Infected Body Fluids Research Articles

Detection of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus antibodies in cattle in Kenedougou and Mouhoun provinces in Burkina Faso.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a zoonotic disease caused by an Orthonairovirus of the Nairoviridae family transmitted by tick bites and also contact with infected blood, tissues, or body fluids. Until now, fewer studies have been conducted on animals in Burkina Faso. This study was conducted to investigate the seroprevalence and risk factors of CCHF in two provinces of Burkina Faso. Serum samples were collected from 371 bovine animals. In addition, questionnaire surveys were performed with cattle breeders. The double-antigen sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test was used to determine the presence of antibodies against the CCHF virus in serum samples. The results showed an overall prevalence of 72.2% [95% confidence interval (CI): 67.6%-76.7%)]. Within the 74 herds included in the study, a herd prevalence of 96% (95% CI: 91.4%-100%) was obtained. The prevalence was significantly higher in Mouhoun province (80%, 95% CI: 74%-86%) compared to Kénédougou province (65.6%, 95% CI: 59.1%-72.2%). Multivariable regression analysis showed that females were more likely to be infected (OR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.1-3.6, p = 0.023) than males. In addition, cross-breed animals (OR = 6.42, 95% CI: 1.71-24.14, p = 0.006) were more likely to be infected compared to local-bred animals. This study revealed the presence of antibodies of the CCHF virus in cattle in the study area, indicating the need to implement control measures in the veterinary sector. Despite the importance of CCHF in public health, no study has been implemented regarding this condition in animals in Burkina Faso. This study described evidence of cattle exposure to the virus in Burkina Faso.

Alteration in the clinical manifestations of monkeypox in the presence of HIV

Introduction: The monkeypox virus is an orthopox virus belonging to the Poxiviridae family, being a zoonotic infection, with prevalence in the male population, on reproductive age, mainly in men who have sex with men. The virus enters through direct contact with infected skin, body fluids or respiratory droplets. The clinic begins with general prodromal symptoms, followed by a phase of skin lesions in different areas of the body. Objective: To compare the development of monkeypox infection in immunocompromised individuals with respect to a normal course of the disease. Materials and methods: Review of bibliographic data from 33 scientific articles, using databases such as PUBMED and Google Scholar, with the keywords "Monkeypox", "2022", "Clinical manifestations" that included complete characteristics of the virus and having a range of 5 years old as a limit. Results: There is evidence that demonstrates the existence of a coinfection of monkeypox with HIV, increasing the possibility of being a case of opportunism, resulting in an atypical picture in the evolution of the disease. Which begins with rash in genital area with pain and pustules, 3 days later general symptoms of an infectious process are added. Ending with diffuse pruritus accompanied by pustules on the back and extremities. Conclusions: A relationship was determined between seropositive male patients with atypical lesions of the disease, affecting the symptomatologic evolution and a correct diagnosis.

Hepatitis B immunization strategies and its associated factors: A narrative review.

Hepatitis B is a major public health concern as one third of the world's population is infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). The risk of HBV infection remains primarily through percutaneous or mucosal contact with infected blood or body fluids. To update the society on hepatitis B immunization strategies and its associated factors. The review paper utilized different search engines such as Pubmed Central, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and so onto conduct this review paper. Improving immunity through general vaccination recommendations has reduced the number of chronic hepatitis B cases among children and adolescents, but an influx of infections from endemic countries has increased the number of chronically infected adults. This is due to immigration from endemic countries to Hepatitis less burden areas like developed countries. Introduction of infant immunization programs in some countries has reportedly reduced the prevalence of HBV infection and reduced the incidence of liver cancer in children and young adults. While hepatitis B vaccination coverage is low, a significant number of people are not adhering to full hepatitis B vaccination posing a potential hazard to health.

Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever: A Potentially Fatal Outbreak in Pakistan

Africa, the Balkans, parts of the Middle East, and Asia are endemic for tick-borne Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF)1. The disease is more common in persons infected with Hyalomma ticks or who come in contact with sick cattle tissues after slaughter2. The virus, which has a high case-fatality rate, can cause epidemics in anyone who comes across infected bodily fluids and has caused health facility outbreaks.3The four illness load in Pakistan includes transmissible, not transmissible, mental disorders, and accidents. Additionally, some rising health problems are straining limited national healthcare resources. A good instance is Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF).CCHF-endemic countries fight the infection. A World Health Organisation statement stated that roughly 212 instances, 27 of them life-threatening, were documented in Iraq in 2022 among different governorates. CCHF-free nations still test ticks for the disease4. The Ministry of Health in France found the very first CCHF in Hyalomma ticks from livestock in the southern Eastern Pyrenees5. Ticks have been reported in the Mediterranean coast, especially Corsica. Spain has documented domestically acquired illnesses in humans since 2016, including in medical practitioners6. The first documented CCHF patient in Pakistan was identified in 1976, with the following isolated instances and epidemics7.

