Publications by authors named "Dioselina Pelaez-Carvajal"

The family comprises positive-sense RNA viruses, which mainly infect plants. Recently, a few -like viruses have been found in mosquitoes, which feed on vertebrate sources. We describe a novel -like virus, putatively named, (GUAV), isolated from and species of mosquitoes and collected in the rural area of Santa Marta, Colombia.

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Introduction: Unvaccinated individuals in endemic areas with proven enzootic transmission of Yellow fever virus are at risk of infection due to a dramatic shift in the epidemiology of the disease over recent years. For this reason, epidemiological surveillance and laboratory confirmation of cases have become mandatory.

Objective: To develop and test a control RNA for YFV detection through real-time RT-PCR.

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Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya viruses. Studies have shown that insecticide resistance affects vector competence (VC) of some mosquito species. This study evaluates the effect of resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin and kdr V1016I mutation genotypes on the VC of Ae.

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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the leading risk factors for end-stage liver disease development worldwide. This RNA virus displays high genetic diversity with 8 genotypes and 96 subgenotypes with heterogeneous geographical distribution around the world. In this study, we carried out an active case finding of individuals with a history of transfusion events before 1996 in three cities in Colombia.

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Article Synopsis
  • Global surveillance has detected emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 with mutations in the spike protein, which may affect their transmissibility and resistance to vaccines.
  • In Colombia during 2021, the dominant variants were Mu (49% of cases), Gamma (25%), and B.1.111 (almost undetectable), with Mu being classified as a variant of interest and Gamma as a variant of concern.
  • Vaccinated individuals showed significantly lower neutralizing antibody responses to the Mu variant compared to B.1.111 and Gamma, highlighting the need for ongoing variant surveillance and assessment of different vaccines' effectiveness.
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Introduction: Enteric viruses have been associated with the production of a variety of diseases transmitted by the fecal-oral route and carried through contaminated food and water. Given their structure and composition, they are highly resistant to environmental conditions and most of the chemical agents used in the purification processes. Therefore, the systematic monitoring of raw water is necessary to ensure its quality especially when it is used for producing drinking water for human consumption.

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The real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-qPCR) has become a leading technique for the detection and quantification of arboviruses, including Chikungunya, Dengue, and Zika viruses. In this study, an updated real-time RT-qPCR assay was designed and evaluated together with a synthetic positive-control chimeric RNA for the simultaneous detection and quantification of Chikungunya, Dengue, and Zika viruses. Amplification assays were performed to verify the construct integrity and optimal reaction/thermal cycling conditions.

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Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease that is of major importance in public health. Although it has been extensively studied at the molecular level, sequencing of the 5' and 3' ends of the untranslated regions (UTR) commonly requires specific approaches for completion and corroboration. The present study aimed to characterize the 5' and 3' ends of dengue virus types 1 to 4.

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A Zika virus (ZIKV) strain was isolated from an acute febrile patient during the Zika epidemics in Colombia. The strain was intraperitoneally inoculated into BALB/c mice, and 7 days postinoculation, neurological manifestations and ZIKV infection in the brain were demonstrated. The reported genome sequence is highly related to strains circulating in the Americas.

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Background: Colombia was the second most affected country during the American Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic, with over 109,000 reported cases. Despite the scale of the outbreak, limited genomic sequence data were available from Colombia. We sought to sequence additional samples and use genomic epidemiology to describe ZIKV dynamics in Colombia.

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Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is considered a public health problem due to its rapid spread and high morbidity. This study aimed to determine the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of CHIKVs in Colombia. A descriptive and retrospective study was carried out using sera of patients infected with Chikungunya during the outbreak in Colombia.

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Dengue virus (DENV) is the causative agent of one of the most important febrile illnesses worldwide. Four DENV serotypes are responsible for a broad clinical spectrum of the disease. Positive controls are costly and required for the validation of molecular test results of DENV serotyping.

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Dengue is hyperendemic in Colombia, where a cyclic behavior of serotype replacement leading to periodic epidemics has been observed for decades. This level of endemicity favors accumulation of dengue virus genetic diversity and could be linked to disease outcome. To assess the genetic diversity of dengue virus type 2 in Colombia, we sequenced the envelope gene of 24 virus isolates from acute cases of dengue or severe dengue fever during the period 2013-2016.

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Introduction: Despite the availability of an effective vaccine and treatment to reduce the viral load and progressive hepatocellular injury, approximately 240 million people worldwide are chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). In Colombia, the circulation of different viral genotypes has been confirmed. Mutations in the genome have been associated to antiviral therapy resistance, viral escape to neutralizing antibodies, occult infection and progression to hepatocellular carcinoma.

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Strain monitoring for emergence of novel strains after the introduction of rotavirus vaccine is an integral component of routine rotavirus immunization programs. Using a laboratory based strain surveillance system between 2008 and 2012, a wide variation in strain pattern in Colombia was founded both before and after the introduction of a monovalent rotavirus vaccine in 2009. G2P[4], a strain fully heterotypic to the vaccine was predominant before vaccine introduction in 2008 (47%) and after vaccine introduction in 2010 (54%), 2011 (86%), and 2012 (32%).

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