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Przeglad Epidemiologiczny May 2024Rubella is a viral infectious disease, and humans are the only reservoir of the virus. In 2020, all WHO member countries conducted epidemiological surveillance for...
INTRODUCTION
Rubella is a viral infectious disease, and humans are the only reservoir of the virus. In 2020, all WHO member countries conducted epidemiological surveillance for rubella, and almost all (99%) had access to rubella testing at laboratories operating under the WHO Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to evaluate epidemiological indicators of rubella in Poland in 2021 compared to previous years, taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The assessment of the epidemiological situation was based on a review of data from the bulletin , "Infectious Diseases and Poisons in Poland in 2021" (5), and the assessment of the immunization status of the population was based on data from the bulletin , "Immunization in Poland in 2021" (6). Classification of cases was made based on the definition used in the 2021 surveillance (7). Data from the epidemiological surveillance system "EpiBase" were also used.
RESULTS
In 2021, 50 cases of rubella were registered, 48 fewer than in 2020 (98 cases). There was also a decrease in incidence to 0.13 per 100,000, compared to 0.26 per 100,000 in 2020. The highest incidence, regardless of gender and residential environment, was recorded in the 0-4 age group (1.23 per 100 thousand). No cases of congenital rubella syndrome were reported in 2021.
CONCLUSIONS
In 2021, there was a decrease in the number of rubella cases in Poland, which could be a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduced restrictions. In addition, rubella was registered 99% on the basis of clinical diagnoses, without the required laboratory confirmation, which means that other rash diseases could be registered as rubella.
Topics: Humans; Rubella; Poland; Female; Male; Adolescent; Child; Adult; Child, Preschool; Infant; COVID-19; Incidence; Young Adult; Middle Aged; Infant, Newborn; Age Distribution; SARS-CoV-2; Registries; Sex Distribution; Urban Population; Rubella Vaccine
PubMed: 38783657
DOI: 10.32394/pe.77.39 -
Journal of Medical Virology Oct 2023In the quest to eliminate measles virus (MV) and rubella virus (Ruv), every suspected case must be properly identified and diagnosed. Since 2017, in Milan (Italy), a...
In the quest to eliminate measles virus (MV) and rubella virus (Ruv), every suspected case must be properly identified and diagnosed. Since 2017, in Milan (Italy), a total of 978 measles and rubella suspected cases (fever and rash) were investigated and 310 were not laboratory confirmed (discarded cases). To improve surveillance activities, we investigated the presence in discarded cases of 8 other viral pathogens commonly associated with rash: human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and 7 (HHV-7), parvovirus B19 (B19V), enterovirus (EV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human adenovirus (HAdV), cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and SARS-CoV-2. Differential diagnosis was carried out on 289 discarded cases by multiplex real-time PCR assays. At least one pathogen was detected in 188 cases (65.1%) with HHV-7 being the most frequently detected virus. No difference in the number of detected infections overtime was observed and infections were identified in all age groups. As expected, most HHV-6, EV, HAdV, and HCMV-positive cases were found in children aged 0-4 years and HHV-7 was most frequent in the 15-39 age group. In light of the World Health Organization measles elimination goal, the introduction of laboratory methods for differential diagnosis is required for the final classification of clinically compatible cases. The used screening panel allowed us to increase the percentage of virus-positive cases to 87.5%, allowing us to clarify viral involvement and epidemiology, improve diagnosis, and strengthen surveillance activities. As all investigated pathogens were detected, this diagnostic panel was a suitable tool to complement MV and RuV surveillance activities.
Topics: Child; Humans; Adolescent; Young Adult; Adult; Diagnosis, Differential; Epstein-Barr Virus Infections; Antibodies, Viral; Immunoglobulin M; Herpesvirus 4, Human; Measles; Rubella; Measles virus; Enterovirus; Exanthema; Fever; Enterovirus Infections; Herpesvirus 6, Human; Adenoviruses, Human
PubMed: 37796084
DOI: 10.1002/jmv.29141 -
Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy 2023On 31 July 2023, the United States Department of Health and Human Services announced the formation of the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice and the United... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
INTRODUCTION
On 31 July 2023, the United States Department of Health and Human Services announced the formation of the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice and the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) opened enrollment for the therapeutic arm of the RECOVER initiative, a prospective, randomized study to evaluate new treatment options for long coronavirus disease 2019 (long COVID).
