Infectious disease in an era of global change

Drug delivery as a sustainable avenue to future therapies

Climate change and the need for sustainable, technological developments are the greatest challenges facing humanity in the coming decades. To address these issues, in 2015 the United Nations have established 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Anthropogenic climate change will not only affect everyone personally in the coming years, it will also reinforce the need to become more sustainable within drug delivery research. In 2021, I was appointed professor for pharmaceutical biology at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg. Our research is at the interface between developing biogenic therapies and understanding of bacterial infections. In this contribution to the Orations - New Horizons of the Journal of Controlled Release, I would like to underline the need for future sustainable approaches in our research area, by highlighting selected examples from the fields of infection research, natural product characterisation and extracellular vesicles. My aim is to put into perspective current issues for these research topics, but also encourage our current student-training framework to contribute to education for sustainable development. This contribution is a personal statement to increase the overall awareness for sustainability challenges in drug delivery and beyond.

Monkeypox (mpox) Outbreak: More queries posed as cases soar globally

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Current state of, prospects for, and obstacles to mRNA vaccine development

Given their superior efficacy, rapid engineering, low-cost manufacturing, and safe delivery prospects, mRNA vaccines offer an intriguing alternative to conventional vaccination technologies. Several mRNA vaccine platforms targeting infectious diseases and various types of cancer have exhibited beneficial results both in vivo and in vitro. Issues related to mRNA stability and immunogenicity have been addressed. Current mRNA vaccines can generate robust immune responses, without being constrained by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) haplotype of the recipient. Given that mRNA vaccinations are the only transient genetic information carriers, they are also safe. In this review, we provide an update and overview on mRNA vaccines, including their current state, and the problems that have prevented them from being used in more general therapeutic ways.

Worldview Orientations and Personal and Social Risk Perceptions for COVID-19 in a U.S. Population-Based Sample

Adoption of COVID-19 preventive behaviors involves considering personal risk and the risk to others. Consequently, many COVID-19 prevention measures are intended to protect both the individual engaging in the behavior and others in the population. Yet, the preponderance of research is focused on perceptions of an individual's personal risk, making risk perception for others a critical area for investigation. Two worldview orientations describing values regarding how society should be organized, hierarchy-beliefs prioritizing social hierarchy, and individualism-beliefs prioritizing personal autonomy, have been linked to a range of risk perceptions. This study objective is to examine the association of worldview orientations with COVID-19 risk perceptions for oneself and others in a United States context. Using a national sample of 410 U.S. adults, we examined the associations between worldview orientations and six facets of risk (absolute risk, risk certainty, comparative risk, risk severity, fear, feelings of risk) using demographics-adjusted multivariable regression models. We conducted separate analyses for each of the following referents: (1) personal risk, (2) risk for the average person within the United States, and (3) risk to people within specific social groups (e.g., family, co-workers). Results indicate that stronger hierarchical and individualistic orientations were associated with lower COVID-19 risk perceptions for all three referents. The results were particularly consistent for fear and feelings of risk. Individualism was related to higher risk perception certainty for personal risk and the risk to people within specific social groups. Hierarchy was related to lower perceived severity for all referents. Findings suggest that U.S. public health messaging sensitive to worldview orientations may be needed to optimize acceptance of recommendations for protective behaviors, including vaccination. The relationship of worldview orientations to health risk perceptions may help guide messaging for future infectious outbreaks where risk perceptions are t drivers of protective behavior.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical and environmental samples using highly sensitive reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based biosensor

Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) is the most commonly used diagnostic tool for SARS-CoV-2 detection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite its sensitivity and accuracy, qRT-PCR is a time-consuming method that requires expensive laboratories with highly trained personnel. In this work, on-site detection of SARS-CoV-2 in municipal wastewater was investigated for the first time. The wastewater was unprocessed and did not require any prefiltration, prior spiking with virus, or viral concentration in order to be suitable for use with the biosensor. The prototype reported here is a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based biosensor for rapid, sensitive and selective detection of SARS-CoV-2. The biosensor achieved a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.5 fg/mL in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and exhibited specificity when exposed to various analytes. The response time was measured to be around 240 ms. To further explore the capabilities of the biosensor in real clinical and municipal wastewater samples, three different tests were performed to determine the presence or absence of the virus: (i) qRT-PCR, (ii) a rapid antigen-based commercially available test (COVID-19 Test Strips), and (iii) the biosensor constructed and reported here. Taken together, our results demonstrate that a biosensor that can detect SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples as well as unfiltered and unprocessed municipal wastewater is feasible.

Associations of socioeconomic status with infectious diseases mediated by lifestyle, environmental pollution and chronic comorbidities: a comprehensive evaluation based on UK Biobank

BACKGROUND

Socioeconomic status (SES) inequity was recognized as a driver of some certain infectious diseases. However, few studies evaluated the association between SES and the burden of overall infections, and even fewer identified preventable mediators. This study aimed to assess the association between SES and overall infectious diseases burden, and the potential roles of factors including lifestyle, environmental pollution, chronic disease history.

METHODS

We included 401,009 participants from the UK Biobank (UKB) and defined the infection status for each participant according to their diagnosis records. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to define SES for each participant. We further defined healthy lifestyle score, environment pollution score (EPS) and four types of chronic comorbidities. We used multivariate logistic regression to test the associations between the four above covariates and infectious diseases. Then, we performed the mediation and interaction analysis to explain the relationships between SES and other variables on infectious diseases. Finally, we employed seven types of sensitivity analyses, including considering the Townsend deprivation index as an area level SES variable, repeating our main analysis for some individual or composite factors and in some subgroups, as well as in an external data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, to verify the main results.

RESULTS

In UKB, 60,771 (15.2%) participants were diagnosed with infectious diseases during follow-up. Lower SES [odds ratio (OR) = 1.5570] were associated with higher risk of overall infections. Lifestyle score mediated 2.9% of effects from SES, which ranged from 2.9 to 4.0% in different infection subtypes, while cardiovascular disease (CVD) mediated a proportion of 6.2% with a range from 2.1 to 6.8%. In addition, SES showed significant negative interaction with lifestyle score (OR = 0.8650) and a history of cancer (OR = 0.9096), while a significant synergy interaction was observed between SES and EPS (OR = 1.0024). In subgroup analysis, we found that males and African (AFR) with lower SES showed much higher infection risk. Results from sensitivity and validation analyses showed relative consistent with the main analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Low SES is shown to be an important risk factor for infectious disease, part of which may be mediated by poor lifestyle and chronic comorbidities. Efforts to enhance health education and improve the quality of living environment may help reduce burden of infectious disease, especially for people with low SES.

