Adenoviruses. Laboratory diagnosis of diseases.
Herpesviruses.
Laboratory diagnosis of herpesinfections
TOGAVIRUS ENCEPHALITIS
Pathogenesis and Pathology
The
pathogenesis of the disease in humans has not been well studied, but the
disease in experimental animals may afford a model for the human disease. The
equine encephalitides in horses are diphasic. In the first phase (minor
illness), the virus multiplies in non-neural tissue and is present in the blood
3 days before the first signs of involvement of the central nervous system. In
the second phase (major illness), the virus multiplies in the brain, celts are
injured and destroyed, and encephalitis becomes clinically apparent. The 2
phases may overlap. It is not known whether in humans there is a period of
primary viral multiplication in the viscera with a secondary liberation of
virus into the blood before its entry into the central nervous system. The
viruses multiply in nonneural tissues of experimentally infected monkeys.
High concentrations
of virus in brain tissue are necessary before the clinical disease becomes manifest.
In mice, the level to which the vims multiplies in the brain is partly
influenced by a genetic factor that behaves as a mendelian trait.
The primary
encephalitides are characterized by lesions in all parts of the central nervous
system, including the basal structures of the brain, the cerebral cortex, and
the spinal cord. Small hemorrhages with perivascular cuffing and meningeal
infiltration – chiefly with mononuclear cells—are common. Nerve cell
degeneration associated with neuronophagia occurs. Purkinje's cells of the
cerebellum may be destroyed. There are also patches of encephalomalacia;
acellular plaques of spongy appearance in which medullary fibers, dendrites,
and axons are destroyed; and focal microglial proliferation. Thus. not only the
neurons but also the cells of the supporting structure of the central nervous
system are attacked.
Widespread
neuronal degeneration occurs with all arboviruses producing encephalitis, but
some localization occurs.
Clinical Findings. Incubation periods of the
encephalitides are between 4 and 21 days. There is a sudden onset with severe
headache, chills and fever, nausea and vomiting, generalized pains, and malaise.
Within 24-48 hours, marked drowsiness develops and the patient may become
stuporous. Nuchal rigidity is common. Mental confusion, dysarthria, tremors,
convulsions, and coma develop in severe cases. Fever lasts 4-10 days. The
mortality rate in encephalitides varies (see Table 30-2). With JBE, the
mortality rate in older age groups may be as high as 80%. Sequelae may include
mental deterioration, personality changes, paralysis, aphasia, and cerebellar
signs-Abortive infections simulate aseptic meningitis or nonparalytic
poliomyelitis. Inapparent infections are common.
In California,
where both WEE and SLE are prevalent, WEE has a predilection for children and
infants. In the same area, SLE rarely occurs in infants, even though both
viruses are transmitted by the same arthropod vector (Culex tarsalis}.
Laboratory Diagnosis
A. Recovery of Virus: The virus occurs in the blood
only early in the infection, usually before the onset of symptoms. The virus is
most often recovered from the brains of fatal cases by intracerebra! inoculation
ofnewbom mice, and then it should be identified by serologic tests with known
antisera,
B. Serology: Neutralising and hemagglutina-tion-inhibiling
antibodies are detectable within a few days after the onset of illness.
Complement-fixing antibodies appear later. The neutralizing and the
hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies endure for many years. The
complement-fixing antibody may be lost within 2-5 years.
The HI test
with newly hatched chick eryth-rocytes is the simplest diagnostic test, but it
primarily identifies the group rather than the specific causative virus.
It is necessary
to establish a rise in specific antibodies during infection in order to make
the diagnosis. The first sample of serum should be taken as soon after the
onset as possible and the second sample 2-3 weeks later. The paired specimens
must be run in the same serologic test.
The
cross-reactivity that takes place within group A or B arboviruses must be
considered in making the diagnosis. Thus, following a single infection by one
member of the group, antibodies to other members may also appear. These
group-specific antibodies are usually of lower titer than the type-specific
antibody. Serologic diagnosis becomes difficult when an epidemic caused by one
member of the serologic group occurs in an area where another group member is
endemic, or when an infected individual has been infected previously by a
closely related arbovirus. Under these circumstances, a definite etiologic diagnosis
may not be possible. Neutralizing, complement-fixing, and
hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies have a decreasing degree of specificity
for the causative viral type (in the order listed).
Immunity
Immunity is
believed to be permanent after a single infection. In endemic areas, the
population may build up immunity as a result of inapparent infections; the
proportion of persons with antibodies to the local arthropod-bome vims
increases with age.
Because of antigens common to several members within a group, the response
to immunization or to infection with one of the viruses of a group may be
modified by prior exposure to another member of the same group. In general, the
homologous response is greater than a cross-reacting one. This mechanism may be
important in conferring protection on a community against an epidemic of
another related agent (eg, no Japanese B encephalitis in areas endemic for West
Nile fever).
Treatment
There is no
specific treatment. In experimental animals, hyperimmune serum is ineffective
if given after the onset of disease. However, if given 1-2 days after the
invasion of the virus but before the signs of encephalitis are obvious,
specific hyperimmiine serum can prevent a fatal outcome of the infection.
Epidemiology
In severe
epidemics caused by the encephalitis viruses, the case rate is about 1:1000. In
the large urban epidemic of St. Louis encephalitis that occurred in 1966 in
Dallas (population 1 million), there were 545 reported cases, 145 (27%)
laboratory-confirmed cases, and 15 deaths. The overall attack rate was 15 cases
per 100,000, with a case fatality rate of 10%. All deaths were in persons age
45 years or older.
SLE is now
appearing each year in the USA. In 1976, 372 cases with 17 deaths were reported
in the USA.
The
epidemiology of the arthropod-bome en-cephalitides must account for the
maintenance and dissemination of the vimses in nature in the absence of humans.
Most infections with the arboviruses occur in mammals or birds, with humans
serving as an accidental host. The vims is transmitted from animal to animal
through the bite of an arthropod vector. Viruses have been isolated from
mosquitoes and ticks, which serve as reservoirs of infection. In ticks, the
viruses may pass from generation to generation by the transovarian route, and
in such instances the tick acts as a true reservoir of the virus as well as its
vector. In tropical climates, where mosquito populations are present throughout
the year. arboviruses cycle continuously between mosquitoes and reservoir
animals.
It is not known
whether in temperate climates the virus is reintroduced each year from the
outside (eg, by birds migrating from tropical areas) or whether it somehow
survives the winter in the local area. The overwintering mechanism is not
known. Three possible mechanisms are (1) that hibernating mosquitoes at the
time of their emergence could reinfect birds and thus reestablish a simple
bird-mosquito-bird cycle; (2) that the virus could remain latent in winter
within birds, mammals, or arthropods; and (3) that coldblooded vertebrates
(snakes, turtles, lizards, alligators, frogs) may also act as winter reservoirs—eg,
garter snakes experimentally infected with WEE virus can hibernate over the
winter and circulate virus in high liters and for long periods the following
spring. Normal mosquitoes can be infected by feeding on the emerged snakes and
then can transmit the virus. Virus has been found in the blood of wild snakes.
C. Tick-Borne Encephalitis Complex:
1. Russian spring-summer encephalitis. This disease occurs chiefly in
the early summer, particularly in humans exposed to the ticks Ixodes persulcatus and Ixodes ricinus in the uncleared forest.
Ticks can become infected at any stage in their metamorphosis, and vims can be
transmitted transovarially. The virus persists through the winter in
hibernating ticks or in vertebrates such as hedgehogs or bats. Vims is se-
creted in the
milk of infected goats for long periods, and infection may be transmitted to
those who drink unpasteurized milk. Characteristics of the disease are
involvement of the bulbar area or the cervical cord and the development of
ascending paralysis or hemipa-resis. The mortality rate is about 30%.
