PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases最新文献

{"title":"The effects of seasonal human mobility and Aedes aegypti habitat suitability on Zika virus epidemic severity in Colombia.","authors":"Brandon Lieberthal, Brian Allan, Sandra De Urioste-Stone, Andrew Mackay, Aiman Soliman, Shaowen Wang, Allison M Gardner","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012571","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012571","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Zika virus epidemic of 2015-16, which caused over 1 million confirmed or suspected human cases in the Caribbean and Latin America, was driven by a combination of movement of infected humans and availability of suitable habitat for mosquito species that are key disease vectors. Both human mobility and mosquito vector abundances vary seasonally, and the goal of our research was to analyze the interacting effects of disease vector densities and human movement across metapopulations on disease transmission intensity and the probability of super-spreader events. Our research uses the novel approach of combining geographical modeling of mosquito presence with network modeling of human mobility to offer a comprehensive simulation environment for Zika virus epidemics that considers a substantial number of spatial and temporal factors compared to the literature. Specifically, we tested the hypotheses that 1) regions with the highest probability of mosquito presence will have more super-spreader events during dry months, when mosquitoes are predicted to be more abundant, 2) regions reliant on tourism industries will have more super-spreader events during wet months, when they are more likely to contribute to network-level pathogen spread due to increased travel. We used the case study of Colombia, a country with a population of about 50 million people, with an annual calendar that can be partitioned into overlapping cycles of wet and dry seasons and peak tourism and off tourism seasons that drive distinct cyclical patterns of mosquito abundance and human movement. Our results show that whether the first infected human was introduced to the network during the wet versus dry season and during the tourism versus off tourism season profoundly affects the severity and trajectory of the epidemic. For example, Zika virus was first detected in Colombia in October of 2015. Had it originated in January, a dry season month with high rates of tourism, it likely could have infected up to 60% more individuals and up to 40% more super-spreader events may have occurred. In addition, popular tourism destinations such as Barranquilla and Cartagena have the highest risk of super-spreader events during the winter, whereas densely populated areas such as Medellín and Bogotá are at higher risk of sustained transmission during dry months in the summer. Our research demonstrates that public health planning and response to vector-borne disease outbreaks requires a thorough understanding of how vector and host patterns vary due to seasonality in environmental conditions and human mobility dynamics. This research also has strong implications for tourism policy and the potential response strategies in case of an emergent epidemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11540183/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142591688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oro-facial filariasis-A systematic review of the literature.","authors":"Agnesa Bytyqi, Chiara Karas, Klara Pechmann, Michael Ramharter, Johannes Mischlinger","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012610","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012610","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Introduction: &lt;/strong&gt;Filarial pathogens are described to inhabit and affect subcutaneous and lymphatic tissues of the human host. To date, little is known on how much oral health might be affected by filarial infections, even though involvement of the oro-facial region is pathophysiologically possible. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review of the literature to help reduce the current evidence gap. First, we reviewed the existing literature related to oro-facial filariasis and summarized all confirmed cases in detail. Second, we presented the demographic clinical characteristics of published oro-facial filariasis cases using descriptive statistics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;A comprehensive search was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar to identify scholarly articles on oro-facial filariasis (PROSPERO: CRD42024551237). Clinical trial registries of clinicaltrials.gov and the Pan-African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR) were checked for ongoing studies on oro-facial filariasis. From clinical articles on filariasis and oro-facial health, patient-specific information was ascertained such as country of diagnosis, age, sex and symptoms of the patient, location of filarial disease manifestation, filarial worm species diagnosis, main clinical diagnosis, as well as main pathology and lastly therapy. Descriptive statistics were computed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;The systematic search was conducted on 18.06.2024. Initially a total of 1,064 publications was identified. No registered study on