Dengue Virus

The entry of dengue virus-1 (DENV-1) strain Hawaii into mosquito C6/36 cells was analyzed using a variety of biochemical inhibitors together with electron microscopy. The treatment with ammonium chloride, chlorpromazine, dansylcadaverine and dynasore inhibited virus yields, determined by infectivity titrations, whereas nystatin and methyl-␤-cyclodextrin did not have any effect. The effect of the clathrin and dynamin inhibitors on DENV-1 entry was corroborated by detection of internalized virions using immunofluorescence staining. Furthermore, electron micrographs showed the incoming virions attached to electron-dense invaginations of the plasma membrane and within coated vesicles that resembled clathrin-coated pits and vesicles, respectively. The susceptibility to clathrin and dynamin inhibitors of clinical isolates from recent outbreaks was comparable to that shown by the cell culture-adapted reference strain. Similarly, DENV-3 strain H87 and DENV-4 strain 8124 were also inhibited in the presence of ammonium chloride, chlorpromazine and dynasore, allowing conclude that the infectious entry of DENV serotypes to mosquito cells occurs by low pH-dependent clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

Sinopsis.
Frecuentemente nos llegan noticias sobre la aparición de nuevas infecciones virales: un nuevo virus de la gripe H7N9 en China, una nueva cepa de coronavirus en Oriente Medio; fiebres tropicales y dengue en el sur de Europa, brotes del virus del Nilo Occidental en EE.UU., Síndrome Respiratorio Agudo y Severo (SARS), Ébola en África, gripe aviar H5N1, gripe porcina en México, SIDA, Chikungunya… Se calcula que la denominada gripe española de 1918 causó más de 25 millones de muertos. Desde que se descubrió el primer caso de SIDA en 1981, ha habido unos 60 millones de personas infectadas de las cuales más de 20 millones han muerto.
¿Qué tienen en común todas estas infecciones?: Que han sido causadas por un virus. Hoy en día, en pleno siglo XXI, ¿puede un virus cambiar el mundo?, ¿puede haber una nueva epidemia mundial?, ¿por qué surgen nuevas infecciones virales?
En este curso se explica qué es un virus, cómo se trasmiten, cuál es el origen del virus del SIDA y de cómo se originan los nuevos virus de la gripe. Se habla del Ébola, la rabia y el Chikungunya. Vemos cómo se puede trabajar con virus y cómo podemos controlarlos. Todo ello con los últimos avances científicos en virología. Se contestan a estas y otras preguntas en un lenguaje científico pero muy divulgativo.

Dengue has been as an endemic with year-round presence in Singapore. In the recent years 2013, 2014, and 2016, there were several severe dengue outbreaks, posing serious threat to the public health. To proactively control and mitigate the disease spread, early warnings of dengue outbreaks, at which there are rapid and large-scale spread of dengue incidences, are extremely helpful. In this study, a two-step framework is proposed to predict dengue outbreaks and it is evaluated based on the dengue incidences in Singapore during 2012 to 2017. First, a generalized additive model (GAM) is trained based on the weekly dengue incidence data during 2006 to 2011. The proposed GAM is a one-week-ahead forecasting model, and it inherently accounts for the possible correlation among the historical incidence data, making the residuals approximately normally distributed. Then, an exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart is proposed to sequentially monitor the weekly residuals during 2012 to 2017. Our investigation shows that the proposed two-step framework is able to give persistent signals at the early stage of the outbreaks in 2013, 2014, and 2016, which provides early alerts of outbreaks and wins time for the early interventions and the preparation of necessary public health resources. In addition, extensive simulations show that the proposed method is comparable to other potential outbreak detection methods and it is robust to the underlying data-generating mechanisms.

Individuals belonging to five families, 12 genera, and 19 different species of bats from dengue endemic areas in the Gulf and Pacific coasts of Mexico were examined by ELISA, RT-PCR, and for the presence of dengue virus (DV) NS1 protein. Nine individuals from four species were seropositive by ELISA : three insectivorous, Myotis nigricans (four positives/12 examined), Pteronotus parnellii (3/19), and Natalus stramineus (1/4), and one frugivorous Artibeus jamaicensis (1/35) (12 . 86 % seroprevalence in positive species). DV serotype 2 was detected by RT-PCR in four samples from three species (all from the Gulf coast -rainy season) : two frugivorous, A. jamaicensis (2/9), and Carollia brevicauda (1/2), and one insectivorous, M. nigricans (1/11). The latter was simultaneously positive for NS1 protein. DV RT-PCR positive animals were all antibody seronegative. M. nigricans showed positive individuals for all three tests. This is the first evidence suggesting the presence of DV in bats from Mexico.

