In optimally treated CAD patients influenza vaccination improves the clinical course of CAD and reduces the frequency of coronary ischaemic events. Large-scale studies are warranted to evaluate the effect of influenza vaccination on cardiovascular mortality. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT 00371098).
Clinicians often do not consider the presence of more than one viral etiologic agent in respiratory infection, and in many cases they order diagnostics for influenza viruses or recently even only for A(H1N1)2009 virus. However, in a substantial number of patients with a respiratory tract disease, co-infection with various viral pathogens has been confirmed. Although the association between the occurrence of co-infection and substantially higher severity of disease is still unclear, a rapid and proper diagnostics of wide spectrum of viral respiratory pathogens reveals an accurate picture of the disease and is essential for appropriate therapeutic management and control of infection. In the present study we reported five cases of multiple respiratory infection in hospitalized immunosuppressed patients: two double infections with influenza virus (IV) type A/respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) type A and IV type A/coronavirus (CoV) OC43, one infection with four viruses - IV type A/RSV type A and B/CoV OC43, and two cases of mixed infections caused by five viral agents - IV type A and B/RSV type A and B/ parainfluenza type 3 or CoV OC43. Each patient had an underlying chronic disease and received immunosuppressive treatment. Despite a low number of tested specimens, our study shows that the inclusions of multiplex PCR methods for diagnostics of respiratory tract infections and the extension of diagnostic strategies by clinicians to detect viruses other than influenza are very important and make a contribution to identifying the true rate of co-infections and their correlation with the clinical symptoms and severity of disease.
The objective of this study is to evaluate efficacy and safety of influenza vaccine in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. We studied SLE patients and healthy subjects immunised with inactivated influenza vaccine. Efficacy was measured by comparing humoral response to vaccine antigens between groups. Safety was monitored by SLEDAI and serological markers. Subjects attended visits at baseline and on post-vaccination weeks 4 and 12. We enrolled 62 SLE patients and 47 healthy subjects. In post-immunisation week 4, anti-haemagglutinin antibody titres rose in the patient group at least 6.23-fold, compared to 11.90-fold among controls (P < or = 0.05). The seroconversion rate range was 53-56% among patients and 72-85% among controls (P < 0.05 for strains H1N1 and H3N2, NS for strain type B). The seroprotection rate ranged between 62% and 73% and between 90% and 98% in the patient and control group, respectively (P < 0.05). In post-vaccination week 12, the antibody titre was higher at least 3.86-fold in the patient group and 7.65-fold among controls. The seroconversion rate range was 32-40% among patients and 64-70% among controls, while the seroprotection rate ranged between 43% and 50% and between 79% and 94%, respectively (P < 0.005 for three strains). We identified one severe and six mild to moderate SLE exacerbations by week 12. The anti-nuclear antibodies and anti-double-stranded DNA titres grew by post-immunisation week 4 (P < 0.05). The post-vaccination response was weaker in SLE patients compared to healthy subjects. Immunisation did not change underlying disease activity.
Key words: Pisum sativum L., pea seeds, p o l y s o m e stability, c y t o s k e l e t o n -m e m b r a n e -b o u n d p o l ysomes, germination, abscisic acid AbstractThe influence of abscisic acid (ABA) on the processes of for= mation of different polysomal populations, their structures and stability in embryonal tissue during pea seeds germination was studied. The contents of total ribosomal fraction increased in all samples up to72 h of germination and then decreased. The contents of polysomal population (FP, MBP, CBP and CMBP) extracted from the embryonal tissue after 72 hrs of germination of pea seeds were then quantified. It turned out that in examined tissue of control sample, fraction of free polysomes (FP) was the most abounded. This population of polysomes in sprouts decreased after ABA treatment. FP content decreased even more when the higher ABA concentration was applied during germination. Similar changes were observed in the fraction of membrane-bound polysomes (MBP). Quite different tendencies were found, however, in forming population of the cytoskeleton-membrane-bound polysomes (CMBP). The CMBP population content in embryonal tissue increased in a dosage dependent manner with increasing concentration of ABA applied during seed germination. This indicates the important role of CMBP fraction in synthesis of specific proteins in embryos in the time when processes of seeds germination are retarded by ABA. In the final part we examined the stability of polysomes isolated from sprouts of germinating seeds in water and sprouts isolated from seeds treated with ABA (100 laM) during germination. Total polysomes isolated from embryonal tissue of germinating seeds treated with ABA showed much higher resistance to exogenous ribonuclease digestion than total polysomes of control sample. The obtained results suggest that ABA influence on different polysomal population formation also controls their stability. List of abbreviations:A B A -abscisic acid, C B Pc y t o s k e l e t o n -b o u n d polysomes, C M B P -cytoskel e t o n -m e m b r a n e -b o u n d p o l y s o m e s , E
