Genotype distribution and sequence variation of hepatitis E virus, Hong Kong.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Lam WY
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2687042 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 4 (HEV-4) is an emerging cause of acute hepatitis in China. Less is known about the clinical characteristics and natural history of HEV-4 than HEV genotype 3 infections in immunocompromised patients. We report transmission of HEV-4 from a deceased organ donor to 5 transplant recipients. The donor had been viremic but HEV IgM and IgG seronegative, and liver function test results were within reference ranges. After a mean of 52 days after transplantation, hepatitis developed in all 5 recipients; in the liver graft recipient, disease was severe and with progressive portal hypertension. Despite reduced immunosuppression, all HEV-4 infections progressed to persistent hepatitis. Four patients received ribavirin and showed evidence of response after 2 months. This study highlights the role of organ donation in HEV transmission, provides additional data on the natural history of HEV-4 infection, and points out differences between genotype 3 and 4 infections in immunocompromised patients.
| S-EPMC6390757 | biostudies-literature
Project description:We conducted a 2-year hospital-based study on norovirus gastroenteritis among children and adults between August 2012 and September 2014. A total of 1,146 norovirus cases were identified. Young children (aged ≤ 5 years) accounted for a majority (53.3%) of cases. Hospitalization incidence exhibited a U-shaped pattern with the highest rate in young children (1,475 per 100,000 person-years), followed by the elderly aged > 84 years (581 per 100,000 person-years). A subset (n = 395, 34.5%) of cases were selected for norovirus genotyping and noroviral load measurement. Non-GII.4 infections were more commonly observed in young children than in older adults (aged > 65 years) (20.5% versus 9.2%; p < 0.05). In young children, the median noroviral load of GII.4 and non-GII.4 cases was indistinguishably high (cycle threshold value, median [interquartile range]: 16.6 [15.2-19.3] versus 16.6 [14.9-21.6]; p = 0.45). Two age-specific non-GII.4 genotypes (GII.3 and GII.6) were identified among young children. These findings may have implications in norovirus vaccination strategy.
| S-EPMC4469980 | biostudies-other
Project description:We report the nearly complete genome of a norovirus GII.4 Hong Kong[P31] variant (GII strain Hu/HK/2019/GII.4 Hong Kong[P31]/CUHK-NS-2200) that was detected in a patient with gastroenteritis in August 2019. The genome was sequenced by metagenomic next-generation sequencing and was found to have 92.8% nucleotide similarity to the closest GII.4 norovirus sequence in GenBank.
| S-EPMC6965582 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The amino acid sequence and oligosaccharide distribution for the haemagglutinin from the early Hong Kong influenza virus A/Aichi/2/68 (X-31) was investigated. The two polypeptide chains, HA1 and HA2, were fragmented by CNBr and enzymic digestion, and the amino acid sequence of each small peptide was deduced by comparing its chromatographic behaviour, electrophoretic mobility, amino acid composition and N-terminus with that of the corresponding peptide of the haemagglutinin of known structure from the influenza-virus variant A/Memphis/102/72. Those peptides in which changes were detected were sequenced fully. The complete amino acid sequence of the haemagglutinin HA1 chain (328 residues) and 188 of the 221 residues of the HA2 chain were established by this approach, and revealed only twelve differences between the amino acid sequences of variant-A/Aichi/68 and -A/Memphis/72 haemagglutinins. These occurred at positions 2, 3, 122, 144, 155, 158, 188, 207, 242 and 275 in the HA1 chain and 150 and 216 in the HA2 chain. The highly aggregated hydrophobic region (residues 180-121) near the C-terminal end of the HA2 chain was not resolved by peptide sequencing. The oligosaccharide distribution in variant-A/Aichi/68 haemagglutinin was identical with that found in that of A/Memphis/72, with sugar units attached at asparagine residues 8, 22 38, 81, 165 and 285 in the HA1 chain and 154 on the HA2 chain. The monosaccharide compositions of the individual carbohydrate units on variant-A/Aichi/68 haemagglutinin differed from those of the corresponding units in variant-A/Memphis/72 haemagglutinin, and evidence was found for heterogeneity in the oligosaccharide units attached at single glycosylation sites.
