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PubMed1995

HLA, Gm, and Km polymorphisms and immunity to infectious diseases in South Amerinds.

Isolated South Amerinds, a population at very high risk from infectious disease, mount good immune responses to pneumococcal polysaccharides, viral antigens and other immunogens. No unusual immunoglobulin allotype or HLA antigen, which might explain the high risk from infectious disease, was found among them. Responses are examined in relation to the immunogenetic markers that are most prevalent. Amerinds with Gm 1,2,17,21 responded less well than persons without this haplotype to 10 of 12 pneumococcal polysaccharides, and those who were homozygous at the HLA class I loci responded less well to viral antigens. However, these differences are not strong and there are few such findings relative to the number of possibilities examined. The most distinctive immunogenetic characteristic of these populations is their low level of polymorphism at all tested loci. Their susceptibility to infectious agents can be attributed to this genetic uniformity and a consequent ability of pathogens to adapt to the population.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Evaluation of reporting timeliness of public health surveillance systems for infectious diseases.

BACKGROUND: Timeliness is a key performance measure of public health surveillance systems. Timeliness can vary by disease, intended use of the data, and public health system level. Studies were reviewed to describe methods used to evaluate timeliness and the reporting timeliness of National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) data was evaluated to determine if this system could support timely notification and state response to multistate outbreaks. METHODS: Published papers that quantitatively measured timeliness of infectious disease surveillance systems operating in the U.S. were reviewed. Median reporting timeliness lags were computed for selected nationally notifiable infectious diseases based on a state-assigned week number and various date types. The percentage of cases reported within the estimated incubation periods for each disease was also computed. RESULTS: Few studies have published quantitative measures of reporting timeliness; these studies do not evaluate timeliness in a standard manner. When timeliness of NNDSS data was evaluated, the median national reporting delay, based on date of disease onset, ranged from 12 days for meningococcal disease to 40 days for pertussis. Diseases with the longer incubation periods tended to have a higher percentage of cases reported within its incubation period. For acute hepatitis A virus infection, which had the longest incubation period of the diseases studied, more than 60% of cases were reported within one incubation period for each date type reported. For cryptosporidiosis, Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection, meningococcal disease, salmonellosis, and shigellosis, less than 40% of cases were reported within one incubation period for each reported date type. CONCLUSION: Published evaluations of infectious disease surveillance reporting timeliness are few in number and are not comparable. A more standardized approach for evaluating and describing surveillance system timeliness should be considered; a recommended methodology is presented. Our analysis of NNDSS reporting timeliness indicated that among the conditions evaluated (except for acute hepatitis A infection), the long reporting lag and the variability across states limits the usefulness of NNDSS data and aberration detection analysis of those data for identification of and timely response to multistate outbreaks. Further evaluation of the factors that contribute to NNDSS reporting timeliness is warranted.

Communicable Diseases↗

PubMed1981

Impact of infectious disease upon fat metabolism and immune functions.

Abnormalities in lipid metabolism influence immunological competence. Infectious diseases are accompanied by altered lipid metabolism as well as by suppression or stimulation of generalized defensive mechanisms and immune functions. An infectious disease may therefore introduce variables that must be recognized and evaluated during studies aimed at elucidating possible relationships between dietary lipids and the development of cancer.

Cholesterol↗

PubMed2004

Steps for preventing infectious diseases in women.

Communicable diseases account for approximately 25% of deaths in most Latin American and Caribbean countries; illness from communicable diseases reaches 40% in developing countries. Mainly affected are poor women in rural areas. A medical approach is not sufficient to implement effective infectious disease prevention strategies in women, which would offset these numbers. Health policies must be changed, and social restrictions that circumscribe women need to be eliminated. In the long run, the only solution is to improve women's socioeconomic status. The following three steps are necessary for developing a prevention strategy: 1) a gender perspective must be incorporated into infectious disease analysis and research to target policies and programs. Data collected must be disaggregated by sex, age, socioeconomic status, education, ethnicity, and geographic location; 2) models must be developed and implemented that address gender inequities in infectious diseases in an integrated manner; and 3) outreach activities must be supported, using information, education, and communication strategies and materials for advocacy and training. Active participation of civil society groups is key to translating the strategy into specific interventions.

