Epidemiological Aspects of Rotavirus Infection in Ahwaz, Iran

Rotavirus is the major cause of diarrhoea in children worldwide. In this study, conducted in the city of Ahwaz, Iran, during November 2001 - March 2002, stool samples from 200 inpatient (n=63) and outpatient (n= 137) children aged 1-24 month(s) were analyzed. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used for isolating rotavirus. Rotavirus was isolated from 36 (26.3%) of the 137 stool samples of outpatients and from 23 (36.5%) of the 63 stool samples of inpatients. The overall frequency of rotavirus in this population was 29.5%. The highest detection of rotavirus was made in children aged 7-12 months, which demonstrated that the relationship between age and rate of rotaviral infection was statistically significant (p<0.05). The predominant electrophoretic pattern detected was the long (L) electrophoretype (46 of 59; 78%), followed by the short (S) electrophoretype (12 of 59; 20.3%). One strain had a mixed pattern. Such analysis throughout Iran would assist in developing sound guidelines for the prevention of rotavirus infections

Herpes Simplex Virus-1 entrapped in Candida albicans biofilm displays decreased sensitivity to antivirals and UVA1 laser treatment

Abstract Background: Recently, we published data suggesting a mutualistic relationship between HSV-1 and Candida. albicans; in particular: (a) HSV-1 infected macrophages are inhibited in their anti-Candida effector function and (b) Candida biofilm protects HSV-1 from inactivation. The present in vitro study is aimed at testing the effects of Candida biofilm on HSV-1 sensitivity to pharmacological and physical stress, such as antiviral drugs (acyclovir and foscarnet) and laser UVA1 irradiation. We also investigated whether fungus growth pattern, either sessile or planktonic, influences HSV-1 sensitivity to antivirals. Methods: Mature Candida biofilms were exposed to HSV-1 and then irradiated with laser light (UVA1, 355 \u3bb). In another set of experiments, mature Candida biofilm were co-cultured with HSV-1 infected VERO cells in the presence of different concentrations of acyclovir or foscarnet. In both protocols, controls unexposed to laser or drugs were included. The viral yield of treated and untreated samples was evaluated by end-point titration. To evaluate whether this protective effect might occur in relation with a different growth pattern, HSV-1 infected cells were co-cultured with either sessile or planktonic forms of Candida and then assessed for susceptibility to antiviral drugs. Results: UVA1 irradiation caused a 2 Log reduction of virus yield in the control cultures whereas the reduction was only 1 Log with Candida biofilm, regardless to the laser dose applied to the experimental samples (50 or 100 J/cm2). The presence of biofilm increased the IC90 from 18.4\u201325.6 J/cm2. Acyclovir caused a 2.3 Log reduction of virus yield in the control cultures whereas with Candida biofilm the reduction was only 0.5 Log; foscarnet determined a reduction of 1.4 Log in the controls and 0.2 Log in biofilm cultures. Consequently, the ICs50 for acyclovir and foscarnet increased by 4- and 12-folds, respectively, compared to controls. When HSV-1 was exposed to either sessile or planktonic fungal cells, the antiviral treatments caused approximately the same weak reduction of virus yield. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that: (1) HSV-1 encompassed in Candida biofilm is protected from inactivation by physical (laser) and pharmacological (acyclovir or foscarnet) treatments; (2) the drug antiviral activity is reduced at a similar extent for both sessile or planktonic Candida

Borna disease virus (BDV) infection in psychiatric patients and healthy controls in Iran

