Whether it is caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 or type 2, neonatal HSV infection is a devastating disease if untreated, and more than 30% of pregnant women in the United States have ...genital infection with HSV. This review summarizes the current facts on this disease and its early identification and treatment, as well as the prospects for more effective prevention.
Neonatal HSV infection is a devastating disease if untreated, and more than 30% of pregnant women in the United States have genital infection with HSV. This review summarizes the current facts on this disease and its early identification and treatment, as well as the prospects for more effective prevention.
An estimated 25 to 65% of pregnant women in the United States have genital infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or HSV type 2 (HSV-2).
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Neonatal HSV infection, defined as infection in a newborn within 28 days after birth, is an especially devastating consequence of the epidemic of genital herpes. Untreated neonatal HSV infection is associated with only a 40% survival rate, and even with the early initiation of high-dose intravenous acyclovir therapy, it results in considerable disability among survivors.
On the basis of hospital discharge data, the frequency of neonatal HSV infection in the United States varies . . .
This essay asks how the nostalgic attachments to particular Black women's performances on reality television inform current uses of those images through internet GIFs and memes. Examining the usage ...and exchange of files depicting the mid-2000s reality television star Tiffany Pollard on Twitter, I compare appropriation of black women's humour within digital spaces alongside appreciation of 'bad television' McCoy, C.A., and Scarborough, R.C., 2014. Watching "bad" television: ironic consumption, camp, and guilty pleasures. Poetics, 47, 41-59 and the useful potentials of 'negative' representation Gates, R.J., 2018. Double negative: The black image and popular culture. Duke University Press. Debates about representational politics are complicated when circulating digital images and files that invoke nostalgic response through racialized gendered performances. What does circulation of these GIFs and memes say about nostalgia for a unique moment in reality television where 'ratchet' behaviour Brock, A., 2020. Distributed blackness. New York University Press was encouraged and the limits of respectability politics were experimented with? Examining how some have labelled exchange of these GIFs as perpetuating 'digital blackface' Jackson, L.M., 2017. We need to talk about digital blackface in reaction GIFs. Teen vogue, 2, I theorize how contemporary accusations of exploiting stereotypical depictions of Black people in order to gain online social capital mirrors the history of American minstrelsy's purported nostalgia for 'authentic' Black performance. As the majority of popular GIFs of Pollard present 'ugly feelings' Ngai, S., 2005. Ugly Feelings. Harvard University Press such as irritation, resentment and disgust, the relationship between nostalgia for so-called better times, and desire for a recent moment in cable television's past in which the boundaries of 'good representation' were pushed and disregarded become entangled. By looking to animation of disembodied digital images in the use of GIFs as moving image files that are looped, refigured and circulated, I draw attention to new sites of digital racialization, popular culture criticism and examination of digital affect as it corresponds with Black diasporic cultural production.
Summary Genital herpes is the main cause of genital ulcers worldwide; the prevalence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 infections in the general population ranges from 10% to 60%. Most genital ...herpes is caused by HSV-2, although HSV-1 accounts for about half of new cases in developed countries. The risk of HIV acquisition is three times higher in people with HSV-2. Neonatal herpes is an uncommon but serious complication of genital herpes. Most genital HSV-2 infections are unrecognised and undiagnosed; infected individuals, even with mild symptoms, shed HSV, and can infect sexual partners. Since clinical diagnosis is neither sensitive nor specific, virological and type-specific serological tests should be used routinely. Oral antiviral drugs for HSV infections are safe and effective and can be used both to treat episodes and to prevent recurrences. Antiviral treatment of the infected partners and condom use reduce the risk of sexual transmission of HSV-2.