Caribbean Region↗

PubMed1999

Population biology, evolution, and infectious disease: convergence and synthesis.

Traditionally, the interest of population and evolutionary biologists in infectious diseases has been almost exclusively in their role as agents of natural selection in higher organisms. Recently, this interest has expanded to include the genetic structure and evolution of microparasite populations, the mechanisms of pathogenesis and the immune response, and the population biology, ecology, and evolutionary consequences of medical and public health interventions. This article describes recent work in these areas, emphasizing the ways in which quantitative, population-biological approaches have been contributing to the understanding of infectious disease and the design and evaluation of interventions for their treatment and prevention.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

[Clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in patients treated at the Dr. Fran Mihaljević Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb].

AIM: The aim of the study was to examine and analyze the main epidemiologic and clinical data of 94 patients with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) hospitalized at the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb during the HFRS outbreak in Croatia in 2002. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 110 patients with clinical diagnosis HFRS were treated at the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb. In 110 of HFRS suspected patients, the clinical diagnosis was verified serologically in 94 patients and they were included in the retrospective study. In 93 patients the diagnosis was confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and in one patient by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Results were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Puumala (PUU) virus infection was verified in 80 (85.1%), Dobrava (DOB) infection in 8 (8.5%) and cross-reactive antibodies to both PUU and DOB viruses in 5 (5.3%) HFRS patients. In one patient who was confirmed by IFA the hantavirus serotype causing HFRS could not be determined. The localities of the presumed HFRS patient exposure to hantaviruses were mostly in the Zagreb area. Most patients were aged 21-50 (83.0%) and male (76.6%). The majority of HFRS cases occurred between May and August (75.5%). A high proportion of HFRS cases were found in the general population from Zagreb and its surroundings (78.7%). The majority of patients were hospitalized in the febrile stage of the disease (70.2%). The main symptoms were: fever (100%), headache (88.3%) and backache (87.2%). Oliguria was recorded in 56.4% and, anuria in 7.5% of patients, however, only three (3.2%) patients required hemodialysis. Six patients developed hemorrhagic manifestations, especially petechiae on the skin and mucosa. One patient in the convalescent stage had subarachnoidal bleeding. Six patients had pathologic electroencephalogram (EEG) findings and two developed epileptic seizures. Lumbar puncture was performed in 12 patients without inflammatory changes in the cerebrospinal fluid. Pathologic ECG findings were recorded in 30/79 (38.0%) patients, primarily including mild and translent disturbances such as sinus tachycardia, sinus bradycardia, nonspecific alteration of the final complex and incomplete right bundle branch block. Conventional chest radiography revealed abnormal findings in 23/84 (27.4%) patients. The abnormalities consisted of interstitial infiltrates and/or pleural effusions and atelectasis. The patients were divided into 4 groups according to the disease severity: mild in 74 (78.7%), moderate in 15 (16.0%), severe in 4 (4.2%), and very severe in one (1.1%) patient. The latter developed multiorgan failure and died. CONCLUSION: The largest outbreak of HFRS to date was recorded in Croatia in 2002. Ninety-four patients with clinical and serologically verified HFRS were treated at the Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Disease, Zagreb. The majority of patients were hospitalized between May and August. Most patients had mild form of the disease primarily caused by PUU virus.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2026

Challenges and future directions in AI-driven biomaterials for microbiome-associated oral infectious diseases: A systematic review.