| S-EPMC1162690 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundSchistosomiasis, also generally known as snail fever, is a parasitic disease caused by trematode flatworms of the genus Schistosoma. In Hong Kong and mainland China, the freshwater snail Biomphalaria straminea has been introduced and has the potential to transmit intestinal schistosomiasis caused by S. mansoni, a parasite of man which has a wide distribution in Africa and parts of the New World, especially Brazil. The first identification of B. straminea in Hong Kong dates back to the 1970s, and its geographical distribution, phylogenetic relationships, and infection status have not been updated for more than 30 years. Thus, this study aims to reveal the distribution and current infection status of B. straminea in contemporary Hong Kong.MethodsSnails were collected from different parts of Hong Kong from July 2016 to January 2017. Both anatomical and molecular methods were applied to identify B. straminea. Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1), internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), 5.8S rDNA, internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2), and 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) were sequenced from individual snails and analyzed. To detect the presence of S. mansoni, both biopsy and PCR analyses were carried out.ResultsUsing both anatomical and molecular analyses, this study demonstrated the existence of black- and red-coloured shell B. straminea in different districts in the New Territories in Hong Kong, including places close to the mainland China border. None of the B. straminea (n = 87) investigated were found to be infected with S. mansoni when tested by biopsy and PCR. The Hong Kong B. straminea are genetically indistinguishable, based on the chosen molecular markers (cox1, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, and 16S rDNA), and are similar to those obtained in mainland China and South America.ConclusionBiomphalaria straminea is now well established in freshwater habitats in Hong Kong. No evidence of infection with S. mansoni has been found. Surveillance should be continued to monitor and better understand this schistosomiasis intermediate host in mainland China and Hong Kong.
| S-EPMC5526268 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a mosquitoborne virus endemic to China and Southeast Asia that causes severe encephalitis in <1% of infected persons. Transmission of JEV via blood transfusion has not been reported. We report transmission of JEV via blood donation products from an asymptomatic viremic donor to 2 immunocompromised recipients. One recipient on high-dose immunosuppressive drugs received JEV-positive packed red blood cells after a double lung transplant; severe encephalitis and a poor clinical outcome resulted. JEV RNA was detected in serum, cerebrospinal fluid, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens. The second recipient had leukemia and received platelets after undergoing chemotherapy. This patient was asymptomatic; JEV infection was confirmed in this person by IgM seroconversion. This study illustrates that, consistent with other pathogenic flaviviruses, JEV can be transmitted via blood products. Targeted donor screening and pathogen reduction technologies could be used to prevent transfusion-transmitted JEV infection in highly JEV-endemic areas.
| S-EPMC5749455 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC3372348 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Resistance to oseltamivir was observed in influenza A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus isolated from an untreated person in Hong Kong, China. Investigations showed a resistant virus with the neuraminidase (NA) 274Y genotype in quasi-species from a nasopharyngeal aspirate. Monitoring for the naturally occurring NA 274Y mutation in this virus is necessary.
| S-EPMC3044550 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) 6a accounts for 23.6% of all HCV infections of the general population and 58.5% of intravenous drug users in Hong Kong. However, the geographical origin of this highly predominant HCV subgenotype is largely unknown. This study explores a hypothesis for one possible transmission route of HCV 6a to Hong Kong. METHODS: NS5A sequences derived from 26 HCV 6a samples were chosen from a five year period (1999-2004) from epidemiologically unrelated patients from Hong Kong. Partial-NS5A sequences (513-bp from nt 6728 to 7240) were adopted for Bayesian coalescent analysis to reconstruct the evolutionary history of HCV infections in Hong Kong using the BEAST v1.3 program. A rooted phylogenetic tree was drawn for these sequences by alignment with reference Vietnamese sequences. Demographic data were accessed from "The Statistic Yearbooks of Hong Kong". RESULTS: Bayesian coalescent analysis showed that the rapid increase in 6a infections, which had increased more than 90-fold in Hong Kong from 1986 to 1994 correlated to two peaks of Vietnamese immigration to Hong Kong from 1978 to 1997. The second peak, which occurred from 1987 through 1997, overlapped with the rapid increase of HCV 6a occurrence in Hong Kong. Phylogenetic analyses have further revealed that HCV 6a strains from Vietnam may be ancestral to Hong Kong counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: The high predominance of HCV 6a infections in Hong Kong was possibly associated with Vietnamese immigration during 1987-1997.
| S-EPMC3172306 | biostudies-literature
Project description:To explore mutations around the interferon sensitivity-determining region (ISDR) which are associated with the resistance of hepatitis C virus 1b (HCV-1b) to interferon-? treatment.Thirty-seven HCV-1b samples were obtained from Hong Kong patients who had completed the combined interferon-?/ribavirin treatment for more than one year with available response data. Nineteen of them were sustained virological responders, while 18 were non-responders. The amino acid sequences of the extended ISDR (eISDR) covering 64 amino acids upstream and 67 amino acids downstream from the previously reported ISDR were analyzed.One amino acid variation (I2268V, P = 0.023) was significantly correlated with treatment outcome in this pilot study with a limited number of patients, while two amino acid variations (R2260H, P = 0.05 and S2278T, P = 0.05) were weakly associated with treatment outcome. The extent of amino acid variations within the ISDR or eISDR was not correlated with treatment outcome as previously reported.Three amino acid mutations near but outside of ISDR may associate with interferon treatment resistance of HCV-1b patients in Hong Kong.
| S-EPMC3247697 | biostudies-literature