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Health Secur 2019 Jan/Feb;17(1):54-61

Christopher J. Kratochvil, MD, is Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Research, University of Nebraska Medical Center; Vice President for Research, Nebraska Medicine; and Chief Medical Officer, UNeHealth, National Ebola Training and Education Center, Omaha, Nebraska.

The use of investigational therapeutics in the care of patients with Ebola virus disease was documented in the literature following the 2013-2016 outbreak. In order to access these types of therapeutics, facilities must have processes in place to quickly and efficiently activate study protocols, obtain the medications, and administer them in a timely manner. Testing these procedures in advance of a real-world event is crucial to ensuring successful implementation and execution. Read More

Health Secur 2019 Jan/Feb;17(1):69-73

Brian T. Garibaldi, MD, MEHP, is Director, Johns Hopkins Biocontainment Unit, and Associate Professor, Medicine and Physiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.

In response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) funded the creation of 10 Regional Ebola and Other Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs) across the United States. These high-level isolation units are designed to provide care for patients infected with high-consequence pathogens, such as viral hemorrhagic fevers, in an environment that is safe for patients, staff, the hospital, and surrounding communities. This commentary describes the impact on infection prevention and preparedness that the Johns Hopkins biocontainment unit has on the hospital and health system beyond the unit itself. Read More

J Vis Exp 2019 Jan 20(143). Epub 2019 Jan 20.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The guinea pig has played a pivotal role as a relevant small animal model in the development of vaccines for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, influenza, diphtheria, and viral hemorrhagic fevers. We have demonstrated that plasmid-DNA (pDNA) vaccine delivery into the skin elicits robust humoral responses in the guinea pig. However, the use of this animal to model immune responses was somewhat limited in the past due to the lack of available reagents and protocols to study T cell responses. Read More

Euro Surveill 2019 Jan;24(5)

Authors contributed equally to the work and share last authorship.

BackgroundCrimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is considered an emerging infectious disease threat in the European Union. Since 2000, the incidence and geographic range of confirmed CCHF cases have markedly increased, following changes in the distribution of its main vector, ticks.AimsTo review scientific literature and collect experts' opinion to analyse relevant aspects of the laboratory management of human CCHF cases and any exposed contacts, as well as identify areas for advancement of international collaborative preparedness and laboratory response plans. Read More

Infect Dis Clin North Am 2019 Mar;33(1):247-264

Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care, University of Toronto, 209 Victoria Street, 4th Floor, Room 411, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1T8, Canada; Department of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, 300112e Avenue Nord, Sherbrooke, Québec J1H 5N4, Canada. Electronic address:

The 2014 to 2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak underscored the threat posed by hemorrhagic fevers. Filoviral outbreaks have been identified since 1967, but data collection has remained sparse, limiting current knowledge of these illnesses. Documentation of objective physical signs and laboratory parameters and appropriate clinical management are connected and interdependent. Read More

BMC Public Health 2019 Jan 31;19(1):136. Epub 2019 Jan 31.

College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.

Background: Uganda is one of the few countries in Africa that has been experiencing outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, Marburg and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fevers. In 2017 Uganda experienced a Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) outbreak with case fatality rate of 100% in Kween district. Although hunting for wild meat was linked to the MVD outbreak in Kween district, less was reported on the land use changes, especially the changing animal grazing practices in Kween district. Read More

East Mediterr Health J 2019 Jan 23;24(11):1049-1057. Epub 2019 Jan 23.

Department of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

Background: The emergence and re-emergence of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) is a growing concern worldwide. They are associated with major epidemics with an estimated 51-101 million cases each year, of which around 67 000 are fatal. In 2007, 13 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region reported VHF cases. Read More

J Glob Health 2019 Jun;9(1):010406

Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Deptartment of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Background: Beyond their direct effects on mortality, outbreaks of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) might disrupt the provision of health care services in affected countries, possibly resulting in an increase in the number of deaths from non-EVD causes. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies documenting the impact of EVD outbreaks on health care utilization.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Global Health, Pascal and grey literature to identify observational studies that compared indicators of health care utilization before and during the outbreak. Read More

J Glob Health 2019 Jun;9(1):010404

Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Background: The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak across West Africa was devastating, acting not only as a wake-up call for the global health community, but also as a catalyst for innovative change and global action. Improved infectious disease monitoring is the stepping-stone toward better disease prevention and control efforts, and recent research has revealed the potential of digital technologies to transform the field of global health. This scoping review aimed to identify which digital technologies may improve disease prevention and control, with regard to the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019 Jan 29;13(1):e0007081. Epub 2019 Jan 29.

