Publications by authors named "Rivero-Juarez A"

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an increasing concern for people living with HIV (PLWH). However, information on the impact of NAFLD on the prognosis of PLWH is very scarce.

Aims: To investigate the influence of NAFLD on the overall and liver-related mortality in PLWH.

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Scope: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a significant global health issue, impacting both low- and middle-income countries and industrialized nations. HEV genotypes 1 and 2, primarily transmitted through contaminated water, are endemic in low- and middle-income countries, whereas genotypes 3 and 4 are zoonotically transmitted in industrialized regions. Acute HEV infection poses severe risks, particularly to pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals, whereas chronic HEV infection leads to serious complications in those with pre-existing liver disease and transplant recipients.

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Parasitic infections of the gastrointestinal tract of domestic animals play a major role in the transmission of disease, which in turn may result in financial and productive losses. Notwithstanding, studies on the burden and distribution of diarrheagenic protists in zoological gardens are still insufficient. Given the close animal-animal and animal-human interaction in these settings, Public Health concerns under the One Health context are raised.

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Article Synopsis
  • The rise in wild boar populations in Europe is leading to increased human-wildlife conflicts and the potential for spreading diseases, particularly the protist Blastocystis, which can cause gastrointestinal issues in both animals and humans.
  • A study was conducted on 459 wild boar faecal samples from Spain and Portugal, revealing a 15.3% overall Blastocystis infection rate, with a significantly higher prevalence in Portugal (34.3%) compared to Spain (10.0%).
  • Seven different Blastocystis subtypes were found, with ST5 being the most common, indicating that wild boars can be significant carriers of zoonotic pathogens that may pose public health risks.
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Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging zoonotic virus of public health concern, of which pigs, wild boar and red deer are the main reservoirs. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has recently prioritized the development of monitoring programs of HEV at different stages of the pig food chain, including outdoor pig farming. Pigs managed under these extensive production systems frequently share habitat and natural resources with wild boar and red deer during fattening stages and cross-species transmission of HEV among these species has previously been suggested.

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  • Mosquito-borne viruses, such as DENV, ZIKV, and CHIKV, pose a serious public health risk globally, but the role of bats in their transmission to humans is not well-studied.
  • Researchers captured 144 bats from various habitats in Yucatan, Mexico, and tested them for these viruses using blood samples and swabs, finding a significant prevalence of RNA genomes associated with DENV, ZIKV, and CHIKV.
  • The study revealed a higher detection rate of these viruses during the dry season, suggesting that bats may play a role in the transmission cycle of these viruses and that climatic conditions could influence viral activity patterns.
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Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is currently recognized as an emerging problem and a growing concern for public health in developed countries, with HEV infections mainly attributable to foodborne transmission of HEV-3. The zoonotic HEV genotype 3 infects a wide range of mammalian hosts, with swine considered as the primary host. This study investigates the occurrence of HEV among small ruminants in Portugal.

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  • HLA class I and KIR genotypes are known to affect HIV-1 disease progression and viral load, but their impact during primary infection is unclear.
  • Previous studies have shown mixed results, suggesting that factors like the size of the virus dose and the route of infection (sexual vs. parenteral) may play a role.
  • Our genome-wide association study found no evidence that the HLA/KIR system influences susceptibility to sexually transmitted HIV-1 infection, highlighting a separation between genetics related to viral load/progression and those related to HIV resistance.
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Rat hepatitis E virus (ratHEV) is an emerging cause of acute hepatitis of zoonotic origin. Since seroprevalence studies are scarce, at-risk groups are almost unknown. Because blood-borne infections frequently occur in people with drug use, who are particularly vulnerable to infection due to lack of housing and homelessness, this population constitutes a priority in which ratHEV infection should be evaluated.

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Introduction: Although pets provide several social-emotional benefits for children, the risk of zoonosis must be considered among immunocompromised individuals.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted in a tertiary hospital including immunocompromised patients younger than 20 years owning dogs and/or cats. Colonization and/or infection was evaluated by stool studies, bacterial swabs, blood polymerase chain reaction and serological studies in both patients and their pets, to evaluate potential zoonotic transmission occurrence.

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  • A study evaluated the presence of hepatitis E virus in various pork products in Spain, focusing on both unprocessed and processed meats.
  • Out of 1265 samples tested, only 5 were positive for the virus, indicating an overall prevalence of 0.4%, with all positive samples coming from unprocessed meat stored at -20 °C.
  • The findings suggest that unprocessed pork, especially from wild boar, poses a potential risk for transmitting this zoonotic virus, while processed products did not test positive, highlighting the need for increased awareness regarding foodborne disease risks.
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Hepatitis E virus (HEV), species Paslahepevirus balayani, poses a global public health threat, especially in developing countries, by causing acute enterically transmitted hepatitis. HEV infects various mammalian hosts and belongs to the genus Paslahepevirus in the family Hepeviridae. While swine are recognized as the main hosts of HEV, rabbits, which can also be affected by swine HEV-3 related strains, serve as the primary reservoir for the distinct emerging and zoonotic HEV-3ra subtype.

