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BMC Infect Dis 2019 Jan 14;19(1):53. Epub 2019 Jan 14.

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, USA.

Background: Stool consistency is an important diagnostic criterion in both research and clinical medicine and is often used to define diarrheal disease.

Methods: We examine the pediatric enteric virome across stool consistencies to evaluate differences in richness and community composition using fecal samples collected from children aged 0 to 5 years participating in a clinical trial in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. The consistency of each sample was graded according to the modified Bristol Stool Form Scale for children (mBSFS-C) before a portion of stool was preserved for viral metagenomic analysis. Read More

Cureus 2018 Aug 27;10(8):e3210. Epub 2018 Aug 27.

Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.

In contemporary medical practice, approaches to infectious disease management have been primarily rooted in a pathogen-centered model. However, host genetics also contribute significantly to infectious disease burden. The fast expansion of bioinformatics techniques and the popularization of the genome-wide association study (GWAS) in recent decades have allowed for rapid and affordable high-throughput genomic analyses. Read More

Biocontrol Sci 2018 ;23(3):145-149

Department of Virology, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University.

Feline calicivirus (FCV) is frequently used as a surrogate of human norovirus. We investigated eligibility of FCV for anti-viral assay by investigating the stability of infectivity and pH sensitivity in comparison with other viruses. We found that infectivities of FCV and murine norovirus (MNV) are relatively unstable in infected cells compared with those of coxsackievirus (CoV) and poliovirus (PoV) , suggesting that FCV and MNV have vulnerability. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2018 Dec 23;645:1334-1343. Epub 2018 Jul 23.

Grupo de investigación Biodiversidad, Medio Ambiente y Salud (BIOMAS), Facultad de Ingenierías y Ciencias Aplicadas (FICA), Ingeniería Ambiental, Universidad de las Américas, Quito, Ecuador. Electronic address:

In Quito, the microbiological contamination of surface water represents a public health problem, mainly due to the lack of sewage treatment from urban wastewater. Contaminated water contributes to the transmission of many enteric pathogens through direct consumption, agricultural and recreational use. Among the different pathogens present in urban discharges, viruses play an important role on disease, being causes of gastroenteritis, hepatitis, meningitis, respiratory infections, among others. Read More

J Microbiol 2018 Sep 23;56(9):683-689. Epub 2018 Aug 23.

Virus-Host Interactions Laboratory, Department of Biosystems and Biotechnology, Division of Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, Republic of Korea.

Human noroviruses are the causative agents of non-bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. The rapid onset and resolution of disease symptoms suggest that innate immune responses are critical for controlling norovirus infection; however, no effective antivirals are yet available. The present study was conducted to examine the antiviral activities of Schizonepeta tenuifolia Briquet extract (STE) against noroviruses. Read More

Biomed Res Int 2018 12;2018:2739830. Epub 2018 Jun 12.

Division of Zoonosis of Natural Foci, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150001, China.

Interferons (IFNs) can inhibit most, if not all, viral infections by eliciting the transcription of hundreds of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a highly contagious pathogen of cats and a surrogate for Norwalk virus. Interferon efficiently inhibits the replication of FCV, but the mechanism of the antiviral activity is poorly understood. Read More

J Virol Methods 2018 08 22;258:49-53. Epub 2018 May 22.

Departamento de Biologia Celular, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil; Pós-graduação em Biologia Molecular, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil. Electronic address:

Human norovirus (HuNoV) is one of the main causes of acute gastroenteritis worldwide and is responsible for at least 20% of all cases. The detailed molecular mechanism of this norovirus remains unknown due to the lack of a suitable in vitro culturing system. An infectious clone of HuNoV would be a useful tool for elucidating the processes of viral infection and the mechanisms of replication. Read More

Infect Disord Drug Targets 2018 ;18(3):224-232

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, United States.

Background: Noroviruses are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. Norovirus proteases, which are responsible for cleavage of the viral polyprotein, have become an attractive drug target to treat norovirus infections. Genogroup II (GII) noroviruses are responsible for a majority of outbreaks; however, limited data exists regarding GII norovirus proteases. Read More

J Epidemiol 2018 09 31;28(9):382-387. Epub 2018 Mar 31.

Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University.

Background: Foodborne norovirus outbreak data in Japan from 2005-2006, involving virological surveillance of all symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals, were reanalyzed to estimate the asymptomatic ratio of norovirus infection along with the risk of infection and the probability of virus shedding.

Methods: Employing a statistical model that is considered to capture the data-generating process of the outbreak and virus surveillance, maximum likelihood estimation of the asymptomatic ratio was implemented.

Results: Assuming that all norovirus outbreaks (n = 55) were the result of random sampling from an identical distribution and ignoring genogroup and genotype specificities, the asymptomatic ratio was estimated at 32. Read More

Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2018 05 26;62(5). Epub 2018 Apr 26.

Division of Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Human norovirus (HuNoV) is a major cause of nonbacterial gastroenteritis worldwide, yet despite its impact on society, vaccines and antivirals are currently lacking. A HuNoV replicon system has been widely applied to the evaluation of antiviral compounds and has thus accelerated the process of drug discovery against HuNoV infection. Rupintrivir, an irreversible inhibitor of the human rhinovirus 3C protease, has been reported to inhibit the replication of the Norwalk virus replicon via the inhibition of the norovirus protease. Read More

Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2018 05 26;62(5). Epub 2018 Apr 26.

School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Norovirus infections are a significant health and economic burden globally, accounting for hundreds of millions of cases of acute gastroenteritis every year. In the absence of an approved norovirus vaccine, there is an urgent need to develop antivirals to treat chronic infections and provide prophylactic therapy to limit viral spread during epidemics and pandemics. Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists have been explored widely for their antiviral potential, and several are progressing through clinical trials for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and as adjuvants for norovirus viruslike particle (VLP) vaccines. Read More

J Phys Condens Matter 2018 Feb;30(6):064006

Heinrich Pette Institute, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Hamburg, Germany.

Noroviruses are the main cause of viral gastroenteritis with new variants emerging frequently. There are three norovirus genogroups infecting humans. These genogroups are divided based on the sequence of their major capsid protein, which is able to form virus-like particles (VLPs) when expressed recombinantly. Read More

Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun 2017 Oct 2;73(Pt 10):568-573. Epub 2017 Oct 2.

Protein Crystal Analysis Division, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198, Japan.

Norovirus is a major causative pathogen of nonbacterial acute gastroenteritis. Despite the sequence similarity among various strains, noroviruses of different genotypes show different antigenicities and different binding profiles to histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs). To reveal the relationships between the structure of the capsid and the diversity in antigenicity and the HBGA-binding profile, virus-like particles (VLPs) of the Chiba strain that belongs to genogroup I, genotype 4 were crystallized for X-ray structural analysis. Read More

J Med Virol 2017 10 10;89(10):1768-1774. Epub 2017 Jul 10.

Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.

The occurrence of hospital-acquired acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a major concern for public health. RotavirusA (RVA) and norovirus (NoV) are common causes of viral AGE in the pediatric population, and their role in nosocomial infections has been proven, remaining poorly investigated. To investigate RVA and NoV in hospital-acquired AGE, 55 stool samples from children with nosocomial AGE were collected between May 2014 and May 2015. Read More

AIDS Patient Care STDS 2017 Jun 22;31(6):245-253. Epub 2017 May 22.

1 Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Queens , Flushing, New York.

Anal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the fourth most prevalent cancer in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected men who have sex with men (MSM). Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been detected in over 90% of anal carcinoma biopsy specimens from MSM, and is considered a necessary, but alone, insufficient factor for carcinogenesis. Anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) may be precursive for SCC, and screening cytology with referral of persons with abnormality for high-resolution anoscopy-guided biopsy, and AIN treatment, has been recommended for prevention. Read More

Ann Med 2017 09 3;49(6):534-544. Epub 2017 May 3.

c Section of Infectious Diseases , Yale School of Medicine , New Haven , CT , USA.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection remains a global pandemic. The primary driver of HIV incidence is sexual transmission between serodifferent individuals. Condoms, when used consistently and correctly, are effective at preventing sexually transmitted HIV infections and are considered an integral component of a comprehensive approach to HIV prevention. Read More

Epidemiol Infect 2017 06 15;145(8):1591-1596. Epub 2017 Mar 15.