2. Louping ill-This
disease of sheep in Scotland and northern England is spread by the tick Ixodes ricinus. Humans are occasionally
infected.
3. Tick-borne encephalitis (Central European or diphasic
meningoencephalitis)-This virus is anti-genically related
to Russian spring-summer encephalitis virus and louping ill virus. Typical
cases have a diphasic course, the first phase being influenzalike and the
second a meningoencephalitis with or without paralysis.
4. Kyasanur Forest disease is an Indian hemor-rhagic
disease caused by a virus of the Russian spring-summer encephalitis complex. In
addition to humans, langur (Presbylis
entellus) and bonnet (Macaco.
radiata) monkeys are naturally infected in southern India.
5. Powassan encephalitis-This tick-bome virus is the first
member of the Russian spring-summer complex isolated in North America. Human
infection is rare. Since 1959, when the original fatal case was reported from
Canada, several additional cases have been confirmed in the northeastern
portion of the USA.
Control
Biologic
control of the natural vertebrate host is generally impractical, especially
when the hosts are wild birds. The most effective method is arthropod control.
Since the period of viremia in the vertebrate is of short duration (3-6 days
for SLE infections of birds), any suppression of the vector for this period
should break the transmission cycle. During the 1966 Dallas SLE epidemic,
low-volume, high-concentration malathion mist was sprayed aerially over most of
Dallas County. A striking decrease in the number and infectivity rate of the
mosquito vectors occurred, demonstrating the effectiveness of the treatment.
Killed vaccines
have not met with success. Several live attenuated encephalitis vaccines are
being investigated. A live attenuated vaccine was successfully used to halt
the severe epidemic of VEE in horses in Texas in 1971.
WEST NILE FEVER
West Nile fever
is an acute, mild, febrile disease with lymphadenopathy and rash that occurs in
the Middle East, tropical or subtropical Africa, and southwest Asia. It is
caused by a group B arbovirus, a typical togavirus.
Clinical Findings. The virus is introduced through
the bite of a Cuiex mosquito and
produces viremia and a generalized systemic infection characterized by
lymphadenopathy, sometimes with an accompanying maculopapular rash. Transitory
meningeal involvement may occur during the acute stage. The virus may produce
fatal encephalitis in older people, who have a delayed (and low) antibody
response.
Laboratory Diagnosis. Virus can be recovered from blood taken in the acute stage of the
infection. On paired serum specimens, CF, HI, and Nt titer rises may be
diagnostic. Nt antibodies persist longer than CF antibodies. During
convalescence, heterologous CF and Nt antibodies develop to JBE and SLE. The
heterologous response is shorter and of lower titer than the homologous response.
Immunity. Only one antigenic type exists, and immunity is
presumably permanent. Maternal antibodies are transferred from mother to
offspring and disappear during the first 6 months of life.
Epidemiology and Control. West Nile fever appears to be
limited to the Middle East. Antibodies to the virus have been found in Africa,
India, and Korea, perhaps because of an antigenically related virus. In
nonimmune populations, subclinical or clinical infections are common. In Cairo,
70% of persons over age 4 years have antibodies.
The disease is
more common in summer and more prevalent in mral than urban areas. The virus
has been isolated from Culex
mosquitoes during epidemics, and experimentally infected mosquitoes can
transmit the virus. Mosquito abatement appears to be a logical, if unproved,
control measure.
YELLOW FEVER
Yellow fever
(YF) is an acute, febrile, mos-quito-bome illness. Severe cases are
characterized by jaundice, proteinuria, and hemorrhage. YF is a group B
arbovirus, a typical togavirus. It multiplies in many different types of
animals and in mosquitoes. It grows in embryonated chicks and in cell cultures
made from chick embryos.
Strains freshly
isolated from humans, monkeys, or mosquitoes are pantropic, ie, the virus
invades all 3 embryonal layers. Fresh strains usually produce a severe (often
fatal) infection with marked damage to the livers of monkeys after parenteral
inoculation. After serial passage in the brains of monkeys or mice, such
strains lose much of their viscerotropism; they cause encephalitis after
intracerebral injection but only asymptomatic infection after subcutaneous
injection. Cross-immunity exists between the pantropic and neurotropic strains
of the virus.
During the
serial passage of a pantropic strain of YF through tissue cultures, the
relatively avirulent 17D strain was recovered. This strain lost its capacity to
induce a viscerotropic or neurotropic disease in monkeys and in humans and is
now used as a vaccine,
Hemagglutinins
and complement-fixing antigens of this group B arbovirus may be prepared from
infected tissues. Each antigen has 2 separable components: one is associated
with the infectious particle; the other is probably a product of the action of
YF virus on tissues it infects.
Pathogenesis and Pathology
Our
understanding of the pathogenesis of YF is based on work with the experimental
infection in monkeys. The virus enters through the skin and then spreads to
the local lymph nodes, where it multiplies. From the lymph nodes, it enters the
circulating blood and becomes localized in the liver, spleen, kidney, bone
marrow, and lymph glands, where it may persist for days.
The lesions of
YF are due to the localization and propagation of the virus in a particular
organ. Death may result from the necrotic lesions in the liver and kidney, The
most frequent site of hemorrhage is the mucosa at the pyloric end of the
stomach.
The
distribution of necrosis in the liver may be spotty but is most evident in the
midzones of the lobules. The hyaline necrosis may be restricted to the
cytoplasm; the hyaline masses are eosinophilic (Councilman bodies),
Intranuclear eosinophilic inclusion bodies are also present and are of
diagnostic value. During recovery, the parenchymatous cells are replaced, and
the liver may be completely restored.
In the kidney,
there is fatty degeneration of the tubular epithelium. Degenerative changes
also occur in the spleen, lymph nodes, and heart. Intranuclear, acidophilic
inclusion bodies may be present in the nerve and glial cells of the brain.
Perivascular infiltrations with mononuclear cells also occur in the brain.
Clinical Findings
The incubation
period is 3-6 days. At the onset, the patient has fever, chills, headache, and
backache, followed by nausea and vomiting. A short period of remission often
follows the prodrome. On about the fourth day, the period of intoxication
begins with a slow pulse (90-100) relative to a high fever and moderate
jaundice. In severe cases, marked proteinuria and hemorrhagic manifestations
appear. The vomitus may be black with altered blood. Lymphopenia is present.
When the disease progresses to the severe stage (black vomitus and jaundice),
the mortality rate is high. On the other hand, the infection may be so mild as
to go unrecognized. Regardless of severity, there are no sequelae; patients
either die or recover completely.
Laboratory Diagnosis
A. Recovery of Virus: The vims may be recovered from
the blood up to the fifth day of the disease by intracerebra! inoculation of
mice. The isolated virus is identified by neutralization with specific
antiserum.
B. Serology: Neutralizing antibodies develop early (by the
fifth day) even in severe and fatal cases. In patients who survive the
infection, circufating antibodies endure for life.
Complement-fixing antibodies are rarely found after mild infection or
vaccination with the attenuated, live 17D strain. In severe infections, they
appear later than the neutralizing antibodies and disappear more rapidly.
The serologic
response in YF may be of 2 types. In
primary infections of yellow fever, specific hemagglutination-inhibiting
(HI) antibodies appear first, followed rapidly by antibodies to other group B
viruses. The titers of homologous HI antibodies are usually higher than those
of heterologous antibodies. CF and Nt antibodies rise slowly and are usually
specific .
In secondary infections where YF occurs
in a patient previously infected with another group B ar-bovirus, HI and CF
antibodies appear rapidly and to high titers. There is no suggestion of
specificity. The highest HI and CF antibodies are usually heterologous.
Accurate diagnosis even by Nt test may be impossible.
Histopathologic
examination of the liver in fatal cases is useful in those regions where the
disease is endemic.
Immunity
Subtle
antigenic differences exist between YF strains isolated in different locations
and between pan-tropic and vaccine (17D) strains.
