Experimental transmission of Chandipura virus by Phlebotomus argentipes (Diptera: Psychodidae)

Experiments were carried out to demonstrate the susceptibity and transmission potential of Phlebotomus argentipes (Annandale & Brunetti) for Chandipura virus (CHPV). In India, P. argentipes is one of the predominant species found in many areas endemic for CHPV. Although its laboratory colonization is difficult, we have demonstrated that 65% of P. argentipes were susceptible to CHPV infection by the oral route. Transmission experiments were carried out by intrathoracic inoculation because of re-feeding problems with this species. After incubation for 24 hours, efficient transmission of CHPV to mice was observed. The estimated minimum transmission rate among the inoculated flies was 32%. CHPV in sand flies as well as in mice was detected and confirmed by immunofluorescent antibody assay and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. The susceptibility of P. argentipes to CHPV and its potential to transmit the virus by bite has importance in epidemiology of CHPV

Enteroviruses in Patients with Acute Encephalitis, Uttar Pradesh, India

An outbreak of viral encephalitis occurred in northern India in 2006. Attempts to identify an etiologic agent in cerebrospinal fluid by using reverse transcription–PCR showed positivity to enterovirus (EV) in 66 (21.6%) of 306 patients. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of PCR products from 59 (89.3%) of 66 specimens showed similarity with EV-89 and EV-76 sequences

Enteroviruses in Patients with Acute Encephalitis, Uttar Pradesh, India

An outbreak of viral encephalitis occurred in northern India in 2006. Attempts to identify an etiologic agent in cerebrospinal fluid by using reverse transcription–PCR showed positivity to enterovirus (EV) in 66 (21.6%) of 306 patients. Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of PCR products from 59 (89.3%) of 66 specimens showed similarity with EV-89 and EV-76 sequences

Genetic characterization of Bagaza virus (BAGV) isolated in India and evidence of anti-BAGV antibodies in sera collected from encephalitis patients

During investigations into the outbreak of encephalitis in 1996 in the Kerala state in India, an arbovirus was isolated from a Culex tritaeniorhynchus mosquito pool. It was characterized as a Japanese encephalitis and West Nile virus cross-reactive arbovirus by complement fixation test. A plaque reduction-neutralization test was performed using hyperimmune sera raised against the plaque-purified arbovirus isolate. The sera did not show reactivity with Japanese encephalitis virus and were weakly reactive with West Nile virus. Complete open reading frame sequence analysis characterized the arbovirus as Bagaza virus (BAGV), with 94.80?% nucleotide identity with African BAGV strain DakAr B209. Sera collected from the encephalitic patients during the acute phase of illness showed 15?% (8/53) positivity for anti-BAGV neutralizing antibodies. This is the first report of the isolation of BAGV from India. The presence of anti-BAGV neutralizing antibodies suggests that the human population has been exposed to BAGV

Accurate Screening for Early-Stage Breast Cancer by Detection and Profiling of Circulating Tumor Cells

Background: The early detection of breast cancer (BrC) is associated with improved survival. We describe a blood-based breast cancer detection test based on functional enrichment of breast-adenocarcinoma-associated circulating tumor cells (BrAD-CTCs) and their identification via multiplexed fluorescence immunocytochemistry (ICC) profiling for GCDFP15, GATA3, EpCAM, PanCK, and CD45 status. Methods: The ability of the test to differentiate BrC cases (N = 548) from healthy women (N = 9632) was evaluated in a case–control clinical study. The ability of the test to differentiate BrC cases from those with benign breast conditions was evaluated in a prospective clinical study of women (N = 141) suspected of BrC. Results: The test accurately detects BrAD-CTCs in breast cancers, irrespective of age, ethnicity, disease stage, grade, or hormone receptor status. Analytical validation established the high accuracy and reliability of the test under intended use conditions. The test detects and differentiates BrC cases from healthy women with 100% specificity and 92.07% overall sensitivity in a case–control study. In a prospective clinical study, the test shows 93.1% specificity and 94.64% overall sensitivity in differentiating breast cancer cases (N = 112) from benign breast conditions (N = 29). Conclusion: The findings reported in this manuscript support the clinical potential of this test for blood-based BrC detection