ABSTRACT
This report describes the first isolation and molecular characterisation of a chikungunya virus from two German tourists who became ill after a visit to the Maldives in September 2009. The virus contained the E1 A226V mutation, shown to be responsible for an adaptation to the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus. The E1 coding sequence was identical to chikungunya virus isolates from Sri Lanka and showed three nt-mismatches to the only available E1 nt sequence from the Maldives.
Subject(s)
Alphavirus Infections/diagnosis , Chikungunya virus/isolation & purification , Travel , Adult , Aedes/genetics , Alphavirus Infections/etiology , Alphavirus Infections/genetics , Animals , Chikungunya virus/genetics , Child , Germany , Humans , Indian Ocean Islands , Male , Mutation/genetics , PhylogenyABSTRACT
An AIDS patient with cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis was treated with ganciclovir (10 mg/kg) for four days followed by 5 mg/kg for 69 days. Clinically, CMV retinitis improved during therapy. Two weeks after induction of therapy, the patient became increasingly disoriented, and died 78 days after admission. Microscopically, a necrotizing encephalitis with characteristic cytomegalic cells with intranuclear inclusion bodies was observed. We conclude that ganciclovir therapy did not prevent development or progression of CMV encephalitis in the doses used.