Background
Metadichol (1,2) is a Nano emulsion of long-chain alcohols found in many foods. It is commonly called as Policosanols. It is present in many foods like rice, sugar cane, wheat, peanuts. (3) .  It acts on Nuclear Vitamin D receptor (VDR) (2) and these are present in cells throughout the body and stimulate the immune system and inhibit a variety of disease processes, including those resulting from viral infections. (4).
Methods
We had two patients diagnosed with Dengue Fever in SE Asia who volunteered to be treated with Metadichol®. Based on the positive outcome, we then tested for antiviral activity of Metadichol® in Vero and MDCK cells infected with Dengue, Ebola, Marburg, Influenza A (H1N1), Chikungunya and Human Respiratory Syncytial viruses. In addition, we tested the efficacy of Metadichol® in preventing cell death caused by Adenovirus, Tacaribe Mammarena virus, Rift Valley Fever virus, SARS coronavirus, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, and Yellow Fever virus.
Findings
Metadichol rapidly helped the two dengue patients with declining platelets to fully recover from Dengue Fever within a few days. In the in vitro assays, Metadichol showed no cytotoxicity and strongly inhibited cell death caused by each of the viruses tested.
Interpretation
Metadichol is a safe and effective inhibitor of enveloped viruses in humans. Since it is known to bind to the vitamin D receptor (VDR) (2), its mechanism of action likely involves the competitive displacement of virus particles from VDR’s on host cell membranes. Metabolism studies of long chain alcohol in fibroblasts suggest that very long chain fatty alcohols, fatty aldehydes, and fatty acids are reversibly interconverted in a fatty alcohol cycle. (3). Because it consists of natural components of common foods and has no known negative side effects,

A multicenter effort was begun in 1994 to characterize the pathophysiology of dengue using a study design that minimized patient selection bias by offering enrollment to all children with undifferentiated fever for õ72 h. In the first year, 189 children were enrolled (age range, 8 months to 14 years). Thirty-two percent of these children had dengue infections (60 volunteers). The percentage of children with a secondary dengue infection was 93%, with only 4 (7%) having a primary dengue infection. The virus isolation rate from the plasma of children with dengue was 98%. Viremia correlated highly with temperature. All four dengue virus serotypes were isolated at both study sites. This study demonstrates that all four serotypes of dengue virus can cause dengue hemorrhagic fever, that all dengue patients as defined by serology experience viremia during the febrile phase, and that as fever subsides, so does viremia.

The weekly number of dengue cases in Peru, South America, stratified by province for the period 1994-2006 were analysed in conjunction with associated demographic, geographic and climatological data. Estimates of the reproduction number, moderately correlated with population size (Spearman r=0. 28, P=0. 03), had a median of 1. 76 (IQR 0. 83-4. 46). The distributions of dengue attack rates and epidemic durations follow power-law (Pareto) distributions (coefficient of determination >85%, P<0. 004). Spatial heterogeneity of attack rates was highest in coastal areas followed by mountain and jungle areas. Our findings suggest a hierarchy of transmission events during the large 2000-2001 epidemic from large to small population areas when serotypes DEN-3 and DEN-4 were first identified (Spearman r=x0. 43, P=0. 03). The need for spatial and temporal dengue epidemic data with a high degree of resolution not only increases our understanding of the dynamics of dengue but will also generate new hypotheses and provide a platform for testing innovative control policies.

