RT-RPA as a dual tool for detection and phylogenetic analysis of epidemic arthritogenic alphaviruses.

Chikungunya (CHIKV), o'nyong-nyong (ONNV), and Mayaro (MAYV) viruses are transmitted by mosquitoes and known to cause a debilitating arthritogenic syndrome. These alphaviruses have emerged and re-emerged, leading to outbreaks in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, South America, and Africa. Despite their prevalence, there persists a critical gap in the availability of sensitive and virus-specific point-of-care (POC) diagnostics.

Development of RT-RPA-based point-of-care tests for epidemic arthritogenic alphaviruses.

Chikungunya (CHIKV), o'nyong-nyong (ONNV), and Mayaro (MAYV) viruses are transmitted by mosquitoes and known to cause a debilitating arthritogenic syndrome. These alphaviruses have emerged and re-emerged, leading to outbreaks in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, South America, and Africa. Despite their prevalence, there persists a critical gap in the availability of sensitive and virus-specific point-of-care (POC) diagnostics.

Chikungunya virus antepartum transmission and abnormal infant outcomes in a cohort of pregnant women in Nigeria.

Objectives: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a reemerging global public health concern, which causes acute febrile illness, rash, and arthralgia and may affect both mothers and infants during pregnancy. Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of CHIKV in Africa remains understudied.

Methods: Our cohort study screened 1006 pregnant women with a Zika/dengue/CHIKV rapid test at two clinics in Nigeria between 2019 and 2022.

Arbovirus surveillance in pregnant women in north-central Nigeria, 2019-2022.

Background: The adverse impact of Zika (ZIKV), dengue (DENV), and chikungunya (CHIKV) virus infection in pregnancy has been recognized in Latin America and Asia but is not well studied in Africa. Although originally discovered in sub-Saharan Africa the non-specific clinical presentation of arbovirus infection may have hampered our detection of adverse clinical outcomes and outbreak.

Objective: This prospective study of arbovirus infection in pregnant women in north-central Nigeria sought to characterize the prevalence of acute arbovirus infection and determine the impact on pregnancy and infant outcomes.

Chikungunya virus antepartum transmission and abnormal infant outcomes in Nigeria.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) has become a global public health concern since the reemergence of the Indian Ocean lineage and expansion of the Asian genotype. CHIKV infection causes acute febrile illness, rash, and arthralgia and during pregnancy may affect both mothers and infants. The mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of CHIKV in Africa remains understudied.

Arbovirus surveillance in pregnant women in north-central Nigeria, 2019-2022.

The adverse impact of Zika (ZIKV), dengue (DENV), and chikungunya (CHIKV) virus infection in pregnancy has been recognized in Latin America and Asia but is not well studied in Africa. In Nigeria, we screened 1006 pregnant women for ZIKV, DENV and CHIKV IgM/IgG by rapid test (2019-2022). Women with acute infection were recruited for prospective study and infants were examined for any abnormalities from delivery through six months.

Identification of prior dengue-naïve Dengvaxia recipients with an increased risk for symptomatic dengue during fever surveillance in the Philippines.

Introduction: Dengue virus (DENV) is the leading cause of mosquito-borne viral diseases in humans. Dengvaxia, the first licensed dengue vaccine, is recommended for DENV-seropositive individuals aged 9-45 years. In the Philippines, Dengvaxia was administered to more than 830,000 children without prior serological testing in 2016-2017.

Determining the Time of Booster Dose Based on the Half-Life and Neutralization Titers against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in Fully Vaccinated Individuals.

Although mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death, vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infection and disease from variants of concern (VOC) wanes over time. Neutralizing antibodies (NAb) are surrogates of protection and are enhanced by a booster dose, but their kinetics and durability remain understudied. Current recommendation of a booster dose does not consider the existing NAb in each individual.

Comparing the performance of dengue virus IgG and IgG-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in seroprevalence study.

Background: Dengue virus (DENV) is the leading cause of arboviral diseases in humans worldwide. Currently Dengvaxia, the first dengue vaccine licensed in 20 countries, was recommended for DENV seropositive individuals aged 9-45 years. Studying dengue seroprevalence can improve our understanding of the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of DENV, and facilitate future intervention strategies and assessment of vaccine efficacy.

Identification of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 breakthrough infections by anti-nucleocapsid antibody among fully vaccinated non-healthcare workers during the transition from the delta to omicron wave.

Uncontrolled transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to the emergence of several variants of concern (VOC). As vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies against VOC waned over time, breakthrough infections (BTIs) have been reported primarily among healthcare workers or in long-term care facilities. Most BTIs were identified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or antigen test for individuals experiencing symptoms, known as symptomatic BTIs.

Obtention of Dengue Virus Membrane Proteins and Role for Virus Assembly.