Nanotechnology-Assisted Biosensors for the Detection of Viral Nucleic Acids: An Overview

The accurate and rapid diagnosis of viral diseases has garnered increasing attention in the field of biosensors. The development of highly sensitive, selective, and accessible biosensors is crucial for early disease detection and preventing mortality. However, developing biosensors optimized for viral disease diagnosis has several limitations, including the accurate detection of mutations. For decades, nanotechnology has been applied in numerous biological fields such as biosensors, bioelectronics, and regenerative medicine. Nanotechnology offers a promising strategy to address the current limitations of conventional viral nucleic acid-based biosensors. The implementation of nanotechnologies, such as functional nanomaterials, nanoplatform-fabrication techniques, and surface nanoengineering, to biosensors has not only improved the performance of biosensors but has also expanded the range of sensing targets. Therefore, a deep understanding of the combination of nanotechnologies and biosensors is required to prepare for sanitary emergencies such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In this review, we provide interdisciplinary information on nanotechnology-assisted biosensors. First, representative nanotechnologies for biosensors are discussed, after which this review summarizes various nanotechnology-assisted viral nucleic acid biosensors. Therefore, we expect that this review will provide a valuable basis for the development of novel viral nucleic acid biosensors.

Respiratory Viruses and Virus-like Particle Vaccine Development: How Far Have We Advanced?

With technological advancements enabling globalization, the intercontinental transmission of pathogens has become much easier. Respiratory viruses are one such group of pathogens that require constant monitoring since their outbreak leads to massive public health crises, as exemplified by the influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by the SARS-CoV-2. To prevent the transmission of these highly contagious viruses, developing prophylactic tools, such as vaccines, is of considerable interest to the scientific community. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are highly sought after as vaccine platforms for their safety and immunogenicity profiles. Although several VLP-based vaccines against hepatitis B and human papillomavirus have been approved for clinical use by the United States Food and Drug Administration, VLP vaccines against the three aforementioned respiratory viruses are lacking. Here, we summarize the most recent progress in pre-clinical and clinical VLP vaccine development. We also outline various strategies that contributed to improving the efficacy of vaccines against each virus and briefly discuss the stability aspect of VLPs that makes it a highly desired vaccine platform.

Potential Mammalian Vector-Borne Diseases in Live and Wet Markets in Indonesia and Myanmar

Vector-borne diseases spread from wild animals and their associated ectoparasites to humans and domesticated animals. Wildlife markets are recognized as important areas where this transfer can take place. We assessed the potential for spreading vector-borne diseases in two live and wet markets in Myanmar (Mong La, on the Myanmar-China border) and Indonesia (Sukahaji in Bandung on the island of Java) by making an inventory of all live and freshly killed wild mammals for sale. For eight mammal families, we quantified the number of animals on offer, and we used a heatmap cluster analysis to map vector-borne diseases that these families may carry. In Myanmar, we observed large numbers of wild pigs and deer (potentially carrying West Nile and various encephalitis viruses) whereas in Indonesia we observed Old World fruit bats (potentially carrying Chikungunya and encephalitis viruses) and squirrels (potentially carrying West Nile and encephalitis viruses). The trade in Indonesia was dominated by live mammals offered for sale as pets, and only Old World fruit bats and squirrels traded for traditional Asian medicine were killed in the markets. The trade in Myanmar was more geared towards wild meat (e.g., wild pigs, deer, primates) and traditional Asian medicine (squirrels). The combined risks of vector-borne diseases spreading from traded animals to human health highlight the need for an integrated approach protecting public health, economic interests and biodiversity.

The ecosyndemic framework of the global environmental change and the COVID-19 pandemic

The ecosyndemic theory combines the concept of 'synergy' with 'epidemic' and the term "eco" implies the role of the environmental changes. Each of the conditions enhances the negative impacts of the other in an additive way making our society more vulnerable and heightening individual risk factors. In this study, we analyze the mutually reinforcing links between the environment and health from the complexity angle of the ecosyndemic theory and propose the characterization of the COVID-19 pandemic as ecosyndemic. We use the term 'ecosyndemic' because the global environmental change contributes to local-scale, regional-scale and global-scale alterations of the Earth's systems. These changes have their root causes in the way that people interact with the physical, chemical, and biotic factors of the environment. These interactions disturb nature and the consequences have feedbacks in every living organism.

Antimicrobial Resistance, Phenotypic Characteristics, and Biofilm Production in Citrobacter freundii Isolates Obtained from Urinary Tract Infections

Objective

To evaluate the link between phenotypic traits, antimicrobial resistance, and biofilm-producing capacity of urinary isolates of Citrobacter freundii ( C. freundii).

Methods

Both pan-antibiotic-susceptible and -resistant C. freundii isolates ( n = 120) obtained from laboratory-confirmed urinary tract infections were analyzed for their link between antimicrobial resistance, phenotypic characteristics, and biofilm production.

Results

Of the total C. freundii isolates ( n = 120), 30% (37/120) of them formed large colonies. Among the total large colonies produced ( n = 37), they were present in 21.62%, 10.81%, 13.5%, 16.2%, 21.62%, and 16.21% in the control group, CIP-group, FOS-group, COT-group, Gent-group, and ESBL groups, respectively. Compared to the pan-susceptible isolates, the occurrence of large-sized-colony-forming strains was relatively reduced in most of the drug-resistant groups. The overall distribution of mucoid colonies produced ( n = 54) includes 9.25%, 18.51%, 16.66%, 18.51%, 20.3%, and 16.66% in the control group, CIP-group, FOS-group, COT-group, Gent-group, and ESBL groups, respectively. Of the total isolates that produced biofilm ( n = 51), 11.76% of isolates showed biofilm formation in the control group. Alternatively, the rate was found to be 15.68%, 11.76%, 25.49%, 19.6%, and 15.68% in the CIP-group, FOS-group, SXT-group, Gen-group, and ESBL-groups, respectively.

Conclusion

This study correlates the association between phenotypic characteristics, antimicrobial resistance, and biofilm production, the three main characteristics of C. freundii.

Protein-mimetic peptoid nanoarchitectures for pathogen recognition and neutralization

Recent outbreaks of both new and existing infectious pathogens have threatened healthcare systems around the world. Therefore, it is vital to detect and neutralize pathogens to prevent their spread and treat infected patients. This consideration has led to the development of biosensors and antibiotics inspired by the structure and function of antibodies and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which constitute adaptive and innate immunity, efficiently protecting the human body against invading pathogens. Herein, we provide an overview of recent advances in the detection and neutralization of pathogens using protein-mimetic peptoid nanoarchitectures. Peptoids are bio-inspired and sequence-defined polymers composed of repeating N-substituted glycine units. They can spontaneously fold into well-defined three-dimensional nanostructures that encode chemical information depending on their sequences. Loop-functionalized peptoid nanosheets have been constructed by mimicking antibodies containing chemically variable loops as binding motifs for their respective target pathogen. Furthermore, by mimicking the cationic amphipathic features of natural AMPs, helical peptoids and their assemblies have been developed to achieve selective anti-infective activity owing to their intrinsic ability to interact with bacterial membranes and viral envelopes. We believe that this mini-review furnishes in-depth insight into how to construct protein-like nanostructures via the self-assembly of peptoids for application in the detection of pathogens and the treatment of infectious diseases for future healthcare applications.

