Molecular characterization of measles viruses in Central African Republic, 2012-2016.

Despite being preventable through vaccination, measles is still one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in young children in Africa. In 2015, several African countries, including the Central African Republic (CAR), began implementing national measles elimination programs. However, measles remains a public health problem in Africa, particularly in the CAR. A retrospective study was conducted at the Institut Pasteur de Bangui, using blood samples (n = 255) and oral swabs (n = 7) collected between January 2012 and December 2016 from measles IgM-positive cases, to attempt genotyping of circulating measles virus strains. Overall, 50 samples were positive by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and 40 sequences of acceptable quality were obtained. The phylogenetic analysis showed that 38 strains belonged to genotype B3 suggesting that this genotype was endemic in the CAR during the study period. No genotype B2 sequences were detected, suggesting that this genotype is no longer present in the CAR.

Pre-Omicron Vaccine Breakthrough Infection Induces Superior Cross-Neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 Compared to Infection Alone.

SARS-CoV-2 variants raise concern because of their high transmissibility and their ability to evade neutralizing antibodies elicited by prior infection or by vaccination. Here, we compared the neutralizing abilities of sera from 70 unvaccinated COVID-19 patients infected before the emergence of variants of concern (VOCs) and of 16 vaccine breakthrough infection (BTI) cases infected with Gamma or Delta against the ancestral B.1 strain, the Gamma, Delta and Omicron BA.1 VOCs using live virus. We further determined antibody levels against the Nucleocapsid (N) and full Spike proteins, the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the Spike protein. Convalescent sera featured considerable variability in the neutralization of B.1 and in the cross-neutralization of different strains. Their neutralizing capacity moderately correlated with antibody levels against the Spike protein and the RBD. All but one convalescent serum failed to neutralize Omicron BA.1. Overall, convalescent sera from patients with moderate disease had higher antibody levels and displayed a higher neutralizing ability against all strains than patients with mild or severe forms of the disease. The sera from BTI cases fell into one of two categories: half the sera had a high neutralizing activity against the ancestral B.1 strain as well as against the infecting strain, while the other half had no or a very low neutralizing activity against all strains. Although antibody levels against the spike protein and the RBD were lower in BTI sera than in unvaccinated convalescent sera, most neutralizing sera also retained partial neutralizing activity against Omicron BA.1, suggestive of a better cross-neutralization and higher affinity of vaccine-elicited antibodies over virus-induced antibodies. Accordingly, the IC50: antibody level ratios were comparable for BTI and convalescent sera, but remained lower in the neutralizing convalescent sera from patients with moderate disease than in BTI sera. The neutralizing activity of BTI sera was strongly correlated with antibodies against the Spike protein and the RBD. Together, these findings highlight qualitative differences in antibody responses elicited by infection in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. They further indicate that breakthrough infection with a pre-Omicron variant boosts immunity and induces cross-neutralizing antibodies against different strains, including Omicron BA.1.

Diagnostic challenges and pockets of susceptibility identified during a measles outbreak, Luxembourg, 2019.

Luxembourg was among the first countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region documenting interruption of endemic measles transmission, but an increased incidence was registered in spring 2019. The outbreak started with an unvaccinated student who had been to a winter sports resort in a neighbouring country, where a measles outbreak was ongoing. Subsequently, 12 secondary and two tertiary cases were confirmed among students from the same school, relatives and healthcare workers, as well as six probably unrelated cases. Only 11 cases initially fulfilled the WHO definition for suspected measles cases. Fourteen of 20 cases with information on country of birth and the majority of unvaccinated cases (10/12) were born outside of Luxembourg. Measles IgM antibody results were available for 16 of the confirmed cases, and five of the eight IgM negative cases had been vaccinated at least once. All 21 cases were PCR positive, but for three previously vaccinated cases with multiple specimen types, at least one of these samples was negative. The outbreak highlighted diagnostic challenges from clinical and laboratory perspectives in a measles elimination setting and showed that people born abroad and commuters may represent important pockets of susceptible people in Luxembourg.

Characterization of newcastle disease viruses in wild and domestic birds in Luxembourg from 2006 to 2008.

