Mobile and Affordable Device Offers Fast Viral Detection

Sandia National Laboratories, located in Albuquerque, NM, have released their new and improved SpinDx diagnostic device.

This briefcase-sized device can process raw biological samples in an hour or less by automatically distributing the material into dozens of tiny channels by spinning them off the loading disk. The automatic distribution is the key step in making this device quick in its detection of pathogenic material. Once the samples are inside the channels, they interact with the reagent and will cause a reaction that is detected by the software interface.

However, this spinning process is not new to SpinDx. The latest updated device includes a heating element that allows SpinDx to conduct nucleic acid tests that can identify viruses and bacteria. Contrasted against its previous design that could only perform protein tests to identify antibodies, this heated detection allows users to test immediately for pathogens rather than wait for antibodies to appear.

Overall, SpinDx could be a game-changer for detecting outbreaks. It is affordable, portable, reliable, and fast making it appealing to developing nations that are lacking in their outbreak detection infrastructure. No longer is a well-equipped laboratory with trained technicians required. Plus, with faster detection comes faster treatment which could slow and even stop outbreaks before they blow out of control. It is still yet to be seen how widely distributed SpinDx will be, but it has a promising outlook.

-Mailo Numazu

Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-01-device-enables-mobile-viruses-bacteria.html

Schizophrenia and the Epstein-Barr Virus

The Epstein-Barr virus is the most common cause of mononucleosis, or the kissing disease. The study conducted at Johns Hopkins University did not seek to determine cause and effect but it noted an association.

The study found that subjects with schizophrenia had markedly higher levels of antibody related to EBV virions versus the control. They conducted a genetic analysis, which indicated an additive effect of increased levels EBV virion antibodies and genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia. Those with both marker combined had greater than 8.5x odds of receiving a schizophrenia diagnosis relative to the control. Those with schizophrenia had higher levels of only some EBV protein antibodies but not all, still indicating an abnormal response to EBV infection.

In conclusion,
Schizophrenia might alter immune systems and make patients more susceptible to the Epstein-Barr virus, or EBV infection might increase the risk of schizophrenia.




-Brittany Stinson

Sources:

https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin/advance-article/doi/10.1093/schbul/sby164/5193713
https://www.futurity.org/schizophrenia-epstein-barr-mononucleosis-virus1952692-2/

Rift Valley Fever Virus May Be More Perilous than Zika

While the Rift Valley fever virus has occurred mostly in cows in Sub Saharan Africa, hundreds of humans become infected each year in Africa and Saudi Arabia, causing flu like symptoms and liver problems. The mosquito that carries the virus has also been discovered in Europe and the Americas. 

Using infected rat and human placenta tissue, scientists have discovered how the virus may be more dangerous than Zika in the ways it affects the placenta. Unlike Zika, Rift Valley fever virus more directly infects “a specialized layer of cells that supports the region of the placenta where nutrients flow in” (Baumgaertner). Moreover, surprisingly, scientists have found that the disease infects rats’ placentas more than any other of their tissues. Two cases of infected human fetuses have been recorded: one infant was born with an enlarged liver and spleen while the other died in less than a week. 

The World Health Organization has called the virus a “potential public health emergency,” and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has planned to use $48 million to fund projects on developing vaccines for the Rift Valley fever virus and Chikungunya viruses. 

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/health/rift-valley-pregnancy-zika.html

-- Caroline Aung

A Tale of Two Flaviviruses

Virology in 2016 and 2017 saw a great deal of attention paid towards Zika Virus (ZIKV) outbreaks in the Americas. In addition, recent introduction of West Nile virus to the Americas as of 1999 sees the field of virology and infectious disease adapting to the potential for these infections in a wide variety of patient populations. Work very recently published by Robinson, Enriquez, and Ho synthesized a body of work surrounding the development of WNV and ZIKV in the Americas, specifically as infection and standards of treatment apply to Solid Organ Transplantation (SOT) patient populations. Given the knowledge that WNV and ZIKV are both flaviviruses, the analysis of incidence and epidemiology involved in flavivirus infection in SOT patients is essential to the development of therapeutic techniques for these types of infections. This review is novel in that it holistically reviews cases of flavivirus infection in SOT, where donor-derived disease and increased disease severity are continuing to be fully understood in immunocompromised patient populations. In analyzing these two sources of disease within the same context as a viral family, insight was gained as to the progress that has been made in the field regarding SOT infectious disease as a whole and suggests potential next steps for development of diagnostics and treatments for flaviviruses. As clinical and scientific understanding of this virus develops, it is essential for practicing physicians to continue to develop protocols to protect SOT and immunocompromised patients, in addition to driving research into the afflictions that do not have optimal treatments. Work continues to try and develop vaccines and treatments for the diseases caused by these flaviviruses, and has resulted in many new types of Immunoglobulin based assays for the detection of viral titers in patients. This work is especially important for the immunocompromised patient and SOT communities, as limited data suggests that both WNV and ZIKV infections become exaggerated and more dangerous for these populations. Future work also continues to focus on the treatment of mosquito vectors to prevent their spread of the disease, with researchers finding new ways to either combat the disease within the mosquito or to combat the mosquito itself, much like the work of those combatting Yellow Fever in the late 1800's.

