Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
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Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Apr 2009
Evaluation of reverse-transcriptase PCR as a diagnostic tool to confirm Japanese encephalitis virus infection.
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a serious central nervous system infection and major public health problem in several countries of Southeast Asia including India. This study evaluated the use of IgM ELISA and reverse-transcriptase (RT)-PCR in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from acute encephalitis patients for the detection of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). Forty-four children suffering from acute encephalitis were enrolled, and 36 were selected from whom both CSF and serum samples were available. ⋯ Total positivity for JEV infection in CSF and serum samples was 66.7% (24/36) and 83.3% (30/36) respectively by one or both tests. The overall positivity for JEV infection was 86.1% (31/36). We suggest that the use of RT-PCR in serum samples during the early days of JEV infection may be helpful in confirming diagnosis in those cases which are negative for JEV-specific IgM antibodies in both serum and CSF samples.
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Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Mar 2009
Effectiveness of melarsoprol and eflornithine as first-line regimens for gambiense sleeping sickness in nine Médecins Sans Frontières programmes.
This paper describes the effectiveness of first-line regimens for stage 2 human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) due to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense infection in nine Médecins Sans Frontières HAT treatment programmes in Angola, Republic of Congo, Sudan and Uganda. Regimens included eflornithine and standard- and short-course melarsoprol. Outcomes for 10461 naïve stage 2 patients fitting a standardised case definition and allocated to one of the above regimens were analysed by intention-to-treat analysis. ⋯ Kaplan-Meier survival probabilities varied from 71.4-91.8% at 1 year and 56.5-87.9% at 2 years for standard-course melarsoprol, to 73.0-91.1% at 1 year for short-course melarsoprol, and 79.9-97.4% at 1 year and 68.6-93.7% at 2 years for eflornithine. With the exception of one programme, survival at 12 months was >90% for eflornithine, whilst for melarsoprol it was <90% except in two sites. Eflornithine is recommended where feasible, especially in areas with low melarsoprol effectiveness.
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Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Feb 2009
ReviewImpact of climate change and other factors on emerging arbovirus diseases.
While some skeptics remain unconvinced that global climate change is a reality, there is no doubt that during the past 50 years or so, patterns of emerging arbovirus diseases have changed significantly. Can this be attributed to climate change? Climate is a major factor in determining: (1) the geographic and temporal distribution of arthropods; (2) characteristics of arthropod life cycles; (3) dispersal patterns of associated arboviruses; (4) the evolution of arboviruses; and (5) the efficiency with which they are transmitted from arthropods to vertebrate hosts. ⋯ For example, we cannot ignore the unexpected but successful establishment of chikungunya fever in northern Italy, the sudden appearance of West Nile virus in North America, the increasing frequency of Rift Valley fever epidemics in the Arabian Peninsula, and very recently, the emergence of Bluetongue virus in northern Europe. In this brief review we ask the question, are these diseases emerging because of climate change or do other factors play an equal or even more important role in their emergence?
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Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Dec 2008
An outbreak of yellow fever with concurrent chikungunya virus transmission in South Kordofan, Sudan, 2005.
From September through December 2005, an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever occurred in South Kordofan, Sudan. Initial laboratory test results identified IgM antibodies against yellow fever (YF) virus in patient samples, and a YF outbreak was declared on 14 November. To control the outbreak, a YF mass vaccination campaign was conducted and vector control implemented in parts of South Kordofan. ⋯ Five of 18 unvaccinated persons with recent illness and 4 of 16 unvaccinated asymptomatic persons had IgM antibodies to YF virus. IgM antibodies to chikungunya virus were detected in five (27%) ill persons and three (19%) asymptomatic persons. These results indicate that both chikungunya and YF occurred during the outbreak.