Virus Diseases Commons^™

Eastern Equine Encephalitis: An Assessment Of Vermont’S Treatment Plan And The Lack Of Preventative Treatment, Lauren E. Bierman

WAC Prize Winners

When an avian host and the Culiseta melanura mosquito meet in fresh water hardwood swamps, the Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEE) is spread to the bird community. When that same bird is bitten by a mosquito that feeds on humans, such as the Aedes, Coquillettidia, and Culex species, the EEE virus has found its bridge vector. EEE is a rare disease in humans; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2010 that the virus affects an average of 6 people per year (Epidemiology & Geographic Distribution section, para 2). In 2010, blood collected from deer and moose tested ...

Role Of Leukocyte Trafficking In Cervicovaginal Hiv-1 Transmission, Tony Sun, Maud Deruaz

Undergraduate Research Symposium

HIV-1 was first isolated and described by Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier in 1984, leading to the identification of the causative agent for an enigmatic AIDS disease. Since its discovery, HIV-1 transmission has led to a global AIDS epidemic, and although antiretroviral therapies have helped alleviate the threat, drug efficacies are limited both by the logistics of drug administration in developing countries and by the biology of HIV-1, which mutates rapidly due to high error-prone reverse transcriptase and selective pressures in hosts. Understanding mechanisms of HIV-1 transmission is crucial for developing effective treatments. Within the infected population, more than 80 ...

Healthcare Seeking For Diarrhoea, Malaria And Pneumonia Among Children In Four Poor Rural Districts In Sierra Leone In The Context Of Free Health Care: Results Of A Cross-Sectional Survey, Theresa Diaz, Asha S. George, Sowmya R. Rao, Peter S. Bangura, John B. Baimba, Shannon A. Mcmahon, Augustin Kabano

Quantitative Health Sciences Publications and Presentations

BACKGROUND: To plan for a community case management (CCM) program after the implementation of the Free Health Care Initiative (FHCI), we assessed health care seeking for children with diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia in 4 poor rural districts in Sierra Leone.

METHODS: In July 2010 we undertook a cross-sectional household cluster survey and qualitative research. Caregivers of children under five years of age were interviewed about healthcare seeking. We evaluated the association of various factors with not seeking health care by obtaining adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence limits using a multivariable logistic regression model. Focus groups and in-depth interviews of ...

Evolution Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Clade C Envelope V1-V5 Region During Disease Progression In Non-Human Primate Model, For Yue Tso

Dissertations and Theses in Biological Sciences

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) clade C strain is the fastest spreading HIV-1 strain globally, especially in Africa. It has been decades since the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic first started. However, an effective anti-HIV-1 vaccine is not yet available, which is partly due to the highly variable nature of HIV-1 envelope gene and the absence of a suitable animal model. Strengthening of the understanding of envelope evolution during disease progression will contribute significantly towards future anti-HIV-1 treatment and preventions.
Non-human primates have been an essential animal model for many biomedical research areas. Using simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV ...

Aids: An Overview, Loretta Mclaughlin

New England Journal of Public Policy

"We stand nakedly in front of a very serious pandemic, as mortal as any pandemic there ever has been," said Halfdan Mahler, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). "I don't know of any greater killer than AIDS, not to speak of its psychological, social and economic maiming. Everything is getting worse and worse with AIDS and all of us have been underestimating it, and I in particular. We're running scared. I cannot imagine a worse health problem in this century." When asked to compare AIDS to other epidemics, such as smallpox, that have infected and killed over ...

El Dengue En Puerto López La Incidencia Y El Nivel De Conocimiento De La Gente Sobre Las Enfermedades Transmitidas Por Los Mosquitos, Mckenzie Momany

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study took place in Puerto López, Manabí, Ecuador and focuses primarily on the level of knowledge the townspeople have about dengue and how it is transmitted. It also looks at the incidence of dengue in the town and across neighborhoods. In order to carry out this study, I spent a month living in the coastal town of Puerto López and interviewed 50 townspeople – 10 in each of the five neighborhoods of Jonas Gonzalez, Miraflores, Luís Gencón, San Alejo, and the central neighborhood. Interviewees were questioned about their past history of dengue, as well as their knowledge of the disease ...

