Journal of Infectious Diseases

BACKGROUND: We assessed performance of participant-collected mid-turbinate nasal swabs compared to study staff-collected mid-turbinate nasal swabs for the detection of respiratory viruses among pregnant women in Bangkok, Thailand. METHODS: We enrolled pregnant women aged ≥18 years and followed them throughout the 2018 influenza season. Women with acute respiratory illness (ARI) self-collected mid-turbinate nasal swabs at homes for influenza viruses, RSV, and hMPV real-time RT-PCR testing while the study nurse collected a second mid-turbinate nasal swab during home visits...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Routine monitoring of Parvovirus B19 (B19V) the first six months post-transplantation was performed in 241 seronegative solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. Incidence rates (IR) during the 1st month and the 2nd to 6th months post-transplantation were 1.2 (95% CI, 0.33-3.2) and 0.21 (95% CI, 0.06-0.57) per 100 recipients per-month, respectively. Of the 6 SOT recipients with positive B19V PCR, 3 (50%) were admitted to hospital and 2 (33%) were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin. Thus, routine monitoring of B19V in seronegative SOT recipients may not be necessary...

Urinary tract infections are common and costly diseases affecting millions of people. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is a primary cause of these infections and has developed multiple strategies to avoid the host immune response. Here, we dissected the molecular mechanisms underpinning UPEC inhibition of inflammatory cytokine in vitro and in vivo. We found that UPEC infection simulates NFkB activation but does not result in transcription of cytokine genes. Instead, UPEC-mediated suppression of the metabolic enzyme ATP citrate lyase (ACLY) results in decreased acetyl-CoA level, leading to reduced H3K9 histone acetylation in the promotor region of CXCL8...

Tuberculosis (TB) heteroresistance, in which only a fraction of the bacteria in a TB patient contains drug-resistant mutations, has been a rising concern. However, its origins and prevalence remain elusive. Here, whole-genome sequencing was performed on 83 serial isolates from 31 MDR-TB patients and heteroresistance was detected in isolates from 21 (67.74%) patients. Heteroresistance persisted in the host for long periods, spanning months to years, and was associated with having multiple tubercular lesions...

Novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2, causing coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19, led to significant morbidity and mortality. While most suffer from mild symptoms, some patients progress to a severe disease with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and an associated systemic hyper-inflammation. First to characterize key cytokines and their dynamics in this hyper-inflammatory condition, we assessed abundance and correlative expression of a panel of forty eight cytokines in patients progressing to ARDS, as compared to patients with mild disease...

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to evaluate the immunogenicity of adjuvanted monovalent rabies virus-based vaccine candidates against Ebola virus (FILORAB1), Sudan virus (FILORAB2), Marburg virus (FILORAB3), Lassa virus (LASSARAB1), and combined trivalent vaccine candidate (FILORAB1-3) and tetravalent vaccine candidate (FILORAB1-3 and LASSARAB) in nonhuman primates. METHODS: Twenty-four Macaca fascicularis were randomly assigned into six groups of four animals...

BACKGROUND: Risk factors for and long-term outcomes following detection of varicella zoster virus (VZV) DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are unknown. METHODS: We performed a nationwide population-based cohort study of all Danish residents who had VZV DNA detected in the CSF by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) between 1 January 1997 and 1 March 2016 (VZV cohort; n = 517) and an age- and sex- matched comparison cohort from the general Danish population (n = 9823)...

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) received an Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA. CCP with a signal-to-cutoff ratio of ≥12 using the Ortho VITROS SARS-CoV-2 IgG test (OVSARS2IgG) is permitted to be labeled "high titer". Little is known about the relationship between OVSARS2IgG ratio and neutralizing capacity of plasma/sera against genuine SARS-CoV-2 virus. METHODS: 981 samples from 196 repeat CCP donors 0-119 days post initial donation (DPID) were analyzed...