An infant born
of an immune mother has antibodies at birth that are gradually lost during the
first 6 months of life. Reacquisition of similar antibodies is dependent upon
the individual's exposure to the virus under natural conditions or by
vaccination.
Epidemiology
Two major
epidemiologic cycles of YF are recognized: (1) classic (or urban) epidemic YF
and (2) sylvan (or jungle) YF. Urban YF involves person-to-person transmission
by domestic ^erfe^ mosquitoes. In the western hemisphere and West Africa, this
species is primarily Aedes aegypti,
which breeds in the accumulations of water that accompany human settlement.
Mosquitoes remain close to houses and become infected by biting a viremic
individual. Urban YF is perpetuated in areas where there is a constant influx
of susceptible persons, cases of YF, and A
aegypti. With the use of intensive measures for mosquito abatement, urban
YF has been practically eliminated in South America.
Jungle YF is
primarily a disease of monkeys. In South America and Africa, it is transmitted
from monkey to monkey by arboreal mosquitoes (ie, Haemagogus, Aedes) that inhabit the moist forest canopy. The
infection in animals may be severe or inapparent. Persons such as woodcutters,
nut-pickers, or road-builders come in contact with these mosquitoes in the
forest and become infected. Jungle YF may also occur when an infected monkey
visits a human habitation and is bitten by A
aegypll, which then transmits the virus to a human being.
The virus
multiplies in mosquitoes, which remain infectious for life. After (he mosquito
ingests a virus-containing blood meal, an interval of 12-14 days is required
for it to become infectious. This interval is called the extrinsic incubation period.
All age groups
are susceptible, but the disease in infants is milder than that in older
groups. Large numbers of inapparent infections occur. The disease usually is
milder in blacks. Yellow fever has never been reported in India or the Orient,
even though the vector, A aegypti, is
widely distributed there.
New outbreaks
continue to occur. In Bolivia, 145 cases of jungle YF, with over 50% mortality,
were reported in 1975. The disease occurred in nonimmune persons coming from
distant places for the rice harvests . The rice fields, with the jungle
adjacent to them, are located near towns. Most cases were in male agricultural
workers. The virus had established itself in this area in reservoirs close to
the towns. Jungle YF rarely affects the local population, which has developed
immunity by having been in contact with the virus through previous minor
infections and also by frequent vaccinations. The real number of cases and
deaths from jungle YF in such areas is much higher than the reports indicate,
as many patients do not go to the hospital but recover or die without any
report being made.
Control
Vigorous mosquito
abatement programs have virtually eliminated urban YF. The last reported
outbreak of YF in the USA occurred in 1905. However, with the speed of modem
air travel, wherever A aegypti is
present, the threat of a YF outbreak exists. Most countries insist upon proper
mosquito control on airplanes and vaccination of all persons at least 10 days
before arrival in or from an endemic zone. The yellow fever vaccination
requirement for travelers entering the USA was eliminated in 1972.
In 1978, a
yellow fever outbreak occurred in Trinidad. Eight human cases and a number of
infected forest monkeys were detected. The outbreak was quickly stopped by a
mass immunization campaign and A aegypti
control measures.
An excellent
attenuated, live vaccine is available in the 17D strain. Vaccine is prepared in
eggs and dispensed as a dried powder. It is a live virus and must be kept cold.
It is rehydrated just before use and injected subcutaneously by skin
scarification or by jet injector. A single dose produces a good antibody response
in more than 95% of vaccinated persons that persists for at least 10 years.
After vaccination, the virus multiplies and may be isolated from the blood
before antibodies develop.
DENGUE (Breakbone
Fever)
Dengue is a
mosquito-borne infection characterized by fever, muscle and joint pain,
lymphadenop-alhy, and rash and caused by a group B arbovirus, a togavirus (see
above). Dengue and YF are antigenically related, but this does not result in significant
cross-immunity.
Pathogenesis and Pathology
Viremia is
present at the onset of fever and may persist for 3 days. The histopathologic lesion is in small blood vessels, with
endothelial swelling, perivascular edema, and infiltration with mononuciear
cells.
Clinical Findings
The onset of
fever may be sudden or there may be prodromal symptoms of malaise, chills, and
headache. Pains soon develop, especially in the back, joints, muscles, and
eyeballs. The temperature returns to normal after 5-6 days or may subside on
about the third day and rise again about 5-8 days after onset ('
"saddle-back ' ' form). A rash (maculopapular or scar-latiniform) may
appear on the third or fourth day and last for 24-72 hours, fading with
desquamation. Lymph nodes are frequently enlarged. Leukopenia with a relative lymphocytosis
is a regular occurrence. Convalescence may take weeks, although complications
and death are rare. Especially in young children, dengue may occur as a mild
febrile illness lasting 1-3 days.
A more severe
syndrome — dengue hemorrhagic fever — may occur in individuals with passively
acquired (as maternal antibody) or endogenously produced heterologous dengue
antibody. Although initial symptoms simulate normal dengue, the patient's condition
abruptly worsens and is associated with hy-poproteinemia, thrombocytopenia,
prolonged bleeding time, and elevated prothrombin time. Dengue shock syndrome,
characterized by shock and hemo-concentration, may supervene. These altered
manifestations of dengue have been observed, often in epidemic form, in the
Philippines, Southeast Asia, and India—regions in which several dengue
serotypes are regularly present; the mortality rate is 5-10%. In studies of the
dengue diseases in Southeast Asia, dengue hemorrhagic fever, with or without
shock, has been found to occur more frequently when dengue type 2 is the
secondary infecting virus and the patient is a female age 3 years or older. In
1981, over 40 type 2 dengue deaths occurred in Cuba as a result of hemorrhage
and shock. Shock is probably a form of hy-persensitivity reaction. It is
postulated that virus-antibody complexes are formed within a few days of the
second dengue infection which activate the complement system and lead to the
disseminated intravas-cular coagulation seen in the hemorrhagic fever syndrome.
Laboratory Diagnosis
Isolation of
the virus is difficult. Injection of early fresh serum into mice rarely
produces disease, but the animals may subsequently be immune to challenge.
Dengue viruses often grow in cell cultures.
Nt and HI
antibodies appear within 7 days of onset of dengue fever and CF antibodies
somewhat later. Homotypic antibodies tend to reach higher liters than
heterotypic ones.
Immunity
At least 4
antigenic types of the virus exist. Reinfection with a virus of a different
serotype, 2-3 months after the primary attack, may give rise to a short, mild
illness without a rash. Mosquitoes feeding on these reinfected patients can
transmit the disease.
Epidemiology
The known
geographic distribution of the dengue vimses today is India, the Far East, and
the Hawaiian and Caribbean Islands. Dengue has occurred in the southern USA
(1934) and in Australia. Most subtropical and tropical regions around the
world where Aedes vectors exist are
endemic areas or potential ones. For example, over 500,000 cases of dengue
occurred in Colombia in 1972 following reinfestation of the Atlantic coastal
areas by A aegypti. Over 100,000
cases occurred in 1981 in Cuba.
The infectious
cycle is as follows:
Aedes ® Human ® Aedes ® Human
Aedes ® Monkey ® Aedes ® Monkey
A aegypti is a domestic mosquito; A edes
albopic-tus exists in the bush or jungle and may be responsible for
maintaining the infection among monkeys.
