International Journal of Infection
Volume:8 Issue: 1, Jan 2021

Context: 

Viral hepatitis is a common infectious disorder with a high degree of mortality. The host immunological feedback to the hepatitis virus is dim and unable to down-regulate and clear infection. C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute phase reactant synthesized by hepatocytes in response to inflammatory reactions, facilitates apoptosis and phagocytosis. An effort has been made in the current meta-analysis study to elucidate the relationship between CRP and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections.

 Eighteen published research articles on CRP levels of viral hepatitis patients were included in this study. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled mean level for CRP.

 The pooled mean level of CRP hepatitis B and hepatitis C was 6.93 mg/L (95% CI: 3.04 - 10.81) and 2.31 mg/L (95% CI: 1.06 - 3.55), respectively. A high degree of variance was observed among the studies, with the I2 more than 90%.

 The pooled mean level of CRP was within the normal range in patients with hepatitis C; however, it was high in patients with hepatitis B. The pooled mean CRP level reported in this study can be useful to determine the level of liver damage in patients with viral hepatitis.

Context:

 To manage the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nigerian government has introduced travel restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus. However, this measure has caused numerous challenges in the accessibility and availability of HIV services (testing, prevention, and treatment) for patients. This study aimed to examine the delivery of HIV care services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria by analyzing the barriers to HIV care in recent years, weighing the impact of these barriers, and bridging the existing gaps by proposing practical solutions to maintain the patients’ uninterrupted access to HIV services throughout the pandemic.

Evidence Acquisition:

 We searched Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct databases, using the following MESH headings: “HIV”, “COVID-19”, and “Nigeria”. The reviewed articles provided information on gaps and solutions for maintaining HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The selected papers were all written in English, with no time restrictions. Also, further publications were identified from the reference lists of articles and reports via snowball sampling.

 The collected data in 2018 revealed that 67% of people living with HIV were aware of their disease status. Based on the results, 53% of people living with HIV were on antiretroviral treatment, and 42% of people living with HIV had viral suppression, based on the global 90-90-90 HIV targets. Ten barriers and gaps were identified in different aspects of HIV care delivery (prevention, testing, and treatment), and practical solutions were proposed to provide a more effective approach for ensuring the availability and accessibility of services during pandemics.

 A unique and inter-sectoral approach is generally needed to address different barriers to the delivery of HIV care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, funding of HIV care services is critical at this time. Based on the findings, HIV care services (prevention, testing, and treatment programs) cannot be postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, otherwise Nigeria may face a double pandemic.

 The accurate diagnosis of etiologic agents of diseases, including Plasmodium species, is a major challenge to effective control programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria misdiagnosis hinders prompt treatment of infected patients, which increases malaria morbidities and mortalities.

 A study to evaluate the prevalence and misdiagnosis of Plasmodium species using microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique in two tertiary care hospitals in Rivers State was conducted.

 A cross-sectional randomized study involving 2,000 participants (age and sex were noted) was conducted from January 2016 to December 2017, and only patients arriving in the Outpatient Clinic of the selected tertiary care hospitals were recruited for this study. Intravenous blood samples (5 mL) were collected from all study participants and analyzed for the presence of Plasmodium species using Giemsa-microscopy and Real-time PCR technique. All data generated were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi-square test. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

 The only species of Plasmodium observed in this study was Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), and the overall prevalence in the study was 37.65% and 34.0% for microscopy and PCR, respectively (P > 0.05). Microscopy had a 3.5% variation and misdiagnosis of 5.5% compared with PCR. P. falciparum misdiagnosis according to age was 6.6%, 4.8%, 3.2%, 7.3% and 6.7% for age groups 0-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31- 40, and > 40, respectively while males and females had P. falciparum misdiagnosis of 6.9% and 4.5%, respectively (P > 0.05). Microscopy had sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of 95.8%, 94.3%, and 94.9%, respectively.

 Microscopy remains the gold standard for Plasmodium species diagnosis, and suspected malaria cases should be confirmed with an efficient laboratory diagnosis before treatment to prevent misdiagnosis or antimalarial drug resistance.

 Tuberculosis is known as one of the most dangerous diseases caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Although different strategies have been applied to prevent this disease, it is still considered a killer disease in the world.

 This project was conducted to design a novel poly-epitope vaccine based on three antigenic proteins against tuberculosis.