Leveraging electronic logistics management information systems to enhance and optimize supply chain response during public health emergencies: lessons from COVID-19 response in Uganda

BACKGROUND

Health supply chain is crucial for proper functioning of a health system and advancing national and international health security goals. The Coronavirus 2019 pandemic caused major challenges for health supply chain systems in Uganda and globally.

OBJECTIVES

This study involved literature review to examine how the electronic logistics management information system and related digital systems were harnessed be best support public health emergencies.

METHODS

We describe how the health supply chain system leveraged the emergency Electronic Logistic Management Information System developed during the Ebola epidemic in 2019 to support the COVID-19 response in Uganda. The findings are based on the analysis of reports, guidelines, and discussions with stakeholders involved in implementing the electronic Management Information System during the COVID-19 response. Lessons and experiences are shared on how the system supported data visibility, use and health commodity management.

RESULTS

A web-based emergency Electronic Management Information System was developed to support the supply chain system during preparedness and response to the Ebola Virus. The system facilitated coordination, information management and provided real-time data for planning, decision making, and distribution of commodities during the COVID-19 response. To address any human resource challenges, 863 staff were trained and mentored in the use of the system. The system enabled the Ministry of Health to track the distribution of Medical Counter Measures through the warehouses, eight regional pre-positioning centers, and over 2000 user units in 136 district vaccine stores. In addition, the system provided quality data for the quantification and monitoring of commodities at all levels of care. Over 1800 bulk orders were processed through the system. Real time stock status reports were transmitted from all national, regional, district and health facility levels. Procurement tracking reports, stock gap analysis and partner contribution were all accessible and visible in the system. This supported the Ministry of Health's resource mobilization and coordination efforts.

CONCLUSIONS

Availability of reliable, quality real-time data are essential for effective decision making during public health emergencies. The emergency Electronic Logistic Management Information Systems supported health authorities to mount coordinated and effective responses to ensure timely availability of commodities and supplies to support the COVID-19 pandemic response. Lessons learnt from the Ebola epidemic response were translated into actions that enabled effective preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guanidinium-Perfunctionalized Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes as Highly Potent Antimicrobials against Planktonic Microbes, Biofilms, and Coronavirus

Supramolecules have been drawing increasing attention recently in addressing healthcare challenges caused by infectious pathogens. We herein report a novel class of guanidinium-perfunctionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (Gua-POSS) supramolecules with highly potent antimicrobial activities. The modular structure of Gua-POSS Tm-Cn consists of an inorganic T10 or T8 core (m = 10 or 8), flexible linear linkers of varying lengths (n = 1 or 3), and peripherally aligned cationic guanidinium groups as the membrane-binding units. Such Gua-POSS supramolecules with spherically arrayed guanidinium cations display high antimicrobial potency against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria, as well as fungus (Candida albicans), with the best showing excellently low minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 1.7-6.8 μM in media, yet with negligible hemolytic activity and low in vitro cytotoxicity to mammalian cells. More significantly, they can inhibit biofilm formation at around their MICs and near-completely break down preestablished difficult-to-break biofilms at 250 μg mL^-1 (∼50 μM). Their strong antiviral efficacy was also experimentally demonstrated against the enveloped murine hepatitis coronavirus as a surrogate of the SARS-CoV species. Overall, this study provides a new design approach to novel classes of sphere-shaped organic-inorganic hybrid supramolecular materials, especially for potent antimicrobial, anti-biofilm, and antiviral applications.

Molluscs-A ticking microbial bomb

Bivalve shellfish consumption (ark shells, clams, cockles, and oysters) has increased over the last decades. Following this trend, infectious disease outbreaks associated with their consumption have been reported more frequently. Molluscs are a diverse group of organisms found wild and farmed. They are common on our tables, but unfortunately, despite their great taste, they can also pose a threat as a potential vector for numerous species of pathogenic microorganisms. Clams, in particular, might be filled with pathogens because of their filter-feeding diet. This specific way of feeding favors the accumulation of excessive amounts of pathogenic microorganisms like Vibrio spp., including Vibrio cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Arcobacter spp., and fecal coliforms, and intestinal enterococci. The problems of pathogen dissemination and disease outbreaks caused by exogenous bacteria in many geographical regions quickly became an unwanted effect of globalized food supply chains, global climate change, and natural pathogen transmission dynamics. Moreover, some pathogens like Shewanella spp., with high zoonotic potential, are spreading worldwide along with food transport. These bacteria, contained in food, are also responsible for the potential transmission of antibiotic-resistance genes to species belonging to the human microbiota. Finally, they end up in wastewater, thus colonizing new areas, which enables them to introduce new antibiotic-resistance genes (ARG) into the environment and extend the existing spectrum of ARGs already present in local biomes. Foodborne pathogens require modern methods of detection. Similarly, detecting ARGs is necessary to prevent resistance dissemination in new environments, thus preventing future outbreaks, which could threaten associated consumers and workers in the food processing industry.

Burden of infectious disease studies in Europe and the United Kingdom: a review of methodological design choices

This systematic literature review aimed to provide an overview of the characteristics and methods used in studies applying the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) concept for infectious diseases within European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA)/European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries and the United Kingdom. Electronic databases and grey literature were searched for articles reporting the assessment of DALY and its components. We considered studies in which researchers performed DALY calculations using primary epidemiological data input sources. We screened 3053 studies of which 2948 were excluded and 105 studies met our inclusion criteria. Of these studies, 22 were multi-country and 83 were single-country studies, of which 46 were from the Netherlands. Food- and water-borne diseases were the most frequently studied infectious diseases. Between 2015 and 2022, the number of burden of infectious disease studies was 1.6 times higher compared to that published between 2000 and 2014. Almost all studies (97%) estimated DALYs based on the incidence- and pathogen-based approach and without social weighting functions; however, there was less methodological consensus with regards to the disability weights and life tables that were applied. The number of burden of infectious disease studies undertaken across Europe has increased over time. Development and use of guidelines will promote performing burden of infectious disease studies and facilitate comparability of the results.

Bridging the Chemical Profile and Biological Activities of a New Variety of Agastache foeniculum (Pursh) Kuntze Extracts and Essential Oil

This study investigated the phytochemical content of alcoholic extracts and essential oil of a new variety of medicinal plants, Agastache foeniculum (Pursh), which Kuntze adapted for cultivation in Romania, namely “Aromat de Buzău”. The essential oil was investigated by GC-MS, while the identification and quantification of various compounds from alcoholic extracts were performed by HPLC-DAD. The total phenol and flavonoid contents of the extracts were evaluated by using standard phytochemical methods. The antioxidant activities of ethanol, methanol extracts, and essential oil of the plant were also assessed against 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH•), 2,2′-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS•+), and by ferric reducing power (FRAP) using spectroscopic methods. Cyclic voltammetry was used to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of the essential oil. The concentrations of phenolic compounds were higher in methanolic extract compared to ethanolic extract. A significant correlation was found between total phenol and total flavonoid contents (r = 0.9087). Significant high correlations were also found between the total phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activities of the extracts (r ≥ 0.8600, p < 0.05). In addition, the extracts and essential oil showed good antioxidant and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activities. Estragole was detected as the major constituent of the essential oil (94.89%). The cytotoxic activity of the essential oil was evaluated by the MTT assay. At lower concentrations (1 µg/mL) high cytotoxicity against MCF-7 breast cancer cells was observed but not on the non-tumoral dermal fibroblasts (HDF) which indicated selectivity for cancer cells and suggests the presence of biologically active components that contribute to the observed high cytotoxic effect. Findings from the present study offer new perspectives on the use of A. foeniculum as a potential source of bioactive compounds and a good candidate for pharmaceutical plant-based products.