In urban
communities, dengue epidemics are explosive and involve appreciable portions
of the population. They often start during the rainy season, when the vector
mosquito, A aegypti, is abundant. The
mosquito has a short flight range, and urban spread of dengue is frequently
house-to-house. The mosquito breeds in tropical or semitropical climates in
artificial water-holding receptacles around human habitation or in tree holes
or plants close to human dwellings. It apparently prefers the blood of humans
to that of other animals. Since A aegypti
is also the vector of yellow fever, the outbreak of dengue in the Caribbean
serves as a warning of even more serious epidemics. Epidemics can be brought
under control by aerial spraying with malathion to kill adult mosquitoes and by
treatment of breeding sites to kill larvae,
/4 aegypfi is the only known vector
mosquito for dengue in the western hemisphere. The female acquires the virus
by feeding upon a viremic human. Mosquitoes are infective after a period of
8-14 days (extrinsic incubation time). In humans, clinical disease begins 2-15
days after an infective mosquito bite. Once infective, a mosquito probably
remains so for the remainder of her life (1-3 months or more). Dengue virus is
not passed from one generation of mosquitoes to the next. In the tropics,
mosquito breeding throughout the year maintains the disease.
Epidemics of
dengue are usually observed when the virus is newly introduced into an area or
if susceptible persons move into an endemic area. The endemic dengue in the
Caribbean is a constant threat to the USA, where A aegypti mosquitoes are prevalent in the summer months.
In 1977, a
dengue type 1 virus was isolated from mosquitoes and from patients in Jamaica,
from where it spread to the Bahamas, Trinidad, Cuba, and the USA. This was the
first time type 1 virus had been isolated in the western hemisphere.
In 1979, an
epidemic of dengue type 4 broke out in Tahiti, the first known appearance of
type 4 outside of Southeast Asia. There were 6800 reported cases on the island
(population 97,000).
Control
Control depends
upon antimosquito measures, eg, elimination of breeding places and the use of
insecticides. An experimental attenuated virus vaccine has been produced but
not tested.
Additional materials
about diagnosis of arboviral infections
According to
the current data, there are over 430 types of arbo-viruses, with some 80 of
them being pathogenic to humans.
Arboviral
infections include systemic arboviral fevers (Plilebotomus, dengue), arboviral
haemorrhagic fevers (yellow, dengue, Chikungunya, Crimean haemorrhagic. Omsk
haemorrhagic, Kyasanur Forest disease), arbovirai encephalitides and
encephalomyelites (tick-borne encephalitis, American West and East, and
Venezuelan equine encephalitides, St. Louis encephalitis, Murray Valley encephalitis,
West Nile, Japanese, and African encephalitides), etc.
Many
arboviruses cause similar clinical manifestations and sub-clinical forms of the
disease. These peculiarities of arbovira] infections, as well as simultaneous
spread in endemic foci of clinically similar diseases of the viral and
bacterial nature caused by adenoviruses, enteroviruses, Rickettsia, and
spirochaetes. hinder their clinical recognition. Of a decisive significance in
this situation becomes the laboratory diagnosis of arboviral infections, which
should be made with special precautions. Examination of arboviruses should be
carried out by qualified virologists in laboratories specially designed for
work with particularly dangerous infections.
Virological and
serological examination aimed al detecting natural foci of arboviral
infections involves collection of the Arthropoda, withdrawal of blood from
domestic and wild animals, collection of pieces of the internal organs (brain,
liver, kidneys, spleen, lungs) from dead domestic animals and from wild
vertebral animals with manifestations of the disease.
The Arthropoda
are sorted out by species and placed into test tubes which are tightly
stoppered with cotton plugs and sent to the laboratory. Into the test tube put
a label carrying information on the number assigned to an animal, from which
these ectoparasitos have been collected, and its species, as well as the place
and date of material collection.
To study
natural foci of arboviral infections, one can also use the method of sentinel
annuals. According to this technique, sensitive animals (suckling mice,
rabbils, guinea pigs, chicken, etc.) are kept in cages in the focus where they
are liable to be attacked by infected Arthropoda
vectors, liiood sample? are periodically collected from these animals and
examined for the presence of the virus or antiviral antibodies.
Laboratory
diagnosis of arboviral infection in humans is based on rapid methods, isolation
of the virus, and determination of an increase in the antibody titre in paired
sera (Table 5).
Material to be
studied includes blood, cerebrospinal fluid, washings off the nasal portion of
the throat, urine, and pleural fluiu which are taken during the first 3-4 days
of tlio acute period. Pieces of The post-mortem hrain, liver, spleen, lungs,
and kidneys should be preferably taken within 3-4 days after death. Isolation
of The virus is most probable when the material studied is taken from people
who have died during the lirst week of the acute period of the disease.
Sera for
serological examination are obtained on the first-third day of the disease and
then 2-3 weeks later.
Material collected for
virological examination should preferably be utilized on the same day. When the
material is to be kept for a short period of time (1-2 days), adequate storage
is ensured at -4 °C.
Laboratory Diagnosis ot Arboviral
Infection
Type of |
Purpose of examination |
Material |
Inoculation |
Detection |
Identification |
Rapid |
Recovery and identification of virus-specific antigen and |
Blood, tissues of inter- |
– |
IF, RIHA, ELISA |
IF, RIHA, ELISA |
Virological |
Isolation and typing of the virus |
Blood, cerebrospinal |
Suckling mice are infect- |
Tremor, ataxia, Retarded move- Cytopathic effect, |
N, HAT, CF (less commonly), PG,
RIHA, |
Serological |
Detection of a four-fold or greater increase in the titre |
Paired sera obtained at the beginning of the disease and 2-3 weeks after
its onset |
– |
|
Simultaneous conduction of such tests as HAI, CF, |
Long-term
storage, however, requires freezing at -80 to -180 °C (pieces of
organs may also be stored in 50 per cent glycerol at 4 °C). Only a
single freezing and thawing of the infective material is possible.
Serum is kept
in small vials at 4 °C (for a short period of time) or ill a frozen state. When bacteria! contamination
is suspected, 1 per cent sodium azide is added to the serum (final
concentration).
From the
material studied prepare under sterile conditions its 10 per cent suspension in
isotonic sodium chloride solution, Hanks' solution (pH 7,4-7,6) or in nutrient
media obtained through inoculation of cell cultures. Add 0.75-2.0 per cent of
bovine albumin or 10-25 per cent of normal rabbit serum and centrifuge for 20
min at 1500-2000 X g and 4 °C.
To prevent
bacterial contamination, (the material is treated witli penicillin (200 U/ml)
and streptomycin (100 mg/ml). Part of
the material is kept at temperatures below -20 °C to reisolale
the virus.
Rapid melhods are aimed at defecting the antigen by direct examination
of (the palient's material. For this purpose, one can use such tests as IF,
IHA, ELISA, and their modifications which make possible the detection and
typing of the virus-specific antigen in cells.
The immunoftuorescence lest is employed to
demonstrate the virua-specific antigen showing a stable link with blood
leucocytes in dengue fever, Crimean haemorrhagic and Colorado fevers. One
should also take into account the possibility of false positive results owing
to autofluorescence of leucocytes. In Colorado fever, the virus antigen
persists in leucocytes for more than three months.
The
immunofluorescence test is also employed for detecting the virus antigen in the
salivary glands of vectors and in the haemo-lymph of ticks.
In Japanese
encephalitis the virus-specific antigen in the section material may be revealed
by the immunoenzymatic technique.
The RIHA test with an erythrocyte antibody
diagnosticum also allows demonstration of the virus antigen in the material
studied This reaction is used for the rapid diagnosis of Crimean haemorrhagic
fever and lymphocytic choriomeningitis. Detection and typing of the
virus-specific antigen can also be done, using ELISA and RIHA on a solid basis.
Positive results point to the presence of the corresponding antigens.
To isolate the virus, the material tested
(undiluted and diluted 1:10 and 1:50) is inoculated into newborn white mice,
cell cultures, and, less frequently, into chicken embryos (Table 5). This
excludes the possible impact on the virus that may be exerted by antibodies or
interferon. Newborn mice are infected intracerebrally (0.03 ml),
intraperitoneally (0.05 ml), or subcutaneously (0.03 ml) (if arenaviruses have
been detected, only adult white mice are infected). The infected rodents are
observed for 2-3 weeks; animals which have developed the disease, are dissected
and a 10 per cent suspension of the brain is prepared. Animals, which die
within 1-3 days after the disease onset, are discounted.
