Journal of Infectious Diseases

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

As neglected tropical diseases approach elimination status, there is a need to develop efficient sampling strategies for confirmation (or not) that elimination criteria have been met. This is an inherently difficult task because the relative precision of a prevalence estimate deteriorates as prevalence decreases, and classic survey sampling strategies based on random sampling therefore require increasingly large sample sizes. More efficient strategies for survey design and analysis can be obtained by exploiting any spatial correlation in prevalence within a model-based geostatistics framework...

BACKGROUND: Oncostatin-M (OSM) is a pleiotropic cytokine of the IL-6 family. The role of OSM in sepsis remains unknown. METHODS: Serum OSM level was determined and analyzed in septic patients on day of intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Furthermore, the effects of OSM on polymicrobial sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) were assessed. RESULTS: On day of ICU admission, septic patients had significantly higher serum OSM levels when compared with ICU patient controls and healthy volunteers, which were related to the severity of sepsis, including parameters such as the Sequential [Sepsis-related] Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, procalcitonin (PCT) level, and white blood cell (WBC) number...

Although experimental transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) to pigs and transgenic mice expressing pig cellular prion protein (PrPC) (porcine PrP [PoPrP]-Tg001) has been described, no natural cases of prion diseases in pig were reported. This study analyzed pig-PrPC susceptibility to different prion strains using PoPrP-Tg001 mice either as animal bioassay or as substrate for protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA). A panel of isolates representatives of different prion strains was selected, including classic and atypical/Nor98 scrapie, atypical-BSE, rodent scrapie, human Creutzfeldt-Jakob-disease and classic BSE from different species...

BACKGROUND: Data from high-income countries suggest increasing hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence/incidence among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM), but limited data derive from low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). METHODS: We recruited 4,994 MSM from 5 states across India using respondent-driven sampling (RDS). Logistic regression incorporating RDS weights and machine learning feature selection were used to identify correlates of prevalent HCV, and Bayesian phylogenetic analysis was used to examine genetic clustering...

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The bivalent HPV vaccine is highly effective and induces robust serological responses. Using a Dutch prospective cohort initiated in 2009 including 744 vaccinated and 294 unvaccinated girls (1993-1994), who provide a vaginal self-swab, serum sample and questionnaire yearly, we report a high, persisting antibody response up to nine years post-vaccination for vaccine types HPV16/18. Antibodies against non-vaccine types HPV31/33/45/52/58 were lower, but still significantly higher than in unvaccinated individuals...

The regulatory network of virulence factors produced by the opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus is unclear, and the functions of many uncharacterized genes in its genome remain to be elucidated. In this study, we screened 380 genes whose function was unassigned utilizing gene-disrupted transposon mutants of the community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus USA300 for pathogenicity using silkworms. We identified 10 strains with reduced silkworm killing ability. Among them, 8 displayed reduced virulence in a mouse model as evidenced by reduced colony-forming units in organs of infected mice...

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BACKGROUND: Noroviruses are a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis. Genogroup 2 type 4 (GII.4) has been the dominant norovirus genotype worldwide since its emergence in the mid-1990s. Individuals with a functional fucosyltransferase-2 gene, known as secretors, have increased susceptibility to GII.4 noroviruses. We hypothesized that this individual-level trait may drive GII.4 norovirus predominance at the human population level. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review for studies reporting norovirus outbreak or sporadic case genotypes and merged this with data on proportions of human secretor status in various countries from a separate systematic review...

The T cell response to chlamydia genital tract infections in humans and mice is unusual because the majority of antigen-specific CD8 T cells are not class I-restricted, referred to as "unrestricted" or "atypical". We previously reported that a subset of unrestricted murine chlamydia-specific CD8 T cells had a cytokine polarization pattern that included IFN-ɣ and IL-13. Here we investigated the transcriptome of CD8ɣ13 T cells, comparing them to Tc1 clones using microarray analysis. That study revealed that CD8ɣ13 polarization included IL-5 in addition to IFN-γ and IL-13...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: The innate immune system recalls a challenge to adapt to a secondary challenge, a phenomenon called trained immunity. Training involves cellular metabolic, epigenetic and functional reprogramming, but how broadly trained immunity protects from infections is unknown. For the first time, we addressed whether trained immunity provides protection in a large panel of preclinical models of infections. METHODS: Mice were trained and subjected to systemic infections, peritonitis, enteritis and pneumonia induced by Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Citrobacter rodentium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa...

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Chronic disseminated candidiasis (CDC) is a rare disease mostly occurring after chemotherapy-induced prolonged neutropenia in patients with hematological malignancies. It is believed to ensue from Candida colonization, breach of the intestinal epithelial barrier and venous translocation to organs. Fungal blood or liver biopsy cultures are generally negative, suggesting the absence of an ongoing invasive fungal disease. To unravel the contribution of the immune system to CDC pathogenesis, we undertook a prospective multicentric exploratory study in 44 CDC patients at diagnosis and 44 matched controls (CANHPARI NCT01916057)...

BACKGROUND: Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis ([gHAT] sleeping sickness) is a vector-borne disease that is typically fatal without treatment. Intensified, mainly medical-based, interventions in endemic areas have reduced the occurrence of gHAT to historically low levels. However, persistent regions, primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), remain a challenge to achieving the World Health Organization's goal of global elimination of transmission (EOT). METHODS: We used stochastic models of gHAT transmission fitted to DRC case data and explored patterns of regional reporting and extinction...

BACKGROUND: Pregnant women are at increased risk of seasonal influenza hospitalizations, but data about the epidemiology of severe influenza among pregnant women remain largely limited to pandemics. METHODS: To describe the epidemiology of hospitalizations for acute respiratory infection or febrile illness (ARFI) and influenza-associated ARFI among pregnant women, administrative and electronic health record data were analyzed from retrospective cohorts of pregnant women hospitalized with ARFI who had testing for influenza viruses by RT-PCR in Australia, Canada, Israel and the United States during 2010-2016...

BACKGROUND: Plasmodium falciparum transmission depends on mature gametocytes that can be ingested by mosquitoes taking a bloodmeal on human skin. Although gametocyte skin sequestration has long been hypothesized as important contributor to efficient malaria transmission, this has never been formally tested. METHODS: In naturally infected gametocyte carriers from Burkina Faso, we assessed infectivity to mosquitoes by direct skin feeding and membrane feeding. We directly quantified male and female gametocytes and asexual parasites in: i) finger prick blood, ii) venous blood, iii) skin biopsies, and in pools of mosquitoes that fed iv) on venous blood or, v) directly on skin...