Knowledge and attitude towards the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus among healthcare personnel in the southern region of Saudi Arabia.

Introduction: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) belongs to the family Coronaviridae, and is named for the crown-like spikes on its surface. The clinical presentation of MERS-CoV infection ranges from asymptomatic to very severe disease, and the classical presentation includes fever, cough chills, sore throat, myalgia, and arthralgia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 339 healthcare personnel was conducted over an 8-month period in the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia using a structured survey that included demographic information and questions testing participant's knowledge.

Hepatitis B virus infection in Aseer Region, south-western Saudi Arabia: a call for an immediate action against a preventable disease.

Objectives: The present study was designed as a large-scale cross-sectional study to cast some light on the magnitude of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Aseer Region, south-western Saudi Arabia, a region reported to be of the highest endemicity.

Methods: During the WHO hepatitis day of 2013, an aggressive health education campaign was launched in all the hospitals and primary health care centres in Aseer Region. Posters were distributed to encourage the local population to visit the health facilities to be tested for HBV.

Hepatitis C virus infection in southwestern Saudi Arabia: Are we still in the plateau phase?

The aim was to study the seroprevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and related risk factors in Aseer region in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the region known to be of the highest endemicity of viral hepatitis. In a cross-sectional study, all participants were interviewed using structured questionnaire. HCV infection was diagnosed using fourth-generation ELISA.

Seroprevalence of hepatitis B and C virus infections among health students and health care workers in the Najran region, southwestern Saudi Arabia: the need for national guidelines for health students.

Background: The objectives of the study were to study the seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among health college students (HS) and health care workers (HCWs) in the Najran Region of south-western Saudi Arabia and to study the students' knowledge of occupational exposure to blood-borne viral infections.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of a representative sample of 300 HS and 300 HCWs was conducted.

Results: An overall seroprevalence of HBV of 1.

Rift Valley fever among children and adolescents in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

Purpose: Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus has expanded its geographical range, reaching Asia in 2000. This work investigated RVF seroprevalence among children born after the 2000-2001 outbreak in Saudi Arabia and compared it with the seroprevalence of adolescents born before the outbreak.

Design: In a seroepidemiological study in southwestern Saudi Arabia (Jazan, Aseer, and Al-Qunfuda), a random sample of 389 children and adolescents was investigated.

Seroprevalence of dengue virus infection in Aseer and Jizan regions, Southwestern Saudi Arabia.

Background: The objectives were to measure seroprevalence of dengue virus (DENV) infection in Southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia and the potential risk factors.

Methods: Two areas in Jizan region and four areas in Aseer region were randomly selected. A random sample of patients attending the outpatients' clinics of the relevant hospitals was included.

Rift Valley Fever in Southwestern Saudi Arabia: a sero-epidemiological study seven years after the outbreak of 2000-2001.

The objective of the present study was to measure seroepidemiology of Rift Valley Fever virus infection in the Southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia and to determine the potential risk factors leading to Rift Valley Fever virus infection. Through a series of field trips to the study area (Jizan, Aseer and Al-Qunfuda), a random sample of the general population (patients and their relatives) attending the outpatients' clinics for any reasons were included. Through questionnaire interviews, data were collected regarding their sociodemographic status, housing conditions, animal contact and other relevant information.

Concentration of free vascular endothelial growth factor and its soluble receptor, sFlt-1 in the maternal and fetal circulations of normal term pregnancies at high and low altitudes.

Objective: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is regulated by hypoxia that is essential for placental development. It is antagonized by a soluble form of its receptor (sFlt-1). The purpose of this study was to measure these factors in the maternal and the cord bloods, at low and high altitude.

Comparison of enzyme immunoassays detecting Helicobacter pylori specific IgG in serum and saliva with endoscopic and biopsy findings in patients with dyspepsia.

Purpose: To compare the performance of two indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) detecting Helicobacter pylori (HP)-specific IgG antibodies in serum and saliva with endoscopic observations and histologic findings of biopsies from dyspeptic patients, in an area of high HP prevalence.

Materials And Methods: Sera, saliva and antral biopsies were obtained from 55 dyspeptic patients. IgG antibodies against HP were assayed in sera and saliva utilizing two indirect ELISAs.

Intrafamilial clustering of Helicobacter pylori infection in Saudi Arabia.

Aim: To study the pattern of Helicobacter pylori infection among family members in the Saudi population.

Methods: A cross-sectional, population-based, seroepidemiological study of family members was undertaken in a Saudi population using saliva H pylori immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies (Helisal kit).

Results: A total of 42 families comprising 271 children and 84 parents were studied (355 subjects; mean age 23 years, SD 19 years) The overall frequencies of H pylori IgG antibodies in mothers, fathers and children were 67%, 64% and 23%, respectively.

The role of hepatitis E virus infection among patients with acute viral hepatitis in southern Saudi Arabia.

We investigated the etiology of acute sporadic viral hepatitis in southern Saudi Arabia in a series of 132 patients admitted with acute viral hepatitis. Of these cases, 108 (81.8%) were due to acute hepatitis A virus infection, of which 11 (8.

Etiology and clinical features of acute epididymo-orchitis.

Seventy-nine patients presenting with acute epididymo-orchitis (AEO) were prospectively analyzed in order to study the etiology and pattern of the disease. Bacteriological, serological, biochemical, imaging, and endoscopic studies were undertaken to look for urinary tract infection (UTI), brucellosis, gonorrhea, diabetes mellitus (DM), bladder outflow obstruction (BOO), and other urinary tract pathology (UP). Thirty-nine patients also underwent, on their urethral scrapings, the direct immunofluorescence test with monoclonal antibodies (DIF) for Chlamydia trachomatis.