In a randomized, placebo-controlled, monocenter, observer blinded study conducted in an area where dengue is endemic, we assessed the safety and immunogenicity of a recombinant, live, attenuated, tetravalent dengue vaccine candidate (CYD-TDV) in 2-11 year-olds with varying levels of pre-existing yellow-fever immunity due to vaccination 1-7 years previously. 199 children received 3 injections of CYD-TDV (months 0, 6 and 12) and 99 received placebo (months 0 and 6) or pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (month 12). One month after the third dengue vaccination, serotype specific neutralizing antibody GMTs were in the range of 178-190 (1/dil) (versus 16.7-38.1 in the control group), a 10-20 fold-increase from baseline, and 94% of vaccines were seropositive to all four serotypes (versus 39% in the control group). There were no vaccine-related SAEs. The observed reactogenicity profile was consistent with phase I studies, with severity grade 1-2 injection site pain, headache, malaise and fever most frequently reported and no increase after subsequent vaccinations. Virologically confirmed dengue cases were seen after completion of the 3 doses: 1 in the CYD-TDV group (N = 199), and 3 in the control group (N = 99). A 3-dose regimen of CYD-TDV had a good safety profile in 2-11 year olds with a history of YF vaccination and elicited robust antibody responses that were balanced against the four serotypes.

Dengue is a pantropic public health problem. In children, dengue shock syndrome (DSS) is the most common life-threatening complication. The ability to predict which patients may develop DSS may improve triage and treatment. To this end, we conducted a nested case-control comparison of the early host transcriptional features in 24 DSS patients and 56 sex-, age-, and virus serotype-matched uncomplicated (UC) dengue patients. In the first instance, we defined the "early dengue" profile. The transcriptional signature in acute rather than convalescent samples (<72 h post-illness onset) was defined by an overabundance of interferoninducible transcripts (31% of the 551 overabundant transcripts) and canonical gene ontology terms that included the following: response to virus, immune response, innate immune response, and inflammatory response. Pathway and network analyses identified STAT1, STAT2, STAT3, IRF7, IRF9, IRF1, CEBPB, and SP1 as key transcriptional factors mediating the early response. Strikingly, the only difference in the transcriptional signatures of early DSS and UC dengue cases was the greater abundance of several neutrophilassociated transcripts in patients who progressed to DSS, a finding supported by higher plasma concentrations of several canonical proteins associated with neutrophil degranulation (bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein [BPI], elastase 2 [ELA2], and defensin 1 alpha [DEF1A]). Elevated levels of neutrophil-associated transcripts were independent of the neutrophil count and also of the genotype of the infecting virus, as genome-length sequences of dengue virus serotype 1 (DENV-1) (n ‫؍‬ 15) and DENV-2 (n ‫؍‬ 3) sampled from DSS patients were phylogenetically indistinguishable from those sampled from uncomplicated dengue patients (32 DENV-1 and 9 DENV-2 sequences). Collectively, these data suggest a hitherto unrecognized association between neutrophil activation, pathogenesis, and the development of DSS and point to future strategies for guiding prognosis.

A previously healthy 11-month-old girl presented with fever and rash for 6 days. Physical examination revealed an irritable infant with a high fever, injected conjunctivae, red cracked lips, posterior auricular lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly, generalized erythematous maculopapular rash and petechial hemorrhage on trunk, face and extremities. Complete blood count showed atypical lymphocytosis and thrombocytopenia. Dengue infection was initially diagnosed. The persistent fever and clinical manifestations of Kawasaki disease (KD) were observed on day 8 with high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (56 mm/hr). Treatment of KD included intravenous immunoglobulin on day 9 of the illness. Desquamation of the fingers was found on day 15 of the illness. Ectasia of left coronary artery with small aneurysmal dilatation was detected by echocardiography on day 15 of the illness. Hemagglutination-inhibition test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for dengue virus eventually showed a four-fold rising...

The identification of cell types replicating dengue viruses is an important step towards the understanding of the pathophysiology of dengue severe forms. Since the detection of negative strand viral RNAs is the more reliable marker of active replication for single-strand positive sense RNA viruses, we reassessed the specificity of RT-PCR assays already developed to detect dengue negative strand RNAs. Studying mammalian Vero cells infected by a dengue-2 strain, it was shown that falsely-primed cDNAs are generated in vitro during the reverse transcription step and are amplified subsequently by PCR. Since this may compromise the specificity of existing RT-PCR systems, we developed a tagged RT-PCR assay and addressed the role of some critical factors in such a system. Optimization of the negative strand-specific tagged RT-PCR allowed to resolve the problems due to the PCR amplification of falsely-primed cDNAs. Using this assay it was possible to detect specifically negative strand RNAs as soon as 3 h after Vero cells have been exposed to the dengue-2 strain and we showed that this system is highly specific. Thus, the present dengue negative strand-specific tagged RT-PCR assay may help to reassess viral replication in the context of dengue pathophysiology.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is a major public health problem worldwide. In 2004, the Pediatric Dengue Cohort Study was established in Managua, Nicaragua, to study the natural history and transmission of dengue in children. Here, the authors describe the study design, methods, and results from 2004 to 2008. Initially, 3,721 children 2-9 years of age were recruited through door-to-door visits. Each year, new children aged 2 years are enrolled in the study to maintain the age structure. Children are provided with medical care through the study, and data from each medical visit are recorded on systematic study forms. All participants presenting with suspected dengue or undifferentiated fever are tested for dengue by virologic, serologic, and molecular biologic assays. Yearly blood samples are collected to detect inapparent dengue virus infections. Numerous information and communications technologies are used to manage study data, track samples, and maintain quality control, including personal data assistants, barcodes, global information systems, and fingerprint scans. Close collaboration with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health and use of almost entirely local staff are essential components for success. This study is providing critical data on the epidemiology and transmission of dengue in the Americas needed for future vaccine trials.