Oral Infection, Oral Pathology and Salivary Diagnostics of Mpox Disease: Relevance in Dentistry and OMICs Perspectives.

In this narrative review, we aim to point out the close relationship between mpox virus (MPXV) infection and the role of saliva as a diagnostic tool for mpox, considering the current molecular approach and in the perspective of OMICs application. The MPXV uses the host cell's rough endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, and cytoplasmic proteins to replicate its genome and synthesize virions for cellular exit. The presence of oral mucosa lesions associated with mpox infection is one of the first signs of infection; however, current diagnostic tools find it difficult to detect the virus before the rashes begin. MPXV transmission occurs through direct contact with an infected lesion and infected body fluids, including saliva, presenting a potential use of this fluid for diagnostic purposes. Currently available diagnostic tests for MPXV detection are performed either by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) or ELISA, which presents several limitations since they are invasive tests. Despite current clinical trials with restricted sample size, MPXV DNA was detected in saliva with a sensitivity of 85%-100%. In this context, the application of transcriptomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, or proteomics analyses coupled with saliva can identify novel disease biomarkers. Thus, it is important to note that the identification and quantification of salivary DNA, RNA, lipid, protein, and metabolite can provide novel non-invasive biomarkers through the use of OMICs platforms aiding in the early detection and diagnosis of MPXV infection. Untargeted mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics reveals that some proteins also expressed in saliva were detected with greater expression differences in blood plasma when comparing mpox patients and healthy subjects, suggesting a promising alternative to be applied in screening or diagnostic platforms for mpox salivary diagnostics coupled to OMICs.

Monkeypox virus infection: A clinical review based on the 2022 global outbreak

Monkeypox (mpox) is a zoonotic infection caused by an orthopox DNA virus of the family which causes smallpox. The new outbreak of mpox was first reported in Europe in May 2022, which led to cases being reported in non-endemic countries across the globe. The main modes of human-to-human transmission are through bodily secretions or contact with skin sores. More than 83,000 cases of mpox have been reported globally in 110 affected countries, with 72 confirmed deaths. The predominant mode of transmission is through animal-to-human infected body fluids. The main clinical presentation of patients with mpox is with mucocutaneous manifestation with a range of recorded descriptions of the skin lesions. Most of the patients recover without any medical intervention as mostly the disease is self-limiting. The usual supportive care is needed. Although there is no specific treatment, yet antivirals are used for the treatment of mpox which were originally developed for use in patients with smallpox. At present, there are two available vaccines which can mitigate the risk of developing mpox. The timely global collaboration between the World Health Organization and different countries has helped to mitigate the public health impact of mpox.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Hepatitis B among Clinical Medical Students at Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital

Hepatitis, a term used to describe liver inflammation has 5 identified strains (A, B, C, D and E). Hepatitis B infection, a disease caused by hepatitis B virus, is a major cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinomas. It is a highly infectious disease that is responsible for numerous deaths worldwide. It is transmitted through contact with infected body fluids like blood, semen, vaginal fluid and mucus membrane. This makes unprotected sex, blood transfusion and perinatal transfusion, the major means of transfusion. Medical students, who are part of health workers, are at greater risk of the infection than the general public. So, this research is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Medical students’ towards hepatitis B. Sample size was estimated based on the findings of knowledge regarding hepatitis B among Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital clinical medical students. A self-administered questionnaire that was written in English was used as instrument for data collection in this study. Descriptive analyses followed by normality test using statistical tests like Chi-square and Spearman’s correlation were used to analyze the data. The overall response rate was 86.91%. Out of 352 respondents, 199 (56.5%) were males and the 153 (43.5%) were females, all of which were within the ages of 20 and 40 years. There were significant positive correlation between knowledge and practice towards hepatitis B were 0.81 with P value <0.001 and 0.225 with P value <0.001 respectively. Correlation between attitude and practice towards hepatitis B is 0.312 p-value <0.004, thus, showing that more respondents have more knowledge of hepatitis B. The results showed that the percentages of medical students who knew more about hepatitis B were generally typical. A little over half of the respondents have a good attitude towards the disease.

Bacteriophage populations mirror those of bacterial pathogens at sites of infection.

