In the winter of 2014/15 a novel GII.P17-GII.17 norovirus strain (GII.17 Kawasaki 2014) emerged, as a major cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks in China and Japan. Since their emergence these novel ...GII.P17-GII.17 viruses have replaced the previously dominant GII.4 genotype Sydney 2012 variant in some areas in Asia but were only detected in a limited number of cases on other continents. This perspective provides an overview of the available information on GII.17 viruses in order to gain insight in the viral and host characteristics of this norovirus genotype. We further discuss the emergence of this novel GII.P17-GII.17 norovirus in context of current knowledge on the epidemiology of noroviruses. It remains to be seen if the currently dominant norovirus strain GII.4 Sydney 2012 will be replaced in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, the public health community and surveillance systems need to be prepared in case of a potential increase of norovirus activity in the next seasons caused by this novel GII.P17-GII.17 norovirus.
The novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which emerged at the end of 2019 and caused a worldwide pandemic, triggered numerous questions about the epidemiology of the novel COVID-19 disease and about ...wellknown coronavirus infections, which used to be given little attention due to their mild symptoms.
The routine screening-based multiyear retrospective observational study of prevalence and circulation patterns of epidemic-prone human coronaviruses in Moscow.
The real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to detect RNA of human coronaviruses (HCoVs) in nasal and throat swabs from 16,511 patients with an acute respiratory infection (ARI), aged 1 month to 95 years (children accounted for 58.3%) from January 2016 to March 2020, and swabs from 505 relatively healthy children in 2008, 2010 and 2011. Results. HCoVs were yearly found in 2.6-6.1% of the examined patients; the detection frequency was statistically higher in adults than in children, regardless of sex. At the height of the disease incidence in December 2019, HCoVs were detected in 13.7% of the examined, demonstrating a two-fold increase as compared to the multi-year average for that month. The statistical frequency of HCoV detection in ARI pediatric patients under 6 years was significantly higher than in their healthy peers (3.7 vs 0.7%, p = 0.008).
HCoVs circulate annually, demonstrating a winter-spring seasonal activity pattern in the Moscow Region and reaching peak levels in December. Over the years of observation, the HCoV epidemic activity reached maximum levels in December 2019-February 2020 and decreased in March to the multi-year average. Amid a growing number of SARS-CoV-2 cases imported to Moscow in March 2020, the HCoV detection frequency dropped sharply, which can be explained by the competition between different coronaviruses and by the specificity of HCoV detection with the diagnostic test kit used in this study.
During a 2-year period in 2005–2007, we conducted surveillance of group A rotaviruses and other enteric agents among patients hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis in 8 different cities of the ...Russian Federation. Fecal specimens were gathered from 3208 children (including 2848 children aged <5 years) and 1354 adults who were admitted to hospitals in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Chelyabinsk, Nizhnii Novgorod, Tyumen, Khabarovsk, Makhachkala, and Yakutsk. Polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect rotaviruses of groups A and C, noroviruses of genogroups I and II, astrovirus, sapovirus, and enteric adenoviruses (group F). Group A rotavirus was the most common viral pathogen detected among children aged <5 years (43.6%), followed by norovirus (12.5%), whereas norovirus was the pathogen most commonly detected in adults (11.9%). P and G genotypes were determined for 515 rotavirus specimens, and the most prevalent genotypes were G1P8 (44.9%), G4P8 (40.0%), G2P4 (8.5%), and G3P8 (6.6%). This study is the first multicenter study of rotaviruses in the Russian Federation and documents the important burden of disease caused by this pathogen, which soon may be preventable by vaccination
Infectious diarrhea is one of the leading causes of fatal outcomes in young children. Differential diagnostics of such infections within the first hours of illness poses significant objective ...obstacles. Data from laboratory studies of autopsy material and pathological studies provide valuable information for understanding the spectrum of differential diagnostics and etiological structure of infectious diarrhea with fatal outcomes in young children. Materials and methods. There were analyzed 100 cases of fatal outcomes in children under the age of six years registered in Russia from November 2011 to December 2019, who was diagnosed with infectious diarrhea at different levels of the healthcare system. The data were assessed based on available medical case reports and the laboratory testing of autopsy samples performed by using nucleic acid amplification methods. Results. The diagnosis of infectious diarrhea was revised in 24 patients, based on the data of a set of intravital and post-mortem studies. In patients with unconfirmed diagnosis of acute intestinal infections, pneumonia was the most often detected — in 45.8% (11/24), sepsis — in 29.2% (7/24), meningitis/meningoencephalitis, acute surgical pathology and asphyxiation associated with vomit aspiration — in 16.7 % (4/24) cases. The causative agents of infectious diarrhea were identified in 71 of 76 patients with confirmed diagnosis of acute intestinal infections. Most prevalent were group A rotaviruses — 52.6% (40/76), group F adenoviruses — 17.1% (13/76), and noroviruses — 13.2% (10/76). Combination of pathogens was detected in 29 cases (38.2%). Prehospital lethal outcomes in patients with infectious diarrhea were observed in 17 cases (22.4%). In total, rate of neonatal deaths due to acute intestinal infections accounted for 62.2% and 2-year-old toddlers — 20.3%. 64 of 76 (84%) children had no unfavorable premorbid background. The most common pathologies associated with infectious diarrhea with developing fatal outcomes were pneumonia (including aspiration pneumonia) in 22.4% (17/76) and aspiration asphyxia in 6.6% (5/76). Hemolytic-uremic syndrome associated with diarrhea was diagnosed in 7.9% (6/76) of children. Conclusions. Within the first years of life children comprise a risk group for developing fatal outcomes during infectious diarrhea. Lack of unfavorable premorbid background should not be considered as a reliable positive prognostic criterion. Diagnostics of pneumonia should be included in the mandatory examination plan for children with severe infectious diar rhea. Based on study of clinical and autopsy material, group A rotaviruses were the lead causative agents among those resulting in infectious diarrhea with fatal outcomes in young children. Special attention should be paid to preventing vomit aspiration within the first days after disease onset.
To evaluate the practical efficiency of the diagnostic algorithms for enterohemorrhagic escherichiasis, which are laid down by the current normative documents of the Russian Federation.
The ...investigators estimated the prevalence of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection in children with the symptoms of acute enteric infections (AEI) (archival samples) and in those aged less than 5 years with fatal evolution and a history of diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), evaluated the efficiency of bacteriological tests in HUS patients with acute EHEC infection, and comparatively analyzed the documents regulating EHEC surveillance in the Russian Federation and other countries.
Nucleic acid amplification assay showed that the prevalence of EHEC among the hospitalized children was 1.2% (27/1269), the anamnestic registration rate for HUS among the children with fatal outcomes in AEI was 20% (5/25). The efficiency of the bacteriological diagnosis of enterohemorrhagic escherichiasis in the archival samples corresponding to the early stages of the disease in the presence of diarrhea and at the HUS development stage was 48.1% (13/27) and 6.1% (2/33), respectively. There was a potential to enhance the efficiency of the normative documents regulating the etiological diagnosis of EHEC infection in the Russian Federation.
The given data substantiate the necessity of including the etiological diagnosis of EHEC infection in the list of mandatory screening studies in children with sporadic cases of hemocolitis at the early stages of the disease.
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