A severe COVID-19 case with schizophrenia as well as other chronic diseases

The prognosis of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is usually poor when it occurs in aged adults or in patients with chronic diseases, which brought a great challenge to clinical practice. Furthermore, widespread depression, anxiety, and panic related to SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2) infection affected treatment compliance and recovery. Here we report the successful treatment of a 57-year-old male with severe COVID-19, schizophrenia, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. The patient's negative emotions (such as tension, panic, and anxiety), particularly his aggression and paranoia, seriously hindered treatment, leading to a deteriorating condition. Psychological counseling and supportive psychotherapy were given but the effect was weak. To improve adherence, risperidone and quetiapine fumarate were replaced by olanzapine for anti-schizophrenic treatment to reduce insomnia and anxiety side effects, associated with sedative-hypnotic drugs as well as psychological counseling. The treatment compliance of the patient improved significantly. The patient's serum alanine aminotransferase increased abnormally in the late stage of hospitalization, suggesting potential liver damage after complex medication strategies. We also monitored the changes of lymphocyte subsets and retrospectively analyzed the virus-specific antibody response. The results suggested that dynamic monitoring of lymphocyte subsets and virus-specific antibody response could facilitate disease progression evaluation and timely treatment plan adjustments. An effective psychotropic drug intervention associated with psychological counselling and psychotherapy are essential for the successful adherence, treatment, and rehabilitation of psychiatric disorders in COVID-19 patients.

Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of human herpesvirus-7 infection

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Human herpesvirus (HHV)-7 establishes a latent infection during the lifetime of the host and can reactivate after the primary infection, leading to lytic replication in immunosuppressed patients. METHODS: This study aimed to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to identify HHV-7 serum antibodies and compare its performance with that of an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). RESULTS: Serum samples (n=102) were tested by IgG-IFA and by ELISA. IFA and ELISA showed IgG-positive results in 77 and 73 samples, respectively. Qualitative concordance of 96% was demonstrated between the two techniques. CONCLUSIONS: ELISA may be useful to diagnose HHV-7 infection.

Genotyping & diagnostic methods for hepatitis C virus: A need of low-resource countries

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a blood borne and transfusion-transmitted infection (TTI). It has emerged as one of the major health challenges worldwide. In India, around 12-18 million peoples are infected with HCV, but in terms of prevalence percentage, its looks moderate due to large population. The burden of the HCV infection increases due to lack of foolproof screening of blood and blood products before transfusion. The qualified screening and quantification of HCV play an important role in diagnosis and treatment of HCV-related diseases. If identified early, HCV infection can be managed and treated by recently available antiviral therapies with fewer side effects. However, its identification at chronic phase makes its treatment very challenging and sometimes ineffective. The drugs therapy for HCV infection treatment is also dependent on its genotype. Different genotypes of HCV differ from each other at genomic level. The RNA viruses (such as HCV) are evolving perpetually due to interaction and integration among people from different regions and countries which lead to varying therapeutic response in HCV-infected patients in different geographical regions. Therefore, proper diagnosis for infecting virus and then exact determination of genotype become important for targeted treatment. This review summarizes the general information on HCV, and methods used for its diagnosis and genotyping.

Serological Identification of Virus in Watermelon Production Fields in the Tocantins State

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) cultivated in almost all tropical and subtropical regions of the world, has its largest output in China, and then, according to FAO data, Turkey, Iran and Brazil, being one of the main crops cultivated in State of Tocantins, Brazil. In this work was investigated the occurrence and distribution of the watermelon viruses, totaling 752 samples taken in a stratified experimental design in four representative regions of production: Gurupi (150), Lagoa da Confusao (232), Formoso do Araguaia (265) and Porto Nacional (105). The sampling and collecting the leaves of plants with the presence of symptoms were performed once a week during the entire cultivation cycle. As a result, were observed by Dot-ELISA method, different types of viruses, such as Papaya ringspot W (PRSV-W), Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) (potyvirus), Cucumber mosaic virus ( CMV) (Cucumovirus) and Zucchini lethal chlorosis virus (ZLCV) (Tospovirus). Of these, PRSV-W was predominant (22%), followed by WMV (15%), ZLCV (11%), CMV (5%) and ZYMV (4%). Mixed infections with PRSV-W + WMV and PRSV-W + ZLCV were also observed around 20% frequency (expressed with symptoms differently from a single infection). The results provide important support for the program management viruses.

Analysis of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis exoantigens stability

Diagnosis by isolation of the microorganism from cultures provides the strongest evidence of infection by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (Pb). However, isolation is not always possible and serological tests such as double immunodiffusion (ID) must be often employed. We analyzed the reaction profile of 75 serum samples from paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) patients, by using ID, against nine different antigenic preparations of Pb: somatic antigen (SoAg), produced from Pb113 and Pb339 strains; cell-free antigen (CFAg), produced from Pb113 strain – both preparations were cultured in Fava-Netto's agar medium for 7 days at 36°C; metabolic antigen (MAg), produced from Pb113 and Pb339 strains cultured in liquid NGTA (neopeptone, glucose, thiamine and asparagine) medium for 20 days at 36°C; soluble components of the cell wall outer surface (SCCWOS), produced from Pb113 strain cultured in Fava-Neto's agar medium at 36°C for 5, 10, 15, and 20 days; and Pb113 Negroni and Pb113 NGTA antigens, cultured for 20 days at 36°C. Serum samples reactivity was 90% to AgSo and SCCWOS cultured for 5, 10, 15 and 20 days; 86.6% to CFAg; 83.3% to MAg; 80% to Pb113 NGTA antigen; and 76.6% to Pb113 Negroni antigen. Electrophoresis in 10%SDS-PAGE showed high complexity of the protein fractions of SCCWOS, Pb113 Negroni and Pb113 NGTA antigens, which presented molecular weight between 25 and 170 kDa. Specificity and sensitivity of SCCWOS against serum pool from patients with chronic and acute forms of the disease were confirmed by immunoblot, which demonstrated that 25, 43, 60, 70, 85 and 160-kDa antigenic fractions of SCCWOS cultured for 5 and 10 days showed intense reactivity. We could demonstrate that SCCWOS of Pb are stable and show highly preserved antigenic fractions, which was proved by their high reactivity pattern to sera from different forms of PCM, anti-Pb antigen and anti-gp43 antisera.(AU)