oro-facial filariasis was found on large clinical trial registers. After sequentially assessing abstracts and full-texts for eligibility, the analysis population was reduced to 68 articles amounting to 111 cases of oro-facial filariasis. Published articles which were identified and ultimately selected consisted solely of case reports, or case series; not a single epidemiological study was found in the published body of literature. Published data on oro-facial filariasis was identified from as early as 1864 until 2022. The median age of oro-facial filariasis cases was 39 years (range: 1 year to 80 years) and evenly distributed between the two sexes (49% [54/110] female and 51% [56/110]; sex not reported for one case). The vast majority of identified cases was on oro-facial dirofilariasis (92% [102/111]), followed by lymphatic filariasis (2.5% [3/111]), lymphatic filariasis with squamous carcinoma (2.5% [3/111]), and lastly by onchocerciasis (1% [1/111]). Although in 34% (38/111) of articles there was no clear description of the main pathology of oro-facial filariasis, all of the remaining 73 articles described nodules or swellings. Asymptomatic manifestations constituted almost 75% (55/73) and only about 25% (18/73) of articles described a symptomatic case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion: &lt;/strong&gt;Although filarial diseases are to date not generally regarded as being associated with oral health problems this assumption might not be justifi","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11540181/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142591662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Serious adverse events reported with benzimidazole derivatives: A disproportionality analysis from the World Health Organization's pharmacovigilance database.","authors":"Pamella Modingam, Jean-Luc Faillie, Jérémy T Campillo","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012634","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012634","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Benzimidazole derivatives are widely used anthelmintic drugs, particularly in mass campaigns for intestinal parasitosis treatment. Despite their generally good safety profile, serious adverse reactions have been reported. This study aims to identify potential pharmacovigilance signals for benzimidazole derivatives using disproportionality analysis in the WHO database.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>A case/non-case study was conducted using data from the WHO VigiBase database (2000-2023). Cases were individual case safety reports (ICSRs) where at least one suspected serious adverse event of interest was reported, while non-cases were ICSRs reporting any adverse events other than the serious adverse events of interest. Reporting Odds Ratios (RORs) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to assess disproportionate reporting. Analyses were adjusted for potential confounding factors and a sensitivity analysis with imputed missing data was performed.</p><p><strong>Principal findings: </strong>Among 19,068 serious reports analyzed, significant disproportionality signals were found for benzimidazole derivatives compared to other anthelmintic drugs, notably for bone marrow failure and hypoplastic anemia (adjusted ROR 9.44 [5.01-18.9]), serious leukopenia (3.89 [2.64-5.76]), serious hepatic disorders (3.10 [2.59-3.71]), hepatitis (2.88, 95% CI 2.29-3.63) and serious urticaria (2.02, 95% CI 1.36-2.99). We have also highlighted a new signal not mentioned in the summaries of product characteristics for seizures with benzimidazole derivatives. Secondary analysis revealed these signals were primarily reported with albendazole.</p><p><strong>Conclusions/significance: </strong>This study identified potential pharmacovigilance signals for serious hematological and hepatic adverse events for benzimidazole derivatives, particularly albendazole. New signal for benzimidazole derivatives has been described for seizures. These findings underscore the need for vigilant monitoring during benzimidazole derivatives use and warrant further pharmacoepidemiologic studies to confirm these signals and investigate underlying mechanisms.</p>","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142591665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Snake phobia among the general population of Tamil Nadu, India.","authors":"Anika Salim, Gnaneswar Chandrasekharuni, José R Almeida, Rajendran Vaiyapuri, Harry F Williams, Sundhararajan Arumugam, Subramanian Senthilkumaran, Ketan Patel, Timothy Williams, András Norbert Zsidó, Sakthivel Vaiyapuri","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012284","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012284","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>A specific phobia is an anxiety disorder that is characterised by persistent and excessive fear in the presence of the object of the phobia. Animal phobias are the most prevalent forms of specific phobia among humans. Fear of snakes (snake phobia) is present in non-human primates which suggests its evolutionary origins as the ability to detect the threat of snakes was critical for survival. Snake phobia is a critical factor in protecting snakes and mitigating snakebite burden. To date, only one standardised psychometric test [the Snake Questionnaire (SNAQ) developed in 1974] has been used to quantify snake phobia although this was not performed in snakebite-endemic countries. In this study, we aimed to determine snake phobia in India, where snakebites and resulting deaths, disabilities and socioeconomic impacts are high.