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is one of the most important viral diseases of birds. Wild birds constitute a natural reservoir of low-virulence viruses, while poultry are the main reservoir of virulent strains. Exchange of virus between these reservoirs represents a risk for both bird populations. Samples from wild and domestic birds collected between 2006 and 2010 in Luxembourg were analyzed for NDV. Three similar avirulent genotype I strains were found in ducks during consecutive years, suggesting that the virus may have survived and spread locally. However, separate introductions cannot be excluded, because no recent complete F gene sequences of genotype I from other European countries are available. Detection of vaccine-like strains in wild waterbirds suggested the spread of vaccine strains, despite the nonvaccination policy in Luxembourg. Among domestic birds, only one chicken was positive for a genotype II strain differing from the LaSota vaccine and exhibiting a so-far-unrecognized fusion protein cleavage site of predicted low virulence. Three genotype VI strains from pigeons were the only virulent strains found. The circulation of NDV in wild and free-ranging domestic birds warrants continuous surveillance because of increased concern that low-virulence wild-bird viruses could become more virulent in domestic populations.

Rubella seroprevalence among pregnant women in Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND: Despite the serious consequences of rubella infection during early pregnancy, very little is known about the rubella seroprevalence in a number of African countries including Burkina Faso. METHODS: Between December 2007 and March 2008 serum samples were collected from 341 pregnant women in Bobo (n = 132, urban area) and Houndé (n = 209, rural area) and were tested for rubella-specific IgG antibodies with a commercial ELISA kit. RESULTS: An overall seropositivity rate of 95.0% (324/341) was found, with a higher percentage in the urban population and in the oldest age group. Considering an antibody titer of at least 10 International Units per ml as protective, the overall immunity rate in the cohort of pregnant women was 93.3% (318/341). CONCLUSIONS: The high overall seropositivity rate in the absence of routine immunization suggests a continuous transmission of endemic rubella virus in Burkina Faso, posing a threat to non-immune pregnant women.

Swine influenza virus antibodies in humans, western Europe, 2009.

Serologic studies for swine influenza viruses (SIVs) in humans with occupational exposure to swine have been reported from the Americas but not from Europe. We compared levels of neutralizing antibodies against 3 influenza viruses--pandemic (H1N1) 2009, an avian-like enzootic subtype H1N1 SIV, and a 2007-08 seasonal subtype H1N1--in 211 persons with swine contact and 224 matched controls in Luxembourg. Persons whose profession involved contact with swine had more neutralizing antibodies against SIV and pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus than did the controls. Controls also had antibodies against these viruses although exposure to them was unlikely. Antibodies against SIV and pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus correlated with each other but not with seasonal subtype H1N1 virus. Sequential exposure to variants of seasonal influenza (H1N1) viruses may have increased chances for serologic cross-reactivity with antigenically distinct viruses. Further studies are needed to determine the extent to which serologic responses correlate with infection.

Synergy between Indoloquinolines and Ciprofloxacin: An Antibiofilm Strategy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Antibiotic treatments can participate in the formation of bacterial biofilm in case of under dosage. The interest of indoloquinoline scaffold for drug discovery incited us to study the preparation of new indolo [2,3-b]quinoline derivatives by a domino radical process. We tested the effect of two different "indoloquinoline" molecules (Indol-1 and Indol-2) without antimicrobial activity, in addition to ciprofloxacin, on biofilm formation thanks to crystal violet staining and enumeration of adhered bacteria. This association of ciprofloxacin and Indol-1 or Indol-2 attenuated the formation of biofilm up to almost 80% compared to ciprofloxacin alone, or even prevented the presence of adhered bacteria. In conclusion, these data prove that the association of non-antimicrobial molecules with an antibiotic can be a solution to fight against biofilm and antibiotic resistance emergence.

Rubella epidemiology in the Central African Republic, 2015-2016 and molecular characterization of virus strains from 2008-2016.