AREAS COVERED
One of the first drugs to be studied in this nationwide initiative is intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), which will be a treatment option for subjects enrolled in RECOVER-AUTO, a randomized trial to investigate therapeutic strategies for autonomic dysfunction related to long COVID.
EXPERT OPINION
IVIG is a mixture of human antibodies (human immunoglobulin) that has been widely used to treat a variety of diseases, including immune thrombocytopenia purpura, Kawasaki disease, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and certain infections such as influenza, human immunodeficiency virus, and measles. However, the role of IVIG in the treatment of post-COVID-19 conditions is uncertain. This manuscript examines what is known about IVIG in the treatment of long COVID and explores how this therapeutic agent may be used in the future to address this condition.
Topics: United States; Humans; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous; COVID-19; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome; Prospective Studies; Chronic Disease
PubMed: 38100573
DOI: 10.1080/14712598.2023.2296569 -
Journal of Virus Eradication Dec 2023The measles virus (MeV) and canine distemper virus (CDV) belong to the genus of the family. They are enveloped viruses harboring a non-segmented negative-sense RNA....
The measles virus (MeV) and canine distemper virus (CDV) belong to the genus of the family. They are enveloped viruses harboring a non-segmented negative-sense RNA. Morbilliviruses are extremely contagious and transmitted through infectious aerosol droplets. Both MeV and CDV may cause respiratory infections and fatal encephalitis, although a high incidence of brain infections is unique to CDV. Despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine against these viruses, in recent years we are witnessing a strong resurgence of infection. Measles still kills more than 100,000 people each year, and CDV causes widespread outbreaks, especially among wild animals, including non-human primates. No drugs are currently approved for MeV and CDV. Therefore, the identification of effective antiviral agents represents an unmet medical need. Here, we have investigated the potential antiviral properties of nitazoxanide (NTZ) against MeV and CDV. Antiviral activity was explored with live virus and cell-based assays. NTZ is a thiazolide that is approved by the FDA as an antiprotozoal agent for the treatment of and . Further, nitazoxanide and its metabolite tizoxanide have recently emerged as broad-spectrum antiviral agents. We found that NTZ blocks the MeV and CDV replication, acting at the post-entry level. Moreover, we showed that NTZ affects the function of the viral fusion protein (F), impairing viral spread. Our results indicate that NTZ should be further explored as a therapeutic option in measles and canine distemper virus treatment.
PubMed: 38028567
DOI: 10.1016/j.jve.2023.100353 -
Scientific Reports Oct 2023Canine primary lung cancer with metastasis has a poor prognosis with no effective treatment. We previously generated a recombinant measles virus (MV) that lost binding...
Canine primary lung cancer with metastasis has a poor prognosis with no effective treatment. We previously generated a recombinant measles virus (MV) that lost binding affinity to a principal receptor, SLAM, to eliminate its virulence as a new cancer treatment strategy. The virus, rMV-SLAMblind, targets nectin-4, recently listed as a tumor marker, and exerts antitumor activity against nectin-4-positive canine mammary cancer and urinary bladder transitional cell carcinoma cells. However, the effectivity of rMV-SLAMblind for other types of canine cancers is still unknown. Here we evaluated the antitumor effect of rMV-SLAMblind to canine lung cancer. Nectin-4 is expressed on three canine lung cancer cell lines (CLAC, AZACL1, AZACL2) and rMV-SLAMblind was able to infect these cell lines. CLAC cells showed reduced cell viability after virus infection. In the CLAC xenograft nude mouse model, intratumoral administration of rMV-SLAMblind significantly suppressed tumor growth. In rMV-SLAMblind-treated mice, natural killer cells were activated, and Cxcl10 and Il12a levels were significantly increased in comparison with levels in the control group. In addition, the depletion of NK cells reduced the anti-tumor effect. To understand difference in efficacy among canine lung cancer cell lines, we compared virus growth and gene expression pattern after virus treatment in the three canine lung cancer cell lines; virus growth was highest in CLAC cells compared with the other cell lines and the induction of interferon (IFN)-beta and IFN-stimulated genes was at lower levels in CLAC cells. These results suggested that rMV-SLAMblind exhibits oncolytic effect against some canine lung cancer cells and the cellular response after the virus infection may influence its efficacy.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Dogs; Mice; Lung Neoplasms; Measles virus; Oncolytic Virotherapy; Nectins; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Adhesion Molecules; Virus Diseases; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays; Oncolytic Viruses
PubMed: 37875555
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42305-9 -
Euro Surveillance : Bulletin Europeen... Aug 2023Measles cases have recently been increasing in Romania, with 460 confirmed cases by August 2023. From March 2023, measles cases increased, and outbreaks were recorded in...