Low capacity of
the virus of dengue fever to adapt to the cerebral tissue of mice means that to
ensure its isolation one should make 6-7 blind passages through the animal
brain.
To isolate
viruses, one employs such primary cell cultures as chicken and duck
fibroblasts, cells of the kidneys of the swine embryo continuous cell lines
BHK-21, SPEV, PEC, Vero, as well as tissue cultures from Arthropoda (ticks,
mosquitoes).
To infect
chicken embryos, the inoculum is introduced into the body, amnion, yolk sac,
and on the chorio-allantoic membrane.
Demonstration
of viruses is based on the haemagglutination test, cytopathic effect, plaque
formation, and death of mice and chicken embryos. Goose red blood cells are
commonly employed for tlic haemagglutination test.
To identify the
isolated viruses, the neutralization test
is used as the most specific one. The HAI
and CF tests are less specific: they
only provide the possibility to identify general antigen characteristic of
definite groups of arboviruses. I mmuno
fluorescence and radioimmuno-assay
are utilized less commonly.
In cases where
the isolated virus eludes identification, it is expedient to study its
physico-chemical properties: namely, the size of the virions, type of nucleic
acid, and the presence of lipids. These indirect indicators help to carry out
preliminary "pre-serological" identification of arboviruses (Table
6). Comprehensive investigation of the above properties permits a preliminary
conclusion whether or not the causative agent studied belongs to the arbovirus
group. Study of the biological attributes of the isolated causative agent
includes the determination of its pathogenicity for laboratory animals and
tissue cultures. For the differential diagnosis, the immune sera or immune
ascitic fluids against the isolated virus are obtained and studied in cross serological
reactions.
The virological
examination allowing to make a retrospective diagnosis has such a serious
drawback as long duration (up to three weeks).
Serological examination includes the investigation of
paired sera. In selecting the antigen, the epidemiological situation arid
clinical data are taken into consideration. To detect an increase in the titre
of antibodies of haemagglutinating arboviruses, the HAI test is utilized. As to recovering other arboviruses. the CF and N reactions are used for this purpose. The difficulty of the
diagnosis lies in the fact that circulation in the area invaded by some virus
may be attended by the production of group antibodies toward antigen-homogeneous
viruses. The employment of the complement-fixation and neutralization
reactions, which are more specific than the HAI test, is advisable in such
cases. Of diagnostic significance is a four-fold or greater increase in the
titre of antibodies in one of the above mentioned reactions. It is necessary
to remember that complement-fix ating antibodies have a short life span.
For the
serological diagnosis of arboviruses the IF, IHA, RIHA, RH, ELISA, and RIA
tests are also employed.
HEMORRHAGIC FEVERS
Hemorrhagic
fever has been reported from Africa, Siberia, Central and Southeast Asia,
Eastern and Northern Europe, and South America.
Four categories
have been suggested for hemor-rhagic fevers: (1) tick-borne, which includes
some members of the Russian spring-summer encephalitis complex (Omsk
hemorrhagic fever and Kyasanur Forest disease), and the Crimean-Congo
hemorrhagic fever group; (2) mosquito-borne, which includes the dengue viruses
(see above), Chikungunya virus, and yellow fever virus; (3) zoonotic, which
includes the viruses of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (Korean
hemorrhagic fever), Argentinian hemorrhagic fever (Junin), Bolivian hemorrhagic
fever (Machupo), and Lassa fever; and (4) African hemorrhagic fever. The latter
is represented by Marburg and Ebola viruses (see p 464).
Common clinical
features of the epidemic hemorrhagic fevers include fever; petechiae or
purpura; gas-trointestinal, nasal, and uterine bleeding; leukopenia;
hypotension; shock; proteinuria; thrombocytopenia; and central nervous system
signs, often ending in death.
Machupo virus
was recovered from a patient in Bolivia who died of hemorrhagic fever in 1963.
The virus has been isolated from the mouse Calomys
callosits. The systematic extermination of this field mouse has been
successful in controlling the spread of the disease in Bolivia.
Marburg virus,
which was first associated with a 1967 outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in Germany
among persons who came in contact with vervet monkeys from Uganda, has an
unknown route of transmission.
Outbreaks
involving hundreds of cases of African hemorrhagic fever caused by Ebola virus
were reported in Sudan and Zaire in 1976-1977. The incubation period was 4-16
days. The mortality rate was as high as 50% in some outbreaks. Transmission
required close contact, especially with blood or secretions containing blood.
Cases were common among hospital staff members. Barrier nursing and protective
clothing permitted containment.
The disease is
suspected of being a zoonosis, with rodents or bats as the animal reservoir. It
is assumed that "Jungle" cases of the virus infection occur in humans
from time to time but that the disease dies out spontaneously before reaching
epidemic proportions. Exceptionally, as in 1976, nosocomial transmission
creates an amplifying cycle of African hemorrhagic fever.
The virus grows
in cultures of monkey cells and is infectious for guinea pigs. Virus can be
recovered during the incubation period and for several days after onset of
illness.
LASSA FEVER
The first
recognized cases of this disease occurred in 1969 among Americans stationed in
the Nigerian village of Lassa. The causative virus is extremely virulent, with
a mortality rate of 36-67% in 4 epidemics in West Africa involving about 100
cases. Transmission can occur by human-to-human contact, presenting a hazard to
hospital personnel. Nine of 20 medical workers have died from infections. Lassa
fever can involve almost all the organ systems, although symptoms may vary in
the individual patient. The disease is characterized by very high fever, mouth
ulcers, severe muscle aches, skin rash with hemorrhages, pneumonia, and heart
and kidney damage. Benign, febrile cases do occur. The virus can be isolated
from the patient's blood in Vero monkey cell cultures.
Lassa virus is
an arenavirus. Four arenaviruses cause human disease—Lassa, lymphocytic
choriomeningitis, Junin, and Machupo. They can be distinguished by
immunofluorescent antibody tests.
Lassa virus
seems to be transmitted by human contact and also to have a nonhuman cycle.
During an epidemic in Sierra Leone in 1972, Lassa virus was isolated from a
house rat (Mastomys natalensis). When
the virus spreads within a hospital, human contact is the mode of
transmission.
The only
available therapy for Lassa fever has employed hyperimmune semm from recovered
patients. Interferon is being considered now. Rodent control may limit the
natural cycle of the virus.
RUBELLA (German
Measles)
Rubella is an
acute febrile illness characterized by a rash and posterior auricular and
suboccipital lymphadenopathy that affects children and young adults. Infection
in early pregnancy may result in serious abnormalities of the fetus.
Properties of the Virus
The virus is
RNA-containing, ether-sensitive, and about 60 nm in diameter. It contains a
30-nm internal nucleocapsid with a double membrane and forms by budding from
the endoplasmic reticulum into intracytoplasmic vesicles and at the marginal
cell membrane. Projections of the virion, 6 nm long, possess hemagglutinin for
some avian erythrocytes. Receptor-destroying enzyme has no effect, and there is
no spontaneous elution after hemagglutination.
Rubella virus
can be propagated in cell culture. In some cultures, eg, human amnion cells,
rabbit kidney cells, and a line of monkey kidney (VERO) cells, the virus
produces detectable cytopathologic changes. In other cell cultures, rubella
virus replicates without causing a cytopathic effect; however, interference is
induced that protects the cells against the cytopathic effect of other viruses.
One method of isolating rubella virus consists of inoculating green monkey
kidney cells with the specimen and, after 7-10 days of incubation, challenging
the cultures with echovirus 11. If echovirus cytopathic effect develops, the
specimen is considered negative for rubella vims; conversely, the absence of
echovirus cytopathic effect implies the presence of rubella vims in the
original specimen.
