High conservation of varicella-zoster virus helicase-primase complex, the target of the new antiviral drug amenamevir

International audienceVaricella-zoster virus (VZV) resistance to current antiviral drugs, that all target the viral DNA polymerase, represents a growing concern, notably among immunocompromised patients. Amenamevir, a novel antiviral that inhibits the VZV helicase-primase (HP) complex, is approved in Japan for the treatment of herpes zoster. In this study, we describe the low natural polymorphism of VZV HP complex (interstrain identity >99.7% both at nucleotide and amino acid levels) among 44 VZV clinical isolates. This work enabled to settle the maps of natural polymorphisms of VZV HP complex and to provide the genotypic tools for the monitoring of the emergence of VZV resistance to amenamevir in patients

Epidemiological and clinical insights into the enterovirus D68 upsurge in Europe 2021/22 and the emergence of novel B3-derived lineages, ENPEN multicentre study

International audienceEnterovirus D68 (EV-D68) infections are associated with severe respiratory disease and acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). The European Non-Polio Enterovirus Network (ENPEN) aimed to investigate the epidemiological and genetic characteristics of EV-D68 and its clinical impact during the fall-winter season of 2021/22. From 19 European countries, 58 institutes reported 10,481 (6.8%) EV-positive samples of which 1,004 (9.6%) were identified as EV-D68 (852 respiratory samples). Clinical data was reported for 969 cases. 78.9% of infections were reported in children (0-5 years); 37.9% of cases were hospitalised. Acute respiratory distress was commonly noted (93.1%) followed by fever (49.4%). Neurological problems were observed in 6.4% of cases with six reported with AFM. Phylodynamic/Nextstrain and phylogenetic analyses based on 694 sequences showed the emergence of two novel B3-derived lineages, with no regional clustering. In conclusion, we describe a large-scale EV-D68 European upsurge with severe clinical impact and the emergence of B3-derived lineages