Simple virus encephalitis

Given the significant impact of mosquito-borne flaviviruses (MBFVs) on both human and animal health, predicting their dynamics and understanding their transmission cycle is of the utmost importance. Usually, predictions about the distribution of priority pathogens, such as Dengue, Yellow fever, West Nile Virus and St. Louis encephalitis, relate abiotic elements to simple biotic components, such as a single causal agent. Furthermore, focusing on single pathogens neglects the possibility of interactions and the existence of common elements in the transmission cycles of multiple pathogens...

West Nile virus (WNV), a member of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) serocomplex group, causes lethal encephalitis in humans and horses. Because serodiagnosis of WNV and JEV is hampered by cross-reactivity, the development of a simple, secure, and WNV-specific serodiagnostic system is required. The coexpression of prM protein and E protein leads to the secretion of subviral particles (SPs). Deletion of the C-terminal region of E protein is reported to affect the production of SPs by some flaviviruses. However, the influence of such a deletion on the properties and antigenicity of WNV E protein is unclear...

Neurological infection by herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is the cause of significant morbidity and mortality; and should be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. Typically, it is characterized by fever, headache and behavioral changes. Symptoms association, laboratory tests results and diagnostic imaging are essential for early diagnosis and treatment of this disease, in order to prevent its fatal progression. We present the case of a 45-year-old male patient diagnosed with HSV-2 encephalitis due to chronic steroid use...

Virus-induced infection such as SARS-CoV-2 is a serious threat to human health and the economic setback of the world. Continued advances in the development of technologies are required before the viruses undergo mutation. The low concentration of viruses in environmental samples makes the detection extremely challenging; simple, accurate and rapid detection methods are in urgent need. Of all the analytical techniques, electrochemical methods have the established capabilities to address the issues. Particularly, the integration of nanotechnology would allow miniature devices to be made available at the point-of-care...

IRAK4 deficiency is an inborn error of immunity predisposing patients to invasive pyogenic infections. Currently, there is no established simple assay that enables precise characterization of IRAK4 mutant alleles in isolation. Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is an autoimmune condition that is characterized by psychiatric symptoms, involuntary movement, seizures, autonomic dysfunction, and central hypoventilation. It typically occurs in adult females associated with tumors. Only a few infantile cases with anti-NMDAR encephalitis have been so far reported...

A highly effective way to improve prognosis of viral infectious diseases and to determine the outcome of infection is early, fast, simple, and efficient diagnosis of viral pathogens in biological fluids. Among a wide range of viral pathogens, Flaviviruses attract a special attention. Flavivirus genus includes more than 70 viruses, the most familiar being dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). Haemorrhagic and encephalitis diseases are the most common severe consequences of flaviviral infection...

Reports from Wuhan suggest that 36% of COVID-19 patients show neurological symptoms, and cases of viral encephalitis have been reported, suggesting that the virus is neurotropic under unknown circumstances. This is well established for other coronaviruses. In order to understand why some patients develop such symptoms and others do not, we address herein the infectability of the central nervous system (CNS). Reports that the ACE2 receptor – critical for virus entry into lung cells – is found in different neurons support this expectation...

Purification of the enveloped virus poses a challenge as one must retain viral infectivity to preserve immunogenicity. The traditional process of virus purification is time-consuming, laborious and hard to scale up. Here, a rapid, simple and extensible laboratory program for the purification of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) was developed by using differential centrifugation, ultrafiltration, Sepharose 4 fast flow gel chromatography, and CaptoTM Core 700 chromatography. The entire process recovered 61.64% of the original virus, and the purified virus particles maintained good activity and immunogenicity...

The SARS-CoV-2, a novel virus has shown an association with central nervous system (CNS) symptoms. Initial retrospective studies emerging from China and France, as well as case reports from different parts of the world revealed a spectrum of neurological symptoms ranging from a simple headache to more serious encephalitis and dysexecutive syndromes. Authors have tried to explain this neurotropism of the virus by comparing invasion mechanisms with prior epidemic coronavirus like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)...

OBJECTIVE: Japanese encephalitis virus infection (JE) remains a leading cause of neurological disease in Asia, mainly involving individuals living in remote areas with limited access to treatment centers and diagnostic facilities. Laboratory confirmation is fundamental for the justification and implementation of vaccination programs. We reviewed the literature on historical developments and current diagnostic capability worldwide, to identify knowledge gaps and instill urgency to address them...

West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne RNA flavivirus which caused several epidemics worldwide. The year 2018 was a WNV record year for Europe, including Greece, with earlier and longer transmission season with higher than the previous number of cases. It has been proposed that some simple biochemical markers may be helpful for the recognition of WNV neuroinvasive disease, its differential from other neurological infectious diseases and prognosis. We describe four cases that suffered from WNV meningitis and/or encephalitis hospitalized in 2018 in a tertiary hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece, and investigate the importance of simple biomarkers for the recognition of WNV etiology...

