Role of artificial intelligence in peptide vaccine design against RNA viruses.

RNA viruses have high rate of replication and mutation that help them adapt and change according to their environmental conditions. Many viral mutants are the cause of various severe and lethal diseases. Vaccines, on the other hand have the capacity to protect us from infectious diseases by eliciting antibody or cell-mediated immune responses that are pathogen-specific. While there are a few reviews pertaining to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for SARS-COV-2 vaccine development, none focus on peptide vaccination for RNA viruses and the important role played by AI in it. Peptide vaccine which is slowly coming to be recognized as a safe and effective vaccination strategy has the capacity to overcome the mutant escape problem which is also being currently faced by SARS-COV-2 vaccines in circulation.Here we review the present scenario of peptide vaccines which are developed using mathematical and computational statistics methods to prevent the spread of disease caused by RNA viruses. We also focus on the importance and current stage of AI and mathematical evolutionary modeling using machine learning tools in the establishment of these new peptide vaccines for the control of viral disease.

Haitian variant Vibrio cholerae O1 Ogawa caused cholera outbreaks in Odisha.

PURPOSE: Diarrheal disorders particularly cholera cause a significant threat resulting in high morbidity and mortality in the coastal and tribal areas of Odisha. Two sequential diarrheal outbreaks reported in 2016 from Balasore and Rayagada districts of Odisha were investigated to find out the causative organisms, antibiogram profile and molecular analysis of the isolated pathogens. METHOD: Bacteriological analysis and antibiogram profiles of the pathogens were carried out as per the standard procedure followed. The double mismatch amplification mutation (DMAMA) PCR for ctxB gene, sequencing and pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were carried out on Vibrio cholerae O1 strains. RESULTS: The rectal swabs and water samples from these districts were positive for V. cholerae O1 Ogawa biotype El Tor. The V. cholerae O1 strains isolated from Balasore district were multidrug resistant to many antibiotics which differed from the isolates of Rayagada district. The DMAMA PCR assay on all clinical and water isolates from these areas and some strains from other districts exhibited ctxB7 allele of V. cholerae O1 which correlates with the sequencing results having different pulsotypes. The Haitian variant of V. cholerae O1 strains which were compared with the V. cholerae O1 strains of 1999 and 2000 exhibited different pulsotypes. CONCLUSION: The present study reports cholera outbreaks due to multidrug resistant ctxB7 allele of V. cholerae O1 from both coastal (Balasore) and tribal (Rayagada) areas of Odisha.

Vibrio cholerae O1 Ogawa Strains Carrying the ctxB7 Allele Caused a Large Cholera Outbreak during 2014 in the Tribal Areas of Odisha, India.

The large outbreak of cholera reported during July to September 2014 in the Narla block of Kalahandi district, India, was investigated to determine the causative organism. Rectal swabs collected from patients with diarrhea and environmental water samples were cultured following standard techniques. The causative organism was identified as Vibrio cholerae O1 Ogawa biotype El Tor, and analysis by double mismatch mutation assay PCR confirmed that all strains were the ctxB7 variant of Haitian V. cholerae O1. The environmental water samples were negative for V. cholerae. The V. cholerae O1 strains were sensitive to tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, doxycycline, and azithromycin, but were resistant to erythromycin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, furazolidone, neomycin, cotrimoxazole, nalidixic acid, and ampicillin. In the 2014 cholera outbreak, the early reporting of the pathogen enabled the government authorities to implement adequate control measures in time to curtail the spread of the disease. That was the second large cholera outbreak due to Haitian variants of V. cholerae O1 after the 2010 Haiti cholera outbreak reported from Odisha, India, and other locations globally. Active surveillance is required to track the spread of this strain in the Odisha region.