1. POSTNATAL RUBELLA
Pathogenesis
Infection
occurs through the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract. The vims probably
replicates primarily in the cervical lymph nodes. After a period of 7 days,
viremia develops that lasts until me appearance of antibody on about day 12-14.
The development of antibody coincides with the appearance of the rash,
suggesting an immunologic basis for the rash. After the rash appears, the vims
remains detectable only in the nasopharynx.
Clinical Features
Rubella usually
begins with malaise, low-grade fever, and a morbilliform rash appearing on the
same day. Less often, systemic symptoms may precede the rash by 1 or 2 days, or
the rash and lymphadenopathy may occur without systemic symptoms. The rash
starts on the face, extends over the trunk and extremities, and rarely lasts
more than 3 days. Posterior auricular and suboccipital lymphadenopathy are
present. Transient arthralgia and arthritis are commonly seen in adult females.
Rare complications include thrombocytopenia and encephalitis.
Unless an
epidemic occurs, the disease is difficult to diagnose clinically, since the
rash caused by other viruses such as the enteroviruses is similar. However,
rubella has a peak occurrence in the spring, whereas enterovirus infections
occur mainly in the summer and tall.
Immunity
Rubella antibodies appear in the serum of patients as the rash fades, and
the titer of antibody rises rapidly over the next 1 -3 weeks (Fig. 1). Much of
the initial antibody consists of IgM. IgM mbella antibodies found in a single
serum obtained 2 weeks after the rash give evidence of recent rubella
infection.
One attack of
the disease confers lifelong immunity, as only one antigenic type of the virus
exists. A history of rubella is not a reliable index of immunity. The presence
of antibody at a 1:8 dilution implies immunity. Immune mothers transfer
antibodies to their offspring, who are then protected for 4-6 months.
Treatment
No specific treatment is given unless the patient is pregnant. Rubellalike
illness in the first trimester of pregnancy should be substantiated by
isolation of the virus from the throat or by demonstrating a 4-fold rise in
antibody titer to the virus by means of the HI, CF, or Nt test.
Laboratory-proved rubella in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy is almost
uniformly associated with fetal infection. Therapeutic abortion is strongly
recommended in laboratory-proved cases to avoid the risk of malformed infants.
It should be noted that gamma globulin injected into the mother does not
protect the fetus against rubella infection.
2. CONGENITAL RUBELLA SYNDROME
Pathogenesis
Rubella
infection during pregnancy may result in infection of the placenta and fetus. A
limited number of cells of Ihe fetus become infected. Although the virus does
not destroy the cells, the growth rate of the infected cells is reduced, which
results in fewer than normal numbers of cells in the organs at birth. The
earlier in pregnancy infection occurs, the greater the chance of extensive
involvement, with the birth of an infant afflicted with severe anomalies.
Infection in the first month of pregnancy results in abnormalities in about 80%
of cases, whereas detectable defects are found in about 15% of infants
acquiring the disease during the third month of gestation. The intrauterine
infection is associated with chronic persistence of the virus in the newborn,
which may last for 12-18 months after birth.
Figure. Virus and antibody
dynamics in rubella. HI = hemaggiutination-inhibiting antibody; FA =
fluorescent antibody; CF = complement-fixing antibody.
Clinical Findings
Infants with
congenital rubella syndrome may have one or more abnormalities, which include
defects of the heart and great vessels (patent ductusarteriosus, pulmonary
artery stenosis, pulmonary valvular stenosis, ventricular septal defect, and
atrial septal defect), eye defects (cataracts, glaucoma, and chorioretinitis),
and neurosensory deafness. Infants may also display growth retardation, failure
to thrive, hepatosplenomegaly, thrombocytopenia with purpura, anemia, osteitis,
and an encephalitic syndrome leading to cerebral palsy. The infants often have
increased susceptibility to infection and abnormal immunoglob-ulins, most
commonly elevated IgM with low levels of IgG and IgA.
There is a 20%
mortality rate among congenially vims-infected infants symptomatic at birth.
Some virus-infected infants appearing normal at birth may manifest
abnormalities at a later date. Severely affected infants may require
institutional ization.
The spectrum of
neurologic and neurosensory involvement in surviving infants is wide. Among 100
patients with congenital rubella infection, neurologic manifestations were
found in 81 at some time between birth and 18 months. Sequelae include hearing
impairment, visual impairment, growth disturbance, microcephaly, mental
retardation, and cerebral dysfunction. Problems with balance and motor skills
develop in preschool children. Psychiatric disorders and behavioral
manifestations occur in preschool and school age children.
In one study.
the neurologic course of congenital rubella syndrome was traced in nonretarded
children. During the first 2 years, manifestations involved abnormal tone and
reflexes (69%), motor delays (66%), feeding difficulties (48%), and abnormal
clinical behavior (45%). Hearing loss was documented in 76%. At 3-7 years,
poor balance, motor incoordination (69%), and behavioral disturbances (66%)
predominated. Hearing losses increased to 86%. At 9-12 years, the following
were noted: residua that included learning deficits (52%), behavioral
disturbances (48%), poor balance (61%), muscle weakness (54%), and deficits in
tactile perception (41%). Thus, the encephalitic manifestations of congenital
rubella syndrome are persistent and diverse.
Immunity. While maternal rubella antibody in the form of IgG
is transferred to the infant with congenital rubella, the infant also produces
IgM antibodies. Nonaffected infants lose maternal antibody.
Epidemiology. The virus has been recovered from the nasopharynx,
throat, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and urine. The infection is spread by
respiratory pathways (droplets).
Infants
continue to be infectious, with virus found in the throat for up to 18 months
after birth. Virus has been recovered from many tissues tested postmortem.
Congenitally
infected infants who appear normal but who shed virus are capable of
transmitting rubella to susceptible contacts such as nurses and physicians
caring for the infants. This represents a serious hazard to women in the first
trimester of pregnancy, who should avoid contact with these babies.
Rubella without rash is of importance because
inapparent rubella infection (with viremia) acquired during pregnancy has the
same deleterious effect on the fetus as rubella with the typical rash.
3. CONTROL OF RUBELLA. In the 20th century, epidemics of
rubella have occurred every 6-9 years. After each epidemic, cases declined for
the next 5 years, then increased to epidemic levels 6-9 years after the last
major outbreak. In the 1964 epidemic, more than 20,000 infants were born with
severe manifestations of congenital rubella.
In the USA, the
control of rubella is being attempted by routine vaccination of children age
1-12 years and selected immunization of adolescents and women of childbearing
age. Before vaccine became available in 1969, about 50,000 cases were being reported
annually. Tn the next decade, about 100 million doses of vaccine were
administered, which resulted in a 70% decrease in rubella incidence. However,
the decrease occurred primarily in children. Persons 15 years of age and older
experienced only a small decrease in incidence and now account for over 70% of
cases. (Before 1969, they accounted for only 20%.) Since vaccine-induced
antibodies persist for at least 10 years, the changing pattern may not be due
to vaccine failure as much as to failure to adequately vaccinate susceptible
adults.
Since the
introduction of vaccine, scattered outbreaks have been reported, chiefly among
nonvacci-nated adolescents in high school and college who had not received
vaccine in the routine immunization program. The changing age incidence of
rubella since introduction of vaccine is similar to the changing epi-demiologic
pattern with measles.
In postpubertal
females, the vaccine produces self-limited arthralgia and arthritis in about
one-third of the vaccinees. Since mbella virus vaccine may infect the
placenta, the vaccine should not be given to a postpubertal female unless she
is not pregnant, is susceptible (ie, serologically negative), understands that
she should not become pregnant for at least 3 months after vaccination, and is
adequately warned of the complications of arthralgia. Nevertheless, since
rubella vaccination is an effective way of preventing birth defects, it should
be vigorously encouraged in women of childbearing age.