Characterization of a synthetic peptide mimicking trypsin-cleavage site of rotavirus VP4.

A synthetic peptide corresponding to the trypsin cleavage site on the 84 k protein of bovine rotavirus was synthesized (VP4-peptide). This synthetic peptide could be cleaved by trypsin and therefore possessed the enzyme binding site present on the authentic protein. Further proof that this peptide mimicks the authentic trypsin cleavage site was the specific reaction of anti-peptide serum with the 84 k protein.

Priming and induction of anti-rotavirus antibody response by synthetic peptides derived from VP7 and VP4.

Synthetic peptides derived from bovine rotavirus C-486 (BRV) outer capsid (VP7 and VP4) and inner capsid (VP6) proteins were tested to evaluate their ability to prime and induce an anti-rotavirus antibody response. Peptides corresponding to the amino acid residues 232-255 of VP4 (VP4-peptide), 275-295 of VP7 (VP7-peptide) and 40-60 of VP6 (VP6-peptide) of BRV were chemically synthesized. These peptides were coupled to carrier proteins (either keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH) or recombinant rotavirus inner capsid protein-VP6 assembled into virus-like particles (VP6-carrier) were used as carrier to link the synthetic peptides under study), and the resulting conjugates were used to immunize rotavirus seronegative mice.

Rapid culture-amplified immunofluorescent test for the detection of human rhinoviruses in clinical samples: evidence of a common epitope in culture.

Ohio HeLa cells in multichamber slides were inoculated with nasal samples from patients presenting with common cold symptoms and incubated at 33 degrees C with gentle shaking for 48 hours. The cultures were fixed with cold acetone, and viral antigens were detected by immunofluorescence using an antirhinovirus type 2 (HRV-2) polyclonal serum. Of 158 samples, 58 (36.

Specific and non-specific serological markers in the screening for congenital CMV infection.

IgM antibodies specific for cytomegalovirus (CMV) were demonstrated in 15 (2.6%) of 575 umbilical cord sera obtained from newborns in Kuwait. Some 93% and 50% of these CMV-IgM positive cord sera displayed markedly raised (more than normal mean +2 S.

The use of ELISA and nonradioactive DNA hybridization assays for the detection of human cytomegalovirus.

A hybridization assay using a biotinylated DNA probe was compared to both ELISA and direct isolation methods for detecting human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). The biotin labeled HCMV AD 169 HindIII-O-DNA fragment was used in a dot-blot assay to screen for the presence of HCMV in 186 urine specimens obtained from kidney transplant patients. The biotinylated HCMV HindIII-O probe could detect 3 log10 TCID50 units of HCMV.

Rhinosporidium seeberi and papovavirus infection of the conjunctiva: a clinical and ultrastructural study.

The present study describes, for the first time, the clinical and the ultrastructural findings of a rare case presented with concurrent conjunctival infection of Rhinosporidium seeberi and a papovavirus. In contradistinction to previous reports, the present case lacked the characteristic granulomatous inflammatory reaction of rhinosporidiosis. This finding, together with the frequent recurrence of the lesion, led us to postulate the presence of a Local Acquired Immune Deficiency State (LAIDS).

Factors affecting the detection of cytomegalovirus in urine by sandwich enzyme immunoassays.

Some factors influencing the detection of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in urine were investigated employing 2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs); one utilised anti-CMV DNA polymerase while the other anti-CMV mouse monoclonals as the detecting antibodies. The use of anti-CMV DNA polymerase was found to be superior in detecting HCMV in both urine and tissue culture fluids than anti-CMV monoclonals. Furthermore, alkaline phosphatase conjugates produced much lower background than did peroxidase conjugates.

Hepatitis B virus perinatal transmission among Arab women.

One thousand five hundred and fifty-four Arab women were screened at delivery for the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigenaemia in their sera. Forty-five or 2.9% were found to be positive.

Pseudoreplica electron microscopy for the detection of rotavirus: comparison with high-speed centrifugation electron microscopy and ELISA.

Three-hundred and sixty-three stool specimens from patients with diarrhoea were examined for rotaviruses to compare the sensitivity of the pseudoreplica technique (PSD-EM) to that of high-speed centrifugation EM (HSC-EM) in relation to a commercially available (Rotazyme, Abbott) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In ELISA-positive cases, both methods were of equal sensitivity. However, in borderline (+/-) and ELISA-negative specimens, PSD-EM detected 31 of 48 (64.

Preliminary report on arbovirus-antibody prevalence among patients in Kuwait: evidence of Congo/Crimean virus infection.

From two major hospitals in Kuwait 502 sera were randomly selected from patients during the period December 1979 to October 1982. Serological investigations demonstrated Flavivirus activity in the area and antibody to Congo/Crimean haemorrhagic fever virus was found in 4% of the samples. Clinical data indicate that some cases may have been due to recent Congo/Crimean virus infection.

A comparison of indirect immunofluorescence and electron microscopy for the diagnosis of some haemorrhagic viruses in cell cultures.

Yellow fever, dengue (types 1, 2 and 4), Chikungunya, Rift Valley fever, Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa viruses were inoculated into susceptible cell cultures and daily investigated by indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) and electron microscopy (EM) with a view to achieve an early detection-identification of these agents. Compared to the other cell lines tested (Vero, BHK-21 and Aedes albopictus), CV-1 cells were found to be more sensitive. Viral antigens were detected by IFA from a few hours post inoculation (CHIK and RVF) to a maximum of 3 days (YF and EBO).