The power of interactive maps for communicating spatio-temporal data to health professionals.

While more and more health-related data is being produced and published every day, few of it is being prepared in a way that would be beneficial for daily use outside the scientific realm. Interactive visualizations that can slice and condense enormous amounts of multi-dimensional data into easy-to-digest portions are a promising tool that has been under-utilized for health-related topics. Here we present two case studies for how interactive maps can be utilized to make raw health data accessible to different target audiences: i) the European Notifiable Diseases Interactive Geovisualization (ENDIG) which aims to communicate the implementation status of disease surveillance systems across the European Union to public health experts and decision makers, and ii) the Zoonotic Infection Risk in Twente-Achterhoek Map (ZIRTA map), which aims to communicate information about zoonotic diseases and their regional occurrence to general practitioners and other healthcare providers tasked with diagnosing infectious diseases on a daily basis.

Use of a diagnostic Puumala virus real-time RT-PCR in an orthohantavirus endemic region in the Netherlands.

Unlabelled: Laboratory diagnosis of orthohantavirus infection is primarily based on serology. However, for a confirmed serological diagnosis, evaluation of a follow-up serum sample is essential, which is time consuming and causes delay. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, if positive, provide an immediate and definitive diagnosis, and accurately identify the causative agent, where the discriminative nature of serology is suboptimal.

Foul smelling urine in an adult caused by .

We describe the first adult case with positive urine cultures as the proven cause of recurrent socially disabling malodorous urine. Bacterial strain specific factors as well as host factors are shown to play a role. The condition can be resolved with proper antibiotics.

Low-Threshold Testing for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in Long-Term Care Facilities Early in the First Pandemic Wave, the Twente Region, the Netherlands: A Possible Factor in Reducing Morbidity and Mortality.

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shortage of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests, and testing patients with mild symptoms (low-threshold testing) was not recommended in the Netherlands. Despite these guidelines, to protect those who were most at risk, low-threshold testing was advocated and offered to the majority of long-term care institutions in the region. In this manner, 144 healthcare workers and 96 residents tested SARS-CoV-2-positive and were isolated before the same service was provided nationwide by public health services.

Defining a risk area for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in a country where TBE is emerging, the Netherlands, July 2016-October 2020.

TBE is an emerging infectious disease in the Netherlands since July 2016, and risk areas have not been defined yet. Until October 2020 twelve autochthonous cases of TBE have been identified. In six of these cases transmission of TBE virus likely occurred in the Twente region, which therefore is the region with the highest case number and risk of contracting the disease.

Blood Culture-negative Endocarditis Caused by : Whipple's endocarditis.

Case Description: A 67-year-old man was admitted with progressive heart failure due to blood culture-negative endocarditis of the aortic valve. Urgent aortic valve replacement was needed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of samples of the explanted aortic valve revealed .

First paediatric case of autochthonous tick-borne encephalitis in the Netherlands, 2018.

Since 2016, sporadic cases of autochthonous tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) have been encountered in the Netherlands, in two distinct geographic regions. We describe the first paediatric autochthonous case of TBE, in 2018, which was contracted outside these regions, suggesting that TBE is more widespread. Countrywide vigilance for new TBE cases remains necessary.

Emergence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in the Netherlands.

Recently, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) was detected in the Netherlands for the first time, in ticks collected in 2015 in the National Park Sallandse heuvelrug in response to the detection of anti-TBEV antibodies in roe deer. Hereafter, two human cases of autochthonous TBE have been reported, occurring in 2016. One case was geographically linked to the area of the previously reported ticks, which harbored a genetically divergent TBEV-Eu strain variant (TBEV-NL).

Falsely positive anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies in a patient with hantavirus induced acute kidney injury - a case report.

Background: Hantavirus infection is an uncommon cause of acute renal failure with massive proteinuria. Serology tests to support a presumptive diagnosis usually take a few days. During the initial work-up, autoimmune causes including anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) glomerulonephritis need to be excluded, because these require urgent therapy.

Increasing evidence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus transmission, the Netherlands, June 2016.

We present a case of endemic tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) occurring in June 2016 in the eastern part of the Netherlands in an area where a strain of TBE virus, genetically different from the common TBE virus strains in Europe, was reported in ticks in 2016. With the start of the tick season in spring, this second autochthonous Dutch TBE case should remind physicians to consider the possibility of endemic TBE in patients with respective symptoms.

Increase in ECHOvirus 6 infections associated with neurological symptoms in the Netherlands, June to August 2016.

The Dutch virus-typing network VIRO-TypeNed reported an increase in ECHOvirus 6 (E-6) infections with neurological symptoms in the Netherlands between June and August 2016. Of the 31 cases detected from January through August 2016, 15 presented with neurological symptoms. Ten of 15 neurological cases were detected in the same province and the identified viruses were genetically related.