In children,
the vaccine may also produce mild febrile episodes with arthralgia, often
several months after vaccination, but without any permanent residual effects.
Vaccinated children are not infectious and do not transmit the virus to
contacts at home, even to mothers who are susceptible and pregnant. In
contrast, nonimmunized children can bring home wild virus and spread it to
susceptible family contacts.
Opinions have
been expressed that vaccination of children cannot prevent future infection of
pregnant women exposed to wild virus. Therefore, vaccination of prepubertal
girls and women in the immediate post-partum period has also been proposed. It
would seem wise for all pregnant women to undergo a serum antibody test for
rubella and, if found to be susceptible, receive a vaccination immediately
after delivery. Conception in the 6-8 weeks after delivery is rare, so the
risk of harming a fetus would be minimal.
There is
conflicting evidence on the nature and duration of postvaccination immunity
with the first (HPV77) rubella vaccine, the risk of super-infection with wild
virus, and the subsequent spread of such virus to pregnant women.
In 1979, the
second rubella vaccine, RA23/3, grown in human diploid cells, was licensed, and
this is the vaccine of choice. It produces much higher antibody liters and a
more enduring and more solid immunity than HPV77, and there is evidence that
it largely prevents subclinical superinfecrion with wild vims. This vaccine is
available as a single antigen or combined with measles and mumps vaccine. It
may effectively produce IgA antibody in the respiratory tract and thus
interfere with infection by wild virus,
RABIES
Rabies is an acute infection of the central nervous system that is almost
always fatal. The virus is usually transmitted to humans from the bite of a
rabid animal.
Properties of the Virus
A.
Structure: Rabies virus is a rhabdovirus with morphologic and biochemical properties
in common with vesicular stomatitis virus of cattle and several animal, plant,
and insect viruses. The rhabdoviruses are rod- or bullet-shaped particles
measuring 60-400 nm x 60-85 nm. The particles are surrounded by a membranous
envelope with protruding spikes 10 nm long. Inside the envelope is a
ribonucleocapsid. The genome is single-stranded RNA (MW 3-5 x 106)
that is not infectious and does not serve as a messenger. Virions contain an
RNA-dependent RNA polymerase.
B. Reactions to Physical and Chemical Agents: Rabies virus
survives storage at 4 "C for weeks but is inactivated by CO2.
On dry ice, therefore, it must be stored in glass-sealed vials. Rabies virus is
killed rapidly by exposure to ultraviolet radiation or sunlight, by heat (1
hour at 50 °C), by lipid solvents (ether, 0.1% sodium deoxycholate), and by
trypsin.
C. Animal Susceptibility and Growth of Virus: Rabies virus
has a wide host range. All warmblooded animals, including humans, are
susceptible. The virus is widely distributed in infected animals, especially in
the nervous system, saliva, urine, lymph, milk, and blood. Recovery from
infection is rare except in certain bats, where the virus has become peculiarly
adapted to the salivary glands. Vampire bats may transmit the virus for months
without themselves ever showing any signs of disease.
When freshly
isolated in the laboratory, the strains are referred to as street virus. Such
strains show long and variable incubation periods (usually 21-60 days in dogs)
and regularly produce intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies- Inoculated animals may
exhibit long periods of excitement and viciousness. The virus may invade the
salivary glands as well as the central nervous system.
Serial
brain-to-brain passage in rabbits yields a "fixed" virus that no
longer multiplies in extraneural tissues. This fixed virus multiplies rapidly,
and the
incubation
period is shortened to 4-6 days. At this stage, inclusion bodies are found only
with difficulty.
The virus may
be propagated in chick embryos, baby hamster kidney cells, and human diploid
cell cultures. One strain (Flury), after serial passage in chick embryos, has
been modified so that it fails to produce disease in animals injected
extraneurally. This attenuated virus is used for vaccination of animals.
The replication
of rabies virus is similar to that of the most studied rhabdovirus, vesicular
stomatitis virus. The single-stranded RNA genome of molecular weight 4.6 x 106
is transcribed by the virion-associated RNA polymerase to 5 mRNA species that
are complementary to parts of the genome. These mRNAs code for the 5 virion
proteins. The genome is a template for a replicative intermediate responsible
for the generation of progeny RNA. After encapsidation, the
bullet-shaped particles acquire the envelope by budding through the cytoplasmic
membrane.
D. Antigenic Properties: The purified spikes elicit
neutralizing antibody in animals. Antiserum prepared against the purified
nucleocapsid is used in diagnostic immunofiuorescence.
Pathogenesis and Pathology. Rabies virus multiplies in muscle
or connective tissue and is propagated through the endoneurium of the Schwann
cells or associated tissue spaces of the sensory nerves to the central nervous
system. It multiplies there and may then spread through peripheral nerves to
the salivary glands and other tissues. Rabies virus has not been isolated from
the blood of infected persons.
The incubation
period may depend on the amount of inoculum, severity of lacerations, and
distance the virus has to travel from its point of entry to the brain. There is
a higher attack rate and shorter incubation period in persons bitten on the
face or head.
There are
hyperemia and nerve cell destruction in the cortex, midbrain, basal ganglia,
pons, and especially in the medulla. Demyelinization occurs in the white
matter, and degeneration of axons and myelin sheaths is common. In the spinal
cord, the posterior horns are most severely involved, with neuronophagia and
cellular infiltrates (mononuclear, perivascular, and perineural).
Rabies virus
produces a specific cytoplasmic inclusion, the Negri body, in infected nerve
cells. The presence of such inclusions is pathognomonic of rabies but may not
be observed in all cases. The inclusions are eosinophilic, sharply demarcated,
and more or less spherical, with diameters of 2-10 mcm. Several may be found in
the cytoplasm of large neurons. They occur throughout the brain and spinal cord
but are most frequent in Ammon's horn. Negri bodies contain rabies virus
antigens and can be demonstrated by immunofluorescence.
Rabies virus
multiplies outside the central nervous system and may produce cellular
infiltrates and necrosis in salivary and other glands, in the cornea, and
elsewhere.
The post-rabies
vaccine reaction is an allergic encephalomyelitis.
Clinical Findings. The usual incubation period in
dogs ranges from 3 to 8 weeks, but it may be as short as 10 days. Clinically,
the disease in dogs is divided into 3 phases: prodromal, excitative, and
paralytic. The prodromal phase is characterized by fever and a sudden change in
the temperament of the animal; docile animals may become snappy and irritable,
whereas aggressive animals may become more affectionate. The excitative phase
lasts 3-7 days, during which the dog shows symptoms of irritability,
restlessness, nervousness, and exaggerated response to sudden light and sound
stimuli. At this stage the animal is most dangerous because of its tendency to
bite. The animal has difficulty in swallowing, suffers from convulsive
seizures, and enters into a paralytic stage with paralysis of the whole body,
coma, and death. Sometimes the animal goes into the paralytic stage without
passing through the excitative stage.
The incubation
period in humans varies from 2 to 16 weeks or more, but in many cases it is
only 2-3 weeks. It is usually shorter in children than in adults. The clinical
spectrum can be divided into 4 phases: a short prodromal phase, a sensory
phase, a period of excitement, and a paralytic or depressive phase. The
prodrome, lasting 2-4 days, may show any of the following: malaise, anorexia,
headache, nausea and vomiting, sore throat, and fever. Usually there is an
abnormal sensation around the site of infection. The patient may show
increasing nervousness and apprehension. General sympathetic overactivity is
observed, including lacrimation, pupillary dilatation, and increased
salivation and perspiration. The act of swallowing precipitates a spasm of the
throat muscles; a patient may allow saliva to drool from the mouth simply to
avoid swallowing and the associated painful spasms. (Because of the patient's apparent
fear of water, the disease has been known as hydrophobia since ancient days.)
This phase is followed by convulsive seizures or coma and death, usually 3-5
days following onset. Progressive paralytic symptoms may develop before death.