Bacteriophages, viruses that parasitize bacteria, are known to be abundant at sites of bacterial colonization, but the relationship between phages and bacteria at sites of infection is unclear. Bacteriophages are highly specific to their bacterial host species, and so we hypothesize that phage populations would mirror those of bacterial pathogens within infected tissues. To test this, here we study publicly available cell-free DNA (cfDNA) generated using next-generation sequencing of infected bodily fluids, including urine, joint fluid, peritoneal fluid, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, and abscess fluid, as well as uninfected control samples. These were analyzed using a computational pipeline for identifying bacteriophage sequences in cfDNA. We find that bacteriophage sequences are present in both infected and uninfected bodily fluids and represent a variety of bacteriophage morphologies and bacterial hosts. Additionally, phages from Escherichia coli, Streptococcus, and Staphylococcus aureus are overrepresented both in terms of proportion and diversity in fluids infected with these same pathogens. These data indicate that phages reflect the relative abundance of their bacterial hosts at sites of infection. Bacteriophage sequences may help inform future investigative and diagnostic approaches that utilize cell-free DNA to study the microbiome within infected tissues. IMPORTANCE Bacteriophages are an active area of investigation in microbiome research, but most studies have focused on phage populations at sites of bacterial colonization. Little is known about bacteriophage ecology at sites of active infection. To address this gap in knowledge, we utilized a publicly available data set to study bacteriophage populations in cell-free DNA collected from sites of infection. We find that phages reflect the relative abundance of their bacterial hosts at sites of infection. These studies may lead to future investigative and diagnostic approaches that incorporate phages as well as bacterial cell-free DNA.

The prospective outcome of the monkeypox outbreak in 2022 and characterization of monkeypox disease immunobiology.

A new threat to global health re-emerged with monkeypox's advent in early 2022. As of November 10, 2022, nearly 80,000 confirmed cases had been reported worldwide, with most of them coming from places where the disease is not common. There were 53 fatalities, with 40 occurring in areas that had never before recorded monkeypox and the remaining 13 appearing in the regions that had previously reported the disease. Preliminary genetic data suggest that the 2022 monkeypox virus is part of the West African clade; the virus can be transmitted from person to person through direct interaction with lesions during sexual activity. It is still unknown if monkeypox can be transmitted via sexual contact or, more particularly, through infected body fluids. This most recent epidemic's reservoir host, or principal carrier, is still a mystery. Rodents found in Africa can be the possible intermediate host. Instead, the CDC has confirmed that there are currently no particular treatments for monkeypox virus infection in 2022; however, antivirals already in the market that are successful against smallpox may mitigate the spread of monkeypox. To protect against the disease, the JYNNEOS (Imvamune or Imvanex) smallpox vaccine can be given. The spread of monkeypox can be slowed through measures such as post-exposure immunization, contact tracing, and improved case diagnosis and isolation. Final Thoughts: The latest monkeypox epidemic is a new hazard during the COVID-19 epidemic. The prevailing condition of the monkeypox epidemic along with coinfection with COVID-19 could pose a serious condition for clinicians that could lead to the global epidemic community in the form of coinfection.

Marburg virus disease: lesson learned from the first outbreak encounter in Tanzania

Marburg virus disease: lesson learned from the first outbreak encounter in Tanzania

Bringing Hepatitis Care Closer to the Dentists

Introduction: Among the various cadres of health-care professionals, dentists are placed in a high-risk group of acquiring hepatitis B infection, as an occupational hazard. In a dental setting, hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission may occur directly (blood/saliva/nasopharyngeal secretions of infected patient and needlestick injury) or indirectly (through contaminated equipment). The risk of acquiring occupational HBV infection can be prevented by implicating certain policies such as vaccination, strict compliance with standard precautions, adherence to standard infection prevention and control protocols, and use of personal protective equipment and immediate postexposure prophylaxis in case of accidental exposure to infected blood or body fluids. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the risk of HBV infection in dental professionals based on their knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) and vaccination status score. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered, structured questionnaire with 26 including both open- and close-ended statements such as demography, department, duration of clinical exposure, KAP statements, and vaccination status. A minimum of 80% and 90% score is set to evaluate KAP response and vaccination status, respectively. Data were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version 26, an IBM tool. Results: The response rate was 100% (n = 92, male = 48, and female = 44). Among the participants, 78% scored >80% in KAP, the overall mean was 84.17 ± 6.08. Forty-eight percentage of participants scored >90% in vaccination status (overall mean: 79.45 ± 21.965). There was an overall good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha value > 0.8). In this study, 48% of the study population were found to be safe, whereas 52% are found at risk. Conclusion: The overall awareness regarding HBV was found to be at a fairly satisfactory level. Further, detailed research with a large study population aiming to determine both KAP and immunity status is required to determine the risk to dentists.

