Publications

By Schwarz ER.

Measles, mumps, and rubella have recently taken the stage as re-emerging diseases of public health importance-particularly in regards to the consequences seen with perinatal infections. Effective vaccination strategies have successfully reduced the spread of measles, mumps, and rubella in the United States, but a current trend of increased vaccination hesitancy, fear of vaccine safety, and spread of misconceptions surrounding the science of vaccines have led to a relative resurgence of these diseases in the developed world. This article aims to explore why measles, mumps, and rubella should continue to be on the radar of medical professionals, and why the study of these diseases is important for understanding other teratogenic viruses of public health importance.

Published in: Curr Opin Virol. 2017;27:71-77

By Kramer LD, Long MT

Published in: Curr Opin Virol. 2016 Dec;21:v-vi

By Fuller TL, Calvet G, Genaro Estevam C, et al. 

The burden of arboviruses in the Americas is high and may result in long-term sequelae with infants disabled by Zika virus infection (ZIKV) and arthritis caused by infection with Chikungunya virus (CHIKV). We aimed to identify environmental drivers of arbovirus epidemics to predict where the next epidemics will occur and prioritize municipalities for vector control and eventual vaccination.

Published in: PLoS One. 2017;12(11):e0188002.

By da Silva IRF, Frontera JA, Bispo de Filippis AM, Nascimento OJMD

Importance:  There are no prospective cohort studies assessing the incidence and spectrum of neurologic manifestations secondary to Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in adults.

Objective:  To evaluate the rates of acute ZIKV infection among patients hospitalized with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), meningoencephalitis, or transverse myelitis.

Published in: JAMA Neurol. 2017 Oct 1;74(10):1190-1198.

By Bosch I, de Puig H, Hiley M, et al.

The recent Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak demonstrates that cost-effective clinical diagnostics are urgently needed to detect and distinguish viral infections to improve patient care. Unlike dengue virus (DENV), ZIKV infections during pregnancy correlate with severe birth defects, including microcephaly and neurological disorders. Because ZIKV and DENV are related flaviviruses, their homologous proteins and nucleic acids can cause cross-reactions and false-positive results in molecular, antigenic, and serologic diagnostics. We report the characterization of monoclonal antibody pairs that have been translated into rapid immunochromatography tests to specifically detect the viral nonstructural 1 (NS1) protein antigen and distinguish the four DENV serotypes (DENV1–4) and ZIKV without cross-reaction.

Published in: Sci Transl Med. 2017 Sep 27;9(409)

By Barreto-Vieira DF, Jacome FC, da Silva MAN, et al.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the flavivirus genus, and its genome is approximately 10.8 kilobases of positive-strand RNA enclosed in a capsid and surrounded by a membrane. Studies on the replication dynamics of ZIKV are scarce, which limits the development of antiviral agents and vaccines directed against ZIKV. In this study, Aedes albopictus mosquito lineage cells (C6/36 cells) and African green monkey kidney epithelial cells (Vero cells) were inoculated with a ZIKV sample isolated from a Brazilian patient, and the infection was characterized by immunofluorescence staining, phase contrast light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and real-time RT-PCR. The infection was observed in both cell lineages, and ZIKV particles were observed inside lysosomes, the rough endoplasmic reticulum and viroplasm-like structures. The susceptibility of C6/36 and Vero cells to ZIKV infection was demonstrated. Moreover, this study showed that part of the replicative cycle may occur within viroplasm-like structures, which has not been previously demonstrated in other flaviviruses.

Published in: PLoS One. 2017;12(9):e0184397.

By Theys K, Libin P, Dallmeier K, et al.

In this letter, the authors address the need for curation and standardized annotation of ZIKV reference genomes in order to guide researchers and clinicians in genomic analyses and the translation of research findings.

Published in: PLoS Pathog. 2017;13(9):e1006528

By Balmaseda A, Stettler K, Medialdea-Carrera R, Collado D, Jin X, Zambrana JV, Jaconi S, Cameroni E, Saborio S, Rovida F, Percivalle E, Ijaz S, Dicks S, Ushiro-Lumb I, Barzon L, Siqueira P, Brown DWG, Baldanti F, Tedder R, Zambon M, de Filippis AMB, Harris E, Corti D.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that emerged recently as a global health threat, causing a pandemic in the Americas. ZIKV infection mostly causes mild disease, but is linked to devastating congenital birth defects and Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults. The high level of cross-reactivity among flaviviruses and their cocirculation has complicated serological approaches to differentially detect ZIKV and dengue virus (DENV) infections, accentuating the urgent need for a specific and sensitive serological test.

Published in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017Aug 1;114(31):8384-8389.

By Braga JU, Bressan C, Dalvi APR, Calvet GA, Daumas RP, Rodrigues N, Wakimoto M, Nogueira RMR, Nielsen-Saines K, Brito C, Bispo de Filippis AM, Brasil P

Zika is a new disease in the American continent and its surveillance is of utmost importance, especially because of its ability to cause neurological manifestations as Guillain-Barré syndrome and serious congenital malformations through vertical transmission. The detection of suspected cases by the surveillance system depends on the case definition adopted. As the laboratory diagnosis of Zika infection still relies on the use of expensive and complex molecular techniques with low sensitivity due to a narrow window of detection, most suspected cases are not confirmed by laboratory tests, mainly reserved for pregnant women and newborns. In this context, an accurate definition of a suspected Zika case is crucial in order for the surveillance system to gauge the magnitude of an epidemic.

Published in: PLoS One. 2017 Jun 26;12(6):e0179725. 

By Nascimento OJM, Frontera JA, Amitrano DA, Bispo de Filippis AM, Da Silva IRF; RIO-GBS-ZIKV Research Group. 

This article describes a case series of 3 patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 outbreak of Zika virus infection in Brazil.

Published in: Neurology 2017 Jun 13;88(24):2330-2332.