De la Peste Antonina a la Peste de Cipriano: alcances y consecuencias de las pestes globales en el Imperio Romano en el siglo III dC / From the Antonine Plague to the Cyprian Plague: scopes and consequences of global plagues in the Roman Empire in the 3rd century AD

Resumen El Imperio Romano sufrió entre el siglo II y III dos grandes pestes, la Peste Antonina, de la cual existe bibliografía, y la Peste de Cipriano, que es menos conocida. Como una visión de conjunto, ambas pandemias se asemejan a la crisis que en el 2020 el coronavirus está generando en muchos aspectos de la vida humana. Este artículo se centra en el impacto que la peste de Cipriano tuvo en el contexto de la crisis del siglo III; su mortalidad se estima entre 10-20% de la población en los lugares afectados y finalmente sus efectos generaron varias de las condiciones necesarias para la transición del mundo antiguo al medieval. Se trata de comprender cómo el ciclo de pestes que va desde el siglo II al siglo III cambió la fisonomía del mundo romano y que lecciones nos entrega la historia 1700 años después.

Abstract Between the 2nd and 3rd centuries the Roman Empire suffered two great plagues, the Antonine Plague, of which there is a bibliography, and the lesser known Plague of Cyprian. As an overview, both pandemics resemble the crisis that in 2020 the Coronavirus is generating in many aspects of human life. This article focuses on the impact that the Cyprian plague had in the context of the crisis of the third century, its mortality is estimated between 10-20% of the population in the affected places, finally its effects generated several of the necessary conditions for the transition from the ancient to the medieval world. It is about understanding how the cycle of plagues that went from the 2nd century to the 3rd century changed the appearance of the Roman world and what lessons history gives us 1700 years later.

Effects and mechanism of 3,5,6,7,4'-pentamethoxyflavone forblocking arenavirus entry / 药学学报

Arenaviruses are enveloped RNA viruses, and eight members in this family are known to cause human hemorrhagic fever. Treatments for the viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) by arenaviruses are very limited. We have identified the first flavone, tangeretin, with broad-spectrum inhibitory activities on VHF-arenaviruses infection by blocking viral entry. In this study, we evaluated thirty-four tangeretin analogues and found 3,5,6,7,4'-pentamethoxyflavone as a Lassa virus entry inhibitor, with EC50 of 5.2 µmol·L-1, by blocking the viral fusion process. The compound 3,5,6,7,4'-pentamethoxyflavone is effective on all known VHF-arenaviruses, with EC50 range of 0.84-10.2 µmol·L-1. These results suggest that 3,5,6,7,4'-pentamethoxyflavone is able to serve as a start point for discovery of arenavirus entry inhibitors from flavone natural products.

Development of a luminex-based multiplexed immunoassay for detection of IgG antibodies to the viral hemorrhagic fever epidemic in Africa / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

Objective@#To establish a multiplexed immunoassay for detection of IgG antibodies against viral hemorrhagic fever epidemic in Africa.@*Methods@#The recombinant antigens of hemorrhagic fever viruses (HFVs) epidemic in Africa were expressed and purified, and then coupled with the fluorescent microspheres. The coupling effects were evaluated by monoplexed detection of rabbit immune sera. Blood specimens were collected from people from Africa with fever, and multiplexed detection of IgG antibodies to HFVs was performed. Comparison of multiplexed assay and ELISA was performed by paired χ2 test using SPSS software.@*Results@#Both the purity and concentration of HFVs recombinant antigen met the standards for coupling and detection, and the antigens were successfully coupled with fluorescent microspheres. Seventy-eight sera samples of people from Africa with fever were multiplex detected. Among these, one was tested positive for LASV-specific IgG, one was tested positive for LUJV-specific IgG, 4 were tested positive for DENV-specific IgG and 6 tested positive for YFV-specific IgG. There was no statistically significant difference compared with ELISA, and the two method were highly correlated.@*Conclusions@#A multiplexed luminex-based immunoassay for detection of IgG antibodies to viral hemorrhagic fever epidemic in Africa was established, which laid the foundation for the differential diagnosis.

Establishment of evaluation system for a cell-based arenavirus entry inhibitor / 药学学报

Arenaviruses are enveloped RNA viruses. The genus mammarenavirus contains nine members that are known to be human pathogens, and eight of them cause human hemorrhagic fever. Lassa hemorrhagic fever, caused by Lassa virus (LASV) infection, is the most prevalent arenavirus hemorrhagic fever with potential to cause major epidemics. LASV belongs to category A agents, and biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) facility is required for live virus experiments. Currently there are few specific treatments available for arenavirus diseases. Here, we established efficient cell-based pseudovirus infection models using an HIV-1 core (pNL4-3.Luc.R-E-) packed with arenavirus glycoproteins. Nine recombinant arenaviruses (arenavirus-GP/HIV-luc) were generated, and 17 cell lines were tested for susceptibilities to these viruses. These pseudovirus infection models were further validated by known arenavirus entry inhibitors. The models are safe and specific to pseudovirus infection, which are readily used for pharmacodynamic evaluation of arenavirus entry inhibitors in BSL-2 laboratory. The models will facilitate screening of the anti-arenavirus drugs and vaccines.

