scholarly journals Evidence of Chikungunya virus seroprevalence in Myanmar among dengue-suspected patients and healthy volunteers in 2013, 2015, and 2018

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0009961
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ajema Chebichi Luvai ◽  
Aung Kyaw Kyaw ◽  
Nundu Sabiti Sabin ◽  
Fuxun Yu ◽  
Saw Wut Hmone ◽  
...  

Introduction Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne virus known to cause acute febrile illness associated with debilitating polyarthritis. In 2019, several institutions in Myanmar reported a CHIKV outbreak. There are no official reports of CHIKV cases between 2011 and 2018. Therefore, this study sought to determine the seroprevalence of CHIKV infection before the 2019 outbreak. Methods A total of 1,544 serum samples were collected from healthy volunteers and patients with febrile illnesses in Yangon, Mandalay, and the Myeik district in 2013, 2015, and 2018. Participants ranged from one month to 65 years of age. Antibody screening was performed with in-house anti-CHIKV IgG and IgM ELISA. A neutralization assay was used as a confirmatory test. Results The seroprevalence of anti-CHIKV IgM and anti-CHIKV IgG was 8.9% and 28.6%, respectively, with an overall seropositivity rate of 34.5%. A focus reduction neutralization assay confirmed 32.5% seroprevalence of CHIKV in the study population. Age, health status, and region were significantly associated with neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) and CHIKV seropositivity (p < 0.05), while gender was not (p = 0.9). Seroprevalence in 2013, 2015, and 2018 was 32.1%, 28.8%, and 37.3%, respectively. Of the clinical symptoms observed in participants with fevers, arthralgia was mainly noted in CHIKV-seropositive patients. Conclusion The findings in this study reveal the circulation of CHIKV in Myanmar’s Mandalay, Yangon, and Myeik regions before the 2019 CHIKV outbreak. As no treatment or vaccine for CHIKV exists, the virus must be monitored through systematic surveillance in Myanmar.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-14
Author(s):  
Santosha Kelamane Kelamane ◽  
Cheruku Mispah ◽  
Sri Sandhya K.

Background: crub typhus is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi (rickettsial disease) commonly transmitted by the bite of larval chiggers of trombiculid mites. It has been one of the important causes of febrile illness, especially in south India. The clinical diagnosis is difficult owing to the non-specific presentation. We in the current study tried to evaluate the serodiagnosis of scrub typhus with the Weil Felix test and IgM ELISA. Methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Naganoor, Karimnagar. All the sera samples were subjected to the Weil Felix test using Proteus OX2, OX19, OX-K strain agglutination test, and subsequently, Scrub typhus IgM ELISA test. Results: All the samples were subjected to the Weil Felix test n=4(6.06%) were positive for scrub typhus (OXK antigen) n=11(16.67%) were positive for the spotted group of fever (OX2 antigen) and n=10 (15.15%) were positive of typhus group (OX19 antigen). N=5 sera samples were positive for more than one type of antigens. All the n=66 serum samples were subjected to IgM ELISA for scrub typhus. Out of n=66, only two serum samples (3.03%) were positive by IgM ELISA. Conclusion: Scrub typhus is emerging as an important public health issue. It is one of the important causes of acute febrile illness. Although it is difficult to distinguish scrub typhus based on the clinical symptoms alone a simple test such as Weil Felix was found to be promising in the diagnosis of scrub typhus. ELISA IgM test may be performed additionally in laboratories with adequate facilities. Hence for clinicians, any case with a fever of unknown origin should arouse suspicion of scrub typhus


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (09) ◽  
pp. 4896
Author(s):  
Sripriya C.S.* ◽  
Shanthi B. ◽  
Arockia Doss S. ◽  
Antonie Raj I. ◽  
Mohana Priya