</p><p><strong>Methodology/principal findings: </strong>A modified version of the SNAQ (i.e. SNAQ12), which has previously demonstrated internal consistency, excellent reliability, and good discrimination between phobics and non-phobics in Europe was used in this study. SNAQ12 was developed both in English and Tamil and validated by testing on several individuals. Then, the final questionnaire was disseminated to members of the public through various methods including social media and in person through academic and clinical organisations. We received a total of 2032 responses, comprising 1086 [53.4%] males and 946 [46.6%] females, and these data were analysed to determine various aspects of snake phobia in the study population.</p><p><strong>Conclusions/significance: </strong>The results demonstrated good internal consistency in using SNAQ12 to determine the phobia amongst the tested population. The data suggests that males are more snake-phobic in all age groups than females in India, in contrast to previous research that suggested that females are usually more snake-phobic. No other critical factors contribute to snake phobia in this study population. The use of the SNAQ12 allowed us to easily discriminate between individuals with phobia and non-clinical controls. This tool can be used as part of the One Health approach to better understand the relationships between snake phobia and snakebites and their impact on the mental health and well-being of vulnerable populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142584790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Buruli ulcer surveillance in south-eastern Australian possums: Infection status, lesion mapping and internal distribution of Mycobacterium ulcerans.","authors":"Emma C Hobbs, Jessica L Porter, Jean Y H Lee, Panayiotis Loukopoulos, Pam Whiteley, Lee F Skerratt, Timothy P Stinear, Katherine B Gibney, Anna L Meredith","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012189","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Buruli ulcer (BU) is a neglected tropical disease of skin and subcutaneous tissues caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. BU-endemic areas are highly focal, and M. ulcerans transmission dynamics vary by setting. In Victoria, Australia, BU is an endemic vector-borne zoonosis, with mosquitoes and native possums implicated in transmission, and humans incidental hosts. Despite the importance of possums as wildlife reservoirs of M. ulcerans, knowledge of BU in these animals is limited. Opportunistic necropsy-based and active trap-and-release surveillance studies were conducted across Melbourne and Geelong, Victoria, to investigate BU in possums. Demographic data and biological samples were collected, and cutaneous lesions suggestive of BU were mapped. Samples were tested for the presence of M. ulcerans DNA by IS2404 qPCR. The final dataset included 26 possums: 20 necropsied; 6 trapped and released. Most possums (77%) were common ringtails from inner Melbourne. Nine had ulcers, ranging from single and mild, to multiple and severe, exposing bones and tendons in three cases. M. ulcerans was confirmed in 73% (19/26) of examined possums: 8 with lesions and 11 without. Oral swabs were most frequently indicative of M. ulcerans infection status. Severely ulcerated possums had widespread systemic internal bacterial dissemination and were shedding M. ulcerans in faeces. The anatomical distribution of ulcers and PCR positivity of biological samples suggests possums may contract BU from bites of M. ulcerans-harbouring mosquitoes, traumatic skin wounds, ingestion of an unknown environmental source, and/or during early development in the pouch. Ringtail possums appear highly susceptible to infection with M. ulcerans and are important bacterial reservoirs in Victoria. Oral swabs should be considered for diagnosis or surveillance of infected possums. A One Health approach is needed to design and implement integrated interventions that reduce M. ulcerans transmission in Victoria, thereby protecting wildlife and humans from this emerging zoonotic disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142584787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of an automated artificial intelligence-based system for urogenital schistosomiasis diagnosis using digital image analysis techniques and a robotized microscope.","authors":"Carles Rubio Maturana, Allisson Dantas de Oliveira, Francesc Zarzuela, Edurne Ruiz, Elena Sulleiro, Alejandro Mediavilla, Patricia Martínez-Vallejo, Sergi Nadal, Tomàs Pumarola, Daniel López-Codina, Alberto Abelló, Elisa Sayrol, Joan Joseph-Munné","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012614","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012614","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Urogenital schistosomiasis is considered a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is estimated to affect 150 million people worldwide, with a high relevance in resource-poor settings of the African continent. The gold-standard diagnosis is still direct observation of Schistosoma haematobium eggs in urine samples by optical microscopy. Novel diagnostic techniques based on digital image analysis by Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are a suitable alternative for schistosomiasis diagnosis.