Measles cases have recently been increasing in Romania, with 460 confirmed cases by August 2023. From March 2023, measles cases increased, and outbreaks were recorded in Cluj, Bistrita Nasaud, Sibiu and Mures counties. New D8 virus variants were identified, different from the variants detected in Romania before the COVID-19 pandemic. We here provide epidemiological and molecular data on the current increase in measles cases in the context of the measles elimination process in the World Health Organization European Region.
Topics: Humans; Romania; COVID-19; Pandemics; Disease Outbreaks; Measles
PubMed: 37650907
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.35.2300423 -
Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy : CII Nov 2023Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) substantially improve outcome for patients with cancer. However, the majority of patients develops immune-related adverse events...
BACKGROUND
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) substantially improve outcome for patients with cancer. However, the majority of patients develops immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which can be persistent and significantly reduce quality of life. Neurological irAEs occur in 1-5% of patients and can induce severe, permanent sequelae or even be fatal. In order to improve the diagnosis and treatment of neurological irAEs and to better understand their pathogenesis, we assessed whether previous neurotropic infections are associated with neurological irAEs.
METHODS
Neurotropic infections that might predispose to ICI-induced neurological irAEs were analyzed in 61 melanoma patients from 3 countries, the Netherlands, Australia and Germany, including 24 patients with neurotoxicity and 37 control patients. In total, 14 viral, 6 bacterial, and 1 protozoal infections previously reported to trigger neurological pathologies were assessed using routine serology testing. The Dutch and Australian cohorts (NL) included pre-treatment plasma samples of patients treated with neoadjuvant ICI therapy (OpACIN-neo and PRADO trials; NCT02977052). In the Dutch/Australian cohort a total of 11 patients with neurological irAEs were compared to 27 control patients (patients without neurological irAEs). The German cohort (LMU) consisted of serum samples of 13 patients with neurological irAE and 10 control patients without any documented irAE under ICI therapy.
RESULTS
The association of neurological irAEs with 21 possible preceding infections was assessed by measuring specific antibodies against investigated agents. The seroprevalence of all the tested viral (cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr-Virus, varicella-zoster virus, measles, rubella, influenza A and B, human herpes virus 6 and 7, herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, parvovirus B19, hepatitis A and E and human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 and 2), bacterial (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Campylobacter jejuni, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Coxiella burnetti, Helicobacter pylori, Yersinia enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis) and protozoal (Toxoplasma gondii) infections was similar for patients who developed neurological irAEs as compared to control patients. Thus, the analysis provided no evidence for an association of described agents tested for seroprevalence with ICI induced neurotoxicity.
CONCLUSION
Previous viral, bacterial and protozoal neurotropic infections appear not to be associated with the development of neurological irAEs in melanoma patients who underwent therapy with ICI across 3 countries. Further efforts are needed to unravel the factors underlying neurological irAEs in order to identify risk factors for these toxicities, especially with the increasing use of ICI in earlier stage disease.
Topics: Humans; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Quality of Life; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Australia; Melanoma; Retrospective Studies
PubMed: 37606856
DOI: 10.1007/s00262-023-03498-0 -
Vaccine: X Jun 2024Information regarding the detection perioid of measles vaccine virus (MeVV) RNA in human nasopharyngeal samples and measles-specific antibodies following...
