ReSci

Aggregator of News and Notes Relevant to Environmental Transmission of Respiratory and Gastrointestinal Disease

[resci]

 "Combining all the available data allowed likely identification of individual transmission links between most of the cases (72%)"

[resci]

"One or more etiological agents were detected in 151 out of 232 patients (65.1 %), while we did not detect any etiological agent in 81 (34.9 %). Rotavirus was detected in 96 (63.6 %), adenovirus in 17 (11.2 %), norovirus in 7 (4.6 %), toxin-producing Clostridium difficile in 23 (15.2 %), Salmonella spp. in 15 (9.9 %, B group in 12/15 and D group in 3/15), C. perfringens in 12 (7.9 %), Campylobacter spp. in 6 (4 %), and verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) in 2 (1.3 %). In 27 children out of 151 (17.9 %), we found evidence of coinfection. Coinfection with rotavirus and toxin-producing C. difficile was the most common (63 %)"

[resci]

"Patients in the hospital with influenza could potentially spread influenza virus particles as far as 6 feet by air, researchers from Wake Forest University have found, potentially exposing health care workers to small infectious particles."

[resci]

"In contrast, we detected viruses in 76% of children with fever without an apparent source and identified adenovirus, HHV-6, enterovirus, and parechovirus as the predominant viruses detected in this patient group."

[resci]

A report describing all known clinical studies linking AdV-36 to obesity and its potential role in childhood obesity.  AdV-36 is likely transmitted via fecal-oral route, and therefore may be a waterborne disease.

[resci]

"A classical “opportunist” versus “gleaner” relationship, where E. coli O157 is the “opportunist”, specialised for growth at high nutrient concentrations (μ max: 0.87 h−1 and K s: 489 μg consumed DOC L−1), and the bacterial community is the “gleaner” adapted to nutrient-poor environments (μ max: 0.33 h−1 and K s: 7.4 μg consumed DOC L−1) was found. "

[resci]

"The results indicate that the ratio of somatic coliphages and phages infecting Bacteroides strain GA17, which is specific to human faecal sources, provides a robust method for discriminating samples, even those presenting different levels and ages of pollution, and allows samples polluted with human faeces to be distinguished from those containing animal faecal pollution. "

[resci]

"25 million gallons of untreated but rain-diluted human waste [spilled] into the Little Patuxent River, one of the Chesapeake Bay's most degraded tributaries."

[resci]

"In an effort to improve upon this method, the U.S. EPA recently developed Method 1615: Measurement of Enterovirus and Norovirus Occurrence in Water by Culture and RT-qPCR. Method 1615 uses a culturable virus assay with reduced equipment and labor costs compared to the ICR virus method and introduces a new molecular assay for detection of enteroviruses and noroviruses by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. "

[resci]

"A regression model and quantitative microbiological risk assessments (QMRAs) were applied to determine the relative importance of the primary transmission pathways in NE Scotland. Both approaches indicated that waterborne infection was the least important but it was unclear whether food or the environment was the main source of infection. The QMRAs over-predicted the number of cases by a factor of 30 and this could be because all E. coli O157 strains may not be equally infective and/or the level of infectivity in the dose-response model was too high."

[resci]

"In this study, the amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) method developed previously for calicivirus concentration from water was applied for norovirus detection from food. ... Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) revealed that FCV recoveries were 32-33%, 50-55%, and 37-46% from cabbage, lettuce, and ham, respectively, when seeded with 10(3)-10(4) viruses, and detection limits were estimated ∼10(3) genomic copies in all 3 foods. .... This simple method may be suitable for NoV detection from these foods."

[resci]

"This is the first study conducted in the Central-West Region of Brazil to detect HBoV-1 and HBoV-3 in faecal samples from children with acute gastroenteritis. Further studies are required to define the role of HBoVs as aetiological agents of gastroenteritis."

[resci]

"Recent gut microbial surveys have indicated dramatic shifts in gut microbial population structure from infants to young adults to the elders. An understanding of the evolution of these factors and their interactions (e.g., how does gut microbiota modulate the "inflamm-aging" process or vice versa) through the human life "cycle" will be important in better addressing and controlling these enteric infections and their consequences for both quality and quantity of life (often assessed as disability adjusted life-years or "DALYs")."

[resci]

"Among those living in the contaminated areas, the prevalence of participants on sick leave was 3.54 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.97–4.22) times higher on the week following the incidence compared to the reference period. Those living and working in the clean area were basically not affected, the corresponding PR for sick leaves was 1.12, 95% CI 0.73–1.73. No cumulative effects on sick leaves were observed among the exposed. The estimated additional costs of lost workdays due to the incidence were 1.8–2.1 million euros."

[resci]

"Diarrheal disease and its risk factors have been

the focus of a substantial volume of literature

for the past four decades. These studies contain

valuable information about how the enteric

pathogens that cause diarrheal disease are

transmitted. The research frameworks used

have progressed through time, moving from

early attention to environmental transmission

pathways, to a better delineation of risk between

private and public domains, to increased focus

on social and ecological processes. The idea of

interdependencies among these realms has been

posed but not embraced as a standard approach."

[resci]

"...the paper highlights that many drinking-water regulations in South America need updating, taking on the approach of health-based targets in setting these standards, as well as that of a broader risk-based preventive management in the entire supply system to assure water safety."

[resci]

"Based on qualitative examinations of plots showing reductions of organisms throughout treatment processes, somatic coliphage may best represent the removal of viruses across secondary treatment in both MBR and conventional secondary plants. F-specific coliphage and Escherichiacoli may best represent the removal of viruses across the disinfection process in MBR facilities, but none of the indicators represented the removal of viruses across disinfection in conventional secondary plants."