Scrub typhus (Orientia tsutsugamushi), is a strict intracellular bacterium which is reported to be a recent threat to parts of southern India. There is re-emergence of scrub typhus during the past few years in Chennai. Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness which generally causes non-specific symptoms and signs. The clinical manifestations of this disease range from sub-clinical disease to organ failure to fatal disease. This study documents our laboratory experience in diagnosis of scrub typhus in patients with fever and suspected clinical symptoms of scrub typhus infection for a period of two years from April 2014 to April 2016 using immunochromatography and IgM ELISA methods. The study was conducted on 648 patients out of whom 188 patients were found to be positive for scrub typhus. Results also showed that pediatric (0 -12 years) and young adults (20 – 39 years) were more exposed to scrub typhus infection and female patients were more infected compared to male. The study also showed that the rate of infection was higher between September to February which also suggested that the infection rate is proportional to the climatic condition. Statistical analysis showed that the mean age of the patients in this study was 37.6, standard deviation was 18.97, CV % was 50.45. 


Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 994
Author(s):  
Ahmed Majdi K. Tolah ◽  
Sayed S. Sohrab ◽  
Khaled Majdi K. Tolah ◽  
Ahmed M. Hassan ◽  
Sherif A. El-Kafrawy ◽  
...  

The unusual cases of pneumonia outbreak were reported from Wuhan city in late December 2019. Serological testing provides a powerful tool for the identification of prior infection and for epidemiological studies. Pseudotype virus neutralization assays are widely used for many viruses and applications in the fields of serology. The accuracy of pseudotype neutralizing assay allows for its use in low biosafety lab and provides a safe and effective alternative to the use of wild-type viruses. In this study, we evaluated the performance of this assay compared to the standard microneutralization assay as a reference. The lentiviral pseudotype particles were generated harboring the Spike gene of SARS-CoV-2. The generated pseudotype particles assay was used to evaluate the activity of neutralizing antibodies in 300 human serum samples from a COVID-19 sero-epidemiological study. Testing of these samples resulted in 55 positive samples and 245 negative samples by pseudotype viral particles assay while microneutralization assay resulted in 64 positive and 236 negative by MN assay. Compared to the MN, the pseudotyped viral particles assay showed a sensitivity of 85.94% and a specificity of 100%. Based on the data generated from this study, the pseudotype-based neutralization assay showed a reliable performance for the detection of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and can be used safely and efficiently as a diagnostic tool in a biosafety level 2 laboratory.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Hani Abidi ◽  
Kehkeshan Imtiaz ◽  
Akbar Kanji ◽  
Shama Qaiser ◽  
Erum Khan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Individuals recovering from COVID-19 are shown to have antibodies against the Spike and other structural proteins. Antibodies against Spike have been shown to display viral neutralization. However, not all antibodies against Spike have neutralizing ability and some may be cross-reactive. There is a need for easy-to-use SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing assays that allow the determination of virus neutralizing activity in sera of individuals. Here we describe a PCR-based micro-neutralization assay that can be used to evaluate the viral neutralization titers of serum from SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals. Methods The SARS-CoV-2 strain used was isolated from a nasopharyngeal specimen of a COVID-19 case. The limiting dilution method was used to obtain a 50% tissue culture infective dose (TCID50) of Vero cells. For the micro‐neutralization assay, 19 serum samples, with positive IgG titers against Spike receptor binding domain (RBD) were tested. After 24 hours, infected cells were inspected for the presence of the cytopathic effect, then lysed and RNA RT-PCR of SARS-CoV-2. The Ct values were used to calculate percent neutralization/inhibition of SARS-CoV-2. Results Out of 19 samples, 13 samples gave 100% neutralization at all dilutions, while 4 samples gave neutralization at lower dilution, while one sample did not give any neutralization. The correlation between RBD OD and neutralization potential was found to be statistically correlated. Conclusion We describe a rapid RT-PCR based SARS-CoV-2 microneutralization assay for detection of neutralizing antibodies. This can effectively be used to test anti-viral activity of serum antibodies for investigation of both disease-driven and vaccine-induced responses.


Author(s):  
Richard S. Bennett ◽  
Elena N. Postnikova ◽  
Janie Liang ◽  
Robin Gross ◽  
Steven Mazur ◽  
...  