Dengue is the most important mosquito-borne disease in the Philippines, especially in Metropolitan Manila where communities are socially and economically diverse, and city governments struggle to provide basic services such as continuously available, piped water supply to residents. We examined responses to introducing water container management to control dengue vectors in two diverse communities in Masagana City: Village A (gated community) and Village B (informal settlers community). The roll out of the intervention was carried out by the study team, dengue control personnel and local health workers (BHWs). A behavioural change framework was used to describe the community responses to the introduction of a new vector control intervention - household water container management. Although, the desired outcome was not achieved during the study&#39;s timeline, observation on processes of behaviour change underscored the importance of understanding the social nature of the urban commun...

Dengue, the most prevalent arthropod-borne viral disease of humans, is caused by four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV 1-4). Although all four DENV serotypes cause a range of illness, defining precisely which clinical characteristics are associated with the distinct serotypes has been elusive. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 984 and 313 hospitalized children with confirmed DENV infections during two time periods, respectively, in the same hospitals in Nicaragua: a 3-year period (1999-2001) when DENV-2 accounted for 96% of the viruses identified, and the 2003 dengue season when DENV-1 predominated (87% of identified serotypes). When the two periods were compared, more shock (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.35-2.71) and internal hemorrhage (OR 2.05, CI 1.16-3.78) were observed in the period when DENV-2 predominated, whereas increased vascular permeability was associated to a greater degree with the DENV-1 period (OR 2.36, CI 1.80-3.09). Compared with the DENV-2 period, the DENV-1 season was...

Dengue fever, chikungunya fever, and zika virus infections are increasing public health problems in the world, the last two diseases having recently emerged in Brazil. This ecological study employed spatial analysis of probable cases of dengue fever, chikungunya fever, and zika virus infections reported to the National Mandatory Reporting System (SINAN) in Maranhao State from 2015 to 2016. The software GeoDa version 1.10 was used for calculating global and local Moran indices. The global Moran index identified a significant autocorrelation of incidence rates of dengue (I=0.10; p=0.009) and zika (I=0.07; p=0.03). The study found a positive spatial correlation between dengue and the population density (I=0.31; p&lt;0.001) and a negative correlation with the Performance Index of Unified Health System (PIUHS) by basic care coverage (I=-0.08; p=0.01). Regarding chikungunya fever, there were positive spatial correlations with the population density (I=0.06; p=0.03) and the Municipal Human...

Dengue caused by the dengue virus (DENV) is a severe health problem in tropical regions such as Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. Indonesian have used rhizome as traditional medicine for 1300 years. This study investigated the compounds from Kaempferia galanga, Curcuma longa, Zingiber officinale, Curcuma aeruginosa, Curcuma zanthorrhiza, Alpinia galanga, and Allium sativum as antivirals agents, explicitly targeting the DENV envelope protein to inhibit viral fusion. This study involved 121 bioactive compounds and DENV2's prefusion envelope protein. The virtual screening and molecular docking were done through occupied the Lipinski rule of five checker (http://www.scfbio-iitd.res.in/software/ drugdesign/lipinski.jsp) and AutoDock Vina (https://pyrx.sourceforge.io/) respectively. The top nine compounds with the strongest binding affinity were galangin, kampferide, demetoxy curcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin, β-selinene, 6-(hydroxymethyl)-1,4,4-trimethylbicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-2-ol, piperine, estra-1,3, 5(10)-trien-17β-ol, and curcumin. These compounds' affinity values were significantly lower, around 45-62%, than chloroquine. Most of them interact with the kl hairpin and hydrophobic pocket formed by residues Val130, Leu135, Phe193, Leu198, and Phe279of critical domains that can interfere with the conformational change and rearrangement of protein dimer in the post-fusion stage. This study suggested that the galangin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin are considered the most potential compounds to be developed as anti-prefusion E DENV2 low-affinity and intense interaction with those.