Type Iii Interferons, Il-28 And Il-29, Are Increased In Chronic Hcv Infection And Induce Myeloid Dendritic Cell-Mediated Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells, Angela Dolganiuc, Karen Kodys, Christopher Marshall, Banishree Saha, Shuye Zhang, Shashi Bala, Gyongyi Szabo

Open Access Articles

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is difficult to eradicate and type III interferons (IFN-lambda, composed of IL-28A, IL-28B and IL-29) are novel therapeutic candidates. We hypothesized that IFN-lambda have immunomodulatory effects in HCV- infected individuals.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the expression of IFN-lambda and its receptor (composed of IL-10R2 and IFN-lambdaR subunits) in the blood and livers of patients with chronic (c)HCV infection compared to controls (those who cleared HCV by sustained virological response, SVR, and those with liver inflammation of non-viral origin, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH). We also compared the proliferative capacity of dendritic cells (DCs ...

Increased Microrna-155 Expression In The Serum And Peripheral Monocytes In Chronic Hcv Infection, Shashi Bala, Yaphet Tilahun, Odette Taha, Hawau Alao, Karen Kodys, Donna Catalano, Gyongyi Szabo

Gastroenterology Publications and Presentations

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), a single stranded RNA virus, affects millions of people worldwide and leads to chronic infection characterized by chronic inflammation in the liver and in peripheral immune cells. Chronic liver inflammation leads to progressive liver damage. MicroRNAs (miRNA) regulate inflammation (miR-155, -146a and -125b) as well as hepatocyte function (miR-122).

METHODS: Here we hypothesized that microRNAs are dysregulated in chronic HCV infection. We examined miRNAs in the circulation and in peripheral monocytes of patients with chronic HCV infection to evaluate if specific miRNA expression correlated with HCV infection.

RESULTS: We found that monocytes from chronic HCV ...

Human Monoclonal Antibody Hcv1 Effectively Prevents And Treats Hcv Infection In Chimpanzees, Trevor J. Morin, Teresa J. Broering, Brett A. Leav, Barbara M. Blair, Kirk J. Rowley, Elisabeth N. Boucher, Yang Wang, Peter S. Cheslock, Michael Knauber, David B. Olsen, Steve W. Ludmerer, Gyongyi Szabo, Robert W. Finberg, Robert H. Purcell, Robert E. Lanford, Donna M. Ambrosino, Deborah C. Molrine, Gregory J. Babcock

Gastroenterology Publications and Presentations

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a leading cause of liver transplantation and there is an urgent need to develop therapies to reduce rates of HCV infection of transplanted livers. Approved therapeutics for HCV are poorly tolerated and are of limited efficacy in this patient population. Human monoclonal antibody HCV1 recognizes a highly-conserved linear epitope of the HCV E2 envelope glycoprotein (amino acids 412-423) and neutralizes a broad range of HCV genotypes. In a chimpanzee model, a single dose of 250 mg/kg HCV1 delivered 30 minutes prior to infusion with genotype 1a H77 HCV provided complete protection from HCV ...

Increased Microrna-155 Expression In The Serum And Peripheral Monocytes In Chronic Hcv Infection, Shashi Bala, Yaphet Tilahun, Odette Taha, Hawau Alao, Karen Kodys, Donna Catalano, Gyongyi Szabo

Open Access Articles

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), a single stranded RNA virus, affects millions of people worldwide and leads to chronic infection characterized by chronic inflammation in the liver and in peripheral immune cells. Chronic liver inflammation leads to progressive liver damage. MicroRNAs (miRNA) regulate inflammation (miR-155, -146a and -125b) as well as hepatocyte function (miR-122).

METHODS: Here we hypothesized that microRNAs are dysregulated in chronic HCV infection. We examined miRNAs in the circulation and in peripheral monocytes of patients with chronic HCV infection to evaluate if specific miRNA expression correlated with HCV infection.

RESULTS: We found that monocytes from chronic HCV ...