Rubella virus infection during early pregnancy sometimes causes severe birth defects termed congenital rubella syndrome. Although there are safe and effective live-attenuated vaccines, rubella has only been certified as eliminated in the Americas within the six World Health Organization regions. Rubella remains an endemic disease in many regions, and outbreaks occur wherever population immunity is insufficient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSevere fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) causes lethal hemorrhagic diseases in human, cats, and dogs. Several human cases involving direct transmission of SFTSV from diseased animals have been reported. Therefore, rapid diagnosis in veterinary clinics is important for preventing animal-to-human transmission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, and human metapneumovirus commonly cause acute upper and lower respiratory tract infections, especially in children and the elderly. Although rapid antigen detection tests for detecting these infections have been introduced recently, these are less sensitive than nucleic acid amplification tests. More recently, highly sensitive point-of-care testings (POCTs) have been developed based on nucleic acid amplification tests, which are easy to use in clinical settings.
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