ETIDIOH - NEW

Highlights •  Acute COVID-19 usually causes mild illness even in young and immunosuppressed children •  Nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with more severe disease •  Concurrent serious bacterial infection is rare in children admitted with acute COVID-19. ABSTRACT Background Management and outcomes of children hospitalised with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection may differ throughout the pandemic or with admission type (clinical COVID-19, incidental COVID-19 or nosocomial infection). Objectives Describe the severity, management and outcomes of hospitalised children with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in Australia across the first 4 years of the pandemic and compare between admission types, SARS-CoV-2 variants, age groups and immune status. Study design A multi-centre prospective cohort study of 6,009 children aged 0-16 years between January 2020 to June 2023. Results Most children (84.3%) did not receive respiratory support , 33.4% received antibiotics and 8% were admitted...

Abstract Emerging as a major global health threat, Mpox previously known as Monkeypox has drawn attention due to a worrying surge in cases . This zoonotic disease , native to Central and West Africa , is marked by fever, rash, and lymphadenopathy and is primarily spread through direct contact with infected animals or people and indirectly through contaminated objects. Recent studies have indicated possible sexual transmission , underscoring how human behavior and environmental changes are increasing its prevalence, even though human-to-human transmission is less efficient than that of smallpox . Mpox is endemic in several African countries , and currently, the infection has spread in non-endemic countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya . Democratic Republic of Congo is the epicenter of the current Mpox outbreak. From January 1, 2022, to August 6, 2024, sixteen African countries reported Mpox outbreak. Several factors, including population immunity deficiencies and changes to the ...

A small commercial flock of 69 chickens, 23 ducks and 5 geese. Increased mortality reported in chickens as well as a drop in egg production in the ducks. Samples were taken and tested positive for HPAI H5N1. Location:  Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Source: WOAH,  https://wahis.woah.org/#/in-review/6552 ____

Abstract Since its discovery via metagenomics in 2008, human cosavirus (HCoSV) has been detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and feces of humans with meningitis , acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), and acute gastroenteritis . To date, 34 HCoSV genotypes have been documented by the Picornaviridae study group. However, the documented genetic diversity of HCoSV in Nigeria is limited. Here we describe the genetic diversity of HCoSV in Nigeria using a metagenomics approach. Archived and anonymized fecal specimens from children (under 15 years old) diagnosed with non-polio AFP from five states in Nigeria were analyzed. Virus-like particles were purified from 55 pools (made from 254 samples) using the NetoVIR protocol. Pools were subjected to nucleic acid extraction and metagenomic sequencing . Reads were trimmed and assembled, and contigs classified as HCoSV were subjected to phylogenetic, pairwise identity, recombination analysis, and, when necessary, immuno-informatics and capsid structur...

Abstract The influenza virus neuraminidase (NA) is a promising target for next-generation influenza vaccines but standardized protocols for NA-based serological assays are lacking. Previous studies have demonstrated discordant results from haemagglutination inhibition and live virus microneutralization assays when comparing matched serum and plasma samples . It is therefore important to consider is the choice of serum or plasma samples in assays measuring influenza virus NA-specific antibodies . Here, we compared antibody titres against influenza A and B virus NAs in matched serum and different types of plasma using an enzyme-linked lectin assay (ELLA) and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We observed good correlations between titres determined in serum and different types of plasma. However, there was variable and often poor agreement in the nominal titre values obtained from serum and different kinds of plasma in both ELLA and ELISA, with plasma samples often resulting in...