Source: Robinson ML, Enriquez K, Ho DY. A Tale of Two Flaviviruses: West Nile Virus and Zika Virus in Solid Organ Transplantation. OBM Transplantation 2019;3(1):32; doi:10.21926/obm.transplant.1901038.

~Kyle Enriquez

Accute Flacid Myelitis- mysterious virus transmitted condition in children

Accute Flacid Myelitis (AFM) is a neurologic disease that has symptoms similar to polio. Though scientists are still unsure of the actual mechanism of the disease, they have discovered that it is transmitted through viral transmission by enteroviruses and the West Nile Virus. The disease affects the gray matter of the spinal cord, resulting in weak muscles and reflexes. It is most commonly seen in children but may affect anyone. Unfortunately, there is no current treatment for AFM. Patients infected with AFM are treated for their specific symptoms.

In an update as of January 7, 2019, the CDC has recorded 7 new cases of AFM. The annual incidence of disease has exceeded any previously recorded number of cases since 2014, the first year AFM occurrence was tracked. The disease follows seasonal patterns, spiking in the fall months every other year. 39 out of 50 states have reported cases of AFM.

Though a relatively rare disease, AFM is a serious condition. The CDC recommends protecting children by maintaining up-to-date polio vaccinations and avoid mosquito bites through use of insect repellant.

The most recent outbreak report can be found here:  http://www.promedmail.org/

-Angela Wang

Sources

https://www.infectiousdiseaseadvisor.com/pediatric-illnesses/cdc-probe-acute-flaccid-myelitis/article/814632/

https://www.cdc.gov/acute-flaccid-myelitis/about-afm.html

What is the Mengla Virus?

Researchers in China have discovered a possibly new genus under the filovirus family.

The genetic material of the Mengla virus shares 32-54% nucleotide sequence similarity with that of Ebola and Marburg viruses, and preliminary analyses suggesting that the virus falls between the two and hence there is a need for the creation of a new genus. Mengla's glycoprotein enabled the virus to gain entry to a cell by binding to the same

Niemann–Pick C1 (NPC1) surface receptor Ebola and Marburg viruses utilize. In fact, Mengla has been shown to infect cells just as efficiently as the deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses.

Cell lines that have been shown to be affected by the virus include humans, monkeys, dogs, bats and hamsters. The fact that the virus exhibits broad species cell tropism, meaning that it can thrive in a variety of host cells, makes it dangerously capable of interspecies spillover transmission. No known human infection has been detected, but scientists suggest that screening the surrounding population in Yunnan Province, where the virus was discovered, in search of how many humans have produces antibodies against it is the next step to determining the effects of the virus on humans.

Further concerning, however, is that Mengla is only one of three unfamiliar viruses detected by this particular research team out of Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, but was the first to be thoroughly examined. Perhaps in the coming months, another filovirus genus could be on the horizon as the team begins to work up the other two viruses collected from the fruit bat hosts.

Riasoya Jodah

More details available From <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-018-0328-y>

Enterovirus Entering the Media

In the United States the number of cases of Enterovirus D68 has been on the rise. Between 1970 and 2005 there have been 26 cases according to a CDC surveillance survey. Those numbers seem minuscule when compared to this year's caseload, which so far includes 825 people across 46 states.

Enterovirus is not a new virus as it was first seen in 1962 among four kids in California. Since then scientists have seen EV-D68 occur throughout the world in clusters, and in different forms. Infection with EV-D68 was often linked with mild cold symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, coughing and fever.

The cases that have occured within the past year have been linked to more severe symptoms especially among children with breathing problems, says Rafal Tokarz of Columbia University. This has lead to increased concern from parents who have read headlines like "Michigan toddler dies of enterovirus D68". But parents' heightened concern may not be warranted as doctors are not sure if toddler actually died from the virus infection.

It has also been postulated that EV-D68 has not changed significantly but that scientists have just gotten better at finding it. In the past, people often found EV-D68 when they were looking for other viruses, Tokarz states. When Tokarz and his colleagues went looking for influenza in New York a few years ago he found that their was a sizable cohort of people that had EV-D68. Scientist do think that the enterovirus could have mutated to become more transmissible but the genome released by the CDC has not shown any obviously important mutations. Further analysis of the genome would have to be conducted to obtain more conclusive data.

In the mean time doctors are saying to not worry about the virus too much as the number of EV-D68 cases are predicted to dwindle as the colder season approaches.

-Vander Harris

Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/growth-curve/there%E2%80%99s-no-need-panic-about-enterovirus