Oral biofilm-induced antimicrobial resistance is the core pathogenic mechanism of microbiome-associated oral infectious diseases (dental caries, periodontitis, peri-implantitis, and endodontic infection). Traditional therapies and biomaterials are limited by poor biofilm penetration, drug resistance induction, single functionality, and inadequate adaptation to dynamic oral microenvironmental changes (e.g., pH fluctuations, salivary rinsing, masticatory stimulation). Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the field by integrating materials science, microbiology, and stomatology data. Via machine learning, deep learning, and multi-physics simulation, AI optimizes biomaterial physicochemical properties, decodes microenvironmental signals, constructs precise sensing-response loops, and supports the full chain of material design, performance prediction, and action simulation, advancing treatment from empirical intervention to precision regulation. This systematic review retrieved literature from PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science (January 2016-January 2026) using keywords across three dimensions: AI, biomaterials, and oral microbiome. Following inclusion/exclusion criteria, 99 articles were included. It elaborates on five core mechanisms of AI-driven oral biomaterials (precise oral microbiome analysis, targeted material design/optimization, performance prediction/simulation, targeted delivery/intervention, effect evaluation/dynamic regulation), analyzes their applications in microbiome-targeted biomaterial research and development (R&D) and clinical practice for the four major oral infectious diseases, addresses technical bottlenecks (insufficient targeting specificity and precision of biomaterials, poor stability and durability in complex oral microenvironments, inadequate biofilm disruption capacity, and clinical translation obstacles), and proposes future directions (multimodal design to enhance targeting specificity, structural and component optimization to improve stability/durability, development of multi-mechanism synergistic biofilm disruption strategies, strengthening translational research for clinical application, and deep integration of AI in the full chain of biomaterial R&D). This work provides comprehensive theoretical and practical support for the R&D, optimization, and clinical translation of AI-driven microbiome-targeted oral biomaterials.

Humans↗

PubMed2003

[Etiology of infectious diseases in the central nervous system].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the etiological characteristics of infectious diseases in the central neural system (CNS). METHODS: The serum and cerebral spinal fluid of acute patients in the CNS were detected for virus-specific IgM, IgG and pathogens with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as well as traditional bacterial and fungal culture. RESULTS: Of the 823 patients, 126 (15.3%) patients were positive herpes simplex virus (HSV)-specific IgM and/or IgG, of which the maximum morbidity was under 10 years; 10(1.2%) were positive cytomegalovirus specific IgM and/or IgG; 8 (0.97%) were positive varicella-zoster virus specific IgM and/or IgG; 7 (0.85%) were diagnosed as tubercular meningitis; 6 (0.72%) as cryptocococes meningitis and 1 (0.12%) as meningococcic meningitis. CONCLUSION: Viruses, especially herpes simplex viruses are the common causative agents of infectious diseases of the CNS, in which mycobacterium tuberculosis and cryptocococcus neoformans are conspicuous.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Genetics and genomics of infectious disease susceptibility.

Human genetic variation is a major determinant of susceptibility to many common infectious diseases. Malaria was the first disease to be studied extensively and many susceptibility and resistance loci have been identified. However, genes for other diseases such as HIV/AIDS and mycobacterial infections are now being identified using a variety of approaches. A large number of genes appear to influence susceptibility to infectious pathogens and defining these can provide insights into pathogenic and protective mechanisms and identify new molecular targets for prophylactic and therapeutic interventions. Immunogenetic associations with infectious diseases have considerable potential to guide immunomodulatory interventions and vaccine design.

Chromosome Mapping↗

PubMed1993

[Infectious diseases and physical activity].

Moderate physical activity has a beneficial effect on health. On the other hand, physical and psychological stress may have a suppressive effect on the immune system, implying that intense physical activity may possibly enhance the appearance of infectious diseases. There are no studies showing any effect on the immune system, nor on the frequency of infections, from physical training of low to moderate intensity. However, in several cases, high intensity training has been shown to produce chronic overtraining, which may impair general health. It is suggested that the extreme physical exertion of elite athletic training may suppress the immune system and thus lead to enhanced susceptibility to infectious diseases. Furthermore physical activity during the incubation period of several serious infectious diseases seems to be especially disadvantageous for the course of the disease.