Enfermedad por el virus Ébola medidas de bioseguridad / Ebola virus disease biosafety measures

Resumen El virus Ébola representa el patógeno prototipo de fiebre hemorrágica viral, causando una enfermedad severa de alta tasa de mortalidad. Esta alta mortalidad, combinada con la ausencia de vacunación y de un tratamiento específico, hace que el virus Ébola sea un patógeno importante para la salud pública. La fiebre hemorrágica de Ébola se cree es una zoonosis con persistencia del virus en especies de reservorios encontrados en áreas endémicas. A pesar de todos los esfuerzos realizados en cada brote para identificar los reservorios naturales no se conocen huéspedes potenciales ni los artrópodos vectores. El manejo de los casos está basado en el aislamiento de los pacientes y en el uso de barreras de aislamiento, tales como ropa e implementos de protección como respiradores. Debido a su rápida propagación la OMS declaró que la enfermedad por el virus Ébola representa una emergencia de salud pública más allá de las fronteras y exhortó a la comunidad internacional a tomar las acciones necesarias para detener la epidemia.

Abstract Ebola virus is regarded as the prototype pathogen of viral hemorrhagic fever, causing severe disease and high case fatality rates. This high fatality, combined with the absence ot treatment and vaccination options, makes Ebola virus an important public health pathogen. Ebola hemorrhagic fever is thought to be a classic zoonosis with persistence of the Ebola virus in a reservoir species generally found in endemic areas. Although much effort has been made to identify the natural reservoirs with every large outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, neither potential hosts norarthropod vectors have been identified. Case management is based on isolation of patients and use of strict barrier nursing procedures, such as protective clothing and respirators. In addition, its rapid propagation has led the Word Health Organization (WHO) to declare on August 2014 that Ebola virus disease represents a public health emergency of international concern and urged the international community to take action to stop its spread.

Enfermedad por el virus Ébola medidas de bioseguridad / Ebola virus disease biosecurity measures

El virus Ébola representa el patógeno prototipo de fiebre hemorrágica viral, causando una enfermedad severa de alta tasa de mortalidad. Esta alta mortalidad, combinada con la ausencia de vacunación y de un tratamiento específico, hace que el virus Ébola sea un patógeno importante para la salud pública. La fiebre hemorrágica de Ébola se cree es una zoonosis con persistencia del virus en especies de reservorios encontrados en áreas endémicas. A pesar de todos los esfuerzos realizados en cada brote para identificar los reservorios naturales no se conocen los huéspedes potenciales ni los artrópodos vectores. El manejo de los casos está basado en el aislamiento de los pacientes y en el uso de barreras de aislamiento, tales como ropa e implementos de protección como respiradores. Debido a su rápida propagación la OMS declaró que la enfermedad por el virus Ébola representa una emergencia de salud pública más allá de las fronteras y exhortó a la comunidad internacional a tomar las acciones necesarias para detener la epidemia.

Ebola virus is regarded as the prototype pathogen of viral hemorrhagic fever, causing severe disease and high case-fatality rates. This high fatality, combined with the absence of treatment and vaccination options, makes Ebola virus an important public health pathogen. Ebola hemorrhagic fever is thought to be a classic zoonosis with persistence of the Ebola virus in a reservoir species generally found in endemic areas. Although much effort has been made to identify the natural reservoirs with every large outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, neither potential hosts nor arthropod vectors have been identified. Case management is based on isolation of patients and use of strict barrier nursing procedures, such as protective clothing and respirators. In addition, its rapid propagation has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare on August 2014 that Ebola virus disease represent a public health emergency of international concern and urged the international community to take action to stop the spread.

Las fiebres hemorrágicas víricas como síndromes paralelos / Viral hemorrhagic fevers as parallel syndromes

Se presentan algunos aspectos clínico-epidemiológicos, así como del tratamiento de un grupo de enfermedades de gran importancia para la medicina militar, cuyos agentes etiológicos pueden ser utilizados como armas biológicas en tiempo de guerra y actos de bioterrorismo. En eventos como estos, las enfermedades en cuestión, presentes en la práctica médica, pueden ser estudiadas y modelado el diagnóstico y la intervención terapéutica, lo que posibilita su condición de síndrome paralelo.

Some clinical and epidemiological aspects as well the treatment of a group of diseases of great significant for the military medicine were presented. Their etiological agents could be used as biological weapons in war times and in bioterrorist actions. Under those circumstances, the diseases as such, which are present in the medical practice, can be studied and their diagnosis and therapeutic intervention can be modeled, which facilitates their condition as parallel syndromes.