Background: The increased traveling to dengue endemic regions and the numerous epidemics have led to a rise in imported dengue. The laboratory diagnosis of acute dengue requires several types of tests and often paired samples are needed for obtaining reliable results. Although several diagnostic methods are available, proper comparative data on their performance are lacking. Objectives: To compare the performance of novel methods including a novel pan-DENV real-time RT-PCR and a commercially available NS1 capture-EIA in regard to IgM detection for optimizing the early diagnosis of DENV in travelers. Study design: A panel of 99 selected early phase serum samples of dengue patients was studied by realtime RT-PCR, NS1 antigen ELISA, IgM-EIA, IgG-IFA and cell culture virus isolation. Results: The novel real-time RT-PCR was shown specific and sensitive for detection of DENV-1-4 RNA and suitable for diagnostic use. The diagnostic rate using combination of RNA and IgM detection was 99% and using NS1 and IgM detection 95.9%. The results of RNA and NS1 antigen detection disagreed in 15.5% of samples that had only RNA or NS1 antigen detected. Conclusions: The diagnostic rates of early samples are higher when either RNA or NS1 antigen detection is combined with IgM detection. Besides the differences in the RNA and NS1 detection assays, the observed discrepancy of results could suggest individual variation or differences in timing of these markers in patient serum.

Camino Verde (the Green Way) is an evidence-based community mobilisation tool for prevention of dengue and other mosquito-borne viral diseases. Its effectiveness was demonstrated in a cluster-randomised controlled trial conducted in 2010-2013 in Nicaragua and Mexico. The Nicaraguan arm of the trial was preceded, from 2004 to 2008, by a feasibility study that provided valuable lessons and trained facilitators for the trial itself. Here, guided by the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR), we describe the Camino Verde intervention in Nicaragua, presenting its rationale, its time and location, activities, materials used, the main actors, modes of delivery, how it was tailored to encourage community engagement, modifications made from the feasibility study to the trial itself, and how fidelity to the process originally designed was maintained. We also present information on costs and discuss the place of this study within the literature on implementation science...

With the proliferation of smart phone users, android malware variants is increasing in terms of numbers and amount of new victim android apps. The traditional malware detection focuses on repackage, obfuscate and/or other transformable executable code from malicious apps. This paper presented a case study on existing android malware detection through a sequence of steps and well developed encoding SMS message. Our result has demonstrated a solid testify of our approach in the effectiveness of malware detection and  removal.

Seventy years after its discovery, the zika virus emerged in Brazil and spread rapidly throughout the Americas, bringing unusual complications such as microcephaly. The World Health Organization classifies zika as the most harmful viral disease today and considers the development of new diagnostic methods for zika and related diseases, such as dengue, urgent. Although there are tests to identify both infections, current diagnostic methods are slow, nonspecific, and costly. This study describes an impedimetric electrochemical DNA biosensor for labelfree detection of zika virus. Disposable electrodes were fabricated by thermal evaporation on polyethylene terephthalate substrates covered with a nanometric gold layer manufactured in three-contact configurations. The disposable, evaporated electrodes were morphologically characterized by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The electrode surface was characterized by electroanalytical techniques. Genetic sequences of primers and complementary capture probes were designed based on analysis of the zika and dengue virus genomes. The biosensor used a three-contact electrode to identify DNA sequences in a drop of sample, and for detection of zika virus sequences, it allowed for direct reading of the hybridization event without labeling on disposable electrodes and with a 1.5 h response time. In this system, impedance measurements indicated a limit of detection of 25.0 ± 1.7 nM. The developed biosensors showed selectivity for zika in the synthetic DNA assays, and therefore, are promising for clinical analysis.