Wald asserts that the vaccines to prevent COVID-19 are remarkable for their safety, efficacy, and pace of development. Initial enthusiasm that followed the release of the preliminary results that ...formed the basis for distribution of the vaccines under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) has been dampened by the inequity in access to the vaccines across the globe, vaccine hesitancy, and emergence of variants that partly evade vaccine-induced antibodies. These factors are related, and all 3 contribute to ongoing morbidity, mortality, and societal disruption related to SARS-CoV-2 in much of the world. Although Spitzer et al initially aimed to provide a booster vaccine dose only for persons with antibody titers less than the median, universal boosting was recommended by health authorities. The investigators enrolled a cohort of health care workers who had completed a 2-dose vaccination series of BNT162b2 and subsequently received a booster dose of the vaccine. Infections in the cohort were monitored by SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests every 2 weeks regardless of symptoms.
To determine the contribution of herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) infection to the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition, a systematic review of literature and data synthesis were done. ...Thirty-one studies addressed the risk of HIV infection in HSV-2–seropositive persons. For 9 cohort and nested case-control studies that documented HSV-2 infection before HIV acquisition, the risk estimate was 2.1 (95% confidence interval, 1.4–3.2). Thus, the attributable risk percentage of HIV to HSV-2 was 52%, and the population attributable risk percentage was 19% in populations with 22% HSV-2 prevalence but increased to 47% in populations with 80% HSV-2 prevalence. For 22 case-control and cross-sectional studies, the risk estimate was 3.9 (95% confidence interval, 3.1–5.1), but the temporal sequence of the 2 infections cannot be documented. Control strategies for HSV-2 need to be incorporated into control of sexually transmitted infections as a strategy for HIV prevention
Class II tetramer reagents for eleven common DR alleles and a DP allele prevalent in the world population were used to identify SARS-CoV-2 CD4+ T cell epitopes. A total of 112, 28 and 42 epitopes ...specific for Spike, Membrane and Nucleocapsid, respectively, with defined HLA-restriction were identified. Direct ex vivo staining of PBMC with tetramer reagents was used to define immunodominant and subdominant T cell epitopes and estimate the frequencies of these T cells in SARS-CoV-2 exposed and naïve individuals. Majority of SARS-CoV-2 epitopes identified have <67% amino acid sequence identity with endemic coronaviruses and are unlikely to elicit high avidity cross-reactive T cell responses. Four SARS-CoV-2 Spike reactive epitopes, including a DPB1*04:01 restricted epitope, with ≥67% amino acid sequence identity to endemic coronavirus were identified. SARS-CoV-2 T cell lines for three of these epitopes elicited cross-reactive T cell responses to endemic cold viruses. An endemic coronavirus Spike T cell line showed cross-reactivity to the fourth SARS-CoV-2 epitope. Three of the Spike cross-reactive epitopes were subdominant epitopes, while the DPB1*04:01 restricted epitope was a dominant epitope. Frequency analyses showed Spike cross-reactive T cells as detected by tetramers were present at relatively low frequency in unexposed people and only contributed a small proportion of the overall Spike-specific CD4+ T cells in COVID-19 convalescent individuals. In total, these results suggested a very limited number of SARS-CoV-2 T cells as detected by tetramers are capable of recognizing ccCoV with relative high avidity and vice versa. The potentially supportive role of these high avidity cross-reactive T cells in protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 needs further studies.
Background. Knowledge of factors that affect per-act infectivity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is important for designing HIV-1 prevention interventions and for the mathematical ...modeling of the spread of HIV-1. Methods. We analyzed data from a prospective study of African HIV-1-serodiscordant couples. We assessed transmissions for linkage within the study partnership, based on HIV-1 sequencing. The primary exposure measure was the HIV-1-seropositive partners' reports of number of sex acts and condom use with their study partner. Results. Of 3297 couples experiencing 86 linked HIV-1 transmissions, the unadjusted per-act risks of unprotected male-to-female (MTF) and female-to-male (FTM) transmission were 0.0019 (95% confidence interval CI, .0010-.0037) and 0.0010 (95% CI, .00060-.0017), respectively. After adjusting for plasma HIV-1 RNA of the HIV-1-infected partner and herpes simplex virus type 2 serostatus and age of the HIV-1-uninfected partner, we calculated the relative risk (RR) for MTF versus FTM transmission to be 1.03 (P = .93). Each log₁₀ increase in plasma HIV-1 RNA increased the per-act risk of transmission by 2.9-fold (95% CI, 2.2-3.8). Self-reported condom use reduced the per-act risk by 78% (RR = 0.22 95% CI, .11-.42). Conclusions. Modifiable risk factors for HIV-1 transmission were plasma HIV-1 RNA level and condom use, and, in HIV-1-uninfected partners, herpes simplex virus 2 infection, genital ulcers, Trichomonas vaginalis, vaginitis or cervicitis, and male circumcision.
