Cancer vaccines: an update on recent achievements and prospects for cancer therapy.

Decades of basic and translational research have led to a momentum shift in dissecting the relationship between immune cells and cancer. This culminated in the emergence of breakthrough immunotherapies that paved the way for oncologists to manage certain hard-to-treat cancers. The application of high-throughput techniques of genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics was conclusive in making and expediting the manufacturing process of cancer vaccines.

[The changing epidemiology of tick-borne encephalitis: epidemic surveillance and disease prevention challenges].

The increasing number of cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) reported in recent years in Europe and, more recently, in Poland is a consequence of factors related to climate and environmental change leading to increasing tick populations and human behavior favoring exposure. In Poland, there is considerable regional variation in the incidence of TBE, resulting, among other factors, from underreporting of all cases and limited access to laboratory diagnostics. The consequence is low public awareness of the disease and insufficient use of vaccination as optimal prevention.

immune evaluation of adenoviral vector-based platform for infectious diseases.

New prophylactic vaccine platforms are imperative to combat respiratory infections. The efficacy of T and B memory cell-mediated protection, generated through the adenoviral vector, was tested to assess the effectiveness of the new adenoviral-based platforms for infectious diseases. A combination of adenovirus AdV1 (adjuvant), armed with costimulatory ligands (ICOSL and CD40L), and rRBD (antigen: recombinant nonglycosylated spike protein rRBD) was used to promote the differentiation of T and B lymphocytes.

Novel combinatorial therapy of oncolytic adenovirus AdV5/3-D24-ICOSL-CD40L with anti PD-1 exhibits enhanced anti-cancer efficacy through promotion of intratumoral T-cell infiltration and modulation of tumour microenvironment in mesothelioma mouse model.

Introduction: Malignant mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Despite improvements in cancer treatment, there are still no curative treatment modalities for advanced stage of the malignancy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-tumor efficacy of a novel combinatorial therapy combining AdV5/3-D24-ICOSL-CD40L, an oncolytic vector, with an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody.

Estimated Incidence of Symptomatic Lyme Borreliosis Cases in Lublin, Poland in 2021.

Lyme borreliosis (LB), the most common tick-borne disease in Europe, is endemic to Poland. Despite public health surveillance with mandatory reporting of LB cases by physicians and laboratories, many symptomatic LB cases are not included in surveillance in Poland. We estimated the extent of the under-ascertainment of symptomatic LB cases via surveillance in the Polish province of Lublin to better understand Poland's LB burden.

Comparative study between virus neutralisation testing and other serological methods detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Europe, 2021.

One consequence of the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic was the rapid development of both in-house and commercial serological assays detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, in an effort to reliably detect acute and past SARS-CoV-2 infections. It is crucial to evaluate the quality of these serological tests and consequently the sero-epidemiological studies that are performed with the respective tests. Here, we describe the set-up and results of a comparative study, in which a laboratory contracted by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control offered a centralised service to EU/EEA Member and pre-accession Member States to test representative serum specimens with known serological results, with the gold standard technique (virus neutralisation tests) to determine the presence of neutralising antibodies.

Tick-borne encephalitis epidemiology and surveillance in Poland, and comparison with selected European countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2008 to 2020.

BackgroundTick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is the most common viral central nervous system (CNS) infection in Poland. Previous research suggests that its incidence was underestimated in the pre-pandemic period. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a considerable burden on surveillance systems, which could further impact reporting.

From Immunosuppression to Immunomodulation - Turning Cold Tumours into Hot.

Cancer cells employ various mechanisms to evade and suppress anti-cancer immune responses generating a "cold" immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment. Oncolytic viruses are a promising tool to convert tumour immunosuppression to immunomodulation and improve the efficacy of cancer treatment. Emerging preclinical and clinical findings confirm that oncolytic viruses act in a multimodal scheme, triggering lyses, immunogenic cell death and finally inducing anti-cancer immune responses.

Novel Insights Into Mesothelioma Therapy: Emerging Avenues and Future Prospects.

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that develops in the thin layer surrounding the mesothelium and is mainly caused by asbestos exposure. Despite improvements in patient prognosis with conventional cancer treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, there are still no curative treatment modalities for advanced disease. In recent years, new therapeutic avenues have been explored.

Combination Therapy of Novel Oncolytic Adenovirus with Anti-PD1 Resulted in Enhanced Anti-Cancer Effect in Syngeneic Immunocompetent Melanoma Mouse Model.

Malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, has a low five-year survival rate in patients with advanced disease. Immunotherapy represents a promising approach to improve survival rates among patients at advanced stage. Herein, the aim of the study was to design and produce, by using engineering tools, a novel oncolytic adenovirus AdV-D24- inducible co-stimulator ligand (ICOSL)-CD40L expressing potent co-stimulatory molecules enhancing clinical efficacy through the modulation of anti-cancer immune responses.

[Molecular diagnosis of COVID-19 – present experiences].

Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a new highly emerging and pathogenic for human RNA virus, is responsible for the present COVID-19 pandemic. Molecular diagnostic methods, including real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay are the recommended methods for the identification and laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 cases. RT-PCR allows for detection the RNA of the virus in clinical specimens from patients suspected of COVID-19 with high specificity and sensitivity.

The SARS-CoV-2 ORF10 is not essential in vitro or in vivo in humans.

