4 research outputs found
High frequency and diversity of parechovirus A in a cohort of Malawian children
Parechoviruses (PeVs) are highly prevalent viruses worldwide. Over the last decades, several studies have been published
on PeV epidemiology in Europe, Asia and North America, while information on other continents is lacking. The aim of this
study was to describe PeV circulation in a cohort of children in Malawi, Africa. A total of 749 stool samples obtained from
Malawian children aged 6 to 60 months were tested for the presence of PeV by real-time PCR. We performed typing by
phylogenetic and Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) analysis. PeV was found in 57% of stool samples. Age was
signifcantly associated with PeV positivity (p = 0.01). Typing by phylogenetic analysis resulted in 15 diferent types, while
BLAST typing resulted in 14 diferent types and several indeterminate strains. In total, six strains showed inconsistencies
in typing between the two methods. One strain, P02-4058, remained untypable by all methods, but appeared to belong to
the recently reclassifed PeV-A19 genotype. PeV-A1, -A2 and -A3 were the most prevalent types (26.8%, 13.8% and 9.8%,
respectively). Both the prevalence and genetic diversity found in our study were remarkably high. Our data provide an
important contribution to the scarce data available on PeV epidemiology in Africa
Direct-Acting Antiviral Treatment for Hepatitis C Genotypes Uncommon in High-Income Countries: A Dutch Nationwide Cohort Study (vol 8, ofab006, 2021)
Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog