upper respiratory infection

The foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) Leader proteinase Lpro inhibits host mRNA translation and blocks the interferon response which promotes viral survival. Lpro is not required for viral replication in vitro but serotype A FMDV lacking Lpro has been shown to be attenuated in cattle and pigs. However, it is not known, whether leaderless viruses can cause persistent infection in vivo after simulated natural infection and whether the attenuated phenotype is the same in other serotypes. We have generated a FMDV O/FRA/1/2001 variant lacking most of the Lpro coding region (ΔLb)...

Idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis (IPH) is a rare cause of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH). It is associated with a high mortality rate and recurrent episodes of widespread alveolar hemorrhage and most commonly affects children. Here, we present a rare occurrence of late-onset idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis in a 74-year-old male. He was admitted for non-resolving pneumonia, hemoptysis, and type 1 respiratory failure, along with sideropenic anemia. Chest imaging showed bilateral upper lobe and right middle lobe alveolar opacities...

INTRODUCTION: Earthquakes rank among the most deadly natural disasters, and children are particularly affected due to their inherent vulnerability. Following an earthquake, there is a substantial increase in visits to emergency services. These visits stem not only from patients seeking care for physical traumas resulting from the earthquake and its subsequent complications, but also from individuals affected by the circumstances created by the disaster. STUDY OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the characteristics and outcomes of children who presented to the pediatric emergency department (PED) after the earthquake and to evaluate children who had crush injuries at a referral tertiary university hospital away from the earthquake area...

BACKGROUND: Predisposing factors for otitis media with effusion are multifactorial, ranging from genetic and anatomical abnormalities to environmental factors and inflammation of the nose and adjacent structures. AIM: The study determined the risk factors for otitis media with effusion (OME) among children in Calabar Municipality. METHODS: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, community-based study including children aged 1-10 years randomly selected from government and privately owned daycares, nurseries (preschool), and primary schools...

BACKGROUND: Asthma is one of the most common chronic airway diseases in children. Preventing asthma exacerbation is one of the objectives of all asthma action plans. In patients with poor perception, it is difficult to identify acute asthma exacerbations by clinical asthma score, asthma control test or asthma control questionnaire. The aim of this study is to analyze whether children with asthma have changes in peak expiratory flow(PEF)before an acute asthma exacerbation and to evaluate the relationship between PEF and asthma exacerbation...

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are commonly used for gastric acid-related disorders, but their safety profile and risk stratification for high-burden diseases need further investigation. Analyzing over 2 million participants from five prospective cohorts from the US, the UK, and China, we found that PPI use correlated with increased risk of 15 leading global diseases, such as ischemic heart disease, diabetes, respiratory infections, and chronic kidney disease. These associations showed dose-response relationships and consistency across different PPI types...

BACKGROUND: Benralizumab and mepolizumab are IL-5Rα/IL-5-targeted monoclonal antibodies indicated as add-on treatments for patients with uncontrolled severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the safety of benralizumab and mepolizumab among patients with SEA treated in MELTEMI and COLUMBA open-label, long-term extension studies, respectively. METHODS: MELTEMI was an extension study of benralizumab Q4W or Q8W for adults (aged 18-75 years) with SEA...

OBJECTIVE: To identify changes in the microbiome of saliva and to compare it with the microbiome of the oropharynx of patients with migraine. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty patients with migraine (21-56 years old), were examined using a headache diary, MIDAS and VAS. A microbiological examination of saliva and smear from the mucosa of the posterior wall of the oropharynx with evaluation by the method of mass spectrometry of microbial markers (MSMM) with the determination of 57 microorganisms was performed...

INTRODUCTION: Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) increase morbidity and mortality risks, particularly from respiratory tract infections. Hence, vaccination becomes pivotal for IEI patients. This study aims to examine the vaccination and respiratory tract infection rates in a diverse IEI patient cohort undergoing immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IGRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated IEI patients on IGRT at a tertiary care center. Data on vaccinations and respiratory infections were extracted from medical records...

The BIOFIRE SPOTFIRE Respiratory (R) Panel is a novel, in vitro diagnostic PCR assay with 15 pathogen targets. The runtime is about 15 min which is the shortest among similar panels in the market. We evaluated the performance of the SPOTFIRE R Panel with 151 specimens, including 133 collected from the upper respiratory tract (URT), 13 from the lower respiratory tract (LRT) and 5 external quality assessment program (EQAP) samples. The respiratory specimens were enrolled throughout the first two post-COVID-19 influenza seasons in Hong Kong (March to December 2023)...