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>Digital images of 24 urine sediment samples were acquired in non-endemic settings. S. haematobium eggs were manually labeled in digital images by laboratory professionals and used for training YOLOv5 and YOLOv8 models, which would achieve automatic detection and localization of the eggs. Urine sediment images were also employed to perform binary classification of images to detect erythrocytes/leukocytes with the MobileNetv3Large, EfficientNetv2, and NasNetLarge models. A robotized microscope system was employed to automatically move the slide through the X-Y axis and to auto-focus the sample.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total number of 1189 labels were annotated in 1017 digital images from urine sediment samples. YOLOv5x training demonstrated a 99.3% precision, 99.4% recall, 99.3% F-score, and 99.4% mAP0.5 for S. haematobium detection. NasNetLarge has an 85.6% accuracy for erythrocyte/leukocyte detection with the test dataset. Convolutional neural network training and comparison demonstrated that YOLOv5x for the detection of eggs and NasNetLarge for the binary image classification to detect erythrocytes/leukocytes were the best options for our digital image database.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The development of low-cost novel diagnostic techniques based on the detection and identification of S. haematobium eggs in urine by AI tools would be a suitable alternative to conventional microscopy in non-endemic settings. This technical proof-of-principle study allows laying the basis for improving the system, and optimizing its implementation in the laboratories.</p>","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142584789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatiotemporal distribution and meteorological factors of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Hubei province.","authors":"Hang Li, Rui Yang, Xuhua Guan, Xiaobo Huang, Honglin Jiang, Liangfei Tan, Jinfeng Xiong, Mingjun Peng, Tianbao Zhang, Xuan Yao","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012498","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a vital rodent-borne disease, and poses a serious public health threat in Hubei province. We aimed to explore the spatiotemporal distribution of HFRS in Hubei province during 2005-2022, and the effects of meteorological factors.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data on HFRS cases at the county level in Hubei province during 2005-2022 were obtained from the Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control Information System. The monthly meteorological data at the city level was extracted from the China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System from 2016 to 2020. Descriptive analyses, joinpoint regression model, spatial correlation analyses, Geodetector model and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model were conducted to investigate the epidemic characteristics, temporal trend, spatial distribution, influencing factors of HFRS and predict its trend.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 6,295 cases were reported in Hubei province during 2005-2022, with an average incidence of 6/1,000,000. Most cases were males (74.52%) and aged 40-69 years (71.87%). The monthly HFRS cases showed two seasonal peaks, which were summer (May to June) and winter (November to December). The HFRS incidence remained fluctuating at a low level during 2005-2015, followed an increasing trend during 2015-2018, and then decreased during 2018-2022. Hotspots were concentrated in the center of Hubei province in all 3 periods, including Qianjiang, Tianmen and some counties from Xiangyang, Jingmen and Jingzhou cities. The distribution of HFRS had a positive association with wind speed, while a \"V\"-shaped correlation with mean temperature, with an explanatory power of 3.21% and 1.03% respectively (both P <0.05). The ARIMA model predicted about 1,223 cases occurred in the next 3 years.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>HFRS cases showed seasonal fluctuation and spatial clustering in Hubei province. Central plain areas showed high risk of HFRS. Wind speed and mean temperature had significant effects on the transmission of HFRS in Hubei province. The results alert health authorities to conduct disease-climate surveillance and comprehensive prevention strategies, especially in high-risk counties.</p>","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142577042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A single dose recombinant AAV based CHIKV vaccine elicits robust and durable protective antibody responses in mice.","authors":"Qin-Xuan Zhu, Ya-Nan Zhang, Hong-Qing Zhang, Chao Leng, Cheng-Lin Deng, Xin Wang, Jia-Jia Li, Xiang-Li Ye, Bo Zhang, Xiao-Dan Li","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012604","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne alphavirus that is responsible for Chikungunya fever, which is characterized by fever, rash, and debilitating polyarthralgia. Since its re-emergence in 2004, CHIKV has continued to spread to new regions and become a severe health threat to global public. Development of safe and single dose vaccines that provide durable protection is desirable to control the spread of virus. The recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors represent promising vaccine platform to provide prolonged protection with a single-dose immunization. In this study, we developed a rAAV capsid serotype 1 vector based CHIKV vaccine and evaluated its protection effect against CHIKV challenge.