Archive for April 17, 2016
Diagnostic Options and Challenges for Dengue and Chikungunya Viruses.
Biomed Res Int. 2015;2015:834371.
Mardekian SK1, Roberts AL1.
Author information
1Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, 117 South 11th Street, PAV 207, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
Abstract
Dengue virus (DENV) and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) are arboviruses that share the same Aedes mosquito vectors and thus overlap in their endemic areas.
These two viruses also cause similar clinical presentations, especially in the initial stages of infection, with neither virus possessing any specific distinguishing clinical features.
Because the outcomes and management strategies for these two viruses are vastly different, early and accurate diagnosis is imperative. Diagnosis is also important for surveillance, outbreak control, and research related to vaccine and drug development.
Available diagnostic tests are aimed at detection of the virus, its antigenic components, or the host immune antibody response. In this review, we describe the recent progress and continued challenges related to the diagnosis of DENV and CHIKV infections.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4609775/pdf/BMRI2015-834371.pdf
Chikungunya: epidemiology.
F1000Res. 2016 Jan 19;5. pii: F1000 Faculty Rev-82.
Petersen LR1, Powers AM1.
Author information
1Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Abstract
Chikungunya virus is a mosquito-borne alphavirus that causes fever and debilitating joint pains in humans. Joint pains may last months or years.
It is vectored primarily by the tropical and sub-tropical mosquito, Aedes aegypti, but is also found to be transmitted by Aedes albopictus, a mosquito species that can also be found in more temperate climates.
In recent years, the virus has risen from relative obscurity to become a global public health menace affecting millions of persons throughout the tropical and sub-tropical world and, as such, has also become a frequent cause of travel-associated febrile illness. In this review, we discuss our current understanding of the biological and sociological underpinnings of its emergence and its future global outlook.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4754000/pdf/f1000research-5-7727.pdf
High Incidence of Chikungunya Virus and Frequency of Viremic Blood Donations during Epidemic, Puerto Rico, USA, 2014
Emerging Infectious Diseases July 2016 V.22 N.7
Graham Simmons, Vanessa Brès, Kai Lu, Nathan M. Liss, Donald J. Brambilla, Kyle R. Ryff, Roberta Bruhn, Edwin Velez, Derrek Ocampo, Jeffrey M. Linnen, Gerardo Latoni, Lyle R. Petersen, Phillip C. Williamson, and Michael P. Busch
Author affiliations: Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, California, USA (G. Simmons, K. Lu, N.M. Liss, R. Bruhn, M.P. Busch); University of California, San Francisco (G. Simmons, M.P. Busch); Hologic, Inc., San Diego, California, USA (V. Brès, D. Ocampo, J.M. Linnen); RTI International, Rockville, Maryland, USA (D.J. Brambilla); Puerto Rico Department of Health, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA (K.R. Ryff); Banco de Sangre de Servicios Mutuos, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA (E. Velez, G. Latoni); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA (L.R. Petersen); Creative Testing Solutions, Tempe, Arizona, USA (P.C. Williamson)
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) caused large epidemics throughout the Caribbean in 2014. We conducted nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) for CHIKV RNA (n = 29,695) and serologic testing for IgG against CHIKV (n = 1,232) in archived blood donor samples collected during and after an epidemic in Puerto Rico in 2014. NAAT yields peaked in October with 2.1% of donations positive for CHIKV RNA.
A total of 14% of NAAT-reactive donations posed a high risk for virus transmission by transfusion because of high virus RNA copy numbers (104–109 RNA copies/mL) and a lack of specific IgM and IgG responses.
Testing of minipools of 16 donations would not have detected 62.5% of RNA-positive donations detectable by individual donor testing, including individual donations without IgM and IgG.
Serosurveys before and after the epidemic demonstrated that nearly 25% of blood donors in Puerto Rico acquired CHIKV infections and seroconverted during the epidemic.
FULL TEXT
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/22/7/16-0116_article
Technological Solutions to Address Drug-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Emerging Infectious Diseases May 2016 V.22 N.5
Letter
To the Editor: Since the 1930s, Neisseria gonorrhoeae has become resistant to drugs in every class of antimicrobial therapy used to treat it. We read with interest the article by Martin et al. about trends in Canada on N. gonorrhoeae susceptibility to third-generation cephalosporins, the only class of antimicrobial drugs to which most N. gonorrhoeae strains remain susceptible (1). We find the reported decrease in cefixime- and ceftriaxone-reduced susceptibility during 2010–2014 encouraging, but remain concerned about a threat from drug-resistant and untreatable N. gonorrhoeae infections: a similar downward trend in the United States reversed in 2014 (2). That divergence demonstrates the limited reliability of surveillance data…..
Fatal Septicemia Linked to Transmission of MRSA Clonal Complex 398 in Hospital and Nursing Home, Denmark
Emerging Infectious Diseases May 2016 V.22 N.5
Rikke Thoft Nielsen, Michael Kemp, Anette Holm, Marianne Nielsine Skov, Mette Detlefsen, Henrik Hasman, Frank Møller Aarestrup, Rolf Sommer Kaas, Jesper Boye Nielsen, Henrik Westh, and Hans Jørn Kolmos
Author affiliations: Author affiliations: Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark (R.T. Nielsen, M. Kemp, A. Holm, M.N. Skov, M. Detlefsen, H.J. Kolmos); Denmark Technical University National Food Institute, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark (H. Hasman, F.M. Aarestrup, R.S. Kaas); Hvidovre University Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark (J.B. Nielsen, H. Westh)
We describe 2 fatal cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal complex 398 septicemia in persons who had no contact with livestock.
Whole-genome sequencing of the isolated MRSA strains strongly suggest that both were of animal origin and that the patients had been infected through 2 independent person-to-person transmission chains.
