Rationale: Malaria and dengue are the most prevalent vector-borne diseases in tropical countries. Plasmodium parasite and dengue virus(DENV) concurrent infection is possible and often under-recognized in geographical ...Rationale: Malaria and dengue are the most prevalent vector-borne diseases in tropical countries. Plasmodium parasite and dengue virus(DENV) concurrent infection is possible and often under-recognized in geographical areas where these infections are both endemic.Patients concern and diagnosis: We describe the first two cases of Plasmodium falciparum and DENV-3 co-infection in travelers returning to northeastern Italy from Burkina Faso during 2013-2014.Interventions: Malaria infection in both patients was treated with mefloquine. Due to the persistence of symptoms despite of the antimalaria treatment, dengue was also investigated;the treatment of dengue was symptomatic.Outcomes: The patients were discharged in good general condition.Lessons: The need for surveillance of potential malaria and dengue co-infection in travelers returning to Europe from endemic areas is highlighted, as infection with Plasmodium does not exclude arboviral co-infection.展开更多
West Nile virus(WNV) is an emerging neurotropic flavivirus that has recently spread to America and Southern Europe via an enzootic/epizootic bird-mosquito-bird transmission cycle. The virus can occasionally infect hum...West Nile virus(WNV) is an emerging neurotropic flavivirus that has recently spread to America and Southern Europe via an enzootic/epizootic bird-mosquito-bird transmission cycle. The virus can occasionally infect humans through mosquito bites, and man-to-man transmission has also been reported via infected blood or organ donation. In the human host, WNV causes asymptomatic infection in about 70%-80% of cases, while < 1% of clinical cases progress to severe neuroinvasive disease; long-term neurological sequelae are common in more than 50% of these severe cases. Thepathogenesis of the neuroinvasive form of WNV infection remains incompletely understood, and risk factors for developing severe clinical illness are largely unknown. The innate immune response plays a major role in the control of WNV replication, which is supported by the fact that the virus has developed numerous mechanisms to escape the control of antiviral interferons. However, exaggerated inflammatory responses lead to pathology, mainly involving the central nervous system. This brief review presents the salient features of innate host responses, WNV immunoevasion strategies, and WNV-induced immunopathology.展开更多
Background Tegumentary leishmaniasis(TL)caused by Leishmania infantum is an overlooked yet re-emerging disease endemic in Mediterranean Europe.Currently,no standardized molecular surveillance of circulating Leishmania...Background Tegumentary leishmaniasis(TL)caused by Leishmania infantum is an overlooked yet re-emerging disease endemic in Mediterranean Europe.Currently,no standardized molecular surveillance of circulating Leishmania strains is performed in European endemic areas,despite the potential public health implications of parasite biodiversity.This study aims to characterize parasite population haplogroups causing TL in two active endemic areas in southern Europe,i.e.Bologna(northern Italy)and Fuenlabrada(central Spain).Methods In this retrospective study,we typed 87 L.infantum samples from TL cases in the areas of Bologna and Fuenlabrada;these areas hosted the main European foci of human TL occurring in the last 15 years.Two Leishmania genomic typing targets were used:the heat shock protein 70(Hsp70)and the cysteine peptidase b(Cpb).Simpson’s index was used to calculate the discriminatory power of the used typing methods.Results Typing results depicted the presence of a heterogeneous parasite population circulating in Bologna with two main haplogroups,i.e.Hsp70(A)_Cpb(F)(n=7,30.4%)and Hsp70(G)_Cpb(E/F)(n=7,30.4%),differing from the reference L.infantum strain JPCM5 haplogroup and partially overlapping with L.donovani lineages.Among the samples from Fuenlabrada,n=19 samples were typed by both targets,revealing a homogeneous population expressing Hsp70(A)and Cpb(E),matching the JPCM5 reference strain haplogroup.Overall,the Cpb typing method exhibited higher discrimination power as compared to the Hsp70 method(Simpson’s index of diversity,P-value<0.05).Conclusions Our findings show differences among L.infantum populations causing TL in two southern European epidemiological foci of human leishmaniasis and support the recent discovery of L.infantum/L.donovani hybrid strains circulating in northern Italy.These results underscore the critical need to identify the circulating Leishmania strains in endemic areas and assess their potential public health implications in active foci.展开更多
文摘Rationale: Malaria and dengue are the most prevalent vector-borne diseases in tropical countries. Plasmodium parasite and dengue virus(DENV) concurrent infection is possible and often under-recognized in geographical areas where these infections are both endemic.Patients concern and diagnosis: We describe the first two cases of Plasmodium falciparum and DENV-3 co-infection in travelers returning to northeastern Italy from Burkina Faso during 2013-2014.Interventions: Malaria infection in both patients was treated with mefloquine. Due to the persistence of symptoms despite of the antimalaria treatment, dengue was also investigated;the treatment of dengue was symptomatic.Outcomes: The patients were discharged in good general condition.Lessons: The need for surveillance of potential malaria and dengue co-infection in travelers returning to Europe from endemic areas is highlighted, as infection with Plasmodium does not exclude arboviral co-infection.