OBJECTIVES: Rubella cases in the Central African Republic (CAF) are currently identified during measles surveillance. This study aimed to investigate rubella epidemiology between 2015 and 2016 and to provide baseline genotype data for monitoring future rubella control efforts. METHODS: 831 measles IgM negative or equivocal sera from 2015/2016 were tested for rubella IgM antibodies and 350 rubella IgM positive sera collected between 2008 and 2016 were selected for PCR and sequencing. RESULTS: 411 of the 831 sera (49.5%) were rubella IgM positive and most cases (n=391, 95.1%) occurred between January and April. Most patients were between 5 and 9 years old (50.2%) and more than half of the rubella cases (56.7%) originated from the capital Bangui. Genotype information was obtained for 37 of the 350 selected rubella IgM-positive specimens, with the majority of the patients originating from Bangui (n=24, 64.9%) and sequences covering all years except 2009. Phylogenetic analysis identified genotypes 1E (n=12), 1G (n=5) and 2B (n=20), with 2B being detected from 2014 onwards. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirmed the important role of rubella as a rash and fever disease in CAF and provided comprehensive data on rubella epidemiology and the first information on rubella genotypes in the country.

Abundant Extractable Metabolites from Temperate Tree Barks: The Specific Antimicrobial Activity of Prunus Avium Extracts.

Tree barks are mainly considered as wood wastes from forestry activities, but represent valuable resources as they may contain antimicrobial compounds. Here, we aimed to evaluate the possible antimicrobial activities of bark extracts and to characterize the chemical composition of the most active extract. Ten methanol bark extracts were tested in vitro against 17 bacterial strains and 5 yeast strains, through minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal (or fungicidal) concentration (MBC/MFC) assays. The extract from Prunus avium (E2-4) displayed the largest bactericidal activity against Gram-positive bacteria, with a lethal effect on 6 out of 8 strains. Antibiofilm assays of E2-4 were performed by crystal violet staining and enumeration of adhered bacteria. Assays demonstrated a biofilm inhibitory effect of E2-4 against Staphylococcus aureus CIP 53.154 at concentrations equal to or higher than 250 µg/mL. Chemical profiling of E2-4 by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) revealed the presence of dihydrowogonin as a major constituent of the extract. E2-4 was fractionated by centrifugal partition chromatography and the three fractions containing dihydrowogonin were tested for their antibacterial and antibiofilm activities, revealing similar activities to those of E2-4. Dihydrowogonin was positively assessed as an interesting antimicrobial compound, which could be valued from wastes of Prunus avium barks.

Phylogenetic analysis of human parvovirus b19 sequences from eleven different countries confirms the predominance of genotype 1 and suggests the spread of genotype 3b.

Phylogenetic analysis of 166 human parvovirus B19 sequences from 11 different countries attributed 91.57% to genotype 1, 5.42% to genotype 3b, and 3.01% to genotype 3a. Very similar viruses of genotype 1 circulated widely in Europe and Israel. Genotype 3b seems to show an increasing spread outside of Africa.

IgG antibody prevalence suggests high immunization needs in newcomers to Luxembourg, 2012.

Vaccine coverage of the general population in Luxembourg is high, but refugees or asylum seekers may be incompletely vaccinated and susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases. In order to assess protection rates, serum and oral fluid samples were collected from 406 newcomers aged between 13 and 70 years arriving between May and September 2012. Sera were screened for IgG antibodies against measles, rubella, mumps, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. Oral fluid samples were screened for antibodies against measles, mumps and rubella virus to investigate their suitability for antibody prevalence studies. More than 90% of the participants had IgG antibodies against rubella, 73% against measles and 56% against mumps. Less than 19% had anti-HBs antibodies. Nearly 84% of the participants had an adequate protection against tetanus, 73% against diphtheria and 40% had pertussis antibodies. 93%, 95% and 78% of the measles, rubella and mumps test results obtained with serum and oral fluid were concordant. The majority of the participants lacked antibodies against at least one of the measles/mumps/rubella (58%) and diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (72%) vaccine components and against hepatitis B virus (82%) and might thus profit from vaccination. Oral fluid is a suitable alternative and non-invasive specimen for measles/rubella antibody prevalence studies.

Copper Alloy Touch Surfaces in Healthcare Facilities: An Effective Solution to Prevent Bacterial Spreading.