Information regarding the detection perioid of measles vaccine virus (MeVV) RNA in human nasopharyngeal samples and measles-specific antibodies following measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination is limited. During contact tracing for a measles outbreak at a hospital in Republic of Korea, 4 out of 206 children vaccinated with MMR underwent real-time RT-PCR assay for measles and measles-specific antibodies test. Measles virus RNA was detected in 2 children, all of which was vaccine virus strain RNA (genotype A). In a healthy 27-month-old boy, MeVV RNA was detected 448 days after MMR vaccination. Measles-specific IgM was positive 1097 days following vaccination in a 4-year-old girl. MeVV RNA and measles-specific IgM were detected for a considerable period following primary MMR vaccination. Physicians should exercise caution when interpreting positive RT-PCR results for MeVV or measles-specific IgM from a child with measles-associated symptoms who has been recently vaccinated against measles.
PubMed: 38746062
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvacx.2024.100491 -
Journal of Infection and Public Health Jun 2024Measles has been a significant public health concern in Pakistan, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, where sporadic and silent epidemics continue to...
BACKGROUND
Measles has been a significant public health concern in Pakistan, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, where sporadic and silent epidemics continue to challenge existing control measures. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and investigate the molecular epidemiology of the measles virus (MeV) in KPK and explore the vaccination status among the suspected individuals.
METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and October 2021. A total of 336 suspected measles cases from the study population were analyzed for IgM antibodies using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Throat swabs were randomly collected from a subset of positive cases for molecular analysis. Phylogenetic analysis of MeV isolates was performed using the neighbor-joining method. The vaccination status of individuals was also recorded.
RESULTS
Among the suspected participants, 61.0% (205/336) were ELISA positive for IgM antibodies, with a higher prevalence in males (64.17%) compared to females (57.04%). The majority of cases (36.0%) were observed in infants and toddlers, consistent with previous reports. The majority of IgM-positive cases (71.7%) had not received any dose of measles vaccine, highlighting gaps in vaccine coverage and the need for improved immunization programs. Genetic analysis revealed that all MeV isolates belonged to the B3 genotype, with minor genetic variations from previously reported variants in the region.
CONCLUSION
This study provides valuable insights into the genetic epidemiology of the MeV in KPK, Pakistan. The high incidence of measles infection among unvaccinated individuals highlights the urgency of raising awareness about vaccine importance and strengthening routine immunization programs.
Topics: Humans; Measles virus; Measles; Female; Male; Pakistan; Cross-Sectional Studies; Infant; Child, Preschool; Antibodies, Viral; Phylogeny; Immunoglobulin M; Child; Genotype; Adolescent; Adult; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Measles Vaccine; Molecular Epidemiology; Young Adult; Prevalence; Seroepidemiologic Studies; Middle Aged
PubMed: 38636313
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2024.03.028 -
Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics Dec 2024Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) are highly infectious viral diseases affecting young children and have high secondary attack rates. Present MMR vaccines show... (Review)
Review
Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) are highly infectious viral diseases affecting young children and have high secondary attack rates. Present MMR vaccines show consistent seroconversion rates for anti-measles and anti-rubella antibodies with variable responses for anti-mumps antibodies. Most common strains for MMR vaccines, currently available in India, are the Edmonston-Zagreb measles strain, Leningrad Zagreb (L-Z) mumps strain, and the RA 27/3 rubella strain. L-Z strain of mumps virus has been found to be associated with aseptic meningitis by different studies from different parts of the world including India. Recently, a novel freeze-dried MMR vaccine developed by Zydus Lifesciences (Zyvac MMR) contains Edmonston Zagreb measles strain, Hoshino mumps strain, and RA 27/3 rubella strain. The Hoshino strain is WHO approved and was found to induce interferon gamma production. This review article aims to provide a comprehensive appraisal of the data available on the safety and immunogenicity of the novel MMR vaccine.
Topics: Child; Humans; Infant; Child, Preschool; Mumps; Rubella Vaccine; Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine; Measles; Rubella; Mumps virus; Antibodies, Viral; Measles Vaccine
PubMed: 38236022
DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2024.2302685