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>The recombinant AAV1 encoding the full-length structural proteins of CHIKV (named as rAAV1-CHIKV-SP) was generated in vitro by transfecting the plasmids of AAV helper-free system into HEK-293T cells. The safety and immunogenicity of rAAV1-CHIKV-SP were tested in 4-week-old C57BL/6 mice. The antibody responses of the mice receiving prime-boost or single-dose immunization of the vaccine were determined by ELISA and plaque reduction neutralizing test. The immunized mice were challenged with CHIKV to evaluate the protection effect of the vaccine.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The rAAV1-CHIKV-SP showed remarkable safety and immunogenicity in C57BL/6 mice. A single dose intramuscular injection of rAAV1-CHIKV-SP elicited high level and long-lasting antibody responses, and conferred complete protection against a heterologous CHIKV strain challenge. These results suggest rAAV1-CHIKV-SP represents a promising vaccine candidate against different CHIKV clades with a simplified immunization strategy.</p>","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142577001","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phenotypic and molecular characterization of Prototheca wickerhamii from a Brazilian case of human systemic protothecosis.","authors":"Luciana Duarte-Silva, Raquel Vilela, Isabela A Rodrigues, Vanessa C R Magalhães, Marcelo V Caliari, Leonel Mendoza, Adriana Oliveira Costa","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012602","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012602","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The genus Prototheca (alga) comprises a unique group of achlorophyllic saprotrophic and mammalian pathogen species. Despite its rare occurrence in humans and animals, protothecosis is considered an emerging clinical entity with relevance in immunocompromised patients. In this study, the characterization of spherical structures with endospores recovered from a blood culture in an HIV patient was investigated using phenotypic and molecular methodologies. On 2% Sabouraud dextrose agar, the isolate displayed morphological and biochemical characteristics found on isolates identified as Prototheca wickerhamii. To validate these analyses, molecular phylogeny of the internal transcript space (ITS) partial gene confirmed the identity of the isolate as P. wickerhamii. This is the first case of systemic human protothecosis in Brazil. The present case of human Prototheca and those reported in the medical literature highlight the need for novel methodologies to identify pathogenic algae in the clinical laboratory, improving in this way the diagnosis and treatment of this group of neglected pathogens.</p>","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142577041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Variable effects of transient Wolbachia infections on alphaviruses in Aedes aegypti.","authors":"Brittany L Dodson, Sujit Pujhari, Marco Brustolin, Hillery C Metz, Jason L Rasgon","doi":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012633","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pntd.0012633","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wolbachia pipientis (= Wolbachia) has promise as a tool to suppress virus transmission by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. However, Wolbachia can have variable effects on mosquito-borne viruses. This variation remains poorly characterized, yet the multimodal effects of Wolbachia on diverse pathogens could have important implications for public health. Here, we examine the effects of transient somatic infection with two strains of Wolbachia (wAlbB and wMel) on the alphaviruses Sindbis virus (SINV), O'nyong-nyong virus (ONNV), and Mayaro virus (MAYV) in Ae. aegypti. We found variable effects of Wolbachia including enhancement and suppression of viral infections, with some effects depending on Wolbachia strain. Both wAlbB- and wMel-infected mosquitoes showed enhancement of SINV infection rates one week post-infection, with wAlbB-infected mosquitoes also having higher viral titers than controls. Infection rates with ONNV were low across all treatments and no significant effects of Wolbachia were observed. The effects of Wolbachia on MAYV infections were strikingly strain-specific; wMel strongly blocked MAYV infections and suppressed viral titers, while wAlbB had more modest effects. The variable effects of Wolbachia on vector competence underscore the importance of further research into how this bacterium impacts the virome of wild mosquitoes including the emergent human pathogens they transmit.</p>","PeriodicalId":49000,"journal":{"name":"PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142576950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}