Caliciviruses Section,Laboratory of Infectious Diseases,National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health,Bethesda, MD,USA.

Historical outbreaks can be an important source of information in the understanding of norovirus evolution and epidemiology. Here, we revisit an outbreak of undiagnosed gastroenteritis that occurred in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania in 1972. Nearly 5000 people fell ill over the course of 10 days. Read More

Biostatistics 2017 04;18(2):338-351

Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, CH-8001 Zürich, Switzerland.

Routine public health surveillance of notifiable infectious diseases gives rise to weekly counts of reported cases-possibly stratified by region and/or age group. We investigate how an age-structured social contact matrix can be incorporated into a spatio-temporal endemic-epidemic model for infectious disease counts. To illustrate the approach, we analyze the spread of norovirus gastroenteritis over six age groups within the 12 districts of Berlin, 2011-2015, using contact data from the POLYMOD study. Read More

J Virol 2017 Feb 18;91(3). Epub 2017 Jan 18.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Norovirus (NoV) infections are a significant health burden to society, yet the lack of reliable tissue culture systems has hampered the development of appropriate antiviral therapies. Here we show that the NoV NS3 protein, derived from murine NoV (MNV), is intimately associated with the MNV replication complex and the viral replication intermediate double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). We observed that when expressed individually, MNV NS3 and NS3 encoded by human Norwalk virus (NV) induced the formation of distinct vesicle-like structures that did not colocalize with any particular protein markers to cellular organelles but localized to cellular membranes, in particular those with a high cholesterol content. Read More

Epidemiol Infect 2017 02 28;145(3):535-544. Epub 2016 Oct 28.

National University of Singapore,Singapore.

An outbreak of gastroenteritis affected 453 attendees (attack rate 28·5%) of six separate events held at a hotel in Singapore. Active case detection, case-control studies, hygiene inspections and microbial analysis of food, environmental and stool samples were conducted to determine the aetiology of the outbreak and the modes of transmission. The only commonality was the food, crockery and cutlery provided and/or handled by the hotel's Chinese banquet kitchen. Read More

J Virol 2016 10 12;90(19):8906-23. Epub 2016 Sep 12.

Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

Unlabelled: Human noroviruses (HuNoVs), named after the prototype strain Norwalk virus (NV), are a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks worldwide. Studies on the related murine norovirus (MNV) have demonstrated the importance of an interferon (IFN) response in host control of virus replication, but this remains unclear for HuNoVs. Despite the lack of an efficient cell culture infection system, transfection of stool-isolated NV RNA into mammalian cells leads to viral RNA replication and virus production. Read More

J Microbiol Methods 2016 09 18;128:88-95. Epub 2016 Jul 18.

Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. Electronic address:

The need for improved pathogen separation and concentration methods to reduce time-to-detection for foodborne pathogens is well recognized. Apolipoprotein H (ApoH) is an acute phase human plasma protein that has been previously shown to interact with viruses, lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and bacterial proteins. The purpose of this study was to determine if ApoH was capable of binding and efficiently capturing two representative human norovirus strains (GI. Read More

PLoS Pathog 2016 06 29;12(6):e1005719. Epub 2016 Jun 29.

Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America.

Noroviruses (NoV) are the most common cause of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis and cause local outbreaks of illness, especially in confined situations. Despite being identified four decades ago, the correlates of protection against norovirus gastroenteritis are still being elucidated. Recent studies have shown an association of protection with NoV-specific serum histo-blood group antigen-blocking antibody and with serum IgA in patients vaccinated with NoV VLPs. Read More

Emerg Infect Dis 2016 07;22(7):1272-4

Using a recently developed real-time reverse transcription PCR, I retested 500 fecal samples from rhesus macaques collected in 2008. Previous conventional reverse transcription PCR testing identified 1 isolate of GII norovirus; retesting found GI, GII, and possible GIV noroviruses in the samples, indicating the natural circulation of noroviruses in nonhuman primate colonies. Read More

PLoS One 2016 26;11(4):e0143759. Epub 2016 Apr 26.

Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States of America.

Background: In the US, noroviruses are estimated to cause 21 million cases annually with economic losses reaching $2 billion. Outbreak investigations frequently implicate vomiting as a major transmission risk. However, little is known about the characteristics of vomiting as a symptom or the amount of virus present in emesis. Read More

Biomed Rep 2016 Mar 27;4(3):331-334. Epub 2016 Jan 27.

Department of General Medicine and Emergency Care, Toho University School of Medicine, Omori Hospital, Tokyo 143-8541, Japan.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate co-infection in the gastrointestinal tract in terms of viruses, bacteria and the ABO blood group. We hypothesized that a combination of norovirus (NV) and bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract could affect the likelihood of an individual to contracting NV. Histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) are considered to act as receptors that can lead to NV susceptibility. Read More

Food Environ Virol 2016 06 16;8(2):141-7. Epub 2016 Mar 16.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Food Safety and Intervention Technologies, James W. W. Baker Center, Delaware State University, Dover, DE, 19901, USA.

This study characterizes the persistence of human norovirus in Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) held at different seawater temperatures. Oysters were contaminated with human norovirus GI.1 (Norwalk strain 8FIIa) by exposing them to virus-contaminated water at 15 °C, and subsequently holding them at 7, 15, and 25 °C for up to 6 weeks. Read More

Virology 2016 May 21;492:232-41. Epub 2016 Mar 21.

Caliciviruses Section, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address:

Noroviruses are diverse positive-strand RNA viruses associated with acute gastroenteritis. Cross-reactive epitopes have been mapped primarily to conserved sequences in the capsid VP1 Shell (S) domain, and strain-specific epitopes to the highly variable Protruding (P) domain. In this work, we investigated a strain-specific linear epitope defined by MAb NV10 that was raised against prototype (Genogroup I. Read More

Front Plant Sci 2016 24;7:200. Epub 2016 Feb 24.

Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, Biodesign Institute, and School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ, USA.

We previously reported a recombinant protein production system based on a geminivirus replicon that yields high levels of vaccine antigens and monoclonal antibodies in plants. The bean yellow dwarf virus (BeYDV) replicon generates massive amounts of DNA copies, which engage the plant transcription machinery. However, we noticed a disparity between transcript level and protein production, suggesting that mRNAs could be more efficiently utilized. Read More

Microbes Infect 2016 Mar 17;18(3):163-6. Epub 2015 Dec 17.

P.O. Box 254, Norwalk, OH 44857, USA. Electronic address:

PLoS One 2015 16;10(10):e0141050. Epub 2015 Oct 16.

Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, North Carolina Central University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.

Human norovirus is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide in a plethora of residential and commercial settings, including restaurants, schools, and hospitals. Methods for easily detecting the virus and for treating and preventing infection are critical to stopping norovirus outbreaks, and inactivation via nanoparticles (NPs) is a more universal and attractive alternative to other physical and chemical approaches. Using norovirus GI. Read More

J Clin Transl Hepatol 2015 Mar 15;3(1):27-35. Epub 2015 Mar 15.

Medical Affairs, Gilead Sciences, Foster City, CA, USA.

Nucleotide compounds like sofosbuvir, acyclovir, and tenofovir have proven to be amongst the most potent orally available antiviral treatments. These drugs exhibit high efficacy and a wide therapeutic index, with demonstrated utility in a number of chronic viral infections. The approval of Sovaldi™, brand name for sofosbuvir, by the U. Read More

Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2015 30;3:103. Epub 2015 Jul 30.

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT , USA.

Norwalk virus causes severe gastroenteritis for which there is currently no specific anti-viral therapy. A stage of the infection process is uncoating of the protein capsid to expose the viral genome and allow for viral replication. A mechanical characterization of the Norwalk virus may provide important information relating to the mechanism of uncoating. Read More

Am J Emerg Med 2015 Oct 6;33(10):1436-9. Epub 2015 Jul 6.

Department of Medical Microbiology, Dokuz Eylul University, İzmir, Turkey.

Objective: Fecal calprotectin is used as a good indicator of intestinal mucosal inflammation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of fecal calprotectin (f-CP) for the etiology of acute gastroenteritis in children.