Department of Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (National Reference Laboratory), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.

Background: West Nile Virus (WNV), a member of the genus Flavivirus, is one of the most widely distributed arboviruses in the world. Despite some evidence for circulation of WNV in countries summarized by the World Health Organization as the Eastern Mediterrian Regional Office (EMRO), comprehensive knowledge about its epidemiology remains largely unknown. This study aims to provide a concise review of the published literature on WNV infections in the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of WHO (EMRO). Read More

Parasit Vectors 2019 Jan 28;12(1):62. Epub 2019 Jan 28.

Department of Research in Medical Entomology, Gorgas Memorial Institute of Health Studies, Panama City, República de Panamá.

Background: In Panama, arboviroses such as dengue fever, and more recently chikungunya fever and Zika disease, are transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Their control is based on the elimination of breeding sites and fogging with pyrethroid insecticides. However, one of the significant issues derived from the prolonged use of pyrethroid insecticide is the development of resistance mechanisms, such as knockdown resistance or kdr. Read More

Vaccines (Basel) 2019 Jan 22;7(1). Epub 2019 Jan 22.

Institute of Human Virology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.

Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHF) are a group of clinically similar diseases that can be caused by enveloped RNA viruses primarily from the families , , , and . Clinically, this group of diseases has in common fever, fatigue, dizziness, muscle aches, and other associated symptoms that can progress to vascular leakage, bleeding and multi-organ failure. Most of these viruses are zoonotic causing asymptomatic infections in the primary host, but in human beings, the infection can be lethal. Read More

Nat Commun 2019 01 22;10(1):377. Epub 2019 Jan 22.

Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7FZ, UK.

The circadian clock regulates immune responses to microbes and affects pathogen replication, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Here we demonstrate that the circadian components BMAL1 and REV-ERBα influence several steps in the hepatitis C virus (HCV) life cycle, including particle entry into hepatocytes and RNA genome replication. Genetic knock out of Bmal1 and over-expression or activation of REV-ERB with synthetic agonists inhibits the replication of HCV and the related flaviruses dengue and Zika via perturbation of lipid signaling pathways. Read More

Antiviral Res 2019 Mar 19;163:106-116. Epub 2019 Jan 19.

Junior Research Group Arenavirus Biology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald, Insel Riems, Germany; Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hamilton, MT, USA. Electronic address:

Arenaviruses cause several viral hemorrhagic fevers endemic to Africa and South America. The respective causative agents are classified as biosafety level (BSL) 4 pathogens. Unlike for most other BSL4 agents, for the New World arenavirus Junín virus (JUNV) both a highly effective vaccination (Candid#1) and a post-exposure treatment, based on convalescent plasma transfer, are available. Read More

Parasit Vectors 2019 Jan 21;12(1):45. Epub 2019 Jan 21.

Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich at Medway, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Kent, ME4 4TB, UK.

Background: China's Guangdong Province experienced a major dengue outbreak in 2014. Here we investigate if the weather conditions contributing to the outbreak can be elucidated by multi-scale models.

Methods: A multi-scale modelling framework, parameterized by available weather, vector and human case data, was used to examine the integrative effect of temperature and precipitation variation on the effective reproduction number (ERN) of dengue fever. Read More

Arch Virol 2019 Jan 20. Epub 2019 Jan 20.

Division of Clinical Research (DCR), Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick (IRF-Frederick), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), B-8200 Research Plaza, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA.

In October 2018, the order Mononegavirales was amended by the establishment of three new families and three new genera, abolishment of two genera, and creation of 28 novel species. This article presents the updated taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales as now accepted by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Read More

Parasit Vectors 2019 Jan 18;12(1):42. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Noida, UP, India.

Background: The expansion of dengue vectors from lowland plains to the upland hilly regions of Nepal suggests the likelihood of increased risk of dengue. Our objective was to assess the effects of meteorological variables on vector indices and populations of dengue vectors in two different ecological regions of Nepal. An entomological survey was conducted in Kathmandu and Lalitpur (upland) and Chitwan (lowland) of Nepal in three different seasons from July 2015 to May 2016. Read More

Parasit Vectors 2019 Jan 18;12(1):44. Epub 2019 Jan 18.

State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, People's Republic of China.

Background: The mosquito Aedes albopictus is an important vector for dengue virus (DENV) transmission. The midgut is the first barrier to mosquito infection by DENV, and this barrier is a critical factor affecting the vector competence of the mosquito. However, the molecular mechanism of the interaction between midgut and virus is unknown. Read More

Parasit Vectors 2019 Jan 16;12(1):38. Epub 2019 Jan 16.

