Availability and Suitability of Digital Health Tools in Africa for Pandemic Control: Scoping Review and Cluster Analysis.

Background: Gaining oversight into the rapidly growing number of mobile health tools for surveillance or outbreak management in Africa has become a challenge.

Objective: The aim of this study is to map the functional portfolio of mobile health tools used for surveillance or outbreak management of communicable diseases in Africa.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review by combining data from a systematic review of the literature and a telephone survey of experts.

The Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS): Digital Health Global Goods Maturity Assessment.

Background: Digital health is a dynamic field that has been generating a large number of tools; many of these tools do not have the level of maturity required to function in a sustainable model. It is in this context that the concept of global goods maturity is gaining importance. Digital Square developed a global good maturity model (GGMM) for digital health tools, which engages the digital health community to identify areas of investment for global goods.

Different features of Vδ2 T and NK cells in fatal and non-fatal human Ebola infections.

Background: Human Ebola infection is characterized by a paralysis of the immune system. A signature of αβ T cells in fatal Ebola infection has been recently proposed, while the involvement of innate immune cells in the protection/pathogenesis of Ebola infection is unknown. Aim of this study was to analyze γδ T and NK cells in patients from the Ebola outbreak of 2014-2015 occurred in West Africa, and to assess their association with the clinical outcome.

Inactivation of HCV and HIV by microwave: a novel approach for prevention of virus transmission among people who inject drugs.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) transmissions among people who inject drugs (PWID) continue to pose a challenging global health problem. Here, we aimed to analyse a universally applicable inactivation procedure, namely microwave irradiation, as a safe and effective method to reduce the risk of viral transmission. The exposure of HCV from different genotypes to microwave irradiation resulted in a significant reduction of viral infectivity.

Expanding the Host Range of Hepatitis C Virus through Viral Adaptation.

Unlabelled: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) species tropism is incompletely understood. We have previously shown that at the level of entry, human CD81 and occludin (OCLN) comprise the minimal set of human factors needed for viral uptake into murine cells. As an alternative approach to genetic humanization, species barriers can be overcome by adapting HCV to use the murine orthologues of these entry factors.