Inhalable vaccine of bacterial culture supernatant extract mediates protection against fatal pulmonary anthrax.

Pulmonary anthrax is the most fatal clinical form of anthrax and currently available injectable vaccines do not provide adequate protection against it. Hence, next-generation vaccines that effectively induce immunity against pulmonary anthrax are urgently needed. In the present study, we prepared an attenuated and low protease activity strain A16R-5.

A brain-targeted ampakine compound protects against opioid-induced respiratory depression.

The use of opioid drugs for pain relief can induce life-threatening respiratory depression. Although naloxone effectively counteracts opioid-induced respiratory depression, it diminishes the efficacy of analgesia. Our studies indicate that ampakines, in particular, a brain-targeted compound XD-8-17C, are able to reverse respiratory depression without affecting analgesia at relatively low doses.

Features of Ebola Virus Disease at the Late Outbreak Stage in Sierra Leone: Clinical, Virological, Immunological, and Evolutionary Analyses.

We performed Ebola virus disease diagnosis and viral load estimation for Ebola cases in Sierra Leone during the late stage of the 2014-2015 outbreak (January-March 2015) and analyzed antibody and cytokine levels and the viral genome sequences. Ebola virus disease was confirmed in 86 of 1001 (9.7%) patients, with an overall case fatality rate of 46.

Excretion and detection of SARS coronavirus and its nucleic acid from digestive system.

Aim: To study whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) could be excreted from digestive system.

Methods: Cell culture and semi-nested RT-PCR were used to detect SARS-CoV and its RNA from 21 stool and urine samples, and a kind of electropositive filter media particles was used to concentrate the virus in 10 sewage samples from two hospitals receiving SARS patients in Beijing in China.

Results: It was demonstrated that there was no live SARS-CoV in all samples collected, but the RNA of SARS-CoV could be detected in seven stool samples from SARS patients with any one of the symptoms of fever, malaise, cough, or dyspnea, in 10 sewage samples before disinfection and 3 samples after disinfection from the two hospitals.

Concentration and detection of SARS coronavirus in sewage from Xiao Tang Shan Hospital and the 309th Hospital.

The transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is associated with close contact to SARS patients and droplet secretions of those patients. The finding of positive RT-PCR results from stools of SARS patients suggests that stools of SARS patients or sewage containing stools of patients could transmit SARS-CoV. We used a novel style of electropositive filter media particle to concentrate the SARS-CoV from the sewage of two hospitals receiving SARS patients in Beijing.

[Detection of RNA of SARS coronavirus in hospital sewage].

Objective: In order to explore the existence of SARS coronavirus (Co-V) and/or its RNA in sewage of hospitals administered SARS patients.

Methods: A novel electropositive filter was used to concentrate the SARS-CoV from the sewage of two hospitals administered SARS patients in Beijing, including twelve 2,500 ml sewage samples from the hospitals before disinfection, and ten 25,000 ml samples after disinfection; as well as cell culture, RT-PCR and sequencing of gene to detect and identify the viruses from sewage.

Results: There was no live SARS-CoV detected in the sewage in this study.