Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology
-
Extensive research in the last 20 years has unveiled some of the factors associated with the emergence of pandemic influenza A viruses. Nonetheless, numerous extrinsic and virological factors are yet to be fully understood, especially with reference to their interconnection and interdependence. Knowledge gathered so far has motivated the scientific community to embrace the One Health-One Flu concept and to explore new scientific approaches in the field of influenza infections in order to make educated decisions when it comes to pandemic preparedness. As a result of this awareness, risk assessment methodology is currently being explored as a new tool to estimate the pandemic potential of influenza viruses circulating in animals, underlining the urgency for interdisciplinary collaboration and the need to share updated and high quality scientific and surveillance data.
-
Despite implementation of universal infant hepatitis B (HB) vaccination, mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) still occurs. Limited data are available on the residual MTCT of HBV in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-HBV co-infected women. ⋯ HBV-MTCT still occurs when women have high HBV DNA load and/or are infected with HBV variants. Additional interventions targeting highly viremic women are thus needed to reduce further HBV-MTCT.