AbstractAs the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic was expanding, it was clear that effective testing for the presence of neutralizing antibodies in the blood of convalescent patients would be critical for development of plasma-based therapeutic approaches. To address the need for a high-quality neutralization assay against SARS-CoV-2, a previously established fluorescence reduction neutralization assay (FRNA) against Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was modified and optimized. The SARS-CoV-2 FRNA provides a quantitative assessment of a large number of infected cells through use of a high-content imaging system. Because of this approach, and the fact that it does not involve subjective interpretation, this assay is more efficient and more accurate than other neutralization assays. In addition, the ability to set robust acceptance criteria for individual plates and specific test wells provided further rigor to this assay. Such agile adaptability avails use with multiple virus variants. By February 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 FRNA had been used to screen over 5,000 samples, including acute and convalescent plasma or serum samples and therapeutic antibody treatments, for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing titers.


2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Roodbari ◽  
M. H. Roustai ◽  
A. Mostafaie ◽  
H. Soleimanjdahi ◽  
R. Sarrami Foroshani ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus infection, with typical clinical symptoms including maculopapular rash, fever, cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis. Despite implementation of widespread vaccination programs throughout the world, the rates of global morbidity and mortality are still considerable. This study was performed to design a reliable indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure measles-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM). First, human IgM was purified, and then an anti-IgM antibody was produced in rabbits and purified in a multistep process. The rabbit IgG against human IgM was conjugated with peroxidase. Measles virus-infected Vero cells produced viral antigen. One hundred serum samples from infants of 9 to 18 months of age, mostly vaccinated, were evaluated for determining the presence of specific IgM antibodies against measles virus. The samples were also evaluated for neutralizing antibodies against measles virus by a microneutralization test (MNT). By comparing the results of the ELISA with those of MNT, it was demonstrated that ELISA had a sensitivity and specificity of 100 and 92%, respectively. On the other hand, when the results obtained by our ELISA system were compared with those of an imported measles virus IgM ELISA kit (EIAgen; Adaltis Italia SPa, Bologna, Italy), a high level of agreement was shown (k = 0.926).


Author(s):  
James Brett Case ◽  
Paul W. Rothlauf ◽  
Rita E. Chen ◽  
Zhuoming Liu ◽  
Haiyan Zhao ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTAntibody-based interventions against SARS-CoV-2 could limit morbidity, mortality, and possibly disrupt epidemic transmission. An anticipated correlate of such countermeasures is the level of neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, yet there is no consensus as to which assay should be used for such measurements. Using an infectious molecular clone of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) that expresses eGFP as a marker of infection, we replaced the glycoprotein gene (G) with the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 (VSV-eGFP-SARS-CoV-2) and developed a high-throughput imaging-based neutralization assay at biosafety level 2. We also developed a focus reduction neutralization test with a clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2 at biosafety level 3. We compared the neutralizing activities of monoclonal and polyclonal antibody preparations, as well as ACE2-Fc soluble decoy protein in both assays and find an exceptionally high degree of concordance. The two assays will help define correlates of protection for antibody-based countermeasures including therapeutic antibodies, immune γ-globulin or plasma preparations, and vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Replication-competent VSV-eGFP-SARS-CoV-2 provides a rapid assay for testing inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 mediated entry that can be performed in 7.5 hours under reduced biosafety containment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadim Sharif ◽  
Mithun Kumar Sarkar ◽  
Rabeya Nahar Ferdous ◽  
Shamsun Nahar Ahmed ◽  
Md. Baki Billah ◽  
...  

