Dynamic microfluidic single-cell screening identifies pheno-tuning compounds to potentiate tuberculosis therapy.

Drug-recalcitrant infections are a leading global-health concern. Bacterial cells benefit from phenotypic variation, which can suggest effective antimicrobial strategies. However, probing phenotypic variation entails spatiotemporal analysis of individual cells that is technically challenging, and hard to integrate into drug discovery.

Increasing Prevalence of Artemisinin-Resistant HRP2-Negative Malaria in Eritrea.

Background: Although the clinical efficacy of antimalarial artemisinin-based combination therapies in Africa remains high, the recent emergence of partial resistance to artemisinin in on the continent is troubling, given the lack of alternative treatments.

Methods: In this study, we used data from drug-efficacy studies conducted between 2016 and 2019 that evaluated 3-day courses of artemisinin-based combination therapy (artesunate-amodiaquine or artemether-lumefantrine) for uncomplicated malaria in Eritrea to estimate the percentage of patients with day-3 positivity (i.e.

The voltage-gated sodium channel, para, limits Anopheles coluzzii vector competence in a microbiota dependent manner.

The voltage-gated sodium channel, para, is a target of DDT and pyrethroid class insecticides. Single nucleotide mutations in para, called knockdown resistant or kdr, which contribute to resistance against DDT and pyrethroid insecticides, have been correlated with increased susceptibility of Anopheles to the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. However, a direct role of para activity on Plasmodium infection has not yet been established.

blood stage invasion pathways: Contribution of omics technologies in deciphering molecular and cellular mechanisms.

Vivax malaria is an infectious disease caused by Plasmodium vivax, a parasitic protozoan transmitted by female Anopheline mosquitoes. Historically, vivax malaria has often been regarded as a benign self-limiting infection due to the observation of low parasitemia in Duffy-positive patients in endemic transmission areas and the virtual absence of infections in Duffy-negative individuals in Sub Saharan Africa. However, the latest estimates show that the burden of the disease is not decreasing in many countries and cases of vivax infections in Duffy-negative individuals are increasingly reported throughout Africa.

Release of infectious virus and cytokines in nasopharyngeal swabs from individuals infected with non-alpha or alpha SARS-CoV-2 variants: an observational retrospective study.

Background: The dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant shedding and immune responses at the nasal mucosa remain poorly characterised.

Methods: We measured infectious viral release, antibodies and cytokines in 426 PCR+ nasopharyngeal swabs from individuals harboring non-alpha or alpha variants.

Findings: With both lineages, viral titers were variable, ranging from 0 to >10 infectious units.