Background Borna disease virus (BDV) is an evolutionary old RNA virus, which infects brain and blood cells of humans, their primate ancestors, and other mammals. Human infection has been correlated to mood disorders and schizophrenia, but the impact of BDV on mental-health still remains controversial due to poor methodological and cross-national comparability. Method This first report from the Middle East aimed to determine BDV infection prevalence in Iranian acute psychiatric disorder patients and healthy controls through circulating immune complexes (CIC), antibodies (Ab) and antigen (pAg) in blood plasma using a standardized triple enzyme immune assay (EIA). Samples of 314 subjects (114 psychiatric cases, 69 blood donors, and 131 healthy controls) were assayed and data analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results CICs revealed a BDV prevalence of one third (29.5%) in healthy Iranian controls (27.5% controls; 33.3% blood donors). In psychiatric patients CIC prevalence was higher than in controls (40.4%) and significantly correlating with bipolar patients exhibiting overt clinical symptoms (p = 0.005, OR = 1.65). CIC values were significantly elevated in bipolar (p = 0.001) and major depressive disorder (p = 0.029) patients as compared to controls, and in females compared to males (p = 0.031). Conclusion This study supports a similarly high prevalence of subclinical human BDV infections in Iran as reported for central Europe, and provides again an indication for the correlation of BDV infection and mood disorders. Further studies should address the morbidity risk for healthy carriers and those with elevated CIC levels, along with gender disparities

Epidemiological Aspects of Rotavirus Infection in Ahwaz, Iran

Rotavirus is the major cause of diarrhoea in children worldwide. In this study, conducted in the city of Ahwaz, Iran, during November 2001 - March 2002, stool samples from 200 inpatient (n=63) and outpatient (n= 137) children aged 1-24 month(s) were analyzed. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used for isolating rotavirus. Rotavirus was isolated from 36 (26.3%) of the 137 stool samples of outpatients and from 23 (36.5%) of the 63 stool samples of inpatients. The overall frequency of rotavirus in this population was 29.5%. The highest detection of rotavirus was made in children aged 7-12 months, which demonstrated that the relationship between age and rate of rotaviral infection was statistically significant (p<0.05). The predominant electrophoretic pattern detected was the long (L) electrophoretype (46 of 59; 78%), followed by the short (S) electrophoretype (12 of 59; 20.3%). One strain had a mixed pattern. Such analysis throughout Iran would assist in developing sound guidelines for the prevention of rotavirus infections

Herpes simplex virus-1 entrapped in Candida albicans biofilm displays decreased sensitivity to antivirals.

BACKGROUND AND AIM Biofilms represent a serious clinical problem because of the increased resistance of biofilm-associated organisms to antimicrobial agents and the potential for these organisms to cause infections in patients with indwelling medical devices. The presence of some pathogenic viruses in water biofilms underlines the ability of viruses to attach and cling to biofilms retaining their infectivity. Recently we demonstrated that, in vitro, human pathogenic viruses, including HSV-1, can be encompassed in C. albicans biofilm. This biofilm is responsible for severe device-related disseminated infections causing invasive candidemias with a very high rate of mortality. The aim of this in vitro study was to ascertain whether encompassment of Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1) in Candida biofilm impacts virus sensitivity to acyclovir and foscarnet. METHODS VERO cells were infected with HSV-1 and added to mature Candida biofilms in the presence and the absence of acyclovir or foscarnet. After 24h incubation, the amount of infectious virus embedded in biofilm was titrated on VERO cells. Similarly, different drug scalar concentrations were tested in order to determine the inhibiting dose 50 (ID50). In order to evaluate whether the impact on drug antiviral activity is related to the presence of biofilm matrix or to the steric obstruction of the hyphal mass, the efficacy of antiviral drugs were also tested comparing the virus inhibition growth in the presence of Candida biofilm with that obtained in cultures of the same candida strain grown in planktonic hyphal form. RESULTS Acyclovir 50 µM caused a 2,3 Log reduction (99.5%) of virus yield in the control cultures whereas in the presence of Candida biofilm the reduction was only 05 Log (68.5%); foscarnet determined a reduction of 1.4 Log (96%) in the controls and 0.2 Log (36.9%) in biofilm cultures. IDs50 for acyclovir were 5.4µM and 22.6 µM in the absence and in the presence of Candida biofim respectively; for foscarnet IDs50 were 54 µM and 661 µM, respectively. DISCUSSION Encompassment of HSV1-infected cells within the biofilm causes a dramatic decrease in antiviral efficacy of ayclovir and foscarnet. We can speculate that circulating HSV-1 infected cells might be retained in the biofilm and, later on, released as either single cells or within biofilm small fragments. Therefore, Candida biofilm on medical devices may be a source of viral infections with a reduced drug sensitivity