Computer-assisted drug repurposing for thymidylate kinase drug target in monkeypox virus.

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by brick-shaped enveloped monkeypox (Mpox) virus that belongs to the family of ancient viruses known as Poxviridae. Subsequently, the viruses have been reported in various countries. The virus is transmitted by respiratory droplets, skin lesions, and infected body fluids. The infected patients experience fluid-filled blisters, maculopapular rash, myalgia, and fever. Due to the lack of effective drugs or vaccines, there is a need to identify the most potent and effective drugs to reduce the spread of monkeypox. The current study aimed to use computational methods to quickly identify potentially effective drugs against the Mpox virus. In our study, the Mpox protein thymidylate kinase (A48R) was targeted because it is a unique drug target. We screened a library of 9000 FDA-approved compounds of the DrugBank database by using various in silico approaches, such as molecular docking and molecular dynamic (MD) simulation. Based on docking score and interaction analysis, compounds DB12380, DB13276, DB13276, DB11740, DB14675, DB11978, DB08526, DB06573, DB15796, DB08223, DB11736, DB16250, and DB16335 were predicted as the most potent. To examine the dynamic behavior and stability of the docked complexes, three compounds-DB16335, DB15796, and DB16250 -along with the Apo state were simulated for 300ns. The results revealed that compound DB16335 revealed the best docking score (-9.57 kcal/mol) against the Mpox protein thymidylate kinase. Additionally, during the 300 ns MD simulation period, thymidylate kinase DB16335 showed great stability. Further, in vitro and in vivo study is recommended for the final predicted compounds.

Sex exceptionalism and erasure in porn health protocols

Porn production, like all forms of labour, entails certain occupational health and safety (OHS) risks. Porn production has generally not been subject to state occupational health oversight, and porn workers have instead implemented self-regulatory OHS systems. However, in California, where the industry is most established, governmental and non-governmental bodies have made several paternalist attempts to legislate standardised OHS protocols. Their proposed legislation exceptionalises sex work as uniquely dangerous while failing to tailor guidance to the specific needs of and practices associated with porn work. This is largely because: 1) regulators are ignorant of porn’s self-regulatory processes; 2) industry self-regulation conceptualises the occupational hazard on porn sets as infectious bodily fluids, whereas external regulators perceive the hazard as sex itself; and 3) regulators devalue porn work and so do not take the viability of the labour into account when evaluating protocol effectiveness. Using critical-interpretive medical anthropology involving fieldwork and interviews with porn workers and a critical analysis of porn OHS texts, I argue that porn health protocols should be left to industry self-determination, to be developed by porn workers rather than for them.

Natural history of nonhuman primates after conjunctival exposure to Ebola virus

Transmission of Ebola virus (EBOV) primarily occurs via contact exposure of mucosal surfaces with infected body fluids. Historically, nonhuman primate (NHP) challenge studies have employed intramuscular (i.m.) or small particle aerosol exposure, which are largely lethal routes of infection, but mimic worst-case scenarios such as a needlestick or intentional release, respectively. When exposed by more likely routes of natural infection, limited NHP studies have shown delayed onset of disease and reduced mortality. Here, we performed a series of systematic natural history studies in cynomolgus macaques with a range of conjunctival exposure doses. Challenge with 10,000 plaque forming units (PFU) of EBOV was uniformly lethal, whereas 5/6 subjects survived lower dose challenges (100 or 500 PFU). Conjunctival challenge resulted in a protracted time-to death compared to i.m. Asymptomatic infection was observed in survivors with limited detection of EBOV replication. Inconsistent seropositivity in survivors may suggest physical or natural immunological barriers are sufficient to prevent widespread viral dissemination.