Impacts of meteorological factors on the risk of scrub typhus in China, from 2006 to 2020: A multicenter retrospective study

Scrub typhus is emerging as a global public health threat owing to its increased prevalence and remarkable geographic expansion. However, it remains a neglected disease, and possible influences of meteorological factors on its risk are poorly understood. We conducted the largest-scale research to assess the impact of meteorological factors on scrub typhus in China. Weekly data on scrub typhus cases and meteorological factors were collected across 59 prefecture-level administrative regions from 2006 to 2020. First, we divided these regions into 3 regions and analyzed the epidemiological characteristics of scrub typhus. We then applied the distributed lag nonlinear model, combined with multivariate meta-analysis, to examine the associations between meteorological factors and scrub typhus incidence at the total and regional levels. Subsequently, we identified the critical meteorological predictors of scrub typhus incidence and extracted climate risk windows. We observed distinct epidemiological characteristics across regions, featuring obvious clustering in the East and Southwest with more even distribution and longer epidemic duration in the South. The mean temperature and relative humidity had profound effects on scrub typhus with initial-elevated-descendent patterns. Weather conditions of weekly mean temperatures of 25-33°C and weekly relative humidity of 60-95% were risk windows for scrub typhus. Additionally, the heavy rainfall was associated with sharp increase in scrub typhus incidence. We identified specific climatic signals to detect the epidemic of scrub typhus, which were easily monitored to generalize. Regional heterogeneity should be considered for targeted monitoring and disease control strategies.

The right strategy for you: Using the preferences of beef farmers to guide biosecurity recommendations for on-farm management of endemic disease

Effective on-farm biosecurity measures are crucial to the post-border protection of emerging agricultural diseases and are the foundation of endemic disease control. Implementation of on-farm biosecurity measures are contingent on the priorities of individual producers, which can often be neglected for other aspects of the farming enterprise. The on-farm approach to prevention of endemic diseases, like bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), is inconsistent between farms and it is not realistic to assume that farmers take an entirely normative approach to on-farm decision making. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) has been used for disease prioritisation and national disease control in human and animal health; however, it is yet to be used as a decision tool for disease control at the farm level. This study used MCDA to determine the most appropriate biosecurity combinations for management of BVDV, based on the preferences of Australian beef producers. Beef producer preferences were obtained from an online survey using indirect collection methods. Point of truth calibration was used to aggregate producer preferences and the performance scores of 23 biosecurity combinations for control of BVDV based on four main criteria: the probability of BVDV introduction, the on-farm impact of BVDV, the off-farm impact of BVDV and the annual input cost of the practice. The MCDA found that biosecurity combinations that included "double-fencing farm boundaries" used in conjunction with "vaccination against BVDV" were most appropriate for management of BVDV in an initially naïve, self-replacing seasonal single-calving beef herd over a 15-year period. Beef producers prioritised practices that preserved the on-farm health of their cattle more than any other criteria, a finding that was persistent regardless of demographic or farming type. Consequently, combinations with "vaccination against BVDV" were consistently ranked higher than those that included "strategic exposure of a persistently infected cow," which is sometimes used by Australian beef producers instead of vaccination. Findings of this study indicate that the benefits of "double-fencing farm boundaries" and "vaccination against BVDV" outweigh the relatively high cost associated with these practices based on the priorities of the Australian beef producer and may be used to demonstrate the benefits of on-farm biosecurity during discussions between livestock veterinarians and beef farmers.

Display of multiple proteins on engineered canine parvovirus-like particles expressed in cultured silkworm cells and silkworm larvae

Recent progress has been made dramatically in decorating virus-like particles (VLPs) on the surface or inside with functional molecules, such as antigens or nucleic acids. However, it is still challenging to display multiple antigens on the surface of VLP to meet the requirement as a practical vaccine candidate. Herein this study, we focus on the expression and engineering of the capsid protein VP2 of canine parvovirus for VLP display in the silkworm-expression system. The chemistry of the SpyTag/SpyCatcher (SpT/SpC) and SnoopTag/SnoopCatcher (SnT/SnC) are efficient protein covalent ligation systems to modify VP2 genetically, where SpyTag/SnoopTag are inserted into the N-terminus or two distinct loop regions (Lx and L2) of VP2. The SpC-EGFP and SnC-mCherry are employed as model proteins to evaluate their binding and display on six SnT/SnC-modified VP2 variants. From a series of protein binding assays between indicated protein partners, we showed that the VP2 variant with SpT inserted at the L2 region significantly enhanced VLP display to 80% compared to 5.4% from N-terminal SpT-fused VP2-derived VLPs. In contrast, the VP2 variant with SpT at the Lx region failed to form VLPs. Moreover, the SpT (Lx)/SnT (L2) double-engineered chimeric VP2 variants showed covalent conjugation capacity to both SpC/SnC protein partners. The orthogonal ligations between those binding partners were confirmed by both mixing purified proteins and co-infecting cultured silkworm cells or larvae with desired recombinant viruses. Our results indicate that a convenient VLP display platform was successfully developed for multiple antigen displays on demand. Further verifications can be performed to assess its capacity for displaying desirable antigens and inducing a robust immune response to targeted pathogens.

Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Human Monkeypox Virus Infection among Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction

Monkeypox (Mpox) is an infectious illness that can spread to humans through infected humans, animals, or contaminated objects. In 2022, the monkeypox virus spread to over 60 countries, raising significant public health concerns. Nurses play a vital role in patient care and have critical responsibilities in managing infected patients and being aware of the potential impact on the general population.

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and attitudes (KAs) of Bangladeshi nurses regarding monkeypox infectious disease.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2022 and March 2023 to evaluate the KA of nurses. Semi-structured and self-administered questionnaires were used, distributed via Google Form, and a convenient sampling technique was implemented. The dataset was analyzed using the Chi-square test, multivariable logistic regression, and Pearson correlation coefficient.

