Publications by authors named "V F Chu"

Point-of-care (PoC) devices offer a promising solution for fast, portable, and easy-to-use diagnostics. These characteristics are particularly relevant in agrifood fields like viticulture where the early detection of plant stresses is crucial to crop yield. Microfluidics, with its low reagent volume requirements, is well-suited for such applications.

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The recent outbreak of Marburg virus (MARV) in Rwanda underscores the need for effective countermeasures against this highly fatal pathogen, with case fatality rates reaching 90%. Currently, no vaccines or approved treatments exist for MARV infection, distinguishing it from related viruses such as Ebola. Our study demonstrates that the oral drug obeldesivir (ODV), a nucleoside analog prodrug, shows promising antiviral activity against filoviruses in vitro and offers significant protection in animal models.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic viral infections can reactivate during acute illnesses, and this study looked at how SARS-CoV-2 infection affects latent viruses like Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) in over 1,154 hospitalized COVID-19 patients.* -
  • The analysis showed significant reactivation of multiple virus families during the acute stage of COVID-19, which correlated with disease severity, demographics, and clinical outcomes, including higher mortality rates.* -
  • Additionally, persistent viral reactivation after recovery was linked to ongoing symptoms of Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), emphasizing the importance of understanding these interactions for better treatment and management strategies.*
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The adoptive transfer of autologous, long-lived, gene-repaired T cells is a promising way to treat inherited T-cell immunodeficiencies. However, adoptive T-cell therapies require a large number of T cells to be manipulated and infused back into the patient. This poses a challenge in primary immunodeficiencies that manifest early in childhood and where only small volumes of blood samples may be available.

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Secondary bacterial pneumonia (2°BP) is associated with significant morbidity following respiratory viral infection, yet remains incompletely understood. In a prospective cohort of 112 critically ill adults intubated for COVID-19, we comparatively assess longitudinal airway microbiome dynamics and the pulmonary transcriptome of patients who developed 2°BP versus controls who did not. We find that 2°BP is significantly associated with both mortality and corticosteroid treatment.

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