Effect of viral membrane fusion activity on antibody induction by influenza H5N1 whole inactivated virus vaccine.

Whole inactivated virus (WIV) influenza vaccines are more immunogenic in unprimed individuals than split-virus or subunit vaccines. In mice, this superior immunogenicity has been linked to the recognition of the viral ssRNA by endosomal TLR7 receptors in immune cells, leading to IFNα production and Th1-type antibody responses. Recent data suggest that viral membrane fusion in target cell endosomes is necessary for TLR7-mediated IFNα induction.

Influenza vaccines: what do we want and how can we get it?

Influenza vaccines have been in use for more than 60 years and have proven to be efficacious in protecting from influenza infections during epidemics and the recent H1N1 pandemic. The development of influenza vaccines has so far been largely based on empirical grounds, which leaves room for vaccine improvement by implementation of recent insights in innate and adaptive immunity. Also, evaluation and approval of new vaccines rely on rather broad correlates of protection such as the hemagglutination inhibition titre, thereby neglecting qualitative aspects of the immune response.

Preservation of the immunogenicity of dry-powder influenza H5N1 whole inactivated virus vaccine at elevated storage temperatures.

Stockpiling of pre-pandemic influenza vaccines guarantees immediate vaccine availability to counteract an emerging pandemic. Generally, influenza vaccines need to be stored and handled refrigerated to prevent thermal degradation of the antigenic component. Requirement of a cold-chain, however, complicates stockpiling and the logistics of vaccine distribution.

Superior immunogenicity of inactivated whole virus H5N1 influenza vaccine is primarily controlled by Toll-like receptor signalling.

In the case of an influenza pandemic, the current global influenza vaccine production capacity will be unable to meet the demand for billions of vaccine doses. The ongoing threat of an H5N1 pandemic therefore urges the development of highly immunogenic, dose-sparing vaccine formulations. In unprimed individuals, inactivated whole virus (WIV) vaccines are more immunogenic and induce protective antibody responses at a lower antigen dose than other formulations like split virus (SV) or subunit (SU) vaccines.

Alum boosts TH2-type antibody responses to whole-inactivated virus influenza vaccine in mice but does not confer superior protection.

Clinical trials with pandemic influenza vaccine candidates have focused on aluminium hydroxide as an adjuvant to boost humoral immune responses. In this study we investigated the effect of aluminium hydroxide on the magnitude and type of immune response induced by whole-inactivated virus (WIV) vaccine. Balb/c mice were immunized once with a range of antigen doses (0.

Whole inactivated virus influenza vaccine is superior to subunit vaccine in inducing immune responses and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines by DCs.

Background: For protection against (re-)infection by influenza virus not only the magnitude of the immune response but also its quality in terms of antibody subclass and T helper profile is important. Information about the type of immune response elicited by vaccination is therefore urgently needed.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate in detail the immune response elicited by three current influenza vaccine formulations and to shed light on vaccine characteristics which determine this response.

Search for morbillivirus proteins in multiple sclerosis brain tissue.

We investigated brain samples of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and controls with immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) against canine distemper virus (CDV) and measles virus (MV) proteins. All stained negative except for MoAb F3-5, which recognises a conserved epitope on the fusion protein of morbilliviruses. F3-5 immunostaining was found in 8/9 MS plaques and 2/5 herpes simplex virus encephalitis brain samples, but not in six controls or four patients with ischaemic stroke.

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1-6 expression in activated microglia.

In the CNS insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) enhances survival of neurons, promotes myelin synthesis and acts as a mitogen for microglia. The effects of IGF-1 are regulated by a family of 6 IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs). We investigated mRNA expression patterns of IGFBPs in primary rat microglia under basal conditions and after activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Cloning and sequence analysis of a hypothalamic cDNA encoding a D1c dopamine receptor in tilapia.

Physiological and pharmacological studies have indicated that during acid stress a D1-like dopamine receptor becomes functional on intermediate pituitary melanocyte-stimulating hormone cells of tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). As a first step towards physiological expression studies we isolated a D1-like dopamine receptor from a tilapia hypothalamus cDNA library. Construction of a phylogenetic tree of most of the D1-like receptors known in human, rat, Xenopus, goldfish and Drosophila revealed that the here presented clone is most likely the tilapia equivalent of the Xenopus D1c dopamine receptor.

Transmission blockade of Plasmodium falciparum malaria by anti-Pfs230-specific antibodies is isotype dependent.

By use of the parental hybridoma cell line 63F2A2 that produces specific antibodies of immunoglobulin isotype G1 (IgG1; 63F2A2.1) against Pfs230, we attempted to enrich for the synthesis of the downstream switch variant IgG2b and IgG2a monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) of the hybridoma cell line (63F2A2.2b and 63F2A2.