 To design a poly-epitope vaccine, first, the antigenic proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, including Dnak, FbpA, and katG were selected from the database. Then, B cell, MHCI, and MHCII epitopes of the antigenic proteins were predicted using reliable online tools. The best-predicted epitopes were applied to assemble a poly-epitope vaccine. The physicochemical features, the antigenicity of the whole vaccine, and the protein structures of the designed poly-epitope vaccine were evaluated by the most precise tools. Also, the coding DNA sequence of the vaccine was adapted for expression in the prokaryotic system, then, it was theoretically cloned in pET32a (+) vector.

 The results revealed that the molecular weight and length of the designed poly-epitope vaccine were 32 kDa and 308 amino acids, respectively. The protein structure results demonstrated that the designed poly-epitope vaccine contained 19.48% alpha-helix and 73.05% random coil. Also, the results showed that 92.2% of amino acid residues were located in the favored region. Finally, it was clarified that the antigenicity of the designed poly-epitope vaccine was 12333.

 According to the results of the current project, it seems that the designed poly-epitope vaccine can be an appropriate candidate to control tuberculosis.

 Q fever is caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. To date, no studies have been conducted on the rate of Q fever infection among the veterinary staff in Lorestan province.

 The present study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of infection in the veterinary staff.

 This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to July 2019 on 92 samples collected randomly from Lorestan province on veterinary staff who had a history of contact with livestock and were tested via indirect immunofluorescence kit.

 In this study, 77 (83/69%) samples were positive, and 15 (16/3%) samples were negative. There were no statistically significant relationships between residence, contact with livestock, and work experience.

 According to the results of this study, the high seroprevalence of a Q fever was observed among Veterinary staff, which further reveals the necessitates of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the disease in order to prevent unwanted complications in people in contact with livestock.

 The increasing infections caused by resistant P. aeruginosa strains originate from hospitals. Therefore, many efforts are being made to find new herbal compounds as suitable substitutes for antibiotics.

 The present study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial and anti-quorum activity of Rosmarinus methanol extract on P. aeruginosa.

 This experimental study was performed on standard and clinical strains of P. aeruginosa. The methanolic extract of Rosmarinus was prepared by the Soxhlet method, and the antimicrobial activity of the extract was evaluated by diffusion method in wells and microdilution. We examined the effect of this extract on the antibiofilm activity, protease, and pyocyanin production of P. aeruginosa in order to investigate the anti-quorum sensing activity of methanolic extract of Rosmarinus. Via SPSS 17, we managed to conduct the statistical analysis.

 The mean diameter of growth inhibition zone obtained from methanolic extract of rosemary at a concentration of 500 mg/ml on Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 18.5 mm, and the minimum inhibitory concentration of methanolic extract of rosemary was 125 mg / ml for bacteria. Extract at concentrations higher than 62.5 mg /ml prevented biofilm formation, protease, and the pyocyanin production of P. aeruginosa.

 The results of the present study can be a valuable report on their useful role in infection control because the methanol extracts of Rosmarinus had suitable antibacterial and anti-quorum sensing activity. It is suggested that more studies be conducted on the identification of antimicrobials as a suitable alternative for antibiotics in the treatment of diseases.
 

 Helicobacter pylori infection is the most common infection of human. This organism is responsible for the majority of peptic ulcer diseases, MALToma and gastric cancer, worldwide. Several regimen therapies against H. pylori had developed and are prescribed empirically, but therapies have rarely been optimized.

 In this study, we compared two regimens that are widely used in Iran, triple regimen (clarithromycin, amoxicillin, and omeprazole) and furazolidone-based quadruple regimen (furazolidone, amoxicillin, bismuth, and omeprazole) in some dyspeptic patients.

 In this cross-sectional study, 373 consecutive dyspeptic patients that H. pylori infection was established, randomized into one of the following groups; 188 in group A (treated with clarithromycin 500 mg, amoxicillin 1,000 mg, and omeprazole 20 mg twice daily for 10 days) and 185 in group B (furazolidone 200 mg, amoxicillin 1000 mg, bismuth subcitrate 240 mg and omeprazole 20 mg twice daily for 14 days). One month after discontinuation of the treatment, H. pylori eradication was evaluated with UBT.

 Mean age of the patients was 35.9 ± 12.3 years, and the male to female ratio was 1: 1.6. In the per-protocol analysis, the eradication rate of H. pylori was 63.7% in comparison to 93% in group A and B, respectively (P < 0.004).

 Our study showed furazolidone-based quadruple regimen is superior to the standard triple regimen; thus, it is recommended as the first choice.