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  • Two out of eleven children diagnosed with acute hepatitis of unknown origin tested positive for rat hepatitis E virus.
  • This finding suggests that rat hepatitis E virus should be included in the possible causes when doctors are evaluating children with unexplained hepatitis.
  • The study highlights the importance of considering lesser-known viruses in the diagnosis of unexplained pediatric liver inflammation.
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  • - We found rat hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA in pigs raised on farms in Spain.
  • - This suggests that pigs could catch rat HEV and potentially transmit it to humans, acting as a link between rodents and people.
  • - Europe needs to check how common rat HEV is in farmed pigs to understand the possible health risks to the public.
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Enterocytozoon bieneusi is a microsporidia commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and a wide range of other animals, constituting a major cause of microsporidiosis in humans. Although E. bieneusi has been detected in humans, domestic, and wild animals in Portugal, and its presence in bats has been linked to zoonotic characteristics, its occurrence in bats within the country has not been reported.

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BACKGROUNDPersistent controllers (PCs) maintain antiretroviral-free HIV-1 control indefinitely over time, while transient controllers (TCs) eventually lose virological control. It is essential to characterize the quality of the HIV reservoir in terms of these phenotypes in order to identify the factors that lead to HIV progression and to open new avenues toward an HIV cure.METHODSThe characterization of HIV-1 reservoir from peripheral blood mononuclear cells was performed using next-generation sequencing techniques, such as full-length individual and matched integration site proviral sequencing (FLIP-Seq; MIP-Seq).

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Background And Aims: Persons with substance use disorder are at increased risk for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Although most of them are attached to social health centers, the vaccination rate in this group is low. In this context, we designed a study to evaluate the prevalence of users of drug addiction centers (DAC) not immunized against hepatitis B and to compare the rate of vaccination against hepatitis B with the rate of immunization against SARS-Cov-2 in 2 years of follow-up.

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  • Virus monitoring in small mammals is crucial for developing strategies to control rodent-borne zoonotic viruses, including hepatitis E virus (HEV).
  • Researchers collected 330 fecal samples from various small mammals in Northern Portugal, identifying species like Algerian mice and greater white-toothed shrews.
  • The study found HEV-3 in one fecal sample from an Algerian mouse, marking the first detection of this virus in a synanthropic rodent and highlighting the need for surveillance of potential new HEV hosts.
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Introduction: Heparin is derived from swine and has been suggested as a possible source of HEV. To study the potential risk of HEV infection associated with heparin treatment, two groups of individuals were compared. Sera from heparinized (N=93) and non-heparinized individuals (N=111) were tested for markers of acute HEV infection and anti-HEV IgG seroprevalence.

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Background & Aims: It has been reported that specific killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and HLA genotype combinations, such as KIR2DS4/HLA-C1 with presence of KIRDL2 or KIRDL3, homozygous KIRDL3/HLA-C1 and KIR3DL1/≥2HLA-Bw4, are strongly associated with the lack of active infection and seroconversion after exposition to hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Objective: To determine whether these KIR-HLA combinations are relevant factors involved in that phenotype.

Patients And Methods: In this retrospective case-control study, genotype data from a genome-wide association study previously performed on low susceptibility to HCV-infection carried out on 27 high-risk HCV-seronegative (HRSN) individuals and 743 chronically infected (CI) subjects were used.

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Rat hepatitis E virus (ratHEV; species ) is considered a newly emerging cause of acute hepatitis of zoonotic origin. ratHEV infection of people living with HIV (PLWH) might portend a worse, as with hepatitis E virus (HEV; species ), and consequently this group may constitute a high-risk population. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of ratHEV by measuring viral RNA and specific IgG antibodies in a large Spanish cohort of PLWH.

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(HEV) is an important emerging zoonotic virus in Europe. Although domestic pigs and wild boar are the main reservoirs of this pathogen, susceptibility to this virus has been confirmed in a growing number of animal species, including equines. However, their role in the epidemiology of this virus remains poorly understood.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study monitored the presence of Paslahepevirus balayani (HEV) and Rocahepevirus ratti (RHEV) in wastewater in Cordoba, Spain, from March 2021 to March 2023.
  • HEV was found in only 0.9% of wastewater samples, while RHEV was present in 94.3% of samples; 22 acute HEV cases and 2 RHEV cases were reported among hepatitis patients.
  • No correlation was observed between the clinical cases of HEV or RHEV and their detection in wastewater, suggesting that wastewater monitoring may not reliably predict human infections.
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