Coxsackievirus A24 variant (CVA24v) is a major causative agent of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis outbreaks worldwide, yet the evolutionary and transmission dynamics of the virus remain unclear. To address this, we analyzed and compared the 3C and partial VP1 gene regions of CVA24v isolates obtained from five outbreaks in Cuba between 1986 and 2009 and strains isolated worldwide. Here we show that Cuban strains were homologous to those isolated in Africa, the Americas and Asia during the same time period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the biggest problems of global health, at present. Bacillus-Calmette-Guérin is the only vaccine available against this disease. It protects only against the severe forms of TB in the childhood, which is a challenge in the search of new vaccine candidates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSticholysin II (StII) is a pore-forming toxin of biomedical interest that belongs to the actinoporin protein family. Sticholysins are currently under examination as an active immunomodulating component of a vaccinal platform against tumoral cells and as a key element of a nucleic acids delivery system to cell cytosol. These proteins form pores in the plasma membrane leading to ion imbalance and cell lysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAqueous and organic fractions from the crude extracts of 17 sponge species collected at Boca de Calderas, Havana, Cuba were analysed. The organic fractions of Mycale laxissima, Clathria echinata and Agelas cerebrum exhibited values of concentrations causing 50% inhibition of in vitro growth of Plasmodium berghei (IC50) of 42.3 ± 5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: An outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis occurred in Cuba in 2008 and 2009.
Objective: To determinate the etiological agent associated with the Cuban outbreaks of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis during 2008 and 2009.
Study Design: Conjunctival swabs and/or faecal samples from 382 patients with clinical diagnosis suggestive of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis were subject to viral culture in HEp-2 human laryngeal epidermoid carcinoma cells.
Background: Among multiple causes of acute myocarditis, viral infection, especially that due to enteroviruses and adenoviruses, is the leading cause. In the summer 2005 an outbreak of a febrile syndrome accompanied by acute cardiac decompensation occurred in infants and young children in Havana City. Eleven patients had a rapid evolution of disease and there were 8 fatalities from cardiac failure secondary to myocarditis.
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