Materials And Methods: All patients presenting with acute diarrhea (<18 years) who had 3 or more soft or watery stools per day were enrolled in this study. Read More

Expert Rev Vaccines 2015 29;14(9):1241-53. Epub 2015 Jul 29.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Viral Diseases, Epidemiology Branch, Viral Gastroenterology Team, Atlanta, USA.

Human norovirus infection causes significant medical and financial costs in the USA and abroad. Some populations, including young children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised, are at heightened risk of infection with this virus and subsequent complications, while others, such as healthcare workers and food handlers are at increased risk of transmitting it, and some are at risk of both. Human noroviruses are heterogeneous with new strains emerging periodically. Read More

J Adolesc 2015 Oct 24;44:48-56. Epub 2015 Jul 24.

Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Mental Health, Oslo/Bergen, Norway; Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, Uni Research Health, Bergen, Norway; Department of Psychiatry, Helse Fonna, Haugesund, Norway.

The aim of the study was to investigate mental health and resilience in adolescents who have been internationally adopted and their non-adopted peers and examine the potential interaction between adoption status and resilience on mental health problems. Data from the population based youth@hordaland-survey, conducted in Hordaland County, Norway, in 2012 was used. In all, 10 257 adolescents aged 16-19 years provided self-reported data on several mental health instruments. Read More

Open Forum Infect Dis 2015 Sep 1;2(3):ofv084. Epub 2015 Jul 1.

Department of Epidemiology , University of North Carolina , Chapel Hill.

Background.  Human noroviruses are the leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis, justifying vaccine development despite a limited understanding of strain immunity. After genogroup I (GI). Read More

Virol J 2015 Jun 24;12:98. Epub 2015 Jun 24.

SA-MRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice, 5700, South Africa.

Background: Municipal effluent constitutes a large reservoir of human enteric viruses and bacteria. Contemporary monitoring practices rely on indicator bacteria, and do not test for viruses. Different viruses, including Norwalk-like viruses, Hepatitis A virus (HAV), adenoviruses, and rotaviruses, are important agents of illnesses in humans. Read More

Virology 2015 Oct 20;484:163-9. Epub 2015 Jun 20.

Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. Electronic address:

Noroviruses are the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in humans. Development of an effective vaccine is required for reducing their outbreaks. In order to develop a GI norovirus vaccine, Newcastle disease virus vectors, rLaSota and modified rBC, were used to express VP1 protein of Norwalk virus. Read More

J Med Virol 2015 Dec 16;87(12):2048-53. Epub 2015 Jun 16.

Centers' for Disease Control and Prevention, Gansu Province, P. R. China.

To explore the etiological spectrum of diarrhea and its epidemiological characteristics in diarrhea symptoms surveillance cases younger than 5 years from 2009 to 2013 in Gansu province, northwest China. Systematic diarrhea symptoms surveillance were conducted in 27 sentinel sites in Gansu province and outpatients with three or more loose, watery, or sticky pus stools per day were defined as surveillance cases. All stool specimens were tested for Rotavirus, Human calicivirus, Adenovirus, and Astrovirus. Read More

J Immunol Methods 2015 Oct 9;425:1-9. Epub 2015 Jun 9.

National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA.

There are numerous pathogens that can be transmitted through water. Identifying and understanding the routes and magnitude of exposure or infection to these microbial contaminants are critical to assessing and mitigating risk. Conventional approaches of studying immunological responses to exposure or infection such as Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) and other monoplex antibody-based immunoassays can be very costly, laborious, and consume large quantities of patient sample. Read More

Vojnosanit Pregl 2015 Apr;72(4):328-33

Background/aim: Norovirus (NoV), formerly Norwalk-like virus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in humans of all ages. It is known that 90% of viral gastroenteritis and about 60-85% of all outbreaks of gastroenteritis, especially in the territory of United States of America, Europe and Japan are caused by this virus. For the countries of the northern hemisphere, individual cases and outbreaks of acute NoV gastroen teritis appear in seasonal pattern, mainly during the winter months. Read More

Appl Environ Microbiol 2015 Aug 29;81(15):5249-56. Epub 2015 May 29.