In the healthcare environment, microorganisms' cross-transmission between inanimate surfaces and patients or healthcare workers can lead to healthcare-associated infections. A recent interest has grown to create antimicrobial copper touch surfaces, in order to counteract microbial spread in the healthcare environment. For the first time, five French long-term care facilities were at 50% fitted with copper alloys door handles and handrails. Related to the environmental bacterial contamination, 1400 samples were carried out on copper and control surfaces over three years after copper installation. In addition, some copper door handles were taken from the different facilities, and their specific activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was tested in vitro. In comparison to control surfaces, copper door handles and handrails revealed significantly lower contamination levels. This difference was observed in the five long-term care facilities and it persists through the three years of the study. High and extreme levels of bacterial contamination were less frequent on copper surfaces. Although, the antibacterial activity of copper surfaces against MRSA was lowered after three years of regular use, it was still significant as compared to inert control surfaces. Therefore, copper containing surfaces are promising actors in the non-spreading of environmental bacterial contamination in healthcare facilities.

Contribution of Fluorescence Techniques in Determining the Efficiency of the Non-thermal Plasma Treatment.

We have recently developed a non-thermal plasma (NTP) equipment intended to sterilize fragile medical devices and maintain the sterile state of items downstream the treatment. With traditional counts on agar plate a six log reduction of Staphylococcus aureus viability was obtained within 120 min of O2, Ar, or N2 NTP treatments. However to determine the best NTP process, we studied the different physiological states of S. aureus by flow cytometry (FC) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) focusing on the esterasic activity and membrane integrity of the bacteria. Two fluorochromes, 5-(and-6)-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate and propidium iodide were used in order to distinguish three sub-populations: metabolically active, permeabilized, and damaged bacteria that can be in the viable but nonculturable state. FC and CLSM highlight that O2 and Ar NTP treatments were the most attractive processes. Indeed, a 5 min of Ar NTP generated a high destruction of the structure of bacteria and a 120 min of O2 NTP treatment led to the higher decrease of the total damaged bacteria population. SEM observations showed that in presence of clusters, bacteria of upper layers are easily altered compared to bacteria in the deeper layers. In conclusion, the plate counting method is not sufficient by itself to determine the best NTP treatment. FC and CLSM represent attractive indicator techniques to select the most efficient gas NTP treatment generating the lowest proportion of viable bacteria and the most debris.

Functionally Convergent B Cell Receptor Sequences in Transgenic Rats Expressing a Human B Cell Repertoire in Response to Tetanus Toxoid and Measles Antigens.

The identification and tracking of antigen-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) sequences within total Ig repertoires is central to high-throughput sequencing (HTS) studies of infections or vaccinations. In this context, public Ig sequences shared by different individuals exposed to the same antigen could be valuable markers for tracing back infections, measuring vaccine immunogenicity, and perhaps ultimately allow the reconstruction of the immunological history of an individual. Here, we immunized groups of transgenic rats expressing human Ig against tetanus toxoid (TT), Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), measles virus hemagglutinin and fusion proteins expressed on MVA, and the environmental carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene, coupled to TT. We showed that these antigens impose a selective pressure causing the Ig heavy chain (IgH) repertoires of the rats to converge toward the expression of antibodies with highly similar IgH CDR3 amino acid sequences. We present a computational approach, similar to differential gene expression analysis, that selects for clusters of CDR3s with 80% similarity, significantly overrepresented within the different groups of immunized rats. These IgH clusters represent antigen-induced IgH signatures exhibiting stereotypic amino acid patterns including previously described TT- and measles-specific IgH sequences. Our data suggest that with the presented methodology, transgenic Ig rats can be utilized as a model to identify antigen-induced, human IgH signatures to a variety of different antigens.

Innovative non-thermal plasma disinfection process inside sealed bags: Assessment of bactericidal and sporicidal effectiveness in regard to current sterilization norms.

In this work, we developed a device capable to generate a non-thermal plasma discharge inside a sealed bag. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the oxygen, nitrogen and argon plasma sterilization on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis spores according to the NF EN 556 Norm. Moreover the bag integrity which is a critical key to maintain the sterile state of items after the end of the process was verified by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometry (XPS) analyses. After plasma treatments, the bacterial counting showed a 6 log reduction of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus in 45 min and 120 min respectively whatever the gas used and a 4 log reduction of B. subtilis spores in 120 min with only oxygen plasma. These results were confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations showing altered bacteria or spores and numerous debris. Taking into account the studied microorganisms, the oxygen plasma treatment showed the highest efficiency. FTIR and XPS analyses showed that this treatment induced no significant modification of the bags. To conclude this non-thermal plasma sterilization technique could be an opportunity to sterilize heat and chemical-sensitive medical devices and to preserve their sterile state after the end of the process.