant women, exposure to HBV was significantly associated in multivariate analysis with education level, ethnicity, blood transfusion, and occupation. HDV antibodies (HDVAb) were found in 14.7% of pregnant women. In patients, HBsAg was found less frequently in females than in males. Again in multivariate analysis, exposure to HBV was significantly correlated with gender (males), and HDVAb positivity with age and gender. The HBV DNA viral load was >3 log IU/ml in only 10.1% of pregnant women and in 17.3% of patients. HDV-RNA was detectable in 21 (67.7%) of the 31 patients positive for HDVAb, and in 11 of the 16 pregnant women positive for HDVAb (68.8%). The most frequent HBV genotypes were: HBV/D, 53%; HBV/E, 35%; and HBV/A, 12%. Sub-genotyping revealed HBV/D1,/D7, and the recently described/D8. HDV genotypes were: HDV-1, 90.3% and HDV-5, 9.7%. This study confirms the high prevalence of HBV and HDV infections in Mauritania and demonstrates the high genetic diversity of HBV in this country

Clinical phenotypes and outcomes associated with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants BA.2, BA.5 and BQ.1.1 in critically ill patients with COVID-19: a prospective, multicenter cohort study

International audienceBackground: Despite current broad natural and vaccine-induced protection, a substantial number of patients infected with emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants (e.g., BF.7 and BQ.1.1) still experience severe COVID-19. Real-life studies investigating the impact of these variants on clinical outcomes of severe cases are currently not available. We performed a prospective multicenter observational cohort study. Adult patients with acute respiratory failure admitted between December 7, 2021 and December 15, 2022, in one of the 20 participating intensive care units (17 from the Greater Paris area and 3 from the North of France) were eligible for inclusion if they had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by a positive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Full-length SARS-CoV-2 genomes from all included patients were sequenced by means of next-generation sequencing. The primary endpoint of the study was day-28 mortality. Results: The study included 158 patients infected with three groups of Omicron sublineages, including (i) BA.2 variants and their early sublineages referred as “BA.2” (n = 50), (ii) early BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages (including BA.5.1 and BA.5.2, n = 61) referred as “BA.4/BA.5”, and (iii) recent emerging BA.5 sublineages (including BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BF.7, BE.1 and CE.1, n = 47) referred as “BQ.1.1”. The clinical phenotype of BQ1.1-infected patients compared to earlier BA.2 and BA.4/BA.5 sublineages, showed more frequent obesity and less frequent immunosuppression. There was no significant difference between Omicron sublineage groups regarding the severity of the disease at ICU admission, need for organ failure support during ICU stay, nor day 28 mortality (21.7%, n = 10/47 in BQ.1.1 group vs 26.7%, n = 16/61 in BA.4/BA.5 vs 22.0%, n = 11/50 in BA.2, p = 0.791). No significant relationship was found between any SARS-CoV-2 substitution and/or deletion on the one hand and survival on the other hand over hospital follow-up. Conclusions: Critically-ill patients with Omicron BQ.1.1 infection showed a different clinical phenotype than other patients infected with earlier Omicron sublineage but no day-28 mortality difference

First cases of Omicron in France are exhibiting mild symptoms, November 2021–January 2022

International audienceObjectivesWe aimed to investigate the first Omicron cases detected in France in order to assess case characteristics and provide supporting information on the possible impact of this variant on the healthcare system.MethodsA standardized questionnaire was used to collect information from confirmed and probable Omicron cases.ResultsMedian age of 468 investigated cases was 35 years, 376 were symptomatic (89%); 64% were vaccinated with two doses and 7% had received three doses. Loss of smell and taste were reported by 8.3% and 9% of cases, respectively. Seven cases were hospitalized, three of those were unvaccinated (including two with reported precondition). No admissions to intensive care and no deaths were reported.ConclusionsOur results confirm a mild clinical presentation among the first Omicron cases detected in France and highlight the importance for the national COVID-19 surveillance system to quickly detect and adapt to the emergence of a new variant