Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness among Children Aged 6 to 59 Months in Southern China

In China the protective effect of seasonal influenza vaccine has only been assessed in controlled clinical trials and proven to be highly effective. However, the post-licensure effectiveness of influenza vaccine has not been examined. In our study all influenza cases from the 19 surveillance sites in Guangzhou were laboratory confirmed during 2009 and 2010. Controls were randomly selected from children aged 6 to 59 months in the Children's Expanded Programmed Immunization Administrative Computerized System. 2529 cases and 4539 controls were finally enrolled. After adjusting for gender, age and area of residence, the vaccine effectiveness of full vaccination was 51.79% and 57.78% in the 2009 and 2010 influenza season, respectively. Partial vaccination provided 39.38% and 35.98% protection to children aged 24 to 59 months in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and no protective effect was observed among younger children. Full vaccination is highly protective and partial vaccination is protective for older children. Influenza vaccination in general should be encouraged, and full vaccination should be particularly encouraged because its protective effect is much stronger than that of partial vaccination

Characterization of the Viral Microbiome in Patients with Severe Lower Respiratory Tract Infections, Using Metagenomic Sequencing

The human respiratory tract is heavily exposed to microorganisms. Viral respiratory tract pathogens, like RSV, influenza and rhinoviruses cause major morbidity and mortality from respiratory tract disease. Furthermore, as viruses have limited means of transmission, viruses that cause pathogenicity in other tissues may be transmitted through the respiratory tract. It is therefore important to chart the human virome in this compartment. We have studied nasopharyngeal aspirate samples submitted to the Karolinska University Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden from March 2004 to May 2005 for diagnosis of respiratory tract infections. We have used a metagenomic sequencing strategy to characterize viruses, as this provides the most unbiased view of the samples. Virus enrichment followed by 454 sequencing resulted in totally 703,790 reads and 110,931 of these were found to be of viral origin by using an automated classification pipeline. The snapshot of the respiratory tract virome of these 210 patients revealed 39 species and many more strains of viruses. Most of the viral sequences were classified into one of three major families; Paramyxoviridae, Picornaviridae or Orthomyxoviridae. The study also identified one novel type of Rhinovirus C, and identified a number of previously undescribed viral genetic fragments of unknown origin

Efficacy of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin in combination with corticosteroid for two cases of combined hepatitis C and autoimmune hepatitis

The treatment strategy for cases of combined autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC) has not yet been established. A 47-year-old woman and a 53-year-old-woman were hospitalized for treatment of CHC. Ultrasonography and histological findings revealed that their liver was not cirrhotic but did have chronic damage. The histological findings of both patients were suggestive of AIH. The patients were systematically treated with pegylated interferon-alpha 2b plus ribavirin which was preceded by and combined with corticosteroid (CS), and showed sustained virological responses and normal liver function. Although these two patients with combined AIH and CHC were successfully treated with this regimen, careful attention to exacerbation of hepatic inflammation is needed because hepatitis C viral load was increased due to immunosuppression during CS treatment

Mechanical Characterization of One-Headed Myosin-V Using Optical Tweezers

Class V myosin (myosin-V) is a cargo transporter that moves along an actin filament with large (∼36-nm) successive steps. It consists of two heads that each includes a motor domain and a long (23 nm) neck domain. One of the more popular models describing these steps, the hand-over-hand model, assumes the two-headed structure is imperative. However, we previously succeeded in observing successive large steps by one-headed myosin-V upon optimizing the angle of the acto-myosin interaction. In addition, it was reported that wild type myosin-VI and myosin-IX, both one-headed myosins, can also generate successive large steps. Here, we describe the mechanical properties (stepsize and stepping kinetics) of successive large steps by one-headed and two-headed myosin-Vs. This study shows that the stepsize and stepping kinetics of one-headed myosin-V are very similar to those of the two-headed one. However, there was a difference with regards to stability against load and the number of multisteps. One-headed myosin-V also showed unidirectional movement that like two-headed myosin-V required 3.5 kBT from ATP hydrolysis. This value is also similar to that of smooth muscle myosin-II, a non-processive motor, suggesting the myosin family uses a common mechanism for stepping regardless of the steps being processive or non-processive. In this present paper, we conclude that one-headed myosin-V can produce successive large steps without following the hand-over-hand mechanism

Respiratory viruses in children hospitalized for acute lower respiratory tract infection in Ghana

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Acute respiratory tract infections are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among young children in developing countries. Information on the viral aetiology of acute respiratory infections in developing countries is very limited. The study was done to identify viruses associated with acute lower respiratory tract infection among children less than 5 years.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Nasopharyngeal samples and blood cultures were collected from children less than 5 years who have been hospitalized for acute lower respiratory tract infection. Viruses and bacteria were identified using Reverse Transcriptase Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction and conventional biochemical techniques.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of 128 patients recruited, 33(25.88%%, 95%CI: 18.5% to 34.2%) were positive for one or more viruses. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) was detected in 18(14.1%, 95%CI: 8.5% to 21.3%) patients followed by Adenoviruses (AdV) in 13(10.2%, 95%CI: 5.5% to 16.7%), Parainfluenza (PIV type: 1, 2, 3) in 4(3.1%, 95%CI: 0.9% to 7.8%) and influenza B viruses in 1(0.8%, 95%CI: 0.0 to 4.3). Concomitant viral and bacterial co-infection occurred in two patients. There were no detectable significant differences in the clinical signs, symptoms and severity for the various pathogens isolated. A total of 61.1% (22/36) of positive viruses were detected during the rainy season and Respiratory Syncytial Virus was the most predominant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study has demonstrated an important burden of respiratory viruses as major causes of childhood acute respiratory infection in a tertiary health institution in Ghana. The data addresses a need for more studies on viral associated respiratory tract infection.</p

Safe To Walk? Neighborhood Safety and Physical Activity Among Public Housing Residents

Garry Bennett and colleagues measured exercise levels and obtained opinions on neighborhood safety. They concluded that residing in a neighborhood perceived to be unsafe at night is a barrier to regular physical activity

Lack of association of genetic variation in chromosome region 15q14-22.1 with type 2 diabetes in a Japanese population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chromosome 15q14-22.1 has been linked to type 2 diabetes (T2D) and its related traits in Japanese and other populations. The presence of T2D disease susceptibility variant(s) was assessed in the 21.8 Mb region between <it>D15S118 </it>and <it>D15S117 </it>in a Japanese population using a region-wide case-control association test.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A two-stage association test was performed using Japanese subjects: The discovery panel (Stage 1) used 372 cases and 360 controls, while an independent replication panel (Stage 2) used 532 cases and 530 controls. A total of 1,317 evenly-spaced, common SNP markers with minor allele frequencies > 0.10 were typed for each stage. Captured genetic variation was examined in HapMap JPT SNPs, and a haplotype-based association test was performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>SNP2140 (rs2412747) (<it>C/T</it>) in intron 33 of the ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component n-recognin 1 (<it>UBR1</it>) gene was selected as a landmark SNP based on repeated significant associations in Stage 1 and Stage 2. However, the marginal <it>p </it>value (<it>p </it>= 0.0043 in the allelic test, OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.07–1.48 for combined samples) was weak in a single locus or haplotype-based association test. We failed to find any significant SNPs after correcting for multiple testing.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The two-stage association test did not reveal a strong association between T2D and any common variants on chromosome 15q14-22.1 in 1,794 Japanese subjects. A further association test with a larger sample size and denser SNP markers is required to confirm these observations.</p