Communicable diseases
Liam J. Donaldson, Paul D. Rutter in Donaldsons' Essential Public Health, 2017
Although the natural host for West Nile virus is birds, it is usually transmitted to people and some other mammals (including horses) by mosquitoes. It can also be transmitted from person to person through blood transfusion, organ transplantation, breast milk and laboratory accidents. When illness does occur, it often results in mild flu-like symptoms. Some people develop serious illness, including encephalitis, and among those who do, around 12% die. In affected areas, a number of measures are important in prevention and disease control, including advising the public to cover up at dawn and dusk (when mosquito bites are more common), using skin insect repellents and nets, draining pools of water around houses and yards, environmental control measures (mainly directed at mosquito breeding) and treatment of blood products and restrictions on blood donations.
Hyperkinetic Movement Disorders
Philip B. Gorelick, Fernando D. Testai, Graeme J. Hankey, Joanna M. Wardlaw in Hankey's Clinical Neurology, 2020
Infectious or postinfectious SSPE.Arbovirus encephalitis.Herpes simplex encephalitis.Human T-lymphotropic virus 1.Whipple's disease.West Nile virus encephalitis.Postinfectious encephalopathy.Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.
Out of Nowhere
Rae-Ellen W. Kavey, Allison B. Kavey in Viral Pandemics, 2020
Distribution of West Nile virus is determined by a complex of demographic, environmental, and social factors. Increasing international travel and trade, rising population density, and progressive urbanization have facilitated global spread. Higher temperatures and lower precipitation rates related to climate change have made transmission seasons longer and more intense.31 Following its introduction to the United States in 1999, WNV has caused the three largest arboviral neuroinvasive disease outbreaks ever recorded with nearly 3000 cases each year in 2002, 2003, and 2012. Globally, there has been a continuous increase in WNV cases, most recently in Europe in the summer of 2018.12,32 Now found on every continent except Antarctica, WNV is a major global health problem with – to this time – ongoing, unpredictable regional, national and international outbreaks, no standardized method of prevention, and no effective therapy.
The role of plant expression platforms in biopharmaceutical development: possibilities for the future
Published in Expert Review of Vaccines, 2019
Kathleen L. Hefferon
Similarly, a vaccine against West Nile Virus has been generated in Nicotiana benthamiana plants. West Nile virus is transmitted by mosquitoes and carried often by migrating birds. It infects horses, dogs, and humans, causing symptoms that could be mild or severely neurological. A vaccine for human use currently does not exist [42]. The fact that WNV is a flavivirus, similar to Dengue Fever Virus and West Nile Virus, augments vaccine development, as a vaccine may provoke antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), a serious condition that seriously complicates vaccine use. Lai et al (2018) expressed domain III of the envelope protein of WNV in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves to create a vaccine that when purified, could elicit a highly specific antibody response in inoculated mice [43]. The authors examined whether this WNV plant-made vaccine would provoke an ADE response after subsequent infection by Dengue and Zika viruses. While inoculated mice demonstrated protective immunity against challenge with WNV, no ADE was observed after later challenge with either of the other flaviviruses. This plant-made vaccine therefore offers select advantages over the use of conventional vaccines through its inability to elicit the mechanism of ADE in an animal model. Chen, (2015) explored the economics of mass production of such a plant-made vaccine and found it to be safer, more rapid and affordable compared to a potential conventional human vaccine [44].
Surveillance for Zika in Mexico: naturally infected mosquitoes in urban and semi-urban areas
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2019
Fabián Correa-Morales, Cassandra González-Acosta, David Mejía-Zúñiga, Herón Huerta, Crescencio Pérez-Rentería, Mauricio Vazquez-Pichardo, Aldo I. Ortega-Morales, Luis M. Hernández-Triana, Víctor M. Salazar-Bueyes, Miguel Moreno-García
Four species were reported as infected for the first time: Ae. epactius (Puebla), Cx. erraticus (Chihuahua), Cs. inornata (Mexico City) and Cs. particeps (Mexico City) (Table 1). To our knowledge, this is the first time that these wild-collected species have been found anywhere in the world infected with ZIKV. Despite the low number of tested pools for Cs. particeps, this species showed the highest estimated infection rate (369.49) (Table 2, Supp. Table 1). Culiseta particeps is a common species in Western USA, Northern and central Mexico [15,19,20]. It can feed on both humans and other organisms [21]. This species has tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV) RNA in the United States [22]. Culiseta inornata is a common species in the Nearctic region, including Canada, USA, and Northern and central Mexico [14,15]. Female Cs. inornata seem to prefer to feed on large mammals [14]. Individuals of this species have been found to be infected with Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE), La Crosse virus, Melao virus and WNV [22–24]. In urban and semi-urban areas, larvae of Cs. inornata and Cs. particeps can be found in cemeteries, rain collectors, natural lakes, temporary and permanent ponds, wetlands, streams and water traffic corridors [25].
Neurological manifestations in COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Published in Brain Injury, 2020
Tzy Harn Chua, Zheyu Xu, Nicolas Kon Kam King
Of 15 patients with CSF tested, eight (53.3%) were abnormal (27,28,34,35,37). 25.0% (two out of eight) of the abnormal CSFs had elevated protein levels with normal cell count (27,37). Four (50.0%) out of eight had elevated cell count (28,34,35). One (8.3%) out of 12 CSFs was positive for COVID-19 (28). Four (26.7%) CSFs were sent for bacterial culture and were all negative (30,32,34). CSFs were sent for herpes simplex virus testing in four (26.7%) patients (27,28,30,35) and were all negative. CSF was sent for varicella zoster virus testing in two (13.3%) patients (28,30) and both were negative. One patient (6.7%) (30) was tested for West Nile virus while another patient (6.7%) (27) was tested for cytomegalovirus and respiratory syncytial virus; the CSFs were negative. Two (13.3%) patients were negative for unspecified viral pathogens (34). Oligoclonal bands with the same pattern in serum were reported in two (13.3%) patients (37). Investigation for other sources of pathogen in the CSF was not reported in three studies (29,31,33).
Related Knowledge Centers
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- Zika Virus
- Mosquito
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