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Human Infection Studies
Affecting around a tenth of rural populations in India every year, 'scrub typhus' infection, spread by the bite of an infected larval mite (chigger), could be an "under-recognised" leading cause of hospitalisations for fever, a study has suggested. The study, conducted by the Christian Medical College, Vellore, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), looked at over 32,000 people from across 37 rural villages in Tamil Nadu, with its results published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Chiggers are found on grass, plant litter and bare soil across rural areas of Asia, and usually feed on small mammals such as rats and shrews. Scrub typhus is caused by the bacterium 'Orientia tsutsugamushi', which belongs to the rickettsia family. Severe illness due to the infection can lead to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), shock, meningitis and kidney failure. Rural areas in India are among the most affected by the potentially life-threatening infection, along w
The Nepal government and the US Agency for International Development on Sunday jointly launched a strategic partnership to strengthen the Himalayan nation's capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to emerging infectious diseases. The USAID Global Health Security programme will be implemented through 'One Health' -- a collaborative, trans-disciplinary approach that recognises the interdependence among the health of ecosystems, wildlife and domestic animals, and humans, according to a press release issued by the US Embassy here. "USAID's Global Health Security work is helping to fill the gap created by the recent Covid 19 pandemic, by strengthening countries' capacities to prevent, detect, and respond to disease threats before they can become a pandemic, while advancing WHO International Health Regulations targets so that countries can address gaps and priorities at the national level," it said. Through the health security programme in Nepal, the US Agency for International .
Animal-to-human infections, or zoonotic diseases, have been increasing at an "exponential rate" and in 2050, are predicted to kill 12 times as many people as they did in 2020, researchers have warned in a new British Medical Journal (BMJ) Global Health study. Animal-to-human infections, also called 'spillover' infections, have been the cause of most modern epidemics, including COVID-19, the researchers from Ginkgo Bioworks, an American biotechnology company founded in 2008, said. Analysing 60 years of historical epidemiological data, the researchers detected a general pattern of increasingly larger and more frequent spillover events, even as their analysis did not include the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Climate and land use changes are predicted to drive the frequency of spillover events, facilitated by population density and connectivity, the researchers explained. However, the researchers said that the implications of these findings for future global health are difficult to ...
Scientists have used engineered mice to compare SARS-COV-2 Omicron subvariants and found that the BA.5 strain was more virulent likely due to its ability to rapidly replicate early during infection. The research, published in the journal Science Advances, addresses a challenge to studying and understanding rapidly evolving variants of concern due to a lack of animal models for running tests that could help explain why variants and subvariants each behave differently in people. The genetically modified mice, called K18-hACE2, used in the research express a human receptor that allowed SARS-COV-2 to enter otherwise inaccessible mouse cells. "One of the things we found is that the strain that causes more pathology, BA.5, replicates much faster early on during infection," said Avery August, a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at Cornell University in the US. "By doing that, the virus generates a really strong immune response, which then leads to increased pathology a
As various infectious diseases are throwing up unprecedented challenges across the world, the Kerala government has emphasised upon cooperation between its health department and those of the neighbouring states to prevent spread of communicable ailments. State Health Minister Veena George said it was necessary for the health departments of the bordering states to work in cooperation with each other to prevent spread of infectious diseases effectively. The minister was speaking at an inter-state meeting of various states inaugurated by her on Monday, a government release said. At the meeting, George said that health workers in border districts, when required, should coordinate with each other in the areas of data sharing, early warning, preparation of strategic action plans, development of local awareness materials, implementation of containment and quarantine guidelines. She said that climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and pesticide resistance have all contributed to disease
Researchers have created new molecules that can be sprayed into the nose to block the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering the lungs and causing infection. The COVID-19 virus enters the body through the lungs when people breathe, resulting in illness. Engineers at the Johns Hopkins University in the US have now created thin, thread-like strands of molecules called supramolecular filaments capable of blocking the virus in its tracks. "The idea is that the filaments will work like a sponge to absorb the COVID-19 virus and other viruses before they have the chance to bind to cells in our airways," said Honggang Cui, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. "Even if the therapeutic can block the virus for an hour or two, that can be helpful when people must be in a public setting," said Cui, who led the research published in the journal Matter. The key to this approach is the way that the filaments carry a receptor called angiotensin converting enzyme-2, or ACE