0000000000042680
AUTHOR
Susanne Gjeruldsen Dudman
A European multicentre evaluation of detection and typing methods for human enteroviruses and parechoviruses using RNA transcripts
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection has become the gold standard for diagnosis and typing of enterovirus (EV) and human parechovirus (HPeV) infections. Its effectiveness depends critically on using the appropriate sample types and high assay sensitivity as viral loads in cerebrospinal fluid samples from meningitis and sepsis clinical presentation can be extremely low. This study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of currently used commercial and in‐house diagnostic and typing assays. Accurately quantified RNA transcript controls were distributed to 27 diagnostic and 12 reference laboratories in 17 European countries for blinded testing. Transcripts represented the four human EV…
Circulation and diagnostics of Puumala virus in Norway: nephropatia epidemica incidence and rodent population dynamics.
Hantaviruses pose a public health concern worldwide causing haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Puumala virus (PUUV) is the most prevalent hantavirus in Central and Northern Europe, and causes a mild form of HFRS, also known as nephropathia epidemica (NE). In nature, the main host of PUUV is the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), and transmission to humans occurs through inhalation of aerosols from rodent excreta. Nephropathia epidemica is particularly prevalent in Nordic countries, however, few studies of PUUV have been performed in Norway. The aim of this study was to analyse the dynamics of PUUV in Norway and compare with bank vole population…
Association of body mass index with COVID-19 related in-hospital death.
Background: Patients with extreme body mass indices (BMI) could have an increased risk of death while hospitalized for COVID-19. Methods: The database of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) was used to assess the time to in-hospital death with competing-risks regression by sex and between the categories of BMI. Results: Data from 12,137 patients (age 60.0 ± 16.2 years, 59% males, BMI 29.4 ± 6.9 kg/m2 ) of 48 countries were available. By univariate analysis, underweight patients had a higher risk of mortality than the other patients (sub-hazard ratio (SHR) 1.75 [1.44e2.14]). Mortality was lower in normal (SHR 0.69 [0.58e0.85]), overweight (SH…
Recommendations for enterovirus diagnostics and characterisation within and beyond Europe
Enteroviruses (EV) can cause severe neurological and respiratory infections, and occasionally lead to devastating outbreaks as previously demonstrated with EV-A71 and EV-D68 in Europe. However, these infections are still often underdiagnosed and EV typing data is not currently collected at European level. In order to improve EV diagnostics, collate data on severe EV infections and monitor the circulation of EV types, we have established European non-polio enterovirus network (ENPEN). First task of this cross-border network has been to ensure prompt and adequate diagnosis of these infections in Europe, and hence we present recommendations for non-polio EV detection and typing based on the co…