scholarly journals Recent Advances in the Development of Virus-Like Particle-Based Flavivirus Vaccines

Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 481
Author(s):  
Naru Zhang ◽  
Chaoqun Li ◽  
Shibo Jiang ◽  
Lanying Du
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Dengue Virus ◽  
Drug Screening ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Antiviral Drug ◽  
Virus Like Particle ◽  
International Attention ◽  
Public Health Strategies ◽  
Effective Public Health

Flaviviruses include several medically important viruses, such as Zika virus (ZIKV), Dengue virus (DENV), West Nile virus (WNV) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). They have expanded in geographic distribution and refocused international attention in recent years. Vaccination is one of the most effective public health strategies for combating flavivirus infections. In this review, we summarized virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccines against the above four mentioned flaviviruses. Potential strategies to improve the efficacy of VLP-based flavivirus vaccines were also illustrated. The applications of flavivirus VLPs as tools for viral detection and antiviral drug screening were finally proposed.

scholarly journals Zika virus infection: a public health emergency!

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Muhammad Salman Haider Qureshi ◽  
Bakhtawar Wajeeha Qureshi ◽  
Ramsha Khan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Virus Infection ◽  
Dengue Virus ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Yellow Fever Virus ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Human Pathogens ◽  
The Family

<p class="abstract"><em>Zika virus</em> belongs to the family of Flaviviridae. The Flaviviridae family also includes other human pathogens like <em>West Nile virus</em> (WNV), <em>Yellow fever virus</em> (YFV), mosquito transmitted <em>Dengue virus</em> (DENV), <em>Tick borne encephalitic virus</em> (TBEV) and <em>Japanese encephalitis virus</em> (JEV). <em>Zika virus</em> is a mosquito-borne disease and is transmitted by <em>Aedes aegypti</em> mosquito<span lang="EN-IN">. </span></p>

Benzodiazepines Today and Tomorrow

2020 ◽  
pp. 193-215
Author(s):  
John J. Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Drug Abuse ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
The Public ◽  
Drug Substances ◽  
The Government ◽  
Public Health Strategies ◽  
Effective Public Health

Benzodiazepines (BZDs) and related drugs are widely used for treating a variety of conditions (with varying degrees of evidence-base), but their long-term use (more than 2–4 weeks) can be problematic. They were originally thought (or claimed) to be nonproblematic substitutes for barbiturates, but it is now clear that they have their own set of problems. In addition, they are commonly, albeit ill-advisedly, co-prescribed or used nonmedically in combination with other drug substances. The result of such combinations, particularly with the opioids, can be lethal. Administrative and statutory actions notwithstanding, it appears that reducing problems with BZDs will depend on a comprehensive approach that includes improved education for patients, prescribers, regulators, insurers, and the public. First and foremost, however, there is a pressing need for the government to improve its drug-abuse data collection, specifically how it monitors drug-related morbidity and mortality. This chapter reviews the information that demonstrates how an understanding of all of the dynamics is essential for designing effective public-health strategies to reduce BZD-associated problems.

Simultaneous detection of Dengue virus, Chikungunya virus, Zika virus, Yellow fever virus and West Nile virus

2019 ◽  
Vol 268 ◽  
pp. 53-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
José A. Boga ◽  
Marta E. Alvarez-Arguelles ◽  
Susana Rojo-Alba ◽  
Mercedes Rodríguez ◽  
María de Oña ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Dengue Virus ◽  
Yellow Fever ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Chikungunya Virus ◽  
Yellow Fever Virus ◽  
Simultaneous Detection ◽  
Fever Virus ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Virus Zika

scholarly journals Epidemics of two Victoria and Yamagata influenza B lineages in Yamagata, Japan

2004 ◽  
Vol 132 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. MIZUTA ◽  
T. ITAGAKI ◽  
C. ABIKO ◽  
T. MURATA ◽  
T. TAKAHASHI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Virus Isolation ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Haemagglutination Inhibition ◽  
Inhibition Test ◽  
Antigenic Drift ◽  
Influenza B ◽  
Previous Season ◽  
Public Health Strategies ◽  
Effective Public Health

We attempted to predict epidemics of influenza B, focusing on B/Victoria/2/87-like (V) and B/Yamagata/16/88-like (Y) lineages, in Yamagata, Japan. We collected 9624 nasopharyngeal swabs for virus isolation from patients with respiratory infections between 1996 and 2003 and 237 sera for seroepidemiological analysis by haemagglutination–inhibition test in 2001. We isolated 424 V-lineage and 246 Y-lineage viruses during the study period. Three herald viruses in the 2000–2001 season enabled us to predict a V-lineage epidemic in the following season. However, another V-lineage epidemic occurred in the 2002–2003 season, although we caught four herald Y-lineage viruses, whose antigenic drift was suggested by seroepidemiological study, at the end of the previous season. Since the epidemiology of the two influenza B lineages remains unclear, a careful watch should be kept on these lineages in order to provide effective public-health strategies against future epidemics.

scholarly journals Illustrating and homology modeling the proteins of the Zika virus

F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Ekins ◽  
John Liebler ◽  
Bruno J. Neves ◽  
Warren G. Lewis ◽  
Megan Coffee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dengue Virus ◽  
Crystal Structures ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Antiviral Drug ◽  
Homology Model ◽  
Model Quality ◽  
Glycoprotein E ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Homology Models

The Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus of the familyFlaviviridae, which is similar to dengue virus, yellow fever and West Nile virus. Recent outbreaks in South America, Latin America, the Caribbean and in particular Brazil have led to concern for the spread of the disease and potential to cause Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly. Although ZIKV has been known of for over 60 years there is very little in the way of knowledge of the virus with few publications and no crystal structures. No antivirals have been tested against it eitherin vitroorin vivo. ZIKV therefore epitomizes a neglected disease. Several suggested steps have been proposed which could be taken to initiate ZIKV antiviral drug discovery using both high throughput screens as well as structure-based design based on homology models for the key proteins. We now describe preliminary homology models created for NS5, FtsJ, NS4B, NS4A, HELICc, DEXDc, peptidase S7, NS2B, NS2A, NS1, E stem, glycoprotein M, propeptide, capsid and glycoprotein E using SWISS-MODEL. Eleven out of 15 models pass our model quality criteria for their further use. While a ZIKV glycoprotein E homology model was initially described in the immature conformation as a trimer, we now describe the mature dimer conformer which allowed the construction of an illustration of the complete virion. By comparing illustrations of ZIKV based on this new homology model and the dengue virus crystal structure we propose potential differences that could be exploited for antiviral and vaccine design. The prediction of sites for glycosylation on this protein may also be useful in this regard. While we await a cryo-EM structure of ZIKV and eventual crystal structures of the individual proteins, these homology models provide the community with a starting point for structure-based design of drugs and vaccines as well as a for computational virtual screening.

scholarly journals Surveillance of the major pathogenic arboviruses of public health concern in Gabon, Central Africa: increased risk of West Nile virus and dengue virus infections

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri Ushijima ◽  
Haruka Abe ◽  
Georgelin Nguema Ondo ◽  
Rodrigue Bikangui ◽  
Marguerite Massinga Loembé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Dengue Virus ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Fever Virus ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Virus Infections ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
West Nile

Abstract Background Increasing arbovirus infections have been a global burden in recent decades. Many countries have experienced the periodic emergence of arbovirus diseases. However, information on the prevalence of arboviruses is largely unknown or infrequently updated because of the lack of surveillance studies, especially in Africa. Methods A surveillance study was conducted in Gabon, Central Africa, on arboviruses, which are a major public health concern in Africa, including: West Nile virus (WNV), dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), yellow fever virus (YFV), chikungunya virus (CHIKV), and Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV). Serological and molecular assays were performed to investigate past infection history and the current status of infection, using serum samples collected from healthy individuals and febrile patients, respectively. Results The overall seroprevalence during 2014˗2017 was estimated to be 25.3% for WNV, 20.4% for DENV, 40.3% for ZIKV, 60.7% for YFV, 61.2% for CHIKV, and 14.3% for RVFV. No significant differences were found in the seroprevalence of any of the viruses between the male and female populations. However, a focus on the mean age in each arbovirus-seropositive individual showed a significantly younger age in WNV- and DENV-seropositive individuals than in CHIKV-seropositive individuals, indicating that WNV and DENV caused a relatively recent epidemic in the region, whereas CHIKV had actively circulated before. Of note, this indication was supported by the detection of both WNV and DENV genomes in serum samples collected from febrile patients after 2016. Conclusions This study revealed the recent re-emergence of WNV and DENV in Gabon as well as the latest seroprevalence state of the major arboviruses, which indicated the different potential risks of virus infections and virus-specific circulation patterns. This information will be helpful for public health organizations and will enable a rapid response towards these arbovirus infections, thereby preventing future spread in the country.

scholarly journals Illustrating and homology modeling the proteins of the Zika virus

F1000Research ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Ekins ◽  
John Liebler ◽  
Bruno J. Neves ◽  
Warren G. Lewis ◽  
Megan Coffee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dengue Virus ◽  
Crystal Structures ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Antiviral Drug ◽  
Homology Model ◽  
Glycoprotein E ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Homology Models

The Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus of the familyFlaviviridae, which is similar to dengue virus, yellow fever and West Nile virus. Recent outbreaks in South America, Latin America, the Caribbean and in particular Brazil have led to concern for the spread of the disease and potential to cause Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly. Although ZIKV has been known of for over 60 years there is very little in the way of knowledge of the virus with few publications and no crystal structures. No antivirals have been tested against it eitherin vitroorin vivo. ZIKV therefore epitomizes a neglected disease. Several suggested steps have been proposed which could be taken to initiate ZIKV antiviral drug discovery using both high throughput screens as well as structure-based design based on homology models for the key proteins. We now describe preliminary homology models created for NS5, FtsJ, NS4B, NS4A, HELICc, DEXDc, peptidase S7, NS2B, NS2A, NS1, E stem, glycoprotein M, propeptide, capsid and glycoprotein E using SWISS-MODEL. Eleven out of 15 models pass our criteria for selection. While a ZIKV glycoprotein E homology model was initially described in the immature conformation as a trimer, we now describe the mature dimer conformer which allowed the construction of an illustration of the complete virion. By comparing illustrations of ZIKV based on this new homology model and the dengue virus crystal structure we propose potential differences that could be exploited for antiviral and vaccine design. The prediction of sites for glycosylation on this protein may also be useful in this regard. While we await a cryo-EM structure of ZIKV and eventual crystal structures of the individual proteins, these homology models provide the community with a starting point for structure-based design of drugs and vaccines as well as a for computational virtual screening.

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