Background: Accidental awareness during general anesthesia (AAGA) is defined as an unexpected awareness of the patient during general anesthesia. This phenomenon occurs in 1%-2% of high-risk practice patients and can cause physical suffering and psychological after-effects, called posttraumatic stress disorder. In fact, no monitoring techniques are satisfactory enough to effectively prevent AAGA; therefore, new alternatives are needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of immunoglobulin G avidity to determine the dengue immune status of 105 pairs of serum samples from patients infected with dengue virus. This study shows that a simple avidity test, for which only one acute-phase serum sample is required, is potentially more useful than the hemagglutination inhibition test for the discrimination of primary from secondary dengue virus infection, whatever the type of dengue antigen used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor clinical and epidemiological purposes, it is necessary to be able to classify serological responses during dengue virus infection. Thus, it is important to develop a test that can distinguish between primary and secondary serological responses. The hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test, which is currently recommended by the World Health Organization, is complicated to perform.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Trop Med Hyg
August 2001
Two recent cases of human infection with Tonate virus, one of which was a fatal case of encephalitis, have renewed interest in these viruses in French Guiana. The clinical aspects of confirmed and probable cases of infection with this virus indicate that it has pathogenic properties in humans similar to those of other viruses of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex. To determine the prevalence of antibodies to Tonate virus in the various ethnic groups and areas of French Guiana, 3,516 human sera were tested with a hemagglutination inhibition test.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA laboratory worker developed clinical signs of infection with Mayaro virus (Togaviridae), an arbovirus of South and Central America, 6 days after preparation of Mayaro viral antigen and 10 days after a trip to a rain forest. There was no evidence of skin lesions during the antigen preparation, and level 3 containment safety measures were followed. Therefore, molecular characterization of the virus was undertaken to identify the source of infection.
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