Clinical evaluation of cell-free and cellular metagenomic next-generation sequencing of infected body fluids

IntroductionPrevious studies have evaluated metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) for pathogen detection in blood and body fluid samples. However, no study has assessed the diagnostic efficacy of mNGS using cellular DNA. ObjectivesThis is the first study to systematically evaluate the efficacy of cfDNA and cellular DNA mNGS for pathogen detection. MethodsA panel of seven microorganisms was used to compare cfDNA and cellular DNA mNGS assays concerning limits of detection (LoD), linearity, robustness to interference, and precision. In total, 248 specimens were collected between December 2020 and December 2021. The medical records of all the patients were reviewed. These specimens were analysed using cfDNA and cellular DNA mNGS assays, and the mNGS results were confirmed using viral qPCR, 16S rRNA, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicon next-generation sequencing. ResultsThe LoD of cfDNA and cellular DNA mNGS was 9.3 to 149 genome equivalents (GE)/mL and 27 to 466 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL, respectively. The intra- and inter-assay reproducibility of cfDNA and cellular DNA mNGS was 100%. Clinical evaluation revealed that cfDNA mNGS was good at detecting the virus in blood samples (receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC), 0.9814). In contrast, the performance of cellular DNA mNGS was better than that of cfDNA mNGS in high host background samples. Overall, the diagnostic efficacy of cfDNA combined with cellular DNA mNGS (ROC AUC, 0.8583) was higher than that of cfDNA (ROC AUC, 0.8041) or cellular DNA alone (ROC AUC, 0.7545). ConclusionOverall, cfDNA mNGS is good for detecting viruses, and cellular DNA mNGS is suitable for high host background samples. The diagnostic efficacy was higher when cfDNA and cellular DNA mNGS were combined.

Deadly Marburg virus in Ghana, 2022 amidst monkeypox and COVID-19 pandemic: A distressing concern for public health.

Deadly Marburg virus in Ghana, 2022 amidst monkeypox and COVID-19 pandemic: A distressing concern for public health.

New, fast, and precise method of COVID-19 detection in nasopharyngeal and tracheal aspirate samples combining optical spectroscopy and machine learning.

Fast, precise, and low-cost diagnostic testing to identify persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus is pivotal to control the global pandemic of COVID-19 that began in late 2019. The gold standard method of diagnostic recommended is the RT-qPCR test. However, this method is not universally available, and is time-consuming and requires specialized personnel, as well as sophisticated laboratories. Currently, machine learning is a useful predictive tool for biomedical applications, being able to classify data from diverse nature. Relying on the artificial intelligence learning process, spectroscopic data from nasopharyngeal swab and tracheal aspirate samples can be used to leverage characteristic patterns and nuances in healthy and infected body fluids, which allows to identify infection regardless of symptoms or any other clinical or laboratorial tests. Hence, when new measurements are performed on samples of unknown status and the corresponding data is submitted to such an algorithm, it will be possible to predict whether the source individual is infected or not. This work presents a new methodology for rapid and precise label-free diagnosing of SARS-CoV-2 infection in clinical samples, which combines spectroscopic data acquisition and analysis via artificial intelligence algorithms. Our results show an accuracy of 85% for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swab samples collected from asymptomatic patients or with mild symptoms, as well as an accuracy of 97% in tracheal aspirate samples collected from critically ill COVID-19 patients under mechanical ventilation. Moreover, the acquisition and processing of the information is fast, simple, and cheaper than traditional approaches, suggesting this methodology as a promising tool for biomedical diagnosis vis-à-vis the emerging and re-emerging viral SARS-CoV-2 variant threats in the future.

From MPOX to the next epidemic: Words matter when talking about equity-deserving groups.

From MPOX to the next epidemic: Words matter when talking about equity-deserving groups.

Plant-based Natural inhibitors of human liver carcinogenesis: A mechanistic overview, focusing on hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses

Hepatitis B and C viruses can lead to serious complications such as hepatic fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and are therefore responsible for a significant portion of liver cancer cases worldwide, with over 1.3 million deaths annually. The mechanisms by which hepatitis viruses contribute to HCC include DNA integration into the host genome, metabolic reprogramming, induction of the cellular stress response pathway, and interference with tumour suppressors. HBV is a DNA virus from the Hepadnaviridae family, and HCV is an RNA virus from the Flaviviridae family. Both viruses are transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, such as blood or sexual fluids. It is important to get tested for hepatitis B and C and to seek treatment as early as possible to prevent the progression to liver cancer. While there is a vaccine available for Hepatitis B, there is currently no vaccine for Hepatitis C. But some natural medicines have demonstrated antiviral activity against the hepatitis B and C viruses. Therefore, it is important to explore natural alternatives for the treatment of this disease. This review aims to summarise the pathogenesis of hepatitis B and C and their link to hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as to highlight natural compounds with the potential to treat hepatitis through various mechanisms at different stages of infection. These natural compounds may offer an alternative to chemical-based medications in the treatment and control of hepatitis by inhibiting or disrupting the entry, activity, or replication of the virus within the host.

Umbilicated vesicles and multiple pustules on the genital area in a man

Umbilicated vesicles and multiple pustules on the genital area in a man