Publications by authors named "Teheipuaura Mariteragi-Helle"

Article Synopsis
  • The first SARS-CoV-2 case in French Polynesia was identified on March 10th, 2020, leading to a pause in international flights and effective local transmission control, with only 62 cases reported by mid-July.
  • To safely reopen borders without quarantine, travelers were required to present a negative RT-PCR test before departure and undergo another test four days after arrival, utilizing self-collection kits due to limited medical staff.
  • Between July 15th, 2020, and February 15th, 2021, a surveillance program tested nearly 60,000 samples and found 273 positive cases, while strategies like self-collection and pooling were effective in resource-efficient large-scale screening and detecting variants like
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It has been commonly assumed that Zika virus (ZIKV) infection confers long-term protection against reinfection, preventing ZIKV from re-emerging in previously affected areas for several years. However, the long-term immune response to ZIKV following an outbreak remains poorly documented. We compared results from eight serological surveys before and after known ZIKV outbreaks in French Polynesia and Fiji, including cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

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Objectives: In Fiji, autochthonous chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection was first detected in March 2015. In a previous serosurvey conducted during October-November 2015, we reported a prevalence of anti-CHIKV IgG antibodies of 0.9%.

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Zika and chikungunya viruses were first detected in Fiji in 2015. Examining surveillance and phylogenetic and serologic data, we found evidence of low-level transmission of Zika and chikungunya viruses during 2013-2017, in contrast to the major outbreaks caused by closely related virus strains in other Pacific Island countries.

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A unique outbreak of Ross River virus (RRV) infection was reported in Fiji in 1979. In 2013, RRV seroprevalence among residents was 46.5% (362/778).

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Congenital Zika virus syndrome consists of a large spectrum of neurologic abnormalities seen in infants infected with Zika virus in utero. However, little is known about the effects of Zika virus intrauterine infection on the neurocognitive development of children born without birth defects. Using a case-control study design, we investigated the temporal association of a cluster of congenital defects with Zika virus infection.

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We investigated dengue and chikungunya virus antibody seroprevalence in French Polynesia during 2014-2015. Dengue virus seroprevalence was ≈60% among schoolchildren and >83% among the general population; chikungunya virus seroprevalence was <3% before and 76% after Zika virus emergence (2013). Dengue virus herd immunity may affect Zika virus infection and pathogenesis.

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