-
Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2016Plague still poses a significant threat to human health and as a reemerging infection is unfamiliar to the majority of the modern medical doctors. In this chapter, the... (Review)
Review
Plague still poses a significant threat to human health and as a reemerging infection is unfamiliar to the majority of the modern medical doctors. In this chapter, the plague is described according to Dr. Nikiforov's experiences in the diagnosis and treatment of patients, and also a review of the relevant literature on this subject is provided. The main modern methods and criteria for laboratory diagnosis of plague are briefly described. The clinical presentations include the bubonic and pneumonic form, septicemia, rarely pharyngitis, and meningitis. Early diagnosis and the prompt initiation of treatment reduce the mortality rate associated with bubonic plague and septicemic plague to 5-50 %; although a delay of more than 24 h in the administration of antibiotics and antishock treatment can be fatal for plague patients. Most human cases can successfully be treated with antibiotics.
Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Communicable Diseases, Emerging; Early Diagnosis; Humans; Plague; Yersinia pestis
PubMed: 27722868
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-024-0890-4_11 -
Biomolecules May 2021Plague-a deadly disease caused by the bacterium -is still an international public health concern. There are three main clinical forms: bubonic plague, septicemic plague,... (Review)
Review
Plague-a deadly disease caused by the bacterium -is still an international public health concern. There are three main clinical forms: bubonic plague, septicemic plague, and pulmonary plague. In all three forms, the symptoms appear suddenly and progress very rapidly. Early antibiotic therapy is essential for countering the disease. Several classes of antibiotics (e.g., tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, chloramphenicol, rifamycin, and β-lactams) are active in vitro against the majority of strains and have demonstrated efficacy in various animal models. However, some discrepancies have been reported. Hence, health authorities have approved and recommended several drugs for prophylactic or curative use. Only monotherapy is currently recommended; combination therapy has not shown any benefits in preclinical studies or case reports. Concerns about the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of have led to the development of new classes of antibiotics and other therapeutics (e.g., LpxC inhibitors, cationic peptides, antivirulence drugs, predatory bacteria, phages, immunotherapy, host-directed therapy, and nutritional immunity). It is difficult to know which of the currently available treatments or therapeutics in development will be most effective for a given form of plague. This is due to the lack of standardization in preclinical studies, conflicting data from case reports, and the small number of clinical trials performed to date.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Host Microbial Interactions; Humans; Immunotherapy; Plague; Vaccines; Yersinia pestis
PubMed: 34065940
DOI: 10.3390/biom11050724 -
Portuguese Journal of Cardiac Thoracic... Apr 2022
Topics: Humans; Memory Disorders; Plague; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant
PubMed: 35471217
DOI: 10.48729/pjctvs.251 -
Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2016Three major plague pandemics caused by the gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis have killed nearly 200 million people in human history. Due to its extreme virulence... (Review)
Review
Three major plague pandemics caused by the gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis have killed nearly 200 million people in human history. Due to its extreme virulence and the ease of its transmission, Y. pestis has been used purposefully for biowarfare in the past. Currently, plague epidemics are still breaking out sporadically in most of parts of the world, including the United States. Approximately 2000 cases of plague are reported each year to the World Health Organization. However, the potential use of the bacteria in modern times as an agent of bioterrorism and the emergence of a Y. pestis strain resistant to eight antibiotics bring out severe public health concerns. Therefore, prophylactic vaccination against this disease holds the brightest prospect for its long-term prevention. Here, we summarize the progress of the current vaccine development for counteracting plague.
Topics: Epidemics; Genetic Vectors; Global Health; Humans; Plague; Plague Vaccine; Vaccines, Attenuated; Vaccines, Subunit
PubMed: 27722869
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-024-0890-4_12 -
Mathematical Biosciences Aug 2018The plague disease model that include the effect of seasonal weather variation in its transmission is investigated in this paper. The disease is caused by an extremely... (Review)
Review
The plague disease model that include the effect of seasonal weather variation in its transmission is investigated in this paper. The disease is caused by an extremely virulent bacteria Yersinia pestis named after a French bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. The analysis shows that, when the periodic reproduction number (R) is greater than one there exist a globally asymptotically stable disease free equilibrium solution (DFS). Using fundamental existence-uniqueness theorem we were able to prove the existence of positive periodic solutions. The analysis further shows that when R > 1 then there is at least one positive periodic solution. We additionally establish the conditions for global stability of periodic solutions of the model and finally using numerical simulation we depict the behavioral dynamics of plague disease and justify the theoretical solutions.
Topics: Animals; Basic Reproduction Number; Computer Simulation; Disease Vectors; Humans; Mathematical Concepts; Models, Biological; Plague; Rodentia; Seasons; Siphonaptera; Weather
PubMed: 29800562
DOI: 10.1016/j.mbs.2018.05.013 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2023The incidence of plague has rebounded in the Americas, Asia, and Africa alongside rapid globalization and climate change. Previous studies have shown local climate to...
The incidence of plague has rebounded in the Americas, Asia, and Africa alongside rapid globalization and climate change. Previous studies have shown local climate to have significant nonlinear effects on plague dynamics among rodent communities. We analyzed an 18-year database of plague, spanning 1998 to 2015, in the foci of Mongolia and China to trace the associations between marmot plague and climate factors. Our results suggested a density-dependent effect of precipitation and a geographic location-dependent effect of temperature on marmot plague. That is, a significantly positive relationship was evident between risk of plague and precipitation only when the marmot density exceeded a certain threshold. The geographical heterogeneity of the temperature effect and the contrasting slopes of influence for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and other regions in the study (nQTP) were primarily related to diversity of climate and landscape types.