Even in countries that are currently not facing a flavivirus epidemic, the spread of mosquito-borne flaviviruses presents an increasing public threat, owing to climate change, international travel, and other factors. Many of these countries lack the resources (viral strains, clinical specimens, etc.) needed for the research that could help cope with the threat imposed by flaviviruses, and therefore, an alternative approach is needed. Using an in silico approach to global databases, we aimed to design and develop flavivirus NS1 recombinant proteins with due consideration towards antigenic variation...

West Nile virus (WNV) causes West Nile fever and West Nile encephalitis. Because infection by WNV creates serious public health problems, its simple, rapid, and visual detection is very important in clinical practice, especially in resource-limited laboratories. We have developed a rapid, specific, and highly sensitive internally controlled reverse transcription recombinase-aided amplification (RTRAA) assay to detect WNV, using both real-time fluorescence and the lateral flow dipstick (LFD) at 39.0 °C for 30 min...

A 59-year-old man presents with expressive aphasia and short term memory deficits. Shortly thereafter, he started developing staring spells and intermittent right hand spasms, preliminarily thought to be simple partial seizures. Subsequent MRI brain imaging was highly suggestive of herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis; however, HSV PCR from cerebrospinal fluid was negative. On further testing, the patient was found to have an autoimmune encephalitis thought to be related to an incidentally found thymoma...

Spread of pathogens in pig farms not only causes transfection of diseases to other pigs or even farmers working in the farms, but also induces pollution to the living atmospheric environment of the residents around the farm. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a rapid and simple monitoring method. In this study, full genome sequences of common viruses were analyzed in pig farms, in combination with the design of primers, optimization of the reaction parameters, so as to establish a multiplex RT-PCR assay for the identification of classical swine fever virus (CSFV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), porcine circovirus Type 2 (PCV-2), porcine pseudorabies virus (PRV) and porcine parvovirus virus (PPV), which are common in pig farms...

Viroporins are a family of small hydrophobic proteins found in many enveloped viruses that are capable of ion transport. Building upon the ability to inhibit influenza by blocking its archetypical M2 H+ channel, as a family, viroporins may represent a viable target to curb viral infectivity. To this end, using three bacterial assays we analyzed six small hydrophobic proteins from biomedically important viruses as potential viroporin candidates. Our results indicate that Eastern equine encephalitis virus 6k, West Nile virus MgM, Dengue virus 2k, Dengue virus P1, Variola virus gp170, and Variola virus gp151 proteins all exhibit channel activity in the bacterial assays, and as such may be considered viroporin candidates...

OBJECTIVE: Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is an emerging pathogen in Europe and North Asia that causes tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). A simple, rapid method for detecting TBEV RNA is needed to control this disease. METHODS: A reverse-transcription recombinase-aided amplification (RT-RAA) assay was developed. This assay can be completed in one closed tube at 39 °C within 30 minutes. The sensitivity and specificity of RT-RAA were validated using non-infectious synthetic RNA representing a fragment of the NS5 region of the wild-type (WT) TBEV genome and the Senzhang strain...

The Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a mosquito-borne zoonotic pathogen, is the major cause of viral encephalitis worldwide. An investigation of mosquito species diversity, JEV infection rate, and seasonal population fluctuations of Culex tritaeniorhynchus in Huaihua County, Hunan Province, China, revealed the distribution of vector mosquito populations and genotypes and molecular characteristics of current, common JEV strains in this region. Research on mosquito species diversity in different habitats in Huaihua revealed that local community composition was relatively simple, including five species from four genera (two Culex spp...

A new simple electrochemical immunosensor approach for the determination of antibodies to tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) in immunological products was developed and tested. The assay is performed by detecting the silver reduction signal in the bioconjugates with antibodies ( Ab@AgNP ). Here, signal is read by cathodic linear sweep voltammetry (CLSV) through the detection of silver chloride reduction on a gold-carbon composite electrode (GCCE). Covalent immobilization of the antigen on the electrode surface was performed after thiolation and glutarization of the GCCE...

Many serious public health emergencies around the globe are caused by viral epidemics. Thus, developing a reliable method for viral screening is in high demand. Multiplex assays for simultaneous detection and fast screening of high-risk pathogens are especially needed. This study employs metal nanoparticles to generate specific mass spectral signals for different RNA viruses, which enables simultaneous detection of whole viruses by laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS). We developed a nanoparticle-based sandwich immunosorbent assay as a sensing platform for the detection of viruses and viral nonstructural protein by LDI-MS...