Pathogen inactivation technology applied to a blood component collected from an asymptomatic carrier of Leishmania infantum: a case report

Asymptomatic Leishmania infections have been the main cause of transfusion transmission in endemic areas. Polymerase chain reaction has been used to detect L. infantum DNA in the peripheral blood of asymptomatic Leishmania carriers. In our region, the prevalence of asymptomatic L. infantum infection in donors is markedly high (5·9% of donors studied). We investigated the ability of pathogen inactivation technology, using amotosalen and UVA illumination, to eliminate L. infantum in a blood component collected from an asymptomatic L. infantum infected donor. This is the first report of the INTERCEPT system being used to eliminate a parasite from a component collected from a donor.     

牙周炎与癌症相关性研究进展

牙周炎与全身健康和系统性疾病密切相关。近年来，多项研究发现牙周炎与癌症之间存在着相关性，牙周炎对癌症的发生和发展具有促进作用，牙周炎患者患癌风险增加，但其具体机制尚未明确。本文就牙周炎与头颈癌、消化道癌、肺癌、肝癌、乳腺癌等癌症的相关性及相关机制作一综述。     

Risks,benefits and the role of stakeholders in pathogen reduction technology

While Canada’s blood supply is currently very safe, risks remain, prompting blood suppliers to develop a more effective strategy to minimise the risk of transmitting infectious agents through blood transfusion. Pathogen reduction technology provides an additional way to protect the blood supply from new threats. However, the uptake of this new technology has been slow, reflecting the safety of the current system, the success of surveillance and screening methods, the lack of knowledge regarding pathogen reduction technology and the impact of pathogen reduction on blood quality and recipient safety. In the absence of public debate, the legacy of previous adverse events and the challenges of negotiating perceptions of risk, our objective in this article is to explore stakeholder perceptions of the challenges of introducing pathogen reduction technology in Canada. In this article, we provide a debate about risk communication and assessment drawing on data from a study of 2010 that used focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders, including media, blood suppliers, blood or blood product recipients and implementers of pathogen reduction technologies to examine stakeholders’ perceptions of risk assessment and communication. We found that there was a broad understanding among stakeholders of the need to effectively communicate the risks and benefits of pathogen reduction technology and to provide accurate information. Consequently, we predict that public acceptance of the new technology will be largely based on its perception of the risk of pathogen reduction technology.     

Role of viral RNA and lipid in the adverse events associated with the 2010 Southern Hemisphere trivalent influenza vaccine

In Australia, during the 2010 Southern Hemisphere (SH) influenza season, there was an unexpected increase in post-marketing adverse event reports of febrile seizures (FS) in children under 5 years of age shortly after vaccination with the CSL 2010 SH trivalent influenza vaccine (CSL 2010 SH TIV) compared to previous CSL TIVs and other licensed 2010 SH TIVs. In an accompanying study, we described the contribution to these adverse events of the 2010 SH influenza strains as expressed in the CSL 2010 SH TIV using in vitro cytokine/chemokine secretion from whole blood cells and induction of NF-κB activation in HEK293 reporter cells. The aim of the present study was to identify the root cause components that elicited the elevated cytokine/chemokine and NF-κB signature. Our studies demonstrated that the pyrogenic signal was associated with a heat-labile, viral-derived component(s) in the CSL 2010 SH TIV. Further, it was found that viral lipid-mediated delivery of short, fragmented viral RNA was the key trigger for the increased cytokine/chemokine secretion and NF-κB activation. It is likely that the FS reported in children <5 years were due to a combination of the new influenza strains included in the 2010 SH TIV and the CSL standard method of manufacture preserving strain-specific viral components of the new influenza strains (particularly B/Brisbane/60/2008 and to a lesser extent H1N1 A/California/07/2009). These combined to heighten immune activation of innate immune cells, which in a small proportion of children <5 years of age is associated with the occurrence of FS. The data also demonstrates that CSL TIVs formulated with increased levels of splitting agent (TDOC) for the B/Brisbane/60/2008 strain can attenuate the pro-inflammatory signals in vitro, identifying a potential path forward for generating a CSL TIV indicated for use in children <5 years.     