基金Supported by RFO of University of Bologna,the grant"Fondi Finalizzati Lab P3"from Regione Emilia-Romagnathe grant"Ricerca Finalizzata RF-2009-1539631"from the Italian Ministry of Health
文摘West Nile virus(WNV) is an emerging neurotropic flavivirus that has recently spread to America and Southern Europe via an enzootic/epizootic bird-mosquito-bird transmission cycle. The virus can occasionally infect humans through mosquito bites, and man-to-man transmission has also been reported via infected blood or organ donation. In the human host, WNV causes asymptomatic infection in about 70%-80% of cases, while < 1% of clinical cases progress to severe neuroinvasive disease; long-term neurological sequelae are common in more than 50% of these severe cases. Thepathogenesis of the neuroinvasive form of WNV infection remains incompletely understood, and risk factors for developing severe clinical illness are largely unknown. The innate immune response plays a major role in the control of WNV replication, which is supported by the fact that the virus has developed numerous mechanisms to escape the control of antiviral interferons. However, exaggerated inflammatory responses lead to pathology, mainly involving the central nervous system. This brief review presents the salient features of innate host responses, WNV immunoevasion strategies, and WNV-induced immunopathology.
基金supported by EU funding within the NextGeneration EUMUR PNRR Extended Partnership initiative on Emerging Infectious Diseases(Project no.PE00000007,INF-ACT)by the Ministry of Health,Italy(grant E54I19002870001—IZSLER PRC 2019016)+1 种基金by the Instituto de Salud Carlos Ⅲ through ISCⅢ-AES projects(PI24CⅢ/00023)CIBER of Infectious Diseases(CB21/13/00018).
文摘Background Tegumentary leishmaniasis(TL)caused by Leishmania infantum is an overlooked yet re-emerging disease endemic in Mediterranean Europe.Currently,no standardized molecular surveillance of circulating Leishmania strains is performed in European endemic areas,despite the potential public health implications of parasite biodiversity.This study aims to characterize parasite population haplogroups causing TL in two active endemic areas in southern Europe,i.e.Bologna(northern Italy)and Fuenlabrada(central Spain).Methods In this retrospective study,we typed 87 L.infantum samples from TL cases in the areas of Bologna and Fuenlabrada;these areas hosted the main European foci of human TL occurring in the last 15 years.Two Leishmania genomic typing targets were used:the heat shock protein 70(Hsp70)and the cysteine peptidase b(Cpb).Simpson’s index was used to calculate the discriminatory power of the used typing methods.Results Typing results depicted the presence of a heterogeneous parasite population circulating in Bologna with two main haplogroups,i.e.Hsp70(A)_Cpb(F)(n=7,30.4%)and Hsp70(G)_Cpb(E/F)(n=7,30.4%),differing from the reference L.infantum strain JPCM5 haplogroup and partially overlapping with L.donovani lineages.Among the samples from Fuenlabrada,n=19 samples were typed by both targets,revealing a homogeneous population expressing Hsp70(A)and Cpb(E),matching the JPCM5 reference strain haplogroup.Overall,the Cpb typing method exhibited higher discrimination power as compared to the Hsp70 method(Simpson’s index of diversity,P-value<0.05).Conclusions Our findings show differences among L.infantum populations causing TL in two southern European epidemiological foci of human leishmaniasis and support the recent discovery of L.infantum/L.donovani hybrid strains circulating in northern Italy.These results underscore the critical need to identify the circulating Leishmania strains in endemic areas and assess their potential public health implications in active foci.
