Maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with illness severity of maternal COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Several reports demonstrated that perinatal SARS-CoV-2 has significant impact on maternal and neonatal health outcomes. However, the relationship between severity of maternal illness with outcomes remains less clear. METHODS: This is a single-center retrospective cohort study of mother/infant dyads with positive maternal test for SARS-CoV-2 between 14 days prior and 3 days after delivery from 3/30/2020 to 12/28/2021. RESULTS: Among 538 mothers, those with moderate/severe/critical illness were more likely to undergo induction, receive oxygen, mechanical ventilation or ECMO. Mortality was significantly higher among the mothers with severe illness than asymptomatic and those with mild illness (6% vs 0% and 0%, respectively, P < 0.05). Neonates born to mothers with moderate/severe/critical illness were more likely to be preterm with lower birth weight, and to be admitted to the NICU (P < 0.05) but not to be small for gestational age. Mild maternal illness was only associated with NICU admission for isolation precaution and decreased rate of breastfeeding. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal illness severity was significantly associated with prematurity and several adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Peripherally inserted central cathether migration in neonates: Incidence, timing and risk factors.

BACKGROUND: PICC line use is a common practice in neonatal units, but it is associated with various complications. Catheter migration is the most common complication in neonates. Periodic imaging is recommended to monitor the tip position of the PICCs, but the optimal frequency is undetermined. The incidence, timing and risk factors that are associated with PICC migration have not been fully investigated beyond 24 hrs in neonates. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence, timing and risk factors that are associated with peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC) migration in neonates. METHODS: This was a single center, retrospective study of 168 PICCs placed in 141 neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) between 2015 and 2016. The incidence of catheter migration was determined radiographically at 12-24 hrs and every third day after insertion until it was removed. RESULTS: Overall incidence of PICC migration was 28%and most commonly was detected within the first three days after PICC placement (83%). The incidence of PICC migration was higher in males. The PICC migration was associated with difficulty advancing the PICC at the time of insertion and PICC dressing change. CONCLUSION: Serial evaluation of PICC placement in neonates is required to maintain proper position. Based on our experience in our unit, we recommend periodic imaging at 12-24 hrs and on the third day after PICC placement as most migration occurred within three days after insertion.

Seronegative neonatal myasthenia gravis in one of the twins.

Neonatal myasthenia gravis has been described as a transient condition affecting only a small percent of neonates. We report a twin gestation in a seronegative mother with myasthenia gravis, in which only one twin was affected.

Physical mapping and nucleotide sequence of a herpes simplex virus type 1 gene required for capsid assembly.

In this report, we describe some phenotypic properties of a temperature-sensitive mutant of herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) and present data concerning the physical location and nucleotide sequence of the genomic region harboring the mutation. The effect of shifts from the permissive to the nonpermissive temperature on infectious virus production by the mutant A44ts2 indicated that the mutated function is necessary throughout, or late in, the growth cycle. At the nonpermissive temperature, no major differences were detected in viral DNA or protein synthesis with respect to the parent A44ts+. On the other hand, electron microscopy of mutant-infected cells revealed that neither viral capsids nor capsid-related structures were assembled at the nonpermissive temperature. Additional analyses employing the Hirt extraction procedure showed that A44ts2 is also unable to mature replicated viral DNA into unit-length molecules under nonpermissive conditions. The results of marker rescue experiments with intact A44ts2 DNA and cloned restriction fragments of A44ts+ placed the lesion in the coordinate interval 0.553 to 0.565 (1,837 base pairs in region UL) of the HSV-1 physical map. No function has previously been assigned to this region, although it is known to be transcribed into two 5' coterminal mRNAs which code in vitro for a 54,000-molecular-weight polypeptide (K. P. Anderson, R. J. Frink, G. B. Devi, B. H. Gaylord, R. H. Costa, and E. K. Wagner, J. Virol. 37:1011-1027, 1981). We sequenced the interval 0.551 to 0.565 and found an open reading frame (ORF) for a 50,175-molecular-weight polypeptide. The predicted product of this ORF exhibits strong homology with the product of varicella-zoster virus ORF20 and lower, but significant, homology with the product of Epstein-Barr virus BORF1. For the three viruses, the corresponding ORFs lie just upstream of the gene coding for the large subunit of viral ribonucleotide reductase. The ORF described here corresponds to the ORF designated UL38 in the recently published nucleotide sequence of the HSV-1 UL region (D. J. McGeoch, M. A. Dalrymple, A. J. Davison, A. Dolan, M. C. Frame, D. McNab, L. J. Perry, J. E. Scott, and P. Taylor, J. Gen. Virol. 69:1531-1574, 1988).

Enhancement of retrovirus production by anti-interferon serum.

In order to investigate the role of endogenous interferon in retrovirus production by infected or induced cells, the effect of two sera raised against mouse interferon has been tested on various C-type murine viruses. Addition of a highly potent anti-interferon serum to 3T3/IC cells chronically infected by the Moloney strain of MLV results in a considerable increase of virus production, as tested by reverse transcriptase assay. This effect is neutralized by an excess of exogenous interferon. The greatest effect of anti-interferon sera was obtained in the derepression of endogenous retroviruses: in K. BALB/c cells treated by IUDR, anti-interferon serum increases up to 50-fold the expression of the endogenous virus. The extinction of virus production which secondarily occurs after its induction by IUdR is likely to be caused by cellular endogenous interferon. The biological parameters of the viral agent produced in the presence of anti-interferon serum are those of the xenotropic endogenous virus.

[Glycosylation and isoelectric properties of complete and defective rabies viruses (author's transl)]. / Glycosylation et propriétés isoélectriques des virus rabiques complets et défectifs.

From a structural point of view an essential distinction between complete and defective rabies viruses is difference in size. In addition, isoelectric properties differ. The complete virus has an isoelectric point approaching neutrality, whereas the defective virus focuses between pH 3-4.7. The isoelectric points of the glycoprotein from complete and defective viruses differ in a corresponding fashion. The Pasteur virus cultivated on BHK21C13 cells, contains glycoproteins, the glycopeptides of which have a structure containing the following five monosaccharides: sialic acid, D-galactose, (N-acetyl)D-glucosamine, D-mannose and L-fucose. The glycosylation of the glycoproteins is different, at least in so far as the relative sialic acid/glucosamine ratio is concerned.

[Identification of rabies virus glycoproteins and nucleoproteins in infected cells by specifically labeled immunoglobulins]. / Identification des glycoprotéine et nucléoprotéine rabiques des cellules infectées par des immunoglobulines spécifiques marquées

The specific nucleoprotein is localized inside the cell in the viral matrix and the immunogenic glycoprotein seems to be present only in the cell membranes.