Review of digital PCR potential for surveillance of emerging disease from wastewater

Emerging infectious diseases (EID) such as COVID-19 had been widely caused massive impact for all countries in the world. The spreading of pathogens became uncontrolled and unpredictable to overcome this pandemic disease. Some non-waterborne EID also was discovered in wastewater in many countries of the world. Studies showed that digital PCR could become a powerful tool for environmental surveillance. It enables the performance of absolute quantification for nucleic acid with a high inhibitory sample, like wastewater, and potentially possibly detected a tiny quantity of pathogen residue and tracked the infectious diseases that originated from human excretions into sewage. Hopefully, with the development of this method and support of measurement and standardization, it is possible to become an effective method to overcome the digital PCR (dPCR) method challenge for surveillance of disease transmission from wastewater.

High Seropositivity Rate of Neutralizing Antibodies to Astrovirus VA1 in Human Populations

Astroviruses are human pathogens with emerging disease associations, including the recent recognition of their capacity to cause meningoencephalitis. Astrovirus VA1 is the most commonly identified astrovirus genotype from cases of human encephalitis, but it is unknown what percentage of the human population has neutralizing antibodies to VA1.

Human factors in emerging infectious diseases

When the underlying causes and mechanisms of emerging infectious disease problems are studied carefully, human behaviour is often involved. Even more often, the only methods of control or prevention available are to change human behaviour. Several major recent emerging disease problems can be cited. It is sometimes emphasized that it is human carelessness, human excesses, human ignorance or human habits of conquest or leisure which contribute directly to the biological niches that microorganisms are all too capable of exploiting. We must look at ourselves as the engines of microbial opportunism. It is not likely that we will ever conquer the microbial world;we must look instead to control the human factors that contribute to emergence.

Profil dan Prevalensi Blastocystis hominis di Laboratorium Parasitologi Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Kristen Indonesia

Abstrak Blastocystis hominis merupakan emerging disease yang terdistribusi luas di dunia, dengan prevalensi 10% di negara maju hingga 60% di negara berkembang. Perannya sebagai mikroorganisme patogen masih kontroversial. Diduga angka kejadian B. hominis lebih banyak didapatkan pada curah hujan yang rendah dan daerah tropis/ sub-tropis. Penelitian dilakukan untuk mengetahui prevalensi, profil B. hominis di Laboratorium Parasitologi Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Kristen Indonesia, serta hubungan antara angka kejadian infeksi B. hominis dengan curah hujan dan kelembaban pada musim penghujan dan kemarau. Penelitian potong lintang deksriptif berdasarkan data pemeriksaan feses di Laboratorium Parasitologi Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Kristen Indonesia selama 20 tahun sejak Januari 2000 sampai dengan Desember 2019. Sampel feses diperiksa dari sediaan basah dengan pewarnaan eosin dan lugol, dan hasilnya dilaporkan dengan sistem skoring semi kuantitatif. Data curah hujan dan kelembaban didapatkan dari Badan Meteorologi Klimatologi dan Geofisika Stasiun Meteorologi Kemayoran Jakarta.Didapatkan 3270 sampel, dengan hasil sampel positif B. hominissebanyak 440 sampel (14%), Prevalensi pada perempuan lebih tinggi dibandingkan laki-laki dan terbanyak pada kelompok usia 21-60 tahun (67,4%). Persentase tertinggi ditemukan pada feses dengan konsistensi cair. Tidak ditemukan hubungan antara prevalensi infeksi B. hominis dengan curah hujan (P=0,285) dan kelembaban (P=0,204). Kata kunci: prevalensi, konsistensi, curah hujan, kelembaban, musim Profile and Prevalence of Blastocystis hominis at Parasitology Laboratory, Medical Faculty Universitas Kristen Indonesia Abstract Blastocystis hominis is an emerging disease that is widely distributed in the world, with a prevalence of 10% in developed countries to 60% in developing countries. Its role as a pathogen is still controversial. It is suspected that the incidence of B. hominis is mostly found in low rainfall and tropical/ sub-tropical areas. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence and profile of B. hominis in the Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Kristen Indonesia.and the relationship between incidence of B. hominisinfection with rainfall and humidity in the rainy and dry seasons.This descriptive cross-sectional study was based on fecal examination data at the FK UKI Parasitology Laboratory for 20 years. from January 2000 to December 2019. Stool examination was carried out by making eosin and lugol wet preparations to examine intestinal protozoa, and the results were reported using a semi-quantitative scoring system.Rainfall and humidity data are obtained from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency of the Stasiun MeteorologiKemayoran, Jakarta. As many as3270 samples were obtained, feses with B. hominis positive results was 440 samples (14%). Based on gender, 53.1% of B. hominisinfected were women and most patients were found in the age range from 21 to 60 years (67.4%). The highest percentage was found in watery stool. There was no statistically significant between the prevalence of B. hominis infection with rainfall (p= 0.285) and humidity (p= 0.204). Key words: prevalence, consistency, rainfall, humidity, season

Case series of four secondary mucormycosis infections in COVID-19 patients, the Netherlands, December 2020 to May 2021

We describe four secondary fungal infections caused by Mucorales species in COVID-19 patients. Three COVID-19 associated mucormycosis (CAM) occurred in ICU, one outside ICU. All were men aged > 50 years, three died. Clinical presentations included pulmonary, rhino-orbital cerebral and disseminated infection. Infections occurred in patients with and without diabetes mellitus. CAM is an emerging disease and our observations underscore the need to be aware of invasive mucormycosis, including in COVID-19 patients without (poorly controlled) diabetes mellitus and outside ICU.