Results

A total of 1047 datasets were included in the final analysis. Overall, 57.97% of the participants demonstrated good knowledge, and 93.12% of the respondents had a positive attitude towards monkeypox disease. Female nurses exhibited better knowledge (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.36; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88-1.98) and a more positive attitude (AOR 1.64; 95% CI 1.12-3.00) than male nurses. Furthermore, a strong correlation was observed between good knowledge of monkeypox disease and a positive attitude (r = 0.76, p < 0.001), while poor knowledge moderately correlated with a negative attitude (r = 0.53, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Given the need for further improvement in KA, we recommend implementing additional training programs to enhance the abilities and motivation of nurses in effectively managing patients affected by monkeypox.

Trends and disparities in 44 national notifiable infectious diseases in China: An analysis of national surveillance data from 2010 to 2019

Research assessing the changing epidemiology of infectious diseases in China after the implementation of new healthcare reform in 2009 was scarce. We aimed to get the latest trends and disparities of national notifiable infectious diseases by age, sex, province, and season in China from 2010 to 2019. The number of incident cases and deaths, incidence rate, and mortality of 44 national notifiable infectious diseases by sex, age groups, and provincial regions from 2010 to 2019 were extracted from the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention and official reports and divided into six kinds of infectious diseases by transmission routes and three classes (A-C) in this descriptive study. Estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) were calculated to quantify the temporal trends of incidence and mortality rate. We calculated the concentration index to measure economic-related inequality. Segmented interrupted time-series analysis was used to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemic of notifiable infectious diseases. The trend of incidence rate on six kinds of infectious diseases by transmission routes was stable, while only mortality of sexual, blood-borne, and mother-to-child-borne infectious diseases increased from 0.6466 per 100 000 population in 2010 to 1.5499 per 100 000 population in 2019 by 8.76% per year (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.88-10.68). There was a decreasing trend of incidence rate on Class-A infectious diseases (EAPC = -16.30%; 95% CI: -27.93 to -2.79) and Class-B infectious diseases (EAPC = -1.05%; 95% CI: -1.56 to -0.54), while an increasing trend on Class-C infectious diseases (EAPC = 6.22%; 95% CI: 2.13-10.48). For mortality, there was a decreasing trend on Class-C infectious diseases (EAPC = -14.76%; 95% CI: -23.46 to -5.07), and an increasing trend on Class-B infectious diseases (EAPC = 4.56%; 95% CI: 2.44-6.72). In 2019, the infectious diseases with the highest incidence rate and mortality were respiratory diseases (340.95 per 100 000 population), and sexual, blood-borne, and mother-to-child-borne infectious diseases (1.5459 per 100 000 population), respectively. The greatest increasing trend of incidence rate was observed in seasonal influenza, from 4.83 per 100 000 population in 2010 to 253.36 per 100 000 population in 2019 by 45.16% per year (95% CI: 29.81-62.33), especially among females and children aged 0-4 years old. The top disease with the highest mortality was still AIDs, which had the highest average yearly mortality in 24 provinces from 2010 to 2019, and its incidence rate (EAPC = 14.99%; 95% CI: 8.75-21.59) and mortality (EAPC = 9.65; 95%CI: 7.71-11.63) both increased from 2010 to 2019, especially among people aged 44-59 years old and 60 or older. Male incidence rate and mortality were higher than females each year from 2010 to 2018 on 29 and 10 infectious diseases, respectively. Additionally, sex differences in the incidence and mortality of AIDS were becoming larger. The curve lay above the equality line, with the negative value of the concentration index, which indicated that economic-related health disparities exist in the distribution of incidence rate and mortality of respiratory diseases (incidence rate: the concentration index = -0.063, p < 0.0001; mortality: the concentration index = -0.131, p < 0.001), sexual, blood-borne, and mother-to-child-borne infectious diseases (incidence rate: the concentration index = -0.039, p = 0.0192; mortality: the concentration index = -0.207, p < 0.0001), and the inequality disadvantageous to the poor (pro-rich). Respiratory diseases (Dec-Jan), intestinal diseases (May-Jul), zoonotic infectious diseases (Mar-Jul), and vector-borne infectious diseases (Sep-Oct) had distinct seasonal epidemic patterns. In addition, segmented interrupted time-series analyses showed that, after adjusting for potential seasonality, autocorrelation, GDP per capita, number of primary medical institutions, and other factors, there was no significant impact of COVID-19 epidemic on the monthly incidence rate of six kinds of infectious diseases by transmission routes from 2018 to 2020 (all p > 0.05). The incidence rates of six kinds of infectious diseases were stable in the past decade, and incidence rates of Class-A and Class-B infectious diseases were decreasing because of comprehensive prevention and control measures and a strengthened health system after the implementation of the new healthcare reform in China since 2009. However, age, gender, regional, and economic disparities were still observed. Concerted efforts are needed to reduce the impact of seasonal influenza (especially among children aged 0-4 years old) and the mortality of AIDs (especially among people aged 44-59 years old and 60 or older). More attention should be paid to the disparities in the burden of infectious diseases.

Social cognitive predictors of vaccination status, uptake and mitigation behaviors in the Canadian COVID-19 Experiences survey

Emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19 will remain a concern for the foreseeable future, and determinants of vaccination and other mitigation behaviors are therefore critical to understand. Using data from the first two waves of the Canadian COVID-19 Experiences Survey (CCES; N = 1,958; 66.56 % female), we examined social cognitive predictors of vaccination status, transition to acceptance and mitigation behaviors in a population-representative sample. Findings indicated that all social cognitive variables were strong predictors of mitigation behavior performance at each wave, particularly among unvaccinated individuals. Among those who were vaccine hesitant at baseline, most social cognitive variables predicted transition to fully vaccinated status at follow-up. After controlling for demographic factors and geographic region, greater odds of transitioning from unvaccinated at CCES Wave 1 to fully vaccinated at CCES Wave 2 was predicted most strongly by a perception that one's valued peers were taking up the vaccine (e.g., dynamic norms (OR = 2.13 (CI: 1.54,2.93)), perceived effectiveness of the vaccine (OR = 3.71 (CI: 2.43,5.66)), favorable attitudes toward the vaccine (OR = 2.80 (CI: 1.99,3.95)), greater perceived severity of COVID-19 (OR = 2.02 (CI: 1.42,2.86)), and stronger behavioral intention to become vaccinated (OR = 2.99 (CI: 2.16,4.14)). As a group, social cognitive variables improved prediction of COVID-19 mitigation behaviors (masking, distancing, hand hygiene) by a factor of 5 compared to demographic factors, and improved prediction of vaccination status by a factor of nearly 20. Social cognitive processes appear to be important leverage points for health communications to encourage COVID-19 vaccination and other mitigation behaviors, particularly among initially hesitant members of the general population.