The four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV), belonging to the genus Flavivirus in the family Flaviviridae, are the leading cause of arboviral diseases in humans. The clinical presentations range from dengue fever to dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. Despite decades of efforts on developing intervention strategies against DENV, there is no licensed antiviral, and safe and effective vaccines remain challenging.

Identification of Anti-Premembrane Antibody as a Serocomplex-Specific Marker To Discriminate Zika, Dengue, and West Nile Virus Infections.

Although transmission of Zika virus (ZIKV) in the Americas has greatly declined since late 2017, recent reports of reduced risks of symptomatic Zika by prior dengue virus (DENV) infection and increased risks of severe dengue disease by previous ZIKV or DENV infection underscore a critical need for serological tests that can discriminate past ZIKV, DENV, and/or other flavivirus infections and improve our understanding of the immune interactions between these viruses and vaccine strategy in endemic regions. As serological tests for ZIKV primarily focus on envelope (E) and nonstructural protein 1 (NS1), antibodies to other ZIKV proteins have not been explored. Here, we employed Western blot analysis using antigens of 6 flaviviruses from 3 serocomplexes to investigate antibody responses following reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR)-confirmed ZIKV infection.

A real-time and high-throughput neutralization test based on SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus containing monomeric infrared fluorescent protein as reporter.

Neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 have been shown to correlate with protection in animals and humans, disease severity, survival, and vaccine efficacy. With the ongoing large-scale vaccination in different countries and continuous surge of new variants of global concerns, a convenient, cost-effective and high-throughput neutralization test is urgently needed. Conventional SARS-CoV-2 neutralization test is tedious, time-consuming and requires a biosafety level 3 laboratory.

Validation of the GeneXpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 PCR assay using saliva as biological specimen.

In the pandemic, rapid and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 is crucial in controlling the outbreak. Recent studies have shown a high detection rate using saliva/oral fluids as specimens for laboratory detection of the virus. We intended to evaluate the test performance of the Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 cartridge assay in comparison to a conventional qRT-PCR testing, using saliva as biological specimen.

Saliva is a reliable, non-invasive specimen for SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Background: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although Real Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) of respiratory specimens is the gold standard test for detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection, collecting nasopharyngeal swabs causes discomfort to patients and may represent considerable risk for healthcare workers. The use of saliva as a diagnostic sample has several advantages.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using virus-like particles containing mutations of conserved residues on envelope protein can distinguish three flavivirus infections.

The recent outbreaks of Zika virus (ZIKV) in flavivirus-endemic regions highlight the need for sensitive and specific serological tests. Previously we and others reported key fusion loop (FL) residues and/or BC loop (BCL) residues on dengue virus (DENV) envelope protein recognized by flavivirus cross-reactive human monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal sera. To improve ZIKV serodiagnosis, we employed wild type (WT) and FL or FL/BCL mutant virus-like particles (VLP) of ZIKV, DENV1 and West Nile virus (WNV) in enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), and tested convalescent-phase serum or plasma samples from reverse-transcription PCR-confirmed cases with different ZIKV, DENV and WNV infections.

A high-throughput and multiplex microsphere immunoassay based on non-structural protein 1 can discriminate three flavivirus infections.

The explosive spread of Zika virus (ZIKV) and associated complications in flavivirus-endemic regions underscore the need for sensitive and specific serodiagnostic tests to distinguish ZIKV, dengue virus (DENV) and other flavivirus infections. Compared with traditional envelope protein-based assays, several nonstructural protein 1 (NS1)-based assays showed improved specificity, however, none can detect and discriminate three flaviviruses in a single assay. Moreover, secondary DENV infection and ZIKV infection with previous DENV infection, both common in endemic regions, cannot be discriminated.

Zika Virus: Relevance to the State of Hawai'i.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is spread among human populations primarily through the bite of mosquitoes. While most ZIKV infections are asymptomatic or cause self-limited symptoms, the major concerns are its association with Guillain-Barré Syndrome and fetal microcephaly together with other birth defects, known as congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). This article reviews the confirmed Zika cases in the continental United States (U.

Effect of Black Tea and Green Tea on the Radial Pulse Spectrum in Healthy Humans.

The consumption of black tea and green tea has been shown to be beneficial for cardiovascular health. Because the chemical composition of the two teas varies widely, the purpose of the study was to investigate whether the consumption of green tea and black tea had different effects on the arterial system. Thirty-three healthy subjects received a single dose of green tea (dose = 0.

Combination of Nonstructural Protein 1-Based Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays Can Detect and Distinguish Various Dengue Virus and Zika Virus Infections.

The recent outbreaks of Zika virus (ZIKV) and associated birth defects in regions of dengue virus (DENV) endemicity emphasize the need for sensitive and specific serodiagnostic tests. We reported previously that enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) based on the nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) of DENV serotype 1 (DENV1) and ZIKV can distinguish primary DENV1, secondary DENV, and ZIKV infections. Whether ELISAs based on NS1 proteins of other DENV serotypes can discriminate various DENV and ZIKV infections remains unknown.