Background: Dengue is the most important vector-borne disease in many different parts of the world and is expanding into other areas of the globe without hindrance. The morbidity and mortality due to dengue complications are increasing globally at an alarming rate. Although transmission of the dengue virus has been documented in well-characterized areas of Pakistan, its incidence in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa has not been characterized. To address this issue we aimed to determine the seroprevalence of dengue (IgM and IgG) antibodies and the disease symptoms in the population of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, and to investigate the incidence of dengue fever in different seasons and in urban as well as in rural areas. Methods: From August to October 2011, data of suspected dengue patients were collected from different primary, secondary, and tertiary collection centers situated in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa in order to determine the actual seroprevalence of dengue antibodies (IgM and IgG) in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. Results: A total 612 subjects with a suspected infection were enrolled in our study. Of the 612 suspected cases, 319 were found positive for dengue IgG, IgM, or both IgG and IgM. The overall weighted prevalence of dengue-specific antibodies (IgM and/or IgG) was 52.12%. Overall, of the 52.12%, 31.86% (95% confidence interval (CI) 28.17-35.55) were positive for dengue IgM and 20.26% (95% CI 17.03-23.39) were positive for dengue IgG. Only 23 (3.75%) samples showed both IgG and IgM antibodies. A higher prevalence of IgM (39.35%, 95% CI 32.84-45.86) and IgG (22.42%, 95% CI 16.86-27.98) antibodies was found in the age group 21-30 years as compared to the children age group ( 10 years) and the oldest age group (!51 years). The mean age of the febrile cohort was 53.16 AE 44.22 years, ranging from 4 to 85 years. Age group was not statistically associated with IgM (p = 0.64) or IgG (p = 0.49) positivity. A higher seroprevalence of IgM (37.24%, 95%CI 32.84-45.86) was observed in males as compared to females (IgM 17.88%, 95% CI 11.11-24.65) while higher seroprevalnce of IgG (22.76%, 95% CI 15.35-30.17) was seen in females as compared to males (IgG 17.58%, 95% CI 14.21-20.95). Gender was not significantly associated with IgM (p = 0.06) or IgG (p = 0.53) positivity. Dengue IgM (35.38%, 95% CI 38.61-62.91) and IgG (50.76%, 95% CI 38.61-62.91) were higher in patients who had a history of travel to a dengue endemic area as compared to those who did not (IgM 33%, 95% CI 29.06-36.94, and IgG 15%, 95% CI 12.01-17.99). History of travel to an endemic area was significantly associated with IgM (p = 0.023) and IgG (p = 0.041) positivity. A higher incidence of IgM (41.13%, 95% CI 35.55-46.71) and IgG (27.42%,) was observed in urban areas than in rural areas (IgM 23%, and IgG 13.41%,). IgM (p = 0.0005) and IgG (p = 0.0007) positivity was significantly associated with area of residence. Symptoms including fever (p = 0.007), headache (p = 0.001), Skin rash (0.005), joint pain (0.004) and Fatigue were significantly linked to dengue fever. IgM and IgG antibodies were more frequently seen in the post-monsoon season (68.33%) than in the monsoon period (31.68%). The death ratio in the overall weighted prevalence was 2.19%. Conclusion: The results of the present cohort study of febrile subjects show that young people and males are more susceptible to dengue fever. Dengue infection was most prominent in the post-monsoon season, in urban areas, and in patients with a history of travel to an endemic locality. Furthermore seven deaths were found in our cohort study.

Early diagnosis of dengue virus (DENV) infection represents a key factor in preventing clinical complications attributed to the disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the amplification efficiencies of an in-house quantitative real time-PCR (qPCR) assay of DENV, using the non-structural conserved genomic region protein-5 (NS5) versus two genomic regions usually employed for virus detection, the capsid/pre-membrane region (C-prM) and the 3&#39;-noncoding region (3&#39;NC). One-hundred sixty seven acute phase serum samples from febrile patients were used for validation purposes. Results showed that the three genomic regions had similar amplification profiles and correlation coefficients (0.987-0.999). When isolated viruses were used, the NS5 region had the highest qPCR efficiencies for the four serotypes (98-100%). Amplification from acute serum samples showed that 41.1% (67/167) were positive for the universal assay by at least two of the selected genomic regions. The agreemen...

