Journal of Medical Virology

IntroductionHemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a serious condition induced by Dengue virus which becomes fatal if not detected early and treated appropriately. So objectives of the present study are to observe the different patterns of presentations, clinical features and outcome of HLH induced by Dengue. MethodsIn this observational study, 14 patients admitted and diagnosed HLH as per diagnostic criteria, were included after informed written consent. Study conducted in a period of six...

Carbapenem-resistant (CR) bacteria have emerged and been spreading beyond healthcare-associated facilities into the environment. It is recognized that toilet bowl water in patient rooms of healthcare-associated facilities can be one of internal reservoirs of CR bacteria. In accordance with this idea, toilet bowl water samples were collected from patient rooms in a tertiary healthcare-associated facility in North Macedonia, and meropenem (MEM)-resistant bacterial isolates were obtained from the t...

A multivariant total subclass analysis has been performed for a control cohort (n=15) and a long COVID patient cohort (n=15) measuring the IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4 and IgE response to the following 14 variants of SARS-CoV-2: Wuhan, Alpha, Delta, BA.1, BA.2, BA.5, EG.5.1, XBB.1.5, BA.2.75, CH.1.1, BA.2.12.1, BQ.1.1, JN.1, and KP.3. Significant differences (p < 0.05 and p < 0.005) between concentrations of IgG subclasses by variant were found in 24% of variants and in mean-normalised distributions. ...

The rapid diagnosis of Campylobacter infections is important for the management of infectious gastroenteritis. Although stool culture is considered the gold standard, its sensitivity is limited and it requires prolonged incubation times. We performed a prospective multicenter study at nine healthcare facilities in Japan to evaluate a Campylobacter rapid antigen test using stool specimens between March 2024 and August 2025. Patients with suspected infectious gastroenteritis were consecutively enr...

In the past decade, dengue fever has emerged as a major public health on Reunion Island in the Southwest Indian Ocean. During the 2018-2022 outbreak, an unusual increase in ocular complications was reported in some patients. To investigate a potential viral cause, we analysed 447 blood samples from hospitalized patients with and without ophthalmic symptoms. Genetic sequencing revealed the co-circulation of two strains of dengue virus serotype 1, both genetically linked to strains previously iden...

ObjectiveWest Nile virus lineage 2 (WNV-2) is a growing public health concern in Europe causing West Nile fever or West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) with substantial morbidity and mortality; however, genomic data from Southern Italy are limited despite recent expansion of autochthonous transmission. The aim of the study was to characterise the phylogenetic and molecular features of the WNV-2 strain responsible for the first autochthonous human infection reported in Calabria (2023), and two ...

IntroductionDengue has been prevalent in a regular fashion in Bangladesh and Chattogram for the last 6-7 years and is showing some serotype twisting. So, the objectives of the present study were to explore the burden of dengue serotypes in Chattogram. MethodsIn this study, 223 Dengue RT-PCR positive patients were evaluated for serotyping. Gender and age group, along with cycle threshold (CT) values, were also collected. Data after collection were compiled, analyzed, and plotted in Microsoft Exc...

Household transmission of EV-D68 was identified in 35 of 1040 households (3.4%) in the Pacific Northwest between 2022-2024, with an estimated secondary attack rate of 15%. Sequences from within households clustered closely with 0 to 2 pairwise nucleotide differences (median 1) between cases 6-14 days apart (median 7).

The Entamoeba histolytica/dispar/moshkovskii complex comprises morphologically indistinguishable species, making accurate diagnosis difficult and leading to overestimations in amebiasis prevalence. This study aimed to establish a sensitive and specific molecular method to differentiate these species in human fecal samples from Coyaima, Tolima, Colombia. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene was developed and optimized under various amplificat...

The emergence of vaccine covered serotypes causing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) is a serious concern worldwide. We investigated the unexpected rise of serotype 4 causing IPD primarily in non-vaccinated young adults after the COVID-19 pandemic that further spread to adults [&ge;] 65 years in recent years. For this purpose, we conducted a retrospective study of serotype 4 IPD cases (n=827) reported in Spain between 2009 and 2024. Whole-genome sequencing was performed to assess clonal lineag...

