Development of Epitope-Blocking ELISA for Universal Detection of Antibodies to Human H5N1 Influenza Viruses

10.1371/journal.pone.0004566PLoS ONE4

Early Clinical Manifestations Associated with Death from Visceral Leishmaniasis

The visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a disease potentially fatal if not diagnosed and treated opportunely. This article presents the results of the study on the manifestations identified at the time of the clinical suspicion of the VL cases. This study was conducted in Belo Horizonte, the capital of the State of Minas Gerais, located in southeastern Brazil. This study is both timely and substantive because the Belo Horizonte is an area of transmission of VL, with one of the highest VL-death proportions of Brazil. The patients with higher risk of death had at least one of the following characteristics: ≥60 years, weakness, HIV co-infection, bleeding, jaundice and other associated infections. During the period 2002–2009, 8% to 22% of the patients with VL progressed to death in Belo Horizonte, whilst the proportion in the country was much lower and varied between 5% and 9%. This study has identified vulnerable patients who are at higher risk of death from VL and who would benefit from early predictive evaluation of the prognostic. Hence, the knowledge regarding the factors associated with death may contribute for clinical management and for reduction of deaths from VL

Illumination of Parainfluenza Virus Infection and Transmission in Living Animals Reveals a Tissue-Specific Dichotomy

The parainfluenza viruses (PIVs) are highly contagious respiratory paramyxoviruses and a leading cause of lower respiratory tract (LRT) disease. Since no vaccines or antivirals exist, non-pharmaceutical interventions are the only means of control for these pathogens. Here we used bioluminescence imaging to visualize the spatial and temporal progression of murine PIV1 (Sendai virus) infection in living mice after intranasal inoculation or exposure by contact. A non-attenuated luciferase reporter virus (rSeV-luc(M-F*)) that expressed high levels of luciferase yet was phenotypically similar to wild-type Sendai virus in vitro and in vivo was generated to allow visualization. After direct intranasal inoculation, we unexpectedly observed that the upper respiratory tract (URT) and trachea supported robust infection under conditions that result in little infection or pathology in the lungs including a low inoculum of virus, an attenuated virus, and strains of mice genetically resistant to lung infection. The high permissivity of the URT and trachea to infection resulted in 100% transmission to naïve contact recipients, even after low-dose (70 PFU) inoculation of genetically resistant BALB/c donor mice. The timing of transmission was consistent with the timing of high viral titers in the URT and trachea of donor animals but was independent of the levels of infection in the lungs of donors. The data therefore reveals a disconnect between transmissibility, which is associated with infection in the URT, and pathogenesis, which arises from infection in the lungs and the immune response. Natural infection after transmission was universally robust in the URT and trachea yet limited in the lungs, inducing protective immunity without weight loss even in genetically susceptible 129/SvJ mice. Overall, these results reveal a dichotomy between PIV infection in the URT and trachea versus the lungs and define a new model for studies of pathogenesis, development of live virus vaccines, and testing of antiviral therapies

Importanza e significato della ricerca degli anticorpi neutralizzanti e fissanti il complemento nella diagnosi di laboratorio della poliomielite. Indagini su 75 casi di poliomielite paralitica

Sarà inserito appena riaprirnno e biblioteh

Profilassi immunitaria delle malattie infettive: le vaccinazione

verrà inserito in seguit

Occurrence and abundance of the deep-water red shrimps Aristeus antennatus (Risso, 1816) and Aristaeomorpha foliacea (Risso, 1827) in the Mediterranenan Sea

The blue and red shrimp Aristeus antennatus and the giant red shrimp Aristaeomorpha foliacea are among the major economic resources in the Mediterranean Sea and represent the main target of the western and central Mediterranean deep sea (400 800 m) fisheries. In this paper, data on abundance (both number and biomass) of A. antennatus and A. foliacea resulting from the MEDITS surveys from 1994 to 2004, carried out with common protocols in seven Mediterranean FAO GFCM Geographical Sub Areas (GSAs), have been analyzed using standardized methodologies. Both red shrimps species occur almost exclusively on the “meso bathyal” stratum (500 800 m). The distribution pattern appears quite different for the two species, but no significant trends in density and biomass (neither at geographical nor at temporal level) could be detected. Sardinia shows the highest abundance for both species, although with some local negative tendencies along time. A very high interannual variability was detected in all areas. Comparing the present results to those recorded by Cau et al. in 2002, a more or less stable status of the deep sea red shrimps stocks was observed, which is not an encouraging finding when considering the reduction in fishing capacity and the management measures adopted by the EU in recent years

Paternal education status significantly influences infants’ measles vaccination uptake, independent of maternal education status

<p><b>Abstract</b></p> <p><b>Background</b></p> <p>Despite increased funding of measles vaccination programs by national governments and international aid agencies, structural factors encumber attainment of childhood measles immunisation to levels which may guarantee herd immunity. One of such factors is parental education status. Research on the links between parental education and vaccination has typically focused on the influence of maternal education status. This study aims to demonstrate the independent influence of paternal education status on measles immunisation.</p> <p><b>Methods</b></p> <p>Comparable nationally representative survey data were obtained from six countries with the highest numbers of children missing the measles vaccine in 2008. Logistic regression analysis was applied to examine the influence of paternal education on uptake of the first dose of measles vaccination, independent of maternal education, whilst controlling for confounding factors such as respondent’s age, urban/rural residence, province/state of residence, religion, wealth and occupation.</p> <p><b>Results</b></p> <p>The results of the analysis show that even if a mother is illiterate, having a father with an education of Secondary (high school) schooling and above is statistically significant and positively correlated with the likelihood of a child being vaccinated for measles, in the six countries analysed. Paternal education of secondary or higher level was significantly and independently correlated with measles immunisation uptake after controlling for all potential confounders.</p> <p><b>Conclusions</b></p> <p>The influence of paternal education status on measles immunisation uptake was investigated and found to be statistically significant in six nations with the biggest gaps in measles immunisation coverage in 2008. This study underscores the imperative of utilising both maternal and paternal education as screening variables to identify children at risk of missing measles vaccination prospectively.</p