Development of therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of diseases

Vaccines are one of the most effective medical interventions to combat newly emerging and re-emerging diseases. Prophylactic vaccines against rabies, measles, etc., have excellent effectiveness in preventing viral infection and associated diseases. However, the host immune response is unable to inhibit virus replication or eradicate established diseases in most infected people. Therapeutic vaccines, expressing specific endogenous or exogenous antigens, mainly induce or boost cell-mediated immunity via provoking cytotoxic T cells or elicit humoral immunity via activating B cells to produce specific antibodies. The ultimate aim of a therapeutic vaccine is to reshape the host immunity for eradicating a disease and establishing lasting memory. Therefore, therapeutic vaccines have been developed for the treatment of some infectious diseases and chronic noncommunicable diseases. Various technological strategies have been implemented for the development of therapeutic vaccines, including molecular-based vaccines (peptide/protein, DNA and mRNA vaccines), vector-based vaccines (bacterial vector vaccines, viral vector vaccines and yeast-based vaccines) and cell-based vaccines (dendritic cell vaccines and genetically modified cell vaccines) as well as combinatorial approaches. This review mainly summarizes therapeutic vaccine-induced immunity and describes the development and status of multiple types of therapeutic vaccines against infectious diseases, such as those caused by HPV, HBV, HIV, HCV, and SARS-CoV-2, and chronic noncommunicable diseases, including cancer, hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, that have been evaluated in recent preclinical and clinical studies.

Cell-Penetrating Antimicrobial Peptides with Anti-Infective Activity against Intracellular Pathogens

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are natural or engineered peptide sequences with the intrinsic ability to internalize into a diversity of cell types and simultaneously transport hydrophilic molecules and nanomaterials, of which the cellular uptake is often limited. In addition to this primordial activity of cell penetration without membrane disruption, multivalent antimicrobial activity accompanies some CPPs. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with cell-penetrability exert their effect intracellularly, and they are of great interest. CPPs with antimicrobial activity (CPAPs) comprise a particular class of bioactive peptides that arise as promising agents against difficult-to-treat intracellular infections. This short review aims to present the antibacterial, antiparasitic, and antiviral effects of various cell-penetrating antimicrobial peptides currently documented. Examples include the antimicrobial effects of different CPAPs against bacteria that can propagate intracellularly, like Staphylococcus sp., Streptococcus sp., Chlamydia trachomatis, Escherichia coli, Mycobacterium sp., Listeria sp., Salmonella sp. among others. CPAPs with antiviral effects that interfere with the intracellular replication of HIV, hepatitis B, HPV, and herpes virus. Additionally, CPAPs with activity against protozoa of the genera Leishmania, Trypanosoma, and Plasmodium, the etiological agents of Leishmaniasis, Chagas' Disease, and Malaria, respectively. The information provided in this review emphasizes the potential of multivalent CPAPs, with anti-infective properties for application against various intracellular infections. So far, CPAPs bear a promise of druggability for the translational medical use of CPPs alone or in combination with chemotherapeutics. Moreover, CPAPs could be an exciting alternative for pharmaceutical design and treating intracellular infectious diseases.

The Legacy of the Pandemic Preparedness Regime: An Integrative Review

Objectives: The global response to COVID-19 inherited a long history of preparedness features pertaining to various threats, including bioterrorism, (re)-emerging infectious diseases, and pandemics. We describe the evolution of pandemic preparedness frameworks, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted an integrative literature review of publicly available documents, including grey and scientific literature, on pandemic preparedness frameworks. We relied on social science literature as a main source and used search keywords: pandemic preparedness, H1N1, COVID-19, "whole-of-society"/"whole-of-community." Results: The H1N1 pandemic (2009-2010) tested pandemic preparedness frameworks. Lessons-learned reports concluded that the global H1N1 response were too strong and unnecessarily alarming. Such critiques, pandemic fatigue, and budgetary cuts post-2008 explain lack of preparedness for COVID-19. Critiques culminated in a shift towards a "whole-of-society" approach to health crises, although its uptake has not been ideal. Conclusion: Traditional preparedness regime limits arose again during the COVID-19 pandemic. The "whole-of-society" approach was not fully deployed in COVID-19 responses. A "whole-of-organizations" approach could be designed, ensuring that countries consider local organizations' potential to partake in containing infectious disease and counter undesirable side-effects of non-pharmaceutical measures.

Optimal reduced-mixing for an SIS infectious-disease model

Which reduced-mixing strategy maximizes economic output during a disease outbreak? To answer this question, we formulate an optimal-control problem that maximizes the difference between revenue, due to healthy individuals, and medical costs, associated with infective individuals, for SIS disease dynamics. The control variable is the level of mixing in the population, which influences both revenue and the spread of the disease. Using Pontryagin's maximum principle, we find a closed-form solution for our problem. We explore an example of our problem with parameters for the transmission of Staphylococcus aureus in dairy cows, and we perform sensitivity analyses to determine how model parameters affect optimal strategies. We find that less mixing is preferable when the transmission rate is high, the per-capita recovery rate is low, or when the revenue parameter is much smaller than the cost parameter.

Killing in self-defense: proapoptotic drugs to eliminate intracellular pathogens

Intracellular infections rely on host cell survival for replication and have evolved several mechanisms to prevent infected cells from dying. Drugs that promote apoptosis, a noninflammatory form of cell death, can dysregulate these survival mechanisms to kill infected cells via a mechanism that resists the evolution of drug resistance. Two such drug classes, known as SMAC mimetics and BH3 mimetics, have shown preclinical efficacy at mediating clearance of liver-stage malaria and chronic infections such as hepatitis-B virus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Emerging toxicity and efficacy data have reinforced the broad applicability of these drugs and form the foundations for preclinical and clinical studies into their various usage cases.

Big data and infectious disease epidemiology: A bibliometric analysis and research agenda

BACKGROUND

Infectious diseases represent a major challenge for health systems worldwide. With the recent global pandemic of COVID-19, the need to research strategies to treat these health problems has become even more pressing. Although the literature on big data and data science in health has grown rapidly, few studies have synthesized these individual studies, and none has identified the utility of big data in infectious disease surveillance and modeling.

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims to synthesize research and identify hotspots of big data in infectious disease epidemiology.

METHODS

Bibliometric data from 3054 documents that satisfied the inclusion criteria were retrieved from the Web of Science database over 22 years (2000-2022) were analyzed and reviewed. The search retrieval occurred on October 17, 2022. Bibliometric analysis was performed to illustrate the relationships between research constituents, topics, and key terms in the retrieved documents.

RESULTS

The bibliometric analysis revealed internet searches and social media as the most utilized big data sources for infectious disease surveillance or modeling. It also placed the US and Chinese institutions as leaders in this research area. Disease monitoring and surveillance, utility of electronic health (or medical) records, methodology framework for infodemiology tools, and machine/deep learning were identified as the core research themes.

CONCLUSIONS

Proposals for future studies are made based on these findings. This study will provide healthcare informatics scholars with a comprehensive understanding of big data research in infectious disease epidemiology.

