Diagnostic Specificity of Two Dengue Virus IgG ELISAs after Yellow Fever and Japanese Encephalitis Virus Vaccination

Dengue virus (DENV) antibody assays frequently cross-react with sera from individuals who have been infected with or vaccinated against related flaviviruses. The goal of this study was to determine the specificity of two DENV ELISAs with sera from individuals vaccinated against yellow fever virus (YFV) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). The Panbio and the Novatec Dengue IgG ELISAs were tested with sera obtained 3–4 weeks or 0.5–6 years after YFV or JEV vaccination and the diagnostic specificity of the assays was determined. As controls, the sera were tested using DENV, YFV, JEV, Zika and West Nile virus neutralization assays. The diagnostic specificity of the Panbio and the Novatec ELISA with sera from YFV-vaccinated subjects was 98.2% and 88.2%, respectively. Cross-reactions were rare in the first 4 weeks despite high YFV-neutralizing antibody titers and were mostly found later. The specificity of the Panbio and Novatec assays with sera from JEV-vaccinated individuals was 100% and 92.9%. Cross-reactions occurred in the early time period after vaccination. The measurement values of the two ELISAs correlated strongly. Thus, the Panbio ELISA showed higher diagnostic specificity and may be suitable for seroprevalence studies in areas with high disease prevalence

Epidemiology and recurrence rates of Clostridium difficile infections in Germany: a secondary data analysis

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common cause of health-care-associated infectious diarrhea. Recurrence rates are as high as 20–30% after standard treatment with metronidazole or vancomycin, and appear to be reduced for patients treated with fidaxomicin. According to the literature, the risk of CDI recurrence increases after the second relapse to 30–65%. Accurate data for Germany are not yet available. Methods: Based on the research database of arvato health analytics (Munich, Germany), a secondary data analysis for the incidence, treatment characteristics and course of CDI was performed. The database included high granular accounting information of about 1.46 million medically insured patients covering the period 2006–2013, being representative for Germany. The analysis was based on new-onset CDI in 2012 in patients which either received outpatient antibiotic therapy for CDI or were hospitalized. Results: The ICD-10 coded incidence of CDI in 2012 was 83 cases per 100,000 population

Clinical Relevance of Elevated Soluble ST2, HSP27 and 20S Proteasome at Hospital Admission in Patients with COVID-19

Although, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) represents one of the biggest challenges in the world today, the exact immunopathogenic mechanism that leads to severe or critical Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has remained incompletely understood. Several studies have indicated that high systemic plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines result in the so-called “cytokine storm”, with subsequent development of microthrombosis, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and multiorgan-failure. Therefore, we reasoned those elevated inflammatory molecules might act as prognostic factors. Here, we analyzed 245 serum samples of patients with COVID-19, collected at hospital admission. We assessed the levels of heat shock protein 27 (HSP27), soluble suppressor of tumorigenicity-2 (sST2) and 20S proteasome at hospital admission and explored their associations with overall-, 30-, 60-, 90-day- and in-hospital mortality. Moreover, we investigated their association with the risk of ventilation. We demonstrated that increased serum sST2 was uni- and multivariably associated with all endpoints. Furthermore, we also identified 20S proteasome as independent prognostic factor for in-hospital mortality (sST2, AUC = 0.73; HSP27, AUC = 0.59; 20S proteasome = 0.67). Elevated sST2, HSP27, and 20S proteasome levels at hospital admission were univariably associated with higher risk of invasive ventilation (OR = 1.8; p < 0.001; OR = 1.1; p = 0.04; OR = 1.03, p = 0.03, respectively). These findings could help to identify high-risk patients early in the course of COVID-19

The value of hepatic resection in metastasic renal cancer in the era of Tyrosinkinase Inhibitor Therapy

Background: The value of liver-directed therapy (LDT) in patients with metastasic renal cell carcinoma (MRCC) is still an active field of research, particularly in the era of tyrosinkinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. Methods: The records of 35 patients with MRCC undergoing LDT of metastasic liver lesions between 1992 and 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Immediate postoperative TKI was given in a subgroup of patients after LDT for metastasic lesions. Uni- and multivariate models were applied to assess overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Results: Following primary tumor (renal cell cancer) resection and LDT, respectively, median OS was better for a total of 16 patients (41 %) receiving immediate postoperative TKI with 151 and 98 months, when compared to patients without TKI therapy with 61 (p = 0.003) and 40 months (p = 0.032). Immediate postoperative TKI was associated with better median PFS (47 months versus 19 months; p = 0.023), whereas in DFS only a trend was observed (51 months versus 19 months; p = 0.110). Conclusions: LDT should be considered as a suitable additive tool in the era of TKI therapy of MRCC to the liver. In this context, postoperative TKI therapy seems to be associated with better OS and PFS, but not DFS

Actually, What Does “Ontology” Mean?

This article is a fictitious, moderated dialogue between an information scientist, a philosopher, and a psychologist. They explore the term “ontology” from the point of view of their own discipline, with the object of learning from each other. The target audience of this article are laypersons with respect to the specific disciplines – but who have a scientific background.The authors work in the fields of computer science, knowledge engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, neurobiology, philosophy, and psychology.</p