Departamento de Bioquimica e Imunologia do Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Background: Dengue viruses have spread rapidly across tropical regions of the world in recent decades. Today, dengue transmission is observed in the Americas, Southeast Asia, Western Pacific, Africa and in non-endemic areas of the USA and Europe. Dengue is responsible for 16% of travel-related febrile illnesses. Read More

Lancet 2019 01;393(10167):104

Int Rev Cell Mol Biol 2019 24;342:175-263. Epub 2018 Oct 24.

Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada; Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montréal, QC, Canada.

Continuous epidemiological surveillance of existing and emerging viruses and their associated disorders is gaining importance in light of their abilities to cause unpredictable outbreaks as a result of increased travel and vaccination choices by steadily growing and aging populations. Close surveillance of outbreaks and herd immunity are also at the forefront, even in industrialized countries, where previously eradicated viruses are now at risk of re-emergence due to instances of strain recombination, contractions in viral vector geographies, and from their potential use as agents of bioterrorism. There is a great need for the rational design of current and future vaccines targeting viruses, with a strong focus on vaccine targeting of adaptive immune effector memory T cells as the gold standard of immunity conferring long-lived protection against a wide variety of pathogens and malignancies. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019 01 10;13(1):e0007038. Epub 2019 Jan 10.

Centre for Health Economics and Policy Studies, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia.

Background: Dengue is associated with significant economic expenditure and it is estimated that the Asia Pacific region accounts for >50% of the global cost. Indonesia has one of the world's highest dengue burdens; Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the primary and secondary vectors. In the absence of local data on disease cost, this study estimated the annual economic burden during 2015 of both hospitalized and ambulatory dengue cases in Indonesia. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019 01 10;13(1):e0006970. Epub 2019 Jan 10.

Center for Information Technology, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy.

J Virol 2019 Jan 9. Epub 2019 Jan 9.

Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

Arenaviruses are a large family of emerging enveloped negative strand RNA viruses that include several causative agents of viral hemorrhagic fevers. For cell entry, human pathogenic arenaviruses use different cellular receptors and endocytic pathways that converge at the level of acidified late endosomes, where the viral envelope glycoprotein mediates membrane fusion. Inhibitors of arenavirus entry hold promise for therapeutic antiviral intervention and the identification of "druggable" targets is of high priority. Read More

BMC Public Health 2019 Jan 9;19(1):46. Epub 2019 Jan 9.

Global Public Health Solutions Inc, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Background: Uganda is a low income country that continues to experience disease outbreaks caused by emerging and re-emerging diseases such as cholera, meningococcal meningitis, typhoid and viral haemorrhagic fevers. The Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy was adopted by WHO-AFRO in 1998 as a comprehensive strategy to improve disease surveillance and response in WHO Member States in Africa and was adopted in Uganda in 2000. To address persistent inconsistencies and inadequacies in the core and support functions of IDSR, Uganda initiated an IDSR revitalisation programme in 2012. Read More

Med Lett Drugs Ther 2018 Nov 19;60(1560):e195. Epub 2018 Nov 19.

Med Lett Drugs Ther 2018 Nov;60(1560):185-192

Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2019 Jan 7;114:e180251. Epub 2019 Jan 7.

Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Departamento de Microbiologia, Laboratório de Evolução Molecular e Bioinformática, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.

Background: Dengue virus type 4 (DENV-4) was first reported in Brazil in 1982 and since then no more cases were detected again in Brazil until 2010, when the virus was reintroduced. Over the following years, the virus spread to several Brazilian states and resulted in about 1,400,000 dengue cases, in 2013. The largest number of cases were documented in the Southeast macro-region. Read More

Parasit Vectors 2019 Jan 8;12(1):17. Epub 2019 Jan 8.

Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, Singapore, Singapore.

Background: Aedes aegypti is an efficient primary vector of dengue, and has a heterogeneous distribution in Singapore. Aedes albopictus, a poor vector of dengue, is native and ubiquitous on the island. Though dengue risk follows the dispersal of Ae. Read More

Trop Med Health 2018 29;46:45. Epub 2018 Dec 29.

1Immunology Unit, Pasteur Institute of Dakar, BP 220 Dakar, Senegal.

Background: In the southeastern Senegal, the report of infections among febrile patients in Kedougou constitutes a new emerging health problem.