A less than one-month-old infant with symptoms of rhinitis died unexpectedly in his sleep. He was not born prematurely and had no known underlying disease. Cerebrospinal fluid, nasopharyngeal and lung samples, and rectal swab were found to be positive for subgroup A rhinovirus, while the blood was negative. This case highlights the important finding that the rhinovirus, a common pathogen associated with upper respiratory tract infections, can sometimes, as the only pathogen, lead to complications such as a cerebrospinal infection and be involved in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)...

Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV), classified within the Pneumoviridae family, wreaks havoc on poultry health. It typically causes upper respiratory tract and reproductive tract infections, mainly in turkeys, chickens, and ducks. Four subtypes of AMPV (A, B, C, D) and two unclassified subtypes have been identified, of which subtypes A and B are widely distributed across the world. In January 2024, an outbreak of severe respiratory disease occurred on turkey and chicken farms across different states in the US. Metagenomics sequencing of selected tissue and swab samples confirmed the presence of aMPV subtype B...

In summer 2023, during an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in cats in Poland, a 16-year-old dog was presented to the veterinary clinic with persistent, debilitating, dry cough, submandibular lymphadenomegaly, mild serous nasal discharge, and left apical heart murmur. A preliminary diagnosis of kennel cough was made and the treatment with amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and dexamethasone was initiated. Due to the lack of improvement within 2 days, a blood check-up, thoracic radiography and ultrasonography, and echocardiography were performed...

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is an important pathogen that causes both upper (URTIs) and lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in children. The virus can be implicated in severe bronchiolitis and pneumonia, necessitating hospitalization, with certain cases requiring intensive care unit intervention. As part of a retrospective observational study, we aimed to identify indicators of severe hMPV respiratory tract infections in children referred to the University Children's Hospital Ljubljana and the Department of Infectious Diseases Ljubljana, Slovenia, during a recent outbreak...

OBJECTIVE: To compare health outcomes and costs given in the emergency department (ED) and walk-in clinics for ambulatory children presenting with acute respiratory diseases. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. SETTING: This study was conducted from April 2016 to March 2017 in one ED and one walk-in clinic. The ED is a paediatric tertiary care centre, and the clinic has access to lab tests and X-rays. PARTICIPANTS: Inclusion criteria were children: (1) aged from 2 to 17 years old and (2) discharged home with a diagnosis of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), pneumonia or acute asthma...

With the use of metagenomic next-generation sequencing, patients diagnosed with Whipple pneumonia are being increasingly correctly diagnosed. We report a series of 3 cases in China that showed a novel pattern of movable infiltrates and upper lung micronodules. After treatment, the 3 patients recovered, and lung infiltrates resolved.

BACKGROUND: Pre-transplant respiratory virus (RV) infections have been associated with negative transplant outcomes in adult hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients. In the era of HCT delay due to high-risk RVs, we examined the impact of pre-transplant RV detection on transplant outcomes in a pediatric HCT recipients. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included myeloablative allogeneic HCT recipients from 2010 to 2019. All patients were screened for RV at least once within 90 days before HCT using RT-PCR, regardless of symptoms...

Consumption of certain probiotic strains may be beneficial for reducing the risk of acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), however, underlying immunological mechanisms are elusive. Bifidobacterium lactis Bl-04™ has been reported in humans to significantly reduce the risk of URTIs, affect the innate immunity in the nasal mucosa, and reduce nasal lavage virus titer after a rhinovirus (RV) challenge. To study the immunological mechanisms, we investigated the effect of Bl-04 on cytokine production and transcriptomes of human monocyte-derived macrophages (Mfs) and dendritic cells (DCs), and further on RV replication and cytokine production in MRC-5 fibroblasts...

In 2017, a novel influenza A virus (IAV) was isolated from an Egyptian fruit bat. In contrast to other bat influenza viruses, the virus was related to avian A(H9N2) viruses and was probably the result of a bird-to-bat transmission event. To determine the cross-species spill-over potential, we biologically characterize features of A/bat/Egypt/381OP/2017(H9N2). The virus has a pH inactivation profile and neuraminidase activity similar to those of human-adapted IAVs. Despite the virus having an avian virus-like preference for α2,3 sialic acid receptors, it is unable to replicate in male mallard ducks; however, it readily infects ex-vivo human respiratory cell cultures and replicates in the lungs of female mice...

Mucosal antibodies in the upper respiratory tract are the earliest and most critical responders to prevent respiratory infections, providing an indication for the rapid evaluation of immune protection. Here, we report a microfluidic particle counter that directly visualizes mucosal antibody levels in nasal mucus. The mucosal anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding domain (RBD) antibodies in nasal secretions first react with magnetic microparticles (MMPs) and polystyrene microparticles (PMPs) that are surface-modified to form a "MMPs-anti-spike RBD IgG-PMPs" complex when RBD is present...