Proteomic characterization of murid herpesvirus 4 extracellular virions.

Gammaherpesvirinae, such as the human Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and the Kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) are highly prevalent pathogens that have been associated with several neoplastic diseases. As EBV and KSHV are host-range specific and replicate poorly in vitro, animal counterparts such as Murid herpesvirus-4 (MuHV-4) have been widely used as models. In this study, we used MuHV-4 in order to improve the knowledge about proteins that compose gammaherpesviruses virions.

Illumination of murine gammaherpesvirus-68 cycle reveals a sexual transmission route from females to males in laboratory mice.

Transmission is a matter of life or death for pathogen lineages and can therefore be considered as the main motor of their evolution. Gammaherpesviruses are archetypal pathogenic persistent viruses which have evolved to be transmitted in presence of specific immune response. Identifying their mode of transmission and their mechanisms of immune evasion is therefore essential to develop prophylactic and therapeutic strategies against these infections.

Comparative study of murid gammaherpesvirus 4 infection in mice and in a natural host, bank voles.

Gammaherpesviruses are archetypal pathogenic persistent viruses. The known human gammaherpesviruses (Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus) are host-specific and therefore lack a convenient in vivo infection model. This makes related animal gammaherpesviruses an important source of information.

[Long-term absenteeism due to lower back pain: the case of health care professionals in the hospital sector].

Following the launch and implementation of a national program for the prevention of chronic low back pain for nursing staff in hospitals in Belgium, two studies were conducted to precisely assess the incidence of long-term sick leave (28 days or more) among this category of workers in this regard. The first was centred on the administrative level and was carried out through a questionnaire survey in 2005 among the 650 members of the nursing staff at the university hospital in Liege. A second study was carried out involving 4 large hospitals: 3 in the French-speaking region of Belgium, and one in the Dutch-speaking region.