Efforts to minimize COVID-19 exposure during the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have led to limitations in access to medical care and testing. The Tasso-SST kit includes all of the components necessary ...for remote, capillary blood self-collection. In this study, we sought to investigate the accuracy and reliability of the Tasso-SST device as a self-collection device for measurement of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies. Capillary blood was obtained via unsupervised and supervised application of the Tasso-SST device, and venous blood was collected by standard venipuncture. Unsupervised self-collected blood samples underwent either extreme summer or winter-simulated shipping conditions prior to testing. Sera obtained by all three methods were tested concurrently using the EuroImmun anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 IgG assay in a CLIA-certified clinical laboratory. Successful Tasso-SST capillary blood collection by unsupervised and supervised administration was completed by 93.4% and 94.5% of participants, respectively. Sera from 56 participants, 55 with documented (PCR+) COVID-19, and 33 healthy controls were then tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies. Compared to venous blood results, Tasso-SST-collected (unstressed) and the summer- and winter-stressed blood samples demonstrated Deming regression slopes of 1.00 (95% CI: 0.99-1.02), 1.00 (95% CI: 0.98-1.01), and 0.99 (95% CI: 0.97-1.01), respectively, with an overall accuracy of 98.9%. Capillary blood self-collection using the Tasso-SST device had a high success rate. Moreover, excellent concordance was found for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG results between Tasso-SST capillary and standard venous blood-derived sera. The Tasso-SST device should enable widespread collection of capillary blood for testing without medical supervision, facilitating epidemiologic studies.
Efficacy Results of a Trial of a Herpes Simplex Vaccine Belshe, Robert B; Leone, Peter A; Bernstein, David I ...
New England journal of medicine/The New England journal of medicine,
01/2012, Volume:
366, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
There is no vaccine to prevent herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. In this trial in 8323 women, a candidate HSV vaccine containing glycoprotein D was found to be ineffective in preventing HSV-2 ...infection.
Both herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) can cause primary infection of the genital tract, and HSV-1 infection has become an increasingly frequent cause of genital disease.
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The majority of HSV infections are asymptomatic, and only 10 to 25% of persons with HSV-2 antibodies have recurrent genital disease.
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Transmission of HSV from infected women to neonates may lead to severe neurologic disease or death in the newborn. Strategies to control genital herpes infection and disease have mainly focused on antiviral chemotherapy, education, and the use of condoms. The availability of an effective prophylactic vaccine would . . .
To explore the mechanism by which herpes simplex virus (HSV)-2 infection is related to HIV-1 acquisition, we conducted in situ analysis of the cellular infiltrate from sequential biopsies of HSV-2 ...lesions from patients on and off antiviral therapy. CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells and a mixed population of plasmacytoid and myeloid dendritic cells (DCs), including cells expressing the C-type lectin receptor DC-SIGN, persisted at sites of HSV-2 reactivation for months after healing, even with daily antiviral therapy. The CD4(+) T cells that persisted reacted to HSV-2 antigen, were enriched for expression of the chemokine receptor CCR5, and were contiguous to DCs expressing the interleukin-3 receptor CD123 or DC-SIGN. Ex vivo infection with a CCR5-tropic strain of HIV-1 revealed greater concentrations of integrated HIV-1 DNA in cells derived from healed genital lesion biopsies than in cells from control skin biopsies. The persistence and enrichment of HIV receptor-positive inflammatory cells in the genitalia help explain the inability of anti-HSV-2 therapy to reduce HIV acquisition.
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