Seabirds under environmental pressures: Food supplementation has a larger impact than selenium on chicks exposed to mercury and a viral disease

Although infectious disease outbreaks represent a serious threat for wildlife population viability, the environmental factors that underlie such outbreaks are poorly investigated. The French Guiana breeding population of Magnificent frigatebird Fregata magnificens is subjected to recurrent episodes of chicks’ mortality likely caused by a viral disease. We hypothesized that high mercury (Hg) concentrations may be responsible for the emergence of clinical signs. We therefore investigated whether healthy and sick chicks show different Hg concentrations in blood. Because the essential element selenium (Se) may be highly depleted during Hg poisoning, we further experimentally tested whether an increased intake of dietary Se has an effect on blood levels of Hg, increases circulating Se, and improves the oxidative status of chicks. Finally, we compared the results of this experiment with a previous food supplementation experiment. Our results show similar Hg concentrations between healthy and sick chicks with visible clinical signs of the disease. Se concentrations were significantly depleted in sick chicks. Se concentrations increased while Hg concentrations simultaneously decreased in chicks that naturally recovered from the disease. Both the Se and fish supplementation experiments significantly increased Se concentrations in blood, while Hg levels were only modestly affected. Providing food to chicks appeared to have greater benefits than only supplementing chicks with Se pills as, although food supplementation had an impact on blood Se similar to that of supplementation with Se pills, it also reduced the vulnerability of chicks to the viral disease, possibly by reducing nutritional stress and providing essential nutrients.

1'-Cyano Intermediate Enables Rapid and Stereoretentive Access to 1'-Modified Remdesivir Nucleosides

While biochemical, structural, and computational studies have shown the importance of remdesivir's C1'-substituent in its perturbation of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp action, we recognized the paucity of methods to stereoselectively install substituents at this position as an obstacle to rigorous explorations of SAR and mechanism. We report the utilization of an anomerically pure 1'-cyano intermediate as an entry point to a chemically diverse set of substitutions, allowing for 1'diversification while obviating the need for the tedious separation of anomeric mixtures.

Covid-19, Cholera and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Iraq: A Country with Three Outbreaks

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Climate Change Influences the Spread of African Swine Fever Virus

Climate change is an inevitable and urgent issue in the current world. African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a re-emerging viral animal disease. This study investigates the quantitative association between climate change and the potential spread of ASFV to a global extent. ASFV in wild boar outbreak locations recorded from 1 January 2019 to 29 July 2022 were sampled and investigated using the ecological distribution tool, the Maxent model, with WorldClim bioclimatic data as the predictor variables. The future impacts of climate change on ASFV distribution based on the model were scoped with Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5) scenarios of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) bioclimatic data for 2050 and 2070. The results show that precipitation of the driest month (Bio14) was the highest contributor, and annual mean temperature (Bio1) was obtained as the highest permutation importance variable on the spread of ASFV. Based on the analyzed scenarios, we found that the future climate is favourable for ASFV disease; only quantitative ratios are different and directly associated with climate change. The current study could be a reference material for wildlife health management, climate change issues, and World Health Organization sustainability goal 13: climate action.

The Effects of Wearing Facemasks during Vigorous Exercise in the Aspect of Cardiopulmonary Response, In-Mask Environment, and Subject Discomfort

Non-pharmaceutical intervention such as wearing a mask during the pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 is one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of the virus. However, despite high effectiveness and easy to access, the biggest problem is 'discomfort'. The purpose of this study was to measure the changes of cardiopulmonary response and related factors affecting breathing discomfort when wearing a mask during vigorous exercise. Fifteen healthy male adults participated in this study. The experimental protocol consisted of three conditions: no mask; KF-94 mask; and sports mask. Each condition consisted of three stages: stage I, 2 m/s on even level; stage II, 2 m/s with 5° inclination; and stage III, 3 m/s on even level. Oxygen saturation (SaO₂) and heart rate (HR), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂), energy expenditure index (EEI), in-mask temperature, humidity, and a five-point scale questionnaire to evaluate subjective discomfort were measured. The results show that there was a significantly higher discomfort score in mask conditions compared with no mask (p < 0.05) and only pCO₂ change significantly related to subjective discomfort during exercise (p < 0.05). Moreover, the pCO₂ washout was significantly disturbed when wearing a sports mask in stages 2 and 3, which was related to wearer subjective discomfort.

Lessons Learned from the Ebola Virus Disease and COVID-19 Preparedness to Respond to the Human Monkeypox Virus Outbreak in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the human monkeypox virus disease an international health emergency. In the past decades, infectious disease epidemics have significantly impacted low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) being the most recent. LMICs, particularly in Africa and Asia, responded reasonably well by strengthening health systems, including infection prevention and control strategies, laboratory systems, risk communication, and training of essential healthcare workers for surge capacity in preparation for and response to COVID-19. With the possibility of other epidemics, such as the current epidemic of human Monkeypox, a consolidated global response is required. This article discusses lessons learned from previous Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks and also provides recommendations on how these lessons can be useful to strengthen monkeypox disease outbreak preparedness and response in LMIC.

Pandemic origins and a One Health approach to preparedness and prevention: Solutions based on SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses

COVID-19 is the latest zoonotic RNA virus epidemic of concern. Learning how it began and spread will help to determine how to reduce the risk of future events. We review major RNA virus outbreaks since 1967 to identify common features and opportunities to prevent emergence, including ancestral viral origins in birds, bats, and other mammals; animal reservoirs and intermediate hosts; and pathways for zoonotic spillover and community spread, leading to local, regional, or international outbreaks. The increasing scientific evidence concerning the origins of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is most consistent with a zoonotic origin and a spillover pathway from wildlife to people via wildlife farming and the wildlife trade. We apply what we know about these outbreaks to identify relevant, feasible, and implementable interventions. We identify three primary targets for pandemic prevention and preparedness: first, smart surveillance coupled with epidemiological risk assessment across wildlife–livestock–human (One Health) spillover interfaces; second, research to enhance pandemic preparedness and expedite development of vaccines and therapeutics; and third, strategies to reduce underlying drivers of spillover risk and spread and reduce the influence of misinformation. For all three, continued efforts to improve and integrate biosafety and biosecurity with the implementation of a One Health approach are essential. We discuss new models to address the challenges of creating an inclusive and effective governance structure, with the necessary stable funding for cross-disciplinary collaborative research. Finally, we offer recommendations for feasible actions to close the knowledge gaps across the One Health continuum and improve preparedness and response in the future.

Distribution and Current State of Molecular Genetic Characterization in Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae

Free-living amoebae (FLA) are protozoa widely distributed in the environment, found in a great diversity of terrestrial biomes. Some genera of FLA are linked to human infections. The genus Acanthamoeba is currently classified into 23 genotypes (T1-T23), and of these some (T1, T2, T4, T5, T10, T12, and T18) are known to be capable of causing granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) mainly in immunocompromised patients while other genotypes (T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T10, T11, T12, and T15) cause Acanthamoeba keratitis mainly in otherwise healthy patients. Meanwhile, Naegleria fowleri is the causative agent of an acute infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), while Balamuthia mandrillaris, like some Acanthamoeba genotypes, causes GAE, differing from the latter in the description of numerous cases in patients immunocompetent. Finally, other FLA related to the pathologies mentioned above have been reported; Sappinia sp. is responsible for one case of amoebic encephalitis; Vermamoeba vermiformis has been found in cases of ocular damage, and its extraordinary capacity as endocytobiont for microorganisms of public health importance such as Legionella pneumophila, Bacillus anthracis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, among others. This review addressed issues related to epidemiology, updating their geographic distribution and cases reported in recent years for pathogenic FLA.