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a vector (mosquito)-transmitted alphavirus (family Togaviridae). CHIKV can cause fever and febrile illness associated with severe arthralgia and rash. Genotypic and phylogenetic analysis are important to understand the spread of CHIKV during epidemics and the diversity of circulating strains for the prediction of effective control measures. Molecular epidemiologic analysis of CHIKV is necessary to understand the complex interaction of vectors, hosts and environment that influences the genotypic evolution of epidemic strains. In this study, different works published during 1950s to 2020 concerning CHIKV evolution, epidemiology, vectors, phylogeny, and clinical outcomes were analyzed. Outbreaks of CHIKV have been reported from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Maldives in South Asia during 2007–2020. Three lineages- Asian, East/Central/South African (ECSA), and Indian Ocean Lineage (IOL) are circulating in South Asia. Lineage, ECSA and IOL became predominant over Asian lineage in South Asian countries during 2011–2020 epidemics. Further, the mutant E1-A226V is circulating in abundance with Aedes albopictus in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. CHIKV is underestimated as clinical symptoms of CHIKV infection merges with the symptoms of dengue fever in South Asia. Failure to inhibit vector mediated transmission and predict epidemics of CHIKV increase the risk of larger global epidemics in future. To understand geographical spread of CHIKV, most of the studies focused on CHIKV outbreak, biology, pathogenesis, infection, transmission, and treatment. This updated study will reveal the collective epidemiology, evolution and phylogenies of CHIKV, supporting the necessity to investigate the circulating strains and vectors in South Asia.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiara Manuele Alves de Souza ◽  
Elzinandes Leal de Azeredo ◽  
Jéssica Badolato Corrêa da Silva ◽  
Paulo Vieira Damasco ◽  
Carla Cunha Santos ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundChikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an arbovirus that causes an acute febrile illness characterized by severe and debilitating arthralgia. In Brazil, the Asian and East-Central South African (ECSA) genotypes are circulating in the north and northeast of the country, respectively. In 2015, the first autochthonous cases in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil were reported but until now the circulating strains have not been characterized. Therefore, we aimed here to perform the molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of CHIKV strains circulating in the 2016 outbreak occurred in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro.MethodsThe cases analyzed in this study were collected at a private Hospital, from April 2016 to May 2016, during the chikungunya outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All cases were submitted to the Real Time RT-PCR for CHIKV genome detection and to anti-CHIKV IgM ELISA. Chikungunya infection was laboratorially confirmed by at least one diagnostic method and, randomly selected positive cases (n=10), were partially sequenced (CHIKV E1 gene) and analyzed.ResultsThe results showed that all the samples grouped in ECSA genotype branch and the molecular characterization of the fragment did not reveal the A226V mutation in the Rio de Janeiro strains analyzed, but a K211T amino acid substitution was observed for the first time in all samples and a V156A substitution in two of ten samples.ConclusionsPhylogenetic analysis and molecular characterization reveals the circulation of the ECSA genotype of CHIKV in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and two amino acids substitutions (K211T and V156A) exclusive to the CHIKV strains obtained during the 2016 epidemic, were reported.


2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Nwanegbo ◽  
Eftyhia Vardas ◽  
Wentao Gao ◽  
Hilton Whittle ◽  
Huijie Sun ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT One of the major limitations of the use of adenoviruses as gene therapy vectors is the existence of preformed immunity in various populations. Recent studies have linked failure of adenoviral gene therapy trials to the presence of antiadenoviral neutralizing antibodies (NAb). Understanding the distribution and specificity of such antibodies will assist in the design of successful recombinant adenoviral gene therapies and vaccines. To assess the prevalence of NAb to adenovirus serotypes 5 and 35 (Ad5 and Ad35), we analyzed serum samples from adult immunocompetent individuals living in The Gambia, South Africa, and the United States by using a neutralization assay. Serum samples were incubated with A549 lung carcinoma cells and adenoviruses encoding enhanced green or yellow fluorescent proteins; results were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Using this technique, we found a high prevalence of NAb against Ad5 in Gambian, South African, and U.S. subjects at both low and high titers. Conversely, all subjects displayed a low prevalence of NAb to Ad35; when present, anti-Ad35 NAb were seen at low titers. Because of the ability of adenoviruses to elicit systemic and mucosal immune responses, Ad35 with its low NAb prevalence appears to be an attractive candidate vector for gene therapy applications.


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