The modeling of dengue fever cases is an important task to help public health officers to plan and prepare their resources to prevent dengue fever outbreak. In this paper, we present the time-series modeling of accumulated dengue fever cases acquired from the Malaysian Open Data Government Portal. Evaluation of the forecast for future dengue fever outbreak shows promising results, as evidence is presented for the trend and seasonal nature of dengue fever outbreaks in Malaysia.

Antibodies protect against homologous Dengue virus (DENV) infection but can precipitate severe dengue by promoting heterotypic virus entry via Fcg receptors (FcgR). We immortalized memory B cells from individuals after primary or secondary infection and analyzed anti-DENV monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) thus generated. MAbs to envelope (E) protein domain III (DIII) were either serotype specific or cross-reactive and potently neutralized DENV infection. DI/DII-or viral membrane protein prM-reactive mAbs neutralized poorly and showed broad cross-reactivity with the four DENV serotypes. All mAbs enhanced infection at subneutralizing concentrations. Three mAbs targeting distinct epitopes on the four DENV serotypes and engineered to prevent FcgR binding did not enhance infection and neutralized DENV in vitro and in vivo as postexposure therapy in a mouse model of lethal DENV infection. Our findings reveal an unexpected degree of cross-reactivity in human antibodies against DENV and illustrate the potential for an antibodybased therapy to control severe dengue.

Molecular biology techniques were used to identify 218 fungi from soil samples collected from four islands of Antarctica. These consisted of 22 taxa of 15 different genera belonging to the Zygomycota, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota. Mortierella, Antarctomyces, Pseudogymnoascus, and Penicillium were the most frequently isolated genera and Penicillium tardochrysogenum, Penicillium verrucosus, Goffeauzyma gilvescens, and Mortierella sp. 2 the most abundant taxa. All fungal isolates were cultivated using solid-state fermentation to obtain their crude extracts. Pseudogymnoascus destructans, Mortierella parvispora, and Penicillium chrysogenum displayed antiparasitic activities, whilst extracts of P. destructans, Mortierella amoeboidea, Mortierella sp. 3, and P. tardochrysogenum showed herbicidal activities. Reported as pathogenic for bats, different isolates of P. destructans exhibited trypanocidal activities and herbicidal activity, and may be a source of bioactive molecules to be conside...

Dengue fever is the most common vector-borne disease and major concern issues in Malaysia. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate factors influencing knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding dengue fever among patients in Hospital Taiping. A total of 300 patients were incorporated into a descriptive, public based cross-sectional study. The questionnaires were formulated to include several questions on demographic data, knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning dengue fever. Most of the respondents were from the age group of more than 35 (43.3%). The largest representations of the participants were Malay (59.3%), married (65.7%), SPM is the highest education level (53.3%), and 60.7% of the participants were conscious about dengue fever eruption. Television/radio was voted as the frequent source of information (97.3%). There is no significant relationship between knowledge score and socio-demographic factors. However, around 57.0% of the respondents believe that abdominal pain is not a symptom of dengue fever and 32% convinced that blood transfusion can transmit dengue. No significant correlation was found between attitude and practice score to socio-demographic characters. However, a good practice towards dengue fever is associated with good knowledge (65.4 %) nevertheless it did not influence their attitude. Moreover, the attitude seems to be poor regardless of knowledge level (44.0%). Therefore, more prevention practices to raise the awareness of population toward dengue fever such as health campaigns and health education in school level should be initiated. These activities will aid in fertilizing better attitude and prevention practice towards dengue fever and bring down its incidence in Malaysia.

Gerakan Satu Rumah Satu Jumantik merupakan suatu upaya yang efektif untuk memberantas dan mencegah penyebaran virus Demam Berdarah Dengue (DBD) di daerah ini. selain itu, gerakan ini juga bertujuan untuk membangun kepedulian masyarakat terhadap penerapan perilaku Pola Hidup Bersih dan Sehat (PHBS).