Methods: Samples from 48 asymptomatic schoolchildren sampled twice a year over 2 years were used to explore the reservoir of parasite infections in this region. Both Duffy genotyping and species diagnostic assays were performed. Read More

J Vector Borne Dis 2018 Jul-Sep;55(3):245

Visiting Professor, Hainan Medical University, China.

J Vector Borne Dis 2018 Jul-Sep;55(3):215-221

Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Erzincan University, Erzincan, Turkey.

Background & Objectives: : Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), an illness characterized by fever and hemorrhage, is caused by a CCHF virus (CCHFV). It is an important public health problem in Turkey. The objective of this study was to evaluate the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics and mortality rates of CCHF patients in the northeast region of Turkey. Read More

J Vector Borne Dis 2018 Jul-Sep;55(3):189-196

Department of Life Sciences, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu, India.

Background & Objectives: : Increase of vector-borne diseases (VBDs) in India has posed a question on the situation in Lakshadweep Islands, where VBDs are reported from time-to-time. The present investigation was aimed to assess the faunastic situation of the prevailing vectors along with their breeding sites in different islands of the Lakshadweep.

Methods: : Extensive surveys were carried out from November 2017 to January 2018 (post-monsoon season) randomly in the nine inhabited islands of Lakshadweep for conducting faunastic studies on mosquitoes and to know the basic binomics like breeding and resting preference of mosquitoes. Read More

Environ Monit Assess 2019 Jan 7;191(2):55. Epub 2019 Jan 7.

Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan.

Dengue is endemic to Pakistan with its usual peak incidence in the post-monsoon period. In the last decade, dengue outbreaks have occurred in major urban areas particularly Karachi and Lahore, affecting large numbers of people. This study is an attempt to analyze the spatiotemporal variation of dengue fever (DF) in Samanabad town, Lahore metropolitan area. Read More

DNA Cell Biol 2019 Feb 7;38(2):115-120. Epub 2019 Jan 7.

2 Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Ebola virus (EBOV) is an enveloped filamentous virus that causes severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates with up to 90% fatality. Accumulating evidence indicates that various viruses, including EBOV, exploit the host apoptotic clearance machinery to enhance their entry into host cells by externalizing phosphatidylserine (PS) in the viral envelope. PS is typically distributed in the inner layer of the plasma membrane (PM) in normal cells. Read More

Science 2019 01;363(6422):30

Section of Infectious Diseases, Boston University School of Medicine and National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.

Curr HIV Res 2019 Jan 2. Epub 2019 Jan 2.

Hepatitis, AIDS and Blood borne diseases Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran. Iran.

Background: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) has been a major global health concern for over 38 years. No safe and effective preventive or therapeutic vaccine has been developed although many products have been investigated. Computational methods have facilitated vaccine developments in recent decades. Read More

BMC Infect Dis 2018 Dec 29;18(1):707. Epub 2018 Dec 29.

Control of Epidemic Diseases (CED), World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

Background: The emergence of different viral infections during the last decades like dengue, West Nile, SARS, chikungunya, MERS-CoV, Ebola, Zika and Yellow Fever raised some questions on quickness and reliability of laboratory diagnostic tests for verification of suspected cases. Since sampling of blood requires medically trained personal and comprises some risks for the patient as well as for the health care personal, the sampling by non-invasive methods (e.g. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2018 12 27;12(12):e0006976. Epub 2018 Dec 27.

Institut Pasteur, Emerging Diseases Epidemiology Unit, Paris, France.

Emerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin constitute a recurrent threat to global health. Nonhuman primates (NHPs) occupy an important place in zoonotic spillovers (pathogenic transmissions from animals to humans), serving as reservoirs or amplifiers of multiple neglected tropical diseases, including viral hemorrhagic fevers and arboviruses, parasites and bacteria, as well as retroviruses (simian foamy virus, PTLV) that are pathogenic in human beings. Hunting and butchering studies in Africa characterize at-risk human social groups, but overlook critical factors of contact heterogeneity and frequency, NHP species differences, and meat processing practices. Read More

Parasit Vectors 2018 Dec 24;11(Suppl 2):645. Epub 2018 Dec 24.

Institute for Insect Biotechnology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany.

Vector control programs based on population reduction by matings with mass-released sterile insects require the release of only male mosquitoes, as the release of females, even if sterile, would increase the number of biting and potentially disease-transmitting individuals. While small-scale releases demonstrated the applicability of sterile males releases to control the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, large-scale programs for mosquitoes are currently prevented by the lack of efficient sexing systems in any of the vector species.Different approaches of sexing are pursued, including classical genetic and mechanical methods of sex separation. Read More

Parasit Vectors 2018 Dec 24;11(Suppl 2):644. Epub 2018 Dec 24.

Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.

The global economic cost of Aedes-borne diseases, such as dengue, is estimated to be in the billions of dollars annually. In this scenario, a sustained vector control strategy is the only alternative to control dengue, as well as other diseases transmitted by Aedes, including Zika and chikungunya. The use of transgenic mosquitoes is a promising weapon in the improvement of approaches currently applied in Aedes aegypti control. Read More

J Immunol Res 2018 15;2018:1846207. Epub 2018 Nov 15.

La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.

The global response to the most recent EBOV outbreak has led to increased generation and availability of data, which can be globally analyzed to increase our understanding of immune responses to EBOV. We analyzed the published antibody epitope data to identify regions immunogenic for humans on the main GP antigenic target and determine sequence variance/nonsynonymous mutations between historical isolates and variants from the 2013-2016 outbreak. Approximately half of the GP sequence has been reported as targeted by antibody responses. Read More

J Virol Methods 2019 Mar 21;265:49-52. Epub 2018 Dec 21.

Department of Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (National Reference Laboratory), Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran; Research Center for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address:

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a potentially fatal tick-borne viral disease, which is in the WHO list for emerging infections likely to cause major epidemics in the near future. Early diagnosis of CCHF is very important for both patient treatment and infection control. An efficient CCHF rapid test therefore is of great significance. Read More

PLoS Pathog 2018 12 21;14(12):e1007439. Epub 2018 Dec 21.

Kineta, Inc., Seattle, Washington, United States of America.

Arenaviruses are a significant cause of hemorrhagic fever, an often-fatal disease for which there is no approved antiviral therapy. Lassa fever in particular generates high morbidity and mortality in West Africa, where the disease is endemic, and a recent outbreak in Nigeria was larger and more geographically diverse than usual. We are developing LHF-535, a small-molecule viral entry inhibitor that targets the arenavirus envelope glycoprotein, as a therapeutic candidate for Lassa fever and other hemorrhagic fevers of arenavirus origin. Read More

Parasit Vectors 2018 Dec 20;11(1):664. Epub 2018 Dec 20.

National Center of Parasitology, Entomology, and Malaria Control, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Background: Mosquito-borne arboviruses, like dengue virus, continue to cause significant global morbidity and mortality, particularly in Southeast Asia. When the infectious mosquitoes probe into human skin for a blood meal, they deposit saliva containing a myriad of pharmacologically active compounds, some of which alter the immune response and influence host receptivity to infection, and consequently, the establishment of the virus. Previous reports have highlighted the complexity of mosquito vector-derived factors and immunity in the success of infection. Read More

BMC Infect Dis 2018 Dec 19;18(1):681. Epub 2018 Dec 19.

Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Background: Dengue is a global problem mainly in the tropics. Meticulous clinical management of cases has reduced the death rate significantly, but large numbers of people still succumb to severe complications of the infection. Presence of myocarditis is often overlooked leading to a poor outcome. Read More

PLoS One 2018 19;13(12):e0208907. Epub 2018 Dec 19.

Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.

Dengue fever is known to be one of the most common arthropod-borne viral infectious diseases of public health importance. The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific with an estimated two fifths of the world's population being at risk. The notable endemic viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) found in West Africa, including yellow fever, Lassa fever, Rift Valley fever, dengue fever and until recently Ebola have been responsible for most outbreaks with fatal consequences. Read More

BMC Infect Dis 2018 Dec 18;18(1):674. Epub 2018 Dec 18.

Teaching Hospital Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Background: Dengue has global importance as a dreaded arboviral infection. It has 4 serotypes of epidemiological imporatnce. The classification denotes two clinical spectrums- dengue fever (DF) and dengue haemorragic fever (DHF). Read More

BMC Infect Dis 2018 Dec 17;18(1):667. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Medicine and Medical Specialities Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Parakou, P. O Box 123, Parakou, Republic of Benin.

Background: Lassa fever is one of the most lethal neglected tropical diseases in West Africa. It is a serious public health problem in this region of Africa where it is endemic in several countries. However, it remains a very little known disease by healthcare workers. Read More

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2018 12 17;12(12):e0006975. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Institute for Immunology and Informatics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Rhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America.

Background: Hyperendemic circulation of all four types of dengue virus (DENV-1-4) has expanded globally, fueling concern for increased incidence of severe dengue. While the majority of DENV infections are subclinical, epidemiologic studies suggest that type-cross-reactive immunity can influence disease outcome in subsequent infections. The mechanisms controlling these differential clinical outcomes remain poorly defined. Read More