Bacterial Infections↗

PubMed2002

[Construction and application of an information transfer system on prevalence of infectious disease for subscriber in a regional medical association].

PURPOSE: To assess the utility of an e-mail information exchange system, for subscription by members of a regional medical association, focusing on surveillance of infectious disease. METHODS: Questionnaires regarding addition to the mailing list were first addressed to all 474 members of Yokkaichi regional medical association. After management for about three months, questionnaires focused on utility and application of the system were mailed out. RESULT: One hundred and seventy-three members (36.5%) responded in the questionnaire survey, then 73 of them (subsequently 75) actually subscribed. Forty-six subscribers (61.3%) responded to the second questionnaire, and 23 of them (56.5%) were in favor of 'weekly and monthly infectious disease reports transmitted from our research division', and 22 (47.8%) were in favor of 'e-mail exchanges of information'. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that an electronic information transfer system is a useful medium for regional infectious disease efforts and contributions from primary care physicians.

Communicable Diseases↗

PubMed1997

Psychological stress, neuroimmunomodulation, and susceptibility to infectious diseases in animals and man: a review.

This article reviews research on the role of psychological stress, personality, social support and other psychosocial factors in bacterial, viral and parasitic infections. After 100 years of research on man and animals, psychological stress is considered as a potential cofactor in the pathogenesis of infectious disease. Psychological stress seems able to alter the susceptibility of animals and man to infectious agents, influencing the onset, course and outcome of certain infectious pathologies. Many experiments have identified in neuroimmunomodulation the principal mediator of the alterations associated with conditions of stress. The development of psychoneuroimmunology has fostered in-depth study of the complex relationship between psychosocial factors, the central nervous system, the immune system and infectious disease. Although antimicrobial drugs have certainly remained the basis of all anti-infective therapy, this type of study has already led some authors to propose and experiment protocols of psychological intervention or psychoimmunotherapy in pathologies such as tuberculosis, or herpes simplex virus or human immunodeficiency virus infections. The psychoneuroimmunological approach to infectious diseases will probably grow in importance in the future not only in the setting of research in psychosomatic medicine but also in that of clinical microbiology.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

International adoption: issues in infectious diseases.

International adoptions have become increasingly common in the United States. Children awaiting international adoption and families traveling to adopt these children can be exposed to a variety of infectious diseases. Compared with the United States, foreign countries often have different immunization practices and methods of diagnosing, treating, and monitoring disease. Reporting of medical conditions can also differ from that of the United States. The prevalence of infectious diseases varies from country to country and may or may not be common among adopted children. The transmission of tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and measles from adopted children to family members has been documented. Furthermore, infectious organisms (e.g., intestinal parasites), bacterial pathogens (e.g., Bordetella pertussis and Treponema pallidum), and viruses (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis viruses) may cause clinically significant morbidity and mortality among infected children. Diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome or avian influenza have not been reported among international adoptees, but transmission is possible if infection is present. Family members may be infected by others during travel or by their adopted child after returning home. Families preparing to adopt a child from abroad should pay special attention to the infectious diseases they may encounter and to the precautions they should take on returning home.

Adoption↗

PubMed1998

Effect of variability in infection period on the persistence and spatial spread of infectious diseases.

The effects of the mean infection (incubation plus infectious) period on the dynamics of infectious diseases are well understood. We examine the dynamics and persistence of epidemics when the distribution of the infection period also is modelled, using the well-documented childhood disease measles as a test case. We pay particular attention to the differences between exponentially distributed and constant periods. The use of constant periods increases the persistence of epidemics by reducing the individual stochasticity. The infection period distribution is also shown to have a significant effect on the spatial spread of disease.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A brief perspective on the early history of American infectious disease epidemiology.

