Open Forum Infect Dis
January 2025
Background: Establishing correlates of protection often requires large cohorts. A rapid and adaptable case-control study design can be used to identify antibody correlates of protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in serum and saliva.
Methods: We designed a case-control study to compare antibody levels between cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection within 5 days of symptom onset and uninfected controls.
Background: While invasive fusariosis and lomentosporiosis are known to be associated with fungemia, overall data on mold-related fungemia are limited, hampering early management. This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of mold-positive blood cultures.
Methods: Epidemiological and clinical data on mold-positive blood cultures from 2012 to 2022 were obtained from the RESSIF database.
Large transcellular pores elicited by bacterial mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase (mART) exotoxins inhibiting the small RhoA GTPase compromise the endothelial barrier. Recent advances in biophysical modeling point toward membrane tension and bending rigidity as the minimal set of mechanical parameters determining the nucleation and maximal size of transendothelial cell macroaperture (TEM) tunnels induced by bacterial RhoA-targeting mART exotoxins. We report that cellular depletion of caveolin-1, the membrane-embedded building block of caveolae, and depletion of cavin-1, the master regulator of caveolae invaginations, increase the number of TEMs per cell.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mosquito-borne disease, Yellow fever (YF), has been largely controlled via mass delivery of an effective vaccine and mosquito control interventions. However, there are warning signs that YF is re-emerging in both Sub-Saharan Africa and South America. Imported from Africa in slave ships, YF was responsible for devastating outbreaks in the Caribbean.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrimaquine for radical cure of malaria poses a potentially life-threatening risk of haemolysis in G6PD-deficient patients. Herein, we review five events of acute haemolytic anaemia following the administration of primaquine in four malaria trials from Indonesia, the Solomon Islands, and Vietnam. Five males aged 9 to 48 years were improperly classified as G6PD-normal by various screening procedures and included as subjects in trials of anti-relapse therapy with daily primaquine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: malaria is challenging to control and eliminate. Treatment with radical cure drugs fails to target the hidden asymptomatic and hypnozoite reservoirs in populations. SeroTAT, a novel serological test-and-treat intervention using a serological diagnostic to screen hypnozoite carriers for radical cure eligibility and treatment, could accelerate elimination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo assess the combined role of anti-viral monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and vaccines in reducing severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and mortality in the United States, an agent-based model was developed that accounted for social contacts, movement/travel, disease progression, and viral shedding. The model was calibrated to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality between October 2020 and April 2021 (aggressive pandemic phase), and projected an extended outlook to estimate mortality during a less aggressive phase (April-August 2021). Simulated scenarios evaluated mAbs for averting infections and deaths in addition to vaccines and aggregated non-pharmaceutical interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFirst identified in 1947, Zika virus took roughly 70 years to cause a pandemic unusually associated with virus-induced brain damage in newborns. Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti, and secondarily, Aedes albopictus, both colonizing a large strip encompassing tropical and temperate regions. As part of the international project ZIKAlliance initiated in 2016, 50 mosquito populations from six species collected in 12 countries were experimentally infected with different Zika viruses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSerological markers are a promising tool for surveillance and targeted interventions for Plasmodium vivax malaria. P. vivax is closely related to the zoonotic parasite P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobal Positioning System (GPS) technology is an effective tool for quantifying individuals' mobility patterns and can be used to understand their influence on infectious disease transmission. In Cambodia, mobility measurements have been limited to questionnaires, which are of limited efficacy in rural environments. In this study, we used GPS tracking to measure the daily mobility of Cambodian forest goers, a population at high risk of malaria, and developed a workflow adapted to local constraints to produce an optimal dataset representative of the participants' mobility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mosquito Aedes albopictus is an invasive species first detected in Europe in Albania in 1979, and now established in 28 European countries. Temperature is a limiting factor in mosquito activities and in the transmission of associated arboviruses namely chikungunya (CHIKV) and dengue (DENV). Since 2007, local transmissions of CHIKV and DENV have been reported in mainland Europe, mainly in South Europe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Eliminating Plasmodium vivax will require targeting the hidden liver-stage reservoir of hypnozoites. This necessitates new interventions balancing the benefit of reducing vivax transmission against the risk of over-treating some individuals with drugs which may induce haemolysis. By measuring antibodies to a panel of vivax antigens, a strategy of serological-testing-and-treatment (PvSeroTAT) can identify individuals with recent blood-stage infections who are likely to carry hypnozoites and target them for radical cure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Understanding epidemiological variables affecting gametocyte carriage and density is essential to design interventions that most effectively reduce malaria human-to-mosquito transmission.
Methodology/principal Findings: Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax parasites and gametocytes were quantified by qPCR and RT-qPCR assays using the same methodologies in 5 cross-sectional surveys involving 16,493 individuals in Brazil, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands.
Background: Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) induces a complex antibody response that varies by orders of magnitude between individuals and over time.
Methods: We developed a multiplex serological test for measuring antibodies to 5 SARS-CoV-2 antigens and the spike proteins of seasonal coronaviruses. We measured antibody responses in cohorts of hospitalized patients and healthcare workers followed for up to 11 months after symptoms.
In the malaria-causing parasite's life cycle, Plasmodium sporozoites must travel from the midgut of a mosquito to the salivary glands before they can infect a mammalian host. However, only a fraction of sporozoites complete the journey. Since salivary gland invasion is required for transmission of sporozoites, insights at the molecular level can contribute to strategies for malaria prevention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: After a marked reduction in malaria burden in Cambodia over the last decades, case numbers increased again in 2017-2018. In light of the national goal of malaria elimination by 2025, remaining pockets of high risk need to be well defined and strategies well-tailored to identify and target the persisting burden cost-effectively. This study presents species-specific prevalence estimates and risk stratification for a remote area in Cambodia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistorically endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa and South America, yellow fever is absent from the Asia-Pacific region. Yellow fever virus (YFV) is mainly transmitted by the anthropophilic Aedes mosquitoes whose distribution encompasses a large belt of tropical and sub tropical regions. Increasing exchanges between Africa and Asia have caused imported YFV incidents in non-endemic areas, which are threatening Asia with a new viral emergence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF, the most widely distributed human malaria parasite, causes severe clinical syndromes despite low peripheral blood parasitemia. This conundrum is further complicated as cytoadherence in the microvasculature is still a matter of investigations. Previous reports in , another parasite species shown to infect humans, demonstrated that variant genes involved in cytoadherence were dependent on the spleen for their expression.
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 PDFBackground: The genome of Candida albicans displays significant polymorphism. Point mutations in genes involved in resistance to antifungals may either confer phenotypic resistance or be devoid of phenotypic consequences.
Objectives: To catalogue polymorphisms in azole and echinocandin resistance genes occurring in susceptible strains in order to rapidly pinpoint relevant mutations in resistant strains.