ObjectiveUrine cultures are frequently requested at an early stage in primary care and outpatient settings, often without a comprehensive clinical assessment. This practice increases healthcare costs and laboratory workload and may lead to misleading results due to asymptomatic bacteriuria and specimen contamination. This study aimed to evaluate whether routinely reported microscopic urinary leukocyte findings can predict urine culture positivity under real-world clinical conditions. The distri...

BackgroundsFollowing an increase in mpox clade Ib cases in several African countries, the World Health Organization recognized mpox as a public health emergency of international concern, highlighting the need for reliable and accessible diagnostic tools. As several mpox clades are co-circulating in endemic countries, the analytical sensitivity of diagnostic assays should be evaluated for all of them in a comparative manner. MethodsThis study evaluated the analytical sensitivity of three rapid t...

In November 2025, a traveler from Cuba tested positive for chikungunya virus upon arrival to Mexico. The virus belonged to the East-Central-South-African lineage, clustering with a clade prevalent in Brazil. Ten years after the last chikungunya epidemic in Mexico, strengthened surveillance is required to anticipate transmission of this emergent lineage.

BackgroundSevere Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) is an acute infectious disease with high mortality. This study aimed to develop a quantitative scoring system for grading SFTS severity using dynamic clinical data. MethodsA retrospective study included 547 confirmed SFTS patients from two hospitals. Clinical data were collected over a 14-day course (divided into four phases). Patients were grouped into survivors (n=451) and non-survivors (n=96). Statistical analyses, including Kaplan...

BackgroundYellow fever virus (YFV) is transmitted by mosquitoes among humans and non-human primates (NHPs) in South America. The 2024-25 yellow fever (YF) outbreak was notable for its spread into new areas, including the department of Tolima in Colombias Andean region. We investigated the eco-epidemiology of human and NHP YF cases to understand the patterns and drivers of the Tolima outbreak. MethodsWe collected spatiotemporal, sociodemographic, and mortality data on human YF cases in Tolima, a...

BackgroundMore than 6.2 million people have died already from COVID-19. Drug resistance and relapse cases from first generation therapeutics calls for development of new drugs in alternative medicine. Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) that include herbal remedies and phytochemicals are usually not fully integrated into mainstream healthcare systems. The study proposes a CAM remedy, a new polyherbal formulation NAOQ19 against the SARS-CoV-2. MethodsThe present study consists of invi...

BackgroundImmunocompromised (IC) individuals are at increased risk for persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections and can develop new viral mutations and lineages not seen in the community. In this case report, a persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection (330 days) in an IC patient is examined for viral mutations and mutations associated with cryptic lineages. Case PresentationThe patient was followed in a longitudinal study examining persistent SARS-CoV-2 in IC patients. The patient provided stool and nasal swab ...

We evaluated the BOSCH Vivalytic MPXV assay using serial dilutions of monkeypox virus clade Ib, a new offshoot of clade I identified in 2023. The assay detected viral DNA down to [~]100 copies/mL demonstrating comparable analytical sensitivity to our in-house reference PCR and to other commercial platform-based mpox molecular assays.

Several African countries experienced a surge in acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) cases in 2024. Investigations in Kenya, Mayotte and Tanzania identified coxsackievirus A24 variant (CV-A24v) as the causative agent. To date, limited genomic data exist to elucidate the sources, epidemiology, and evolution of CV-A24v in Africa. We generated 245 CV-A24v genomes from samples collected between January and September 2024 in coastal Kenya. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these viruses belonged t...

BackgroundThere is a need for synthetic peptide-based serologic assays that exploit avidity to replace whole antigens while enabling low-cost diagnostics in resource-limited settings. ObjectiveTo evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a polymeric peptide-based ELISA leveraging avidity to enhance signal. MethodA 15-member SARS-CoV-2 peptide library corresponding to multiple epitope clusters and proteins was screened by indirect ELISA using pooled sera from RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients to ide...