Dengue fever, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), and Influenza are a few severe and life-threatening diseases caused by enveloped viruses. These diseases have been affecting millions of the world population every year for more than half a century. Even though some palliative care and treatment strategies exist for these diseases they are still not quite the most targeted and efficient treatment strategies. For a disease like dengue, nothing much can be done rather than providing supportive care so the condition doesn’t worsen to a Dengue Shock syndrome or a Dengue Hemorrhagic fever. HIV if untreated or improperly treated or miss diagnosed leads to the development of AIDS a point from where no treatment is workable anymore. Influenza virus as common as it is life-threatening and still a leading cause of infant and adult mortality in many global regions. The need to find a better and sustainable treatment approach is constant among the researchers. Novel drug and drug combinations are rigorously proposed and tested. Procaine HCL and Dexamethasone Sodium phosphate are among these novel combinations that are being tested and used to treat antiviral diseases such as AIDS, HIV, Influenza virus, and Dengue fever. This research paper focuses on collecting the scientific evidence available in the literature up till today, concerning the use of this combination for the treatment of viral diseases.

Dengue virus serotype 3 has been recognized as the predominant serotype in many occurrences of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) in Indonesia. Performing DHF prevention could be done with vaccination. BPPT institution was developing a vaccine, which is made from NS2B-NS3 recombinant protein. This protein is one of the non-structural proteins that arrange the genome of DENV and it has a molecular weight of 83 kDa. This research aims to isolate and purify NS2B-NS3 protein DENV-3 from transformant cell of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Purification of NS2B-NS3 protein is done with HisPur Ni-NTA Magnetic Beads method. Optimization of purification is done by increasing the concentration of imidazole as protein binder in the elution buffer starting from 250 mM until 500 mM. The validity of purified protein was tested qualitatively with Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate-Polyacrilamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) method and quantified by Bichinconinic Acid (BCA) method. The results revealed us that NS2B-NS...

Dengue is a mosquito-born viral infection which is one of the serious threats to human population and economic burden in tropical and subtropical region particularly in Asia. The viral infection causes flu-like symptoms and can develop into a potentially fatal form of the disease – dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) which eventually leads to dengue shock syndrome (DS). The severity of dengue fever is further amplified by the lack of treatment. Till today there is no treatment or medicine for controlling the dengue fever and except Dengavaxia which is not enough for the protection from infection of all the four serotypes of dengue. India has a rich diversity of herbal medicine which is used in traditional ethnomedicine. Indian rural population still depends upon herbal medicine for the treatment of various viral fevers including dengue virus disease because of its cost effectiveness and easily availability. Therefore, Indian traditional/folk medicine system known as Ayurveda plays an important role in controlling many viral infections including dengue disease. Hence new antiviral medicines of botanical origin could be easily accepted, being non-toxic and inexpensive. This review paper updated and discussed most of the published research work on the use of herbal medicine for the treatment of dengue fever which could be the primary knowledge on the anti dengue plants. These anti dengue plants could be further analyzed and studied for the future development of botanical drugs for controlling dengue viral disease.

Ticks play an important role in human and veterinary medicine, in particular due to their ability to transmit a wide spectrum of pathogenic micro-organisms of protozoal, rickettsial, bacterial and viral origin. Pathogens in ticks can be identified by conventional methods such as indirect immunofluorescence, isolation in cell culture or by using histological staining techniques. However, the advent of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has resulted in tremendous improvements in the specific and sensitive detection of pathogen DNA in ticks. In this paper, literature on DNA extraction methods, PCR protocols, primers and probes, which are in use for the successful detection and identification of pathogens in ticks, are critically reviewed. Some recommendations are also given towards the end of this review.

Dengue is a disease caused by infection with one of the four dengue virus serotypes . The virus is transmitted to humans by Aedes sp. mosquitoes. This enveloped virus contains a positive single-stranded RNA genome. Clinical manifestations of dengue can have a wide range of outcomes varying from a mild febrile illness to a life-threatening condition. New techniques have largely replaced the use of DENV isolation in disease diagnosis. However, virus isolation still serves as the gold standard for detection and serotyping of DENV and is common practice in research and reference laboratories where clinical isolates of the virus are characterized and sequenced, or used for a variety of research experiments. Isolation of DENV from clinical samples can be achieved in mammalian and mosquito cells or by inoculation of mosquitoes. The experimental methods presented here describe the most common procedures used for the isolation, serotyping, propagation, and quantification of DENV. Curr. Protoc. Microbiol. 27:15D.2.1-15D.2.24. C 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Background. The dengue virus serotype 3 (DENV-3) Indian subcontinent strain emerged in Puerto Rico in 1998 after a 21-year absence. The rapid expansion of DENV-3 on the island correlated with the withdrawal of the other serotypes for 7 years. The DENV-3 prevalence declined in 2008 and remains undetected.