Topics: Animals; Plague; Marmota; Mongolia; China; Tibet; Rodentia
PubMed: 37488160
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38966-1 -
Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2016This chapter summarizes information about the natural foci of plague in the world. We describe the location, main hosts, and vectors of Yersinia pestis. The ecological... (Review)
Review
This chapter summarizes information about the natural foci of plague in the world. We describe the location, main hosts, and vectors of Yersinia pestis. The ecological features of the hosts and vectors of plague are listed, including predators - birds and mammals and their role in the epizootic. The epizootic process in plague and the factors affecting the dynamics of epizootic activity of natural foci of Y. pestis are described in detail. The mathematical models of the epizootic process in plague and predictive models are briefly described. The most comprehensive list of the hosts and vectors of Y. pestis in the world is presented as well.
Topics: Animals; Disease Vectors; Global Health; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Plague; Predatory Behavior; Yersinia pestis
PubMed: 27722862
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-024-0890-4_5 -
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Nov 2019Plague is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is transmitted through the bites of infected rodent fleas. Plague is well known for causing 3... (Review)
Review
Plague is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is transmitted through the bites of infected rodent fleas. Plague is well known for causing 3 major human pandemics that have killed millions of people since 541 A.D. The aim of this Review is to provide an overview of the epidemiology and ecology of plague in Zimbabwe with special emphasis on its introduction, its potential reservoirs and vectors, and possible causes of its persistence and cyclic outbreaks. To achieve this, we carried out a search and document reported plague outbreaks in Zimbabwe. In the country, human plague cases have been reported in Hwange, Nkayi, and Lupane since 1974. The highest number of cases occurred in 1994 in the Nkayi district of Matabeleland North Province with a total of 329 confirmed human cases and 28 deaths. Plague is encountered in 2 different foci in the country, sylvatic and rural. Risk factors for contracting plague in the country include man-to-rodent contact, cultivation, hunting, cattle herding, handling of infected materials, camping in forests, and anthropic invasion of new areas. Plague is now enzootic in Zimbabwe, and the most recent case was reported in 2012, hence its effective control requires up-to-date information on the epidemiology and ecology of the disease. This can be achieved through continuous monitoring and awareness programs in plague-prone areas.
Topics: Africa, Southern; Animals; Cattle; Databases, Factual; Disease Outbreaks; Disease Reservoirs; Disease Susceptibility; Ecology; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Plague; Risk Factors; Rodent Diseases; Rodentia; Soil Microbiology; Yersinia pestis; Zimbabwe
PubMed: 31751348
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007761 -
Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2016This chapter summarizes researches on genome and evolution features of Yersinia pestis, the young pathogen that evolved from Y. pseudotuberculosis at least 5000 years... (Review)
Review
This chapter summarizes researches on genome and evolution features of Yersinia pestis, the young pathogen that evolved from Y. pseudotuberculosis at least 5000 years ago. Y. pestis is a highly clonal bacterial species with closed pan-genome. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that genome of Y. pestis experienced highly frequent rearrangement and genome decay events during the evolution. The genealogy of Y. pestis includes five major branches, and four of them seemed raised from a "big bang" node that is associated with the Black Death. Although whole genome-wide variation of Y. pestis reflected a neutral evolutionary process, the branch length in the genealogical tree revealed over dispersion, which was supposedly caused by varied historical molecular clock that is associated with demographical effect by alternate cycles of enzootic disease and epizootic disease in sylvatic plague foci. In recent years, palaeomicrobiology researches on victims of the Black Death, and Justinian's plague verified that two historical pandemics were indeed caused by Y. pestis, but the etiological lineages might be extinct today.
Topics: Evolution, Molecular; Gene Silencing; Genome, Bacterial; Mutation Rate; Pandemics; Plague; Yersinia pestis
PubMed: 27722863
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-024-0890-4_6 -
Clinical Infectious Diseases : An... May 2020Yersinia pestis continues to cause sporadic cases and outbreaks of plague worldwide and is considered a tier 1 bioterrorism select agent due to its potential for...
BACKGROUND
Yersinia pestis continues to cause sporadic cases and outbreaks of plague worldwide and is considered a tier 1 bioterrorism select agent due to its potential for intentional use. Knowledge about the clinical manifestations of plague during pregnancy, specifically the maternal, fetal, and neonatal risks, is very limited.
METHODS
We searched 12 literature databases, performed hand searches, and consulted plague experts to identify publications on plague during pregnancy. Articles were included if they reported a case of plague during pregnancy and at least 1 maternal or fetal outcome.
RESULTS
Our search identified 6425 articles, of which 59 were eligible for inclusion and described 160 cases of plague among pregnant women. Most published cases occurred during the preantibiotic era. Among those treated with antimicrobials, the most commonly used were sulfonamides (75%) and streptomycin (54%). Among cases treated with antimicrobials, maternal mortality and fetal fatality were 29% and 62%, respectively; for untreated cases, maternal mortality and fetal fatality were 67% and 74%, respectively. Five cases demonstrated evidence of Y. pestis in fetal or neonatal tissues.
CONCLUSIONS
Untreated Y. pestis infection during pregnancy is associated with a high risk of maternal mortality and pregnancy loss. Appropriate antimicrobial treatment can improve maternal survival, although even with antimicrobial treatment, there remains a high risk of pregnancy loss. Limited evidence suggests that maternal-fetal transmission of Y. pestis is possible, particularly in the absence of antimicrobial treatment. These results emphasize the need to treat or prophylax pregnant women with suspected plague with highly effective antimicrobials as quickly as possible.
Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bioterrorism; Disease Outbreaks; Female; Humans; Plague; Pregnancy; Yersinia pestis
PubMed: 32435806
DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciz1228