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) causes community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia linked to a high mortality rate. The emergence and rapid transmission of multidrug-resistant S. aureus strains have become a serious health concern, and highlight the challenges associated with the development of a vaccine to combat S. aureus pneumonia. METHODS: This study evaluated the effects of intrapulmonary (i.pulmon.) immunization on the immune response and protection against S...

BACKGROUND: Solid organ (SOT) and stem cell transplant (SCT) recipients are at increased risk of invasive fungal disease despite normal neutrophil counts. Here, we measure neutrophil anti-Candida activity. METHODS: Twenty-one SOT and 19 SCT recipients were enrolled 2-4 months post-transplant and compared to 23 healthy control patients (HC). Neutrophils were co-incubated with C. albicans and percent killing, and swarming responses were measured. RESULTS: Neutrophils from transplant patients had decreased fungicidal capacity compared to HC (42%, 43%, 72%; SCT, SOT, and HC respectively; SCT vs...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Most COVID-19 patients experience asymptomatic/mild symptoms, but some suffer critical symptoms requiring intensive care. It is important to determine how asymptomatic/mild patients react to SARS-CoV-2 infection and suppress virus spread. Innate immunity is important for evasion from the first virus attack, and it may play an important role in the pathogenesis in these patients. We measured serum cytokine levels of 95 COVID-19 patients during the infection's acute phase and are first to report that significantly higher IL-12 and IL-2 levels were induced in asymptomatic/mild patients versus those in the moderate/severe patients, indicating these cytokines' key roles in asymptomatic/mild infections' pathogenesis...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

We analyzed 21,676 residual specimens from Ontario, Canada collected between March-August, 2020 to investigate the effect of antibody decline on SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence estimates. Testing specimens orthogonally using the Abbott (anti-nucleocapsid) and then the Ortho (anti-spike) assays, seroprevalence estimates ranged from 0.4%-1.4%, despite ongoing disease activity. The geometric mean concentration (GMC) of antibody-positive specimens decreased over time (p=0.015), and the GMC of antibody-negative specimens increased over time (p=0...

BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a significant cause of severe lower respiratory tract disease in children and older adults, but has no approved vaccine. This study assessed the potential of Ad26.RSV.preF to protect against RSV infection and disease in an RSV human challenge model. METHODS: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, healthy adults aged 18-50 years were randomized 1:1 to receive 1x1011 vp Ad26.RSV.preF or placebo intramuscularly...

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is the most deadly infectious disease globally and highly prevalent in the developing world. For individuals infected with both Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the risk of active TB is 10% or more annually. Previously, we identified in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) a region on chromosome 5 associated with resistance to TB, which included epigenetic marks that could influence gene regulation. We hypothesized that HIV-infected individuals exposed to Mtb, who remain disease free, carry epigenetic changes that strongly protect them from active TB...

In order to understand the disease burden of sexually transmitted Zika virus (ZIKV), we prospectively followed a cohort of 359 adult and adolescent residents of an urban community in Salvador, Brazil through the 2015 ZIKV epidemic. Later, in 2017, we used a retrospective survey to associate sexual behavior during the epidemic with ZIKV infection as defined by IgG3-NS1 ELISA. We found that males who engaged in casual sexual encounters during the epidemic were more likely (ORa=6.2; 95%CI 1.2-64.1) to be ZIKV positive, suggesting that specific groups may be at increased risk of sexually transmitted infections...

BACKGROUND: Human spillovers of SARS-CoV-2 to dogs and the emergence of a highly contagious avian-origin H3N2 canine influenza virus have raised concerns towards the role of dogs in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and their susceptibility to existing human and avian influenza viruses which might result in further reassortment. METHODS: We systematically studied the replication kinetics of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, influenza A viruses of H1, H3, H5, H7 and H9 subtypes and influenza B viruses of Yamagata-like and Victoria-like lineages in ex-vivo canine nasal cavity (NC), soft palate (SP), trachea (T) and lung (L) tissue explant cultures and examined ACE2 and sialic acid (SA) receptor distribution in these tissues...