Molecular Detection of Orthohantavirus puumalaense in Plasma and Urine Samples from Hospitalized Patients Presenting with a Serologically Confirmed Acute Hantavirus Infection in France.

Molecular detection of Orthohantavirus puumalaense (PUUV) RNA during the course of the disease has been studied in blood of patients in Sweden and Slovenia. The use of urine has been poorly investigated. The aims of this work were to study PUUV RNA detection in plasma from a cohort of patients in France where a different PUUV lineage circulates and to assess the use of urine instead of plasma. Matched plasma and urine samples were collected daily from hospitalized patients presenting with fever, pain, and thrombocytopenia within the last 8 days and testing positive for IgM and IgG against PUUV in serum collected at inclusion and/or approximately 1 month after release. RNA was extracted from samples, and PUUV RNA was detected using real-time reverse transcription-PCR for plasma and urine samples. Sixty-seven patients presented a serologically confirmed acute hantavirus infection. At inclusion, PUUV RNA was detected in plasma from 55 of 62 patients (88.7%) sampled within the first week after disease onset, whereas it was detected in 15 of 60 (25.0%) of matched urine samples. It was then detected from 33 (71.7%) and 2 (4.4%) of 46 patients discharged from the hospital during the second week after disease onset, in plasma and urine, respectively. When PUUV RNA was detected in urine it was also detected in plasma, and not vice versa. Detection of PUUV RNA in plasma from hospitalized patients in France is similar to that observed in Sweden and Slovenia. Urine is not an appropriate sample for this detection.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infects Regulatory B Cells in Human Neonates via Chemokine Receptor CX3CR1 and Promotes Lung Disease Severity.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infections in infants and is characterized by pulmonary infiltration of B cells in fatal cases. We analyzed the B cell compartment in human newborns and identified a population of neonatal regulatory B lymphocytes (nBreg cells) that produced interleukin 10 (IL-10) in response to RSV infection. The polyreactive B cell receptor of nBreg cells interacted with RSV protein F and induced upregulation of chemokine receptor CX3CR1. CX3CR1 interacted with RSV glycoprotein G, leading to nBreg cell infection and IL-10 production that dampened T helper 1 (Th1) cytokine production. In the respiratory tract of neonates with severe RSV-induced acute bronchiolitis, RSV-infected nBreg cell frequencies correlated with increased viral load and decreased blood memory Th1 cell frequencies. Thus, the frequency of nBreg cells is predictive of the severity of acute bronchiolitis disease and nBreg cell activity may constitute an early-life host response that favors microbial pathogenesis.