IFREMER, Laboratoire de Microbiologie, LSEM-SG2M, Nantes, France

Oyster contamination by noroviruses is an important health and economic problem. The present study aimed to compare the behaviors of Norwalk virus (the prototype genogroup I norovirus) and two culturable viruses: Tulane virus and mengovirus. After bioaccumulation, tissue distributions were quite similar for Norwalk virus and Tulane virus, with the majority of viral particles detected in digestive tissues, while mengovirus was detected in large amounts in the gills and mantle as well as in digestive tissues. Read More

J Immunol Methods 2015 Sep 15;424:53-63. Epub 2015 May 15.

National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, US EPA, 109T.W. Alexander Drive, MD 58C, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA. Electronic address:

Norovirus infection is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in developed countries. Developing an assay based on a non-invasive biomarker for detecting incident norovirus infections could improve disease surveillance and epidemiological investigations. This project involved analysis of IgA and IgG norovirus-specific antibody responses in saliva samples from a Norwalk virus (Genogroup I, genotype 1 norovirus) challenge study involving infected and symptomatic, and non-infected asymptomatic individuals. Read More

PLoS One 2015 15;10(5):e0126571. Epub 2015 May 15.

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America; Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America; Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, United States of America; Tecnológico de Monterrey, Departamento de Biotecnología e Ingeniería de Alimentos, Centro de Biotecnología FEMSA, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Noroviruses are recognized worldwide as the principal cause of acute, non-bacterial gastroenteritis, resulting in 19-21 million cases of disease every year in the United States. Noroviruses have a very low infectious dose, a short incubation period, high resistance to traditional disinfection techniques and multiple modes of transmission, making early, point-of-care detection essential for controlling the spread of the disease. The traditional diagnostic tools, electron microscopy, RT-PCR and ELISA require sophisticated and expensive instrumentation, and are considered too laborious and slow to be useful during severe outbreaks. Read More

Gut Microbes 2015 ;6(2):93-100

a Procter & Gamble ; Cincinnati , OH USA.

Previous studies have shown bismuth subsalicylate (BSS) has antimicrobial properties, but few studies have addressed the mechanism of action. Furthermore, following BSS ingestion other bismuth salts form throughout the gastrointestinal tract including bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) that also act upon enteric pathogens. To further understand the antimicrobial activity of bismuth in infectious diarrhea, the antimicrobial effect of BSS and BiOCl on Clostridium difficile, Salmonella, Shigella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains and norovirus (NoV) were measured. Read More

J Virol Methods 2015 Jul 18;219:51-61. Epub 2015 Mar 18.

Technical Support Center, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W, Martin Luther King Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA.

Presently there is no established cell line or small animal model that allows for the detection of infectious human norovirus. Current methods based on RT-PCR and RT-qPCR detect both infectious and non-infectious virus and thus the conclusions that may be drawn regarding the public health significance of positive findings are limited. In this study, PMA RT-PCR and RT-qPCR assays were evaluated for selective detection of infectious poliovirus, murine norovirus (MNV-1), and Norwalk virus. Read More

JAMA 2015 Mar 24-31;313(12):1223-31

AbbVie, North Chicago, Illinois.

Importance: Patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are at high risk for liver disease progression. However, interferon-based treatments for HCV infection have significant toxicities, limiting treatment uptake.

Objective: To assess the all-oral 3 direct-acting antiviral (3D) regimen of ombitasvir, paritaprevir (co-dosed with ritonavir [paritaprevir/r]), dasabuvir, and ribavirin in HCV genotype 1-infected adults with HIV-1 co-infection, including patients with cirrhosis. Read More

Epidemiol Infect 2015 Oct 20;143(14):3011-21. Epub 2015 Feb 20.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,Atlanta,GA,USA.

Leafy vegetables are an essential component of a healthy diet; however, they have been associated with high-profile outbreaks causing severe illnesses. We reviewed leafy vegetable-associated outbreaks reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1973 and 2012. During the study period, 606 leafy vegetable-associated outbreaks, with 20 003 associated illnesses, 1030 hospitalizations, and 19 deaths were reported. Read More