scholarly journals Towards deep insight into Ebola virus disease

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 991-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvain Baize
2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (9) ◽  
pp. 3919-3928 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Kyle ◽  
K. E. Burnum-Johnson ◽  
J. P. Wendler ◽  
A. J. Eisfeld ◽  
Peter J. Halfmann ◽  
...  

Ebola virus disease (EVD) often leads to severe and fatal outcomes in humans with early supportive care increasing the chances of survival. Profiling the human plasma lipidome provides insight into critical illness as well as diseased states, as lipids have essential roles as membrane structural components, signaling molecules, and energy sources. Here we show that the plasma lipidomes of EVD survivors and fatalities from Sierra Leone, infected during the 2014–2016 Ebola virus outbreak, were profoundly altered. Focusing on how lipids are associated in human plasma, while factoring in the state of critical illness, we found that lipidome changes were related to EVD outcome and could identify states of disease and recovery. Specific changes in the lipidome suggested contributions from extracellular vesicles, viremia, liver dysfunction, apoptosis, autophagy, and general critical illness, and we identified possible targets for therapies enhancing EVD survival.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 587-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUSUKE ASAI ◽  
HIROSHI NISHIURA

The effective reproduction number [Formula: see text], the average number of secondary cases that are generated by a single primary case at calendar time [Formula: see text], plays a critical role in interpreting the temporal transmission dynamics of an infectious disease epidemic, while the case fatality risk (CFR) is an indispensable measure of the severity of disease. In many instances, [Formula: see text] is estimated using the reported number of cases (i.e., the incidence data), but such report often does not arrive on time, and moreover, the rate of diagnosis could change as a function of time, especially if we handle diseases that involve substantial number of asymptomatic and mild infections and large outbreaks that go beyond the local capacity of reporting. In addition, CFR is well known to be prone to ascertainment bias, often erroneously overestimated. In this paper, we propose a joint estimation method of [Formula: see text] and CFR of Ebola virus disease (EVD), analyzing the early epidemic data of EVD from March to October 2014 and addressing the ascertainment bias in real time. To assess the reliability of the proposed method, coverage probabilities were computed. When ascertainment effort plays a role in interpreting the epidemiological dynamics, it is useful to analyze not only reported (confirmed or suspected) cases, but also the temporal distribution of deceased individuals to avoid any strong impact of time dependent changes in diagnosis and reporting.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. W. Tipton ◽  
Y. Hall ◽  
J. A. Bore ◽  
A. White ◽  
L. S. Sibley ◽  
...  

AbstractZaireebolavirus (EBOV) is a highly pathogenic filovirus which can result in Ebola virus disease (EVD); a serious medical condition that presents as flu like symptoms but then often leads to more serious or fatal outcomes. The 2013–16 West Africa epidemic saw an unparalleled number of cases. Here we show characterisation and identification of T cell epitopes in surviving patients from Guinea to the EBOV glycoprotein. We perform interferon gamma (IFNγ) ELISpot using a glycoprotein peptide library to identify T cell epitopes and determine the CD4+ or CD8+ T cell component response. Additionally, we generate data on the T cell phenotype and measure polyfunctional cytokine secretion by these antigen specific cells. We show candidate peptides able to elicit a T cell response in EBOV survivors and provide inferred human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele restriction. This data informs on the long-term T cell response to Ebola virus disease and highlights potentially important immunodominant peptides.


Author(s):  
Nicki L Boddington ◽  
Sophia Steinberger ◽  
Richard G Pebody

Abstract Background In response to the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa in 2014 and evidence of spread to other countries, pre-entry screening was introduced by PHE at five major ports of entry in the England. Methods All passengers that entered the England via the five ports returning from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leonne were required to complete a Health Assessment Form and have their temperature taken. The numbers, characteristics and outcomes of these passengers were analysed. Results Between 14 October 2014 and 13 October 2015, a total of 12 648 passengers from affected countries had been screened. The majority of passengers were assessed as having no direct contact with EVD cases or high-risk events (12 069, 95.4%), although 535 (4.2%) passengers were assessed as requiring public health follow-up. In total, 39 passengers were referred directly to secondary care, although none were diagnosed with EVD. One high-risk passenger was later referred to secondary care and diagnosed with EVD. Conclusions Collection of these screening data enabled timely monitoring of the numbers and characteristics of passengers screened for EVD, facilitated resourcing decisions and acted as a mechanism to inform passengers of the necessary public health actions.


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