Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology
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Observational Study
Clinical practice of respiratory virus diagnostics in critically ill patients with a suspected pneumonia: A prospective observational study.
Clinical guidelines suggest testing for respiratory viruses during the influenza season, but are unclear which categories of patients on the intensive care unit (ICU) should be tested. ⋯ Less than half of patients admitted to the ICU with suspected pneumonia were tested for the presence of viral pathogens, either in or outside the influenza season.
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Arboviruses are important emerging viruses worldwide. The signs and symptoms of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection are similar to those presented by infections with dengue virus (DENV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Furthermore, diagnosis of ZIKV infection is particularly challenging in dengue endemic regions and with co-circulation of DENV, CHIKV, and ZIKV, making diagnosis based solely on clinical and epidemiological data unreliable. As these three viral infections share similar clinical manifestations, differential diagnosis is crucial. ⋯ Our findings confirm that accurate laboratory testing is of paramount importance for differential diagnosis in areas of simultaneous transmission of different arboviruses with similar clinical presentations.
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Clinical and laboratory profile of Zika virus infection in dengue suspected patients: A case series.
The Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arthropod-borne virus related to the dengue virus (DENV), and shows a similar clinical profile as other arboviral diseases, such as dengue and chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Historically, ZIKV has been associated with sporadic cases of human infection, but is now responsible for outbreaks worldwide. In Brazil, cases have been reported since 2015, with some cases causing severe disease. ⋯ The co-circulation of ZIKV and DENV is a serious public health concern, since it represents both a clinical and diagnostic challenge in endemic areas, as well as in the field of travel medicine.
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Infections with human β-herpesviruses are common worldwide and are still frequent in patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Some data suggest that HHV-6 and HHV-7 could take part in CMV reactivation from latency and/or progression of CMV disease in immunosupressed patients. ⋯ The observed kinetics of virus reactivation may strongly suggest a potential role of HHV-6 and/or HHV-7 as co-factors of CMV reactivation. The co-infection with these β-herpesviruses could predispose patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to a longer and more severe CMV infection.