Post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome:Mechanistic insights into chronic disturbances following enteric infection

Irritable bowel syndrome(IBS)is a commonly encountered chronic functional gastrointestinal(GI)disorder.Approximately 10%of IBS patients can trace the onset of their symptoms to a previous a bout of infectious dysentery.The appearance of new IBS symptoms following an infectious event is defined as post-infectiousIBS.Indeed,with the World Health Organization estimating between 2 and 4 billion cases annually,infectious diarrheal disease represents an incredible international healthcare burden.Additionally,compounding evidence suggests many commonly encountered enteropathogens as unique triggers behind IBS symptom generation and underlying pathophysiological features.A growing body of work provides evidence supporting a role for pathogen-mediated modifications in the resident intestinal microbiota,epithelial barrier integrity,effector cell functions,and innate and adaptive immune features,all proposed physiological manifestations that can underlie GI abnormalities in IBS.Enteric pathogens must employ a vast array of machinery to evade host protective immune mechanisms,and illicit successful infections.Consequently,the impact of infectious events on host physiology can be multidimensional in terms of anatomical location,functional scope,and duration.This review offers a unique discussion of the mechanisms employed by many commonly encountered enteric pathogens that cause acute disease,but may also lead to the establishment of chronic GI dysfunction compatible with IBS.     

浙江省2008-2009年手足口病疫情及病原学分析

目的分析浙江省手足口病流行特征,探讨适宜防控措施。方法收集中国疾病监测信息报告系统和浙江省2008-2009年手足口病重症病例和死亡病例个案资料,采用描述性流行病学方法进行分析比较。结果浙江省2008年手足口病报告病例36 726例,报告发病率为72.6/10万,死亡病例7例,病死率为1.9/万;2009年报告69 285例,报告发病率为135.3/10万,死亡病例8例,病死率为1.2/万;2009年1-6月份以人类肠道病毒71型(HEV71)为主,8月份后以柯萨奇A组16型(CoxA16)为主;HEV71均为C4a亚型;重症病例比例与HEV71构成比成正相关关系(r=0.709,P=0.000)。结论浙江省手足口病疫情具有地区持续性,重症死亡发生与手足口病病原谱(HEV71构成)改变有关。     

Propionibacterium acnes: infection beyond the skin

Propionibacterium acnes is a Gram-positive bacterium that forms part of the normal flora of the skin, oral cavity, large intestine, the conjunctiva and the external ear canal. Although primarily recognized for its role in acne, P. acnes is an opportunistic pathogen, causing a range of postoperative and device-related infections. These include infections of the bones and joints, mouth, eye and brain. Device-related infections include those of joint prostheses, shunts and prosthetic heart valves. P. acnes may play a role in other conditions, including inflammation of the prostate leading to cancer, SAPHO (synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis, osteitis) syndrome, sarcoidosis and sciatica. If an active role in these conditions is established there are major implications for diagnosis, treatment and protection. Genome sequencing of the organism has provided an insight into the pathogenic potential and virulence of P. acnes.     

论张仲景“客气”之意

张仲景书中的"客气"一词,一般被误解作"邪气"。笔者通过比较多条经文发现,"客气"并非张仲景理解的"邪气",而是指一种特殊的致病因素,是由于胃虚而浊气上逆所生的阳热之邪。由于这种情况并非"外来邪气",又非生理的"正气",因而张仲景创造"客气"一词,以解释这种特殊的病因。     

The role of trehalose in the global spread of epidemic Clostridium difficile

In a recent study, we reported on two distantly related, epidemic lineages of Clostridium difficile that have acquired independent mechanisms to metabolize low concentrations of trehalose. Here we provide further comment and evidence that a third epidemic lineage common in Asia and Europe, ribotype 017, has evolved this ability.