SARS-CoV-2 genome annotation revealed the presence of 10 open reading frames (ORFs), of which the last one (ORF10) is positioned downstream of the N gene. It is a hypothetical gene, which was speculated to encode a 38 aa protein. This hypothetical protein does not share sequence similarity with any other known protein and cannot be associated with a function.

From Conventional Therapies to Immunotherapy: Melanoma Treatment in Review.

In this review, we discuss the use of oncolytic viruses and checkpoint inhibitors in cancer immunotherapy in melanoma, with a particular focus on combinatory therapies. Oncolytic viruses are promising and novel anti-cancer agents, currently under investigation in many clinical trials both as monotherapy and in combination with other therapeutics. They have shown the ability to exhibit synergistic anticancer activity with checkpoint inhibitors, chemotherapy, radiotherapy.

Prospects of Replication-Deficient Adenovirus Based Vaccine Development against SARS-CoV-2.

The current appearance of the new SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and it quickly spreading across the world poses a global health emergency. The serious outbreak position is affecting people worldwide and requires rapid measures to be taken by healthcare systems and governments. Vaccinations represent the most effective strategy to prevent the epidemic of the virus and to further reduce morbidity and mortality with long-lasting effects.

Problem of rubella in Poland after compensatory outbreak in 2013.

The attempt to estimate the real number of rubella cases in the years 2015-2016 in Poland was presented in this paper. The relations between number of reported cases of measles in 2006-2015y., the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of rubella among cases suspected of measles and the proportion of rubella among patients suspected of measles in the last 10 years as well as the results of serological examination in samples from 74 patients suspected of rubella collected in the first half of 2016 year were analysed.

Cross-reactions in IgM ELISA tests to Legionella pneumophila sg1 and Bordetella pertussis among children suspected of legionellosis; potential impact of vaccination against pertussis?

The objective of this study was preliminary evaluation of IgM cross-reaction in sera collected from children hospitalized because of suspected legionellosis. Sera with positive IgM results to L. pneumophila sgs1-7, B.

Problem of immunoglobulin M co-detection in serological response to bacterial and viral respiratory pathogens among children suspected of legionellosis.

The objective of this research was an analysis of the serological response to respiratory bacterial and viral pathogens, in 156 children admitted to hospital in Warsaw with a suspicion of legionellosis. Levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) M to Bordetella pertussis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenoviruses, human parainfluenza virus (HPIV) t. 1-4 and influenza t.

Selected aspects of filoviruses in the view of Ebola virus disease epidemic.

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a zoonosis of high virulence in humans. Current epidemic in West Africa is the largest EVD epidemic reported so far, exceeding the number of cases notified and geographical regions affected. This article discusses selected aspects of Ebola virus biology and ecology which are of significance for the processes of primary infection in humans and the spread of epidemic in population.

Patients' age and the dynamics of IgM for L. pneumophila sg1.

Material And Methods: The results of IgM L. pneumophila sg1 test in 304 adults and 270 children performed at NIPH-NIH in 2004-2007 were analyzed to determine the effects of patients' age and the interval between collected sera on the results and the interpretation.

Results: Significant difference in the level of IgM, depending on the age of the patients (P0 = 0.

Imported cases of dengue in Poland and their diagnosis.

Infections with dengue virus are transmitted by mosquitoes. In tropical areas, it is mainly spread by Aedes aegypti while in countries with lower temperatures by Aedes albopictus. Since 2010, autochthonous cases of dengue are also reported in Europe.

Non-influenza viruses in acute respiratory infections among young children. High prevalence of HMPV during the H1N1V.2009 pandemic in Poland.

Unlabelled: In Poland the majority of hospitalized cases of pneumonia (annually more than 70000) were reported without determination of an aetiological agent (J18 of ICD-10), also because diagnosis of viral ARTI is limited to identification of influenza viruses or sometimes RSV.

Material And Methods: For determination the contribution of non-influenza viruses in ARTI among children, 381 nasopharyngeal swabs from hospitalized in period X.2008-IV.

Persistent colonization of 2 hospital water supplies by L. pneumophila strains through 7 years--sequence-based typing and serotyping as useful tools for a complex risk analysis.

Contamination with Legionella spp. of hot water system (HWS) in hospitals is a considerable problem and elimination of bacteria poses difficulties. Obligatory control of Legionella spp.

Sequence-based typing of Legionella pneumophila strains isolated from hospital water distribution systems as a complementary element of risk assessment of legionellosis in Poland.

Many factors affect the risk of Legionella infection, such as the design, construction and maintenance of water distribution systems, the presence of individuals who may be exposed and their vulnerability to infection, and the degree of water system colonization and properties of Legionella strains. For epidemiological investigations, two properties of the Legionella strains are usually determined: serotyping and genotyping (sequence-based typing, SBT). In Poland, data regarding legionellosis are fragmentary, despite the fact that this has been a notifiable disease since 2002.

RSV respiratory infection in children under 5 y.o.--dynamics of the immune response Th1/Th2 and IgE.

Introduction: The imbalance of Th1/Th2 cytokine concentrations and increased level of IgE might be useful tool for prediction of severity of RSV infection among young children and possibility of sequels. The ratio of cytokines Th1/Th2 varied during the disease. THE AIM of our studies was the assessment of immunological response by dynamics of Th1 and Th2 cytokines and IgE in RSV infections.