The early history of epidemiology is closely linked to the history of infectious diseases and can be divided into three distinct periods. The earliest period, which can be traced to the writings of Hippocrates in the third and fourth centuries B.C., was that of clinical description of diseases with little investigation into their specific characteristics and etiologies. The second period, spanning the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, may be distinguished by the rejection of early Hippocratic and Galenic doctrines and the more systematic description of morbid conditions. The third period, which was marked by the discovery of specific microbial causes of disease, spurred an extraordinary growth of knowledge and scientific exploration. This period will be the main focus of the paper, as it had the greatest influence on the development of American infectious disease epidemiology.

Communicable Diseases↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Integrated genetic epidemiology of infectious diseases: the Chagas model.

Genetic typing of pathogenic agents and of vectors has known impressive developments in the last 10 years, thanks to the progresses of molecular biology, and to the contribution of the concepts of evolutionary genetics. Moreover, we know more and more on the genetic susceptibility of man to infectious diseases. I propose here to settle a new, synthetic field of research, which I call 'integrated genetic epidemiology of infectious diseases' (IGEID). I aim at evaluating, by an evolutionary genetic approach, the respective impact, on the transmission and pathogenicity of infectious diseases, of the host's, the pathogen's and the vector's genetic diversity, and their possible interactions (co-evolution phenomena). Chagas' disease constitutes a fine model to develop the IGEID methodology, by both field and experimental studies.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

[Detection of interferon-gamma and IL-6 producing cells in cerebrospinal fluid cells in the central nervous system infectious diseases using immunocytochemistry].

To evaluate the relationship between cytokines and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cells, we detected interferon (IFN)-gamma and interleukin (IL)-6 producing cells in CSF from the patients with central nervous system (CNS) infectious diseases by immunocytochemistry. Five CSF cell smears from three herpes encephalitis patients, three from a patient with EB virus radiculoneuritis, four from the three patients with purulent meningitis, five from five patients with viral meningitis were obtained during early or subacute stages of diseases. Control CSF cell smears were taken from twenty seven patients with motor neuron disease, Parkinson's disease and spinocerebellar degeneration. Immunocytochemistry using specific polyclonal anti-IFN-gamma and IL-6 sera were used to detect each producing cell. Simultaneously, individual positively immuno-reactive cells were morphologically classified macrophage or lymphocyte. The IFN-gamma positive cells immunostained with specific antibody showed brown-colored deposits within the cytoplasm whereas no deposit was in the nucleus (Fig. 1). These phenotype of IFN-gamma positive cells were considered to be lymphocytes or macrophages. However, IFN-gamma-positive macrophages were predominantly seen at the early stages of herpes simplex encephalitis and purulent meningitis. The percent of IFN-gamma positive cells in total CSF cells obtained from the patients with the CNS infectious diseases was 2.3-38.7 as shown in Table 1. The IL-6 positive cells (Fig. 2) were also found early in the course and in subacute stages in the CNS infectious diseases and ranged from 2.5-50 percent in total CSF cells (Table 1). In contrast neither IFN-gamma- nor IL-6-positive cells were detected in non-inflammatory diseases (Table 1).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Central Nervous System Diseases↗

PubMed2001

[Epidemiological aspects of nonspecific prevention of infectious diseases].

Whether immunomodulators may be used not only to treat immunodeficiencies, but to prevent infectious diseases has been under general discussion in the past years. The use of immunomodulators is mostly substantiated and promising in preventing polyetiological infections (e.g. acute respiratory diseases) against which there are not available specific preventing agents (vaccines) or the latter, if available, are ineffective. This has been evidenced by controlled epidemiological tests that show the potential and actual efficiency of immunomodulators as agents of nonspecific prevention of infectious diseases. The basic lines of studies, which make it possible to elaborate the tactics of drug use, based on the definition of epidemic indications and on the choice of the optimal preventive measures, are substantiated.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