Mixed infections of a single host with different variants of influenza
This study presents epidemiological and clinical data on non-sentinel patients considered by physicians as suspected to be infected with pandemic A(H1N1)2009 virus, from whom clinical specimens were sent for testing to the National Influenza Center, NIPH-NIH in Warsaw, Poland. Between April 28, 2009 and August 10, 2010, 988 (15.7%) out of the 6,311 specimens were tested by the National Influenza Center, including 798 from non-sentinel sources and 190 from sentinel influenza surveillance network. The non-sentinel specimens were tested by conventional RT-PCR to detect influenza A and in the case of positive specimens - one-step real-time RT-PCR to detect the pandemic virus A(H1N1)2009. In 145 (18.2%) cases, infections with the pandemic virus were confirmed, with the highest number in patients aged 15-25. In 45% of the confirmed cases, a history of travel to other countries was registered. The most common symptoms were fever ≥38°C (72.7%), cough (50%), sore throat, and myalgia (26.1%). In 40.7% of the swabbed patients, clinical and epidemiological criteria for the novel influenza A(H1N1)2009, set by the European Commission, were met. There were, however, specimens from persons without any reasonable indication for testing for the pandemic virus, specimens collected incorrectly, and documentation without basic information. These weaknesses resulted in unnecessary costs and overload of health care units. An improvement should be achieved in the area of communication between different pandemic players in the future. More attention is also needed to ensure that requirements and recommendations are known and used.
Respiratory viruses contribute to significant morbidity and mortality in healthy and immunocompromised individuals and are considered as a significant economic burden in the healthcare system. The similar clinical symptoms in the course of different viral and bacterial respiratory infections make the proper diagnosis difficult. An accurate and prompt diagnostics is crucial for infection control and patient management decisions, especially regarding the use of antibacterial or antiviral therapy and hospitalization. Moreover, the identification of the causative agent eliminates inappropriate use of antibiotics and may reduce the cost of healthcare. A wide variety of diagnostic procedures is applied for the detection of viral agents responsible for respiratory tract infections. For many years, the viral antigen detection and standard isolation technique in cell culture was the main method used in routine diagnostics. However, in recent years the nucleic acid amplification techniques have become widely used and have significantly improved the sensitivity of viral detection in clinical specimens. Molecular diagnostic assays have contributed to revealing high rates of co-infection (multiplex reactions) and allow identification of agents that are difficult to culture. This paper discusses a number of technical aspects of the current most commonly used techniques, their general principles, main benefits and diagnostic value, but also some of their limitations.
This study was performed to develop real-time PCR (qPCR) for detection of human seasonal and avian influenza viruses in duplex format. First duplex qPCR detects haemagglutinin (HA) gene of influenza virus A(H1N1)pdm09 and HA gene of influenza virus A(H3N2), the second reaction detects neuraminidase (NA) gene of influenza virus A(H3N2) and NA gene of influenza virus A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H5N1), and the third reaction detects HA gene of influenza A(H5N1) and nonstructural protein gene of influenza B virus. Primers and probes were designed using multiple alignments of target gene sequences of different reference strains. Assays were optimised for identical thermocycling conditions. Their specificity was confirmed by conventional PCR and monoplex qPCR with nucleic acids isolated from different influenza viruses and other respiratory pathogens. Plasmid constructs with a fragment of specific gene were used to assess sensitivity of the assay. The limit of detection ranged from 27 to 96 cDNA copies/reaction. Clinical specimens (n = 107) have been tested using new assays, immunofluorescence and monoplex qRT-PCR. It has been shown that developed assays have been capable of rapid and accurate simultaneous detection and differentiation of influenza viruses. They are more sensitive than immunofluorescence and at least as sensitive as monoplex qRT-PCR.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.