Monkeypox and Global Health Inequities: A Tale as Old as Time…

Infectious disease outbreaks can quickly become global in what has increasingly become a closely interconnected world, influenced by what is considered to be an unprecedented era of technological, demographic, and climatic change [...].

The Power of Gene Technologies: 1001 Ways to Create a Cell Model

Modern society faces many biomedical challenges that require urgent solutions. Two of the most important include the elucidation of mechanisms of socially significant diseases and the development of prospective drug treatments for these diseases. Experimental cell models are a convenient tool for addressing many of these problems. The power of cell models is further enhanced when combined with gene technologies, which allows the examination of even more subtle changes within the structure of the genome and permits testing of proteins in a native environment. The list and possibilities of these recently emerging technologies are truly colossal, which requires a rethink of a number of approaches for obtaining experimental cell models. In this review, we analyze the possibilities and limitations of promising gene technologies for obtaining cell models, and also give recommendations on the development and creation of relevant models. In our opinion, this review will be useful for novice cell biologists, as it provides some reference points in the rapidly growing universe of gene and cell technologies.

Absorption-Modulated SiO2@Au Core-Satellite Nanoparticles for Highly Sensitive Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein in Lateral Flow Immunosensors

The worldwide spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) highlights the need for rapid, simple, and accurate tests to detect various variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The antigen test, based on the lateral flow immunoassay (LFI), is a suitable "first line of defense" test that enables early identification and timely isolation of patients to minimize viral transmission among communities. However, it is generally less accurate than nucleic acid testing, and its sensitivity needs improvement. Here, a novel rapid detection method is designed to sensitively detect SARS-CoV-2 using isolated gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-assembled SiO2 core-satellite nanoparticles (SiO2@Au CSNPs). Well-grown AuNP satellites in the synthesis of SiO2@Au CSNPs significantly enhanced their light absorption, increased the detection sensitivity, and lowered the detection limit by 2 orders of magnitude relative to conventional gold colloids. The proposed system enabled highly sensitive detection of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein with a detection limit of 0.24 pg mL-1 within 20 min. This is the first study to develop a highly sensitive antigen test using the absorption-modulated SiO2@Au CSNPs. Our findings demonstrate the capacity of this platform to serve as an effective sensing strategy for managing pandemic conditions and preventing the spread of viral infections.

Chalcone: A Promising Bioactive Scaffold in Medicinal Chemistry

Chalcones are a class of privileged scaffolds with high medicinal significance due to the presence of an α,β-unsaturated ketone functionality. Numerous functional modifications of chalcones have been reported, along with their pharmacological behavior. The present review aims to summarize the structures from natural sources, synthesis methods, biological characteristics against infectious and non-infectious diseases, and uses of chalcones over the past decade, and their structure–activity relationship studies are detailed in depth. This critical review provides guidelines for the future design and synthesis of various chalcones. In addition, this could be highly supportive for medicinal chemists to develop more promising candidates for various infectious and non-infectious diseases.

A social ecological approach to identify the barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination acceptance: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has caused substantial impact on population health, healthcare, and social and economic systems around the world. Several vaccines have been developed to control the pandemic with varying effectiveness and safety profiles. One of the biggest obstacles to implementing successful vaccination programmes is vaccine hesitancy stemming from concerns about effectiveness and safety. This review aims to identify the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and acceptance and to organize the factors using the social ecological framework.

METHODS

We adopted the five-stage methodological framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley to guide this scoping review. Selection criteria was based on the PICo (Population, Phenomenon of interest and Context) framework. Factors associated with acceptance and hesitancy were grouped into the following: intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community, and public policy factors using the social ecological framework.

RESULTS

Fifty-one studies fulfilled this review's inclusion criteria. Most studies were conducted in Europe and North America, followed by Asia and the Middle East. COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy rates varied across countries. Some common demographic factors associated with hesitancy were younger age, being female, having lower than college education, and having a lower income level. Most of the barriers and facilitators to acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines were intrapersonal factors, such as personal characteristics and preferences, concerns with COVID-19 vaccines, history/perception of general vaccination, and knowledge of COVID-19 and health. The remaining interpersonal, institution, community, and public policy factors were grouped into factors identified as barriers and facilitators.

CONCLUSION

Our review identified barriers and facilitators of vaccine acceptance and hesitancy and organised them using the social ecological framework. While some barriers and facilitators such as vaccine safety are universal, differentiated barriers might exist for different target groups, which need to be understood if they are to be addressed to maximize vaccine acceptance.

Improvement of native structure-based peptides as efficient inhibitors of protein-protein interactions of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and human ACE2

New pathogens responsible for novel human disease outbreaks in the last two decades are mainly the respiratory system viruses. Not different was the last pandemic episode, caused by infection of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). One of the extensively explored targets, in the recent scientific literature, as a possible way for rapid development of COVID-19 specific drug(s) is the interaction between the receptor-binding domain of the virus’ spike (S) glycoprotein and human receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). This protein-protein recognition process is involved in the early stages of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle leading to the host cell membrane penetration. Thus, disrupting this interaction may block or significantly reduce the infection caused by the novel pathogen. Previously we have designed (by in silico structure-based analysis) three very short peptides having sequences inspirited by hACE2 native fragments, which effectively bind to the SARS-CoV-2 S protein and block its interaction with the human receptor. In continuation of the above mentioned studies, here we presented an application of molecular modeling approach resulting in improved binding affinity of the previously proposed ligand and its enhanced ability to inhibit meaningful host-virus protein-protein interaction. The new optimized hexapeptide binds to the virus protein with affinity one magnitude higher than the initial ligand and, as a very short peptide, has also great potential for further drug development. The peptide-based strategy is rapid and cost-effective for developing and optimizing efficient protein-protein interactions disruptors and may be successfully applied to discover antiviral candidates against other future emerging human viral infections.

Messaging Should Reflect the Nuanced Relationship between Land Change and Zoonotic Disease Risk

A hallmark of the media publicity surrounding COVID-19 has been the message that land change causes zoonotic diseases to spill over from wild animals to humans. The secondary peer-reviewed literature sends a similar message. However, as indicated in the primary peer-reviewed literature, the complexity of interacting variables involved in zoonotic disease spillover makes it unlikely for such a claim to be universally applicable. The secondary peer-reviewed literature and the mainstream media also differ markedly from the primary peer-reviewed literature in their lack of nuance in messaging about the relationship between land change and spillover risk. We advocate accurate, nuanced messaging for the sake of the local communities at greatest risk from zoonotic disease, for the sake of scientific credibility, and so that proportionate attention may be given to other possible drivers of spillover risk.