Hysteria may simulate
certain features of rabies, particularly in persons who have been near a rabid
animal or have been bitten by a nonrabid one.
Clinical features of rabies in humans
The incubation period is between 20 and 90 days and more than two-thirds of cases, with an
extreme range of 4 days to more than 20 years. In some animals, latent
infections can be reactivated by corticosteroids and stress, providing a
possible explanation for the rare authentic reports of very long incubation
periods in humans. Facial and severe multiple bites, transmission by corneal
transplant, and accidental inoculation of live virus (rage de laboratoire) are
associated with relatively short incubation periods. A few days of prodromal
symptoms may precede the development of definite signs of rabies
encephalomyelitis. These may consist of fever, changes of mood, and nonspecific
“flulike” symptoms, but in more than one-third of cases itching, neuritic pain,
or paresthesia at the site of the healed bite wound suggests impending rabies.
The existence of two distinct clinical patterns of rabies, furious (agitated)
and paralytic (“dumb”, “rage mue” or “rage muette”), depends on whether the
brain or spinal cord is predominantly infected and may reflect differences in
the infecting strain of rabies virus or in the host's immune response.
Furious rabies, the more common presentation in humans except those
infected by vampire bats, is characterized by hydrophobia, aerophobia, and
episodic generalized arousal interspersed with lucid intervals of normal
cerebration. Hydrophobia is a reflex series of forceful jerky inspiratory
muscle spasms provoked by attempts to drink water and associated with an
inexplicable terror. A draft of air on the skin produces a similar reflex
response, “aerophobia”. Initially, the spasms affect the diaphragm,
sternomastoids, and other accessory muscles of inspiration, but a generalized
extension response may be produced ending in opisthotonos and generalized convulsions
with cardiac or respiratory arrest. Without supportive care, about one-third of
patients with furious rabies die during a hydrophobic spasm in the first few
days of their illness. There is hyperesthesia and periods of generalized
excitation during which the patient becomes hallucinated, wild, and sometimes
aggressive. These grotesque symptoms are explained by a selective encephalitis involving the brain stem and limbic system. In rabies, unlike
most other encephalitides, patients may remain intermittently conscious and
rational. Hypersalivation, lacrimation, sweating, and fluctuating blood
pressure and body temperature result from disturbances of hypothalamic or
autonomic nervous system function (Fig.2). Conventional neurologic examination
may fail to disclose any abnormality unless a hydrophobic spasm is observed.
Physical findings include meningism, cranial nerve and upper motor neuron
lesions, muscle fasciculation, and involuntary movements. Increased libido,
priapism, and frequent spontaneous orgasms may be the presenting symptom in
some patients, suggesting involvement of the amygdaloid nuclei. Furious rabies
naturally progresses to coma and death within a week, but some patients have
been kept alive for several months in intensive care units.
Fig.2. Clinical features of rabies
Paralytic rabies is apparently much less common than the furious form in
humans but is frequently undiagnosed. All reported cases of rabies transmitted
by vampire bats in Latin America and the Caribbean are of this type. The
paralytic form of rabies was also seen in patients with postvaccinal rabies and
in the two patients who inhaled fixed virus. It seems more likely to develop in
patients who have received antirabies vaccine. After the prodromal symptoms
(see above), paralysis, fasciculation, pain, and paresthesia start in the
bitten limb and ascend symmetrically or asymmetrically. There is progression to
paraplegia with sphincter involvement, quadriparesis, and finally paralysis
ofbulbar and respiratory muscles (Fig.3). Hydrophobia is usually absent.
Patients with paralytic rabies may survive for several weeks even without
intensive care.
Fig.3. Paralytic rabies
Differential diagnosis
v
Laboratory Diagnosis.
A. Microscopy: Tissues infected with rabies virus are currently
identified most rapidly and accurately by means of direct immunofluorescence
using antirabies hamster serum. Impression preparations of brain or cornea
tissue are often used.
A definitive
pathologic diagnosis of rabies is based on the finding of Negri bodies in the
brain (especially Ammon's horn) or the spinal cord. Negri bodies are found in
impression preparations or histologic sections. They are sharply demarcated,
more or less spherical, and 2-10 mcm in diameter, and they have a distinctive
internal structure with basophilic granules in an eosinophilic matrix. Negri
bodies (and rabies antigen) can usually be found in animals or humans suffering
from rabies or dead from the infection, but they are rarely found in bats.
B. Virus Isolation: Available tissue (or saliva) is
inoculated intracerebrally into mice. Infection in mice results in flaccid
paralysis of legs, encephalitis, and death. The central nervous system of the
inoculated animal is examined for Negri bodies and rabies antigen. In
specialized laboratories, hamster and mouse cell lines can be inoculated for
rapid (2-4 day) growth of rabies virus; this is much faster than growth in
mice. An isolated virus is identified by neutralization tests with specific
antiserum.
C. Serology: Antibodies to rabies can be detected by
immunofluorescence, complement fixation, or neutralization, Such antibodies may
develop in infected persons or animals during progression of the disease.
All animals
considered "rabid or suspected rabid" (Table 1) should be sacrificed
immediately for laboratory examination of tissues. Other animals, if available,
should be held for observation for 10 days. If they show any signs of
encephalitis, rabies, or unusual behavior, they should be killed humanely and
the tissues examined in the laboratory. On the other hand, if they appear
normal after 10 days, decisions must be made on an individual basis in
consultation with public health officials.
Immunity & Prevention
Only one antigenic type of rabies virus is
known. More than 99% of infections in humans and mammals who develop symptoms
end fatally. Survival after proved rabies infection is extremely rare. It is
therefore essential that individuals at high risk receive preventive
immunization, that the nature and risk of any exposure be evaluated (Table 1),
and that individuals be given postexposure prophylaxis if their exposure is
believed to have been dangerous.
A. Pathophysiology of Rabies Prevention by Vaccine: It is likely that rabies virus remains latent in tissues for some time
after virus is introduced from a bite. If immunogenic vaccine or antibody can
be administered promptly, the virus can be prevented from invading the central
nervous system. The action of passively administered antibody is to provide
additional time for a vaccine to stimulate active antibody production before
the central nervous system is invaded.
The following recommendations
are only a guide. In applying them, take into account the animal species
involved, the circumstances of the bite or other exposure, the vaccination
status of the animal, and presence of rabies in the region. Local or state
public health officials should tie consulted if Questions arise about the need
for rabies prophylaxis.
Animal Species |
Condition of Animal at Time of Attack |
Treatment of Exposed Person* |
Domestic Dog and cat |
Healthy and available for 10
days of observation |
None, unless animal develops
rabies** |
Rabid or suspected rabid |
RIG*** and HDCV**** |
|
Unknown (escaped) |
Consult public health
officials, If treatment is indicated, give RIG*** and HDCV**** |
|
Wild Skunk, bat, fox, coyote, raccoon,
bobcat, and other carnivores |
Regard as rabid unless proved
negative by laboratory tests***** |
RIG*** and HDCV**** |
Other Livestock, rodents, and lagomorphs
(rabbits and hares) |
Consider
individually. Local and state public health officials should be consulted on
questions about the need for rabies prophylaxis. Bites of squirrels,
hamsters, guinea pigs. gerbils, chipmunks, rats, mice, other rodents,
rabbits, and hares almost never call for antirabies prophylaxis. |
* All bites and wounds should
immediately be thoroughly cleansed with soap and water. If antirabies treatment
is indicated, both rabies immune globulin (RIG) and human diploid cell rabies
vaccine (HDCV) should be given as soon as possible, regardless of the interval
from exposure.
** During the usual holding
period of 10 days, begin treatment with RIG and vaccine (preferably HDCV) at
first sign of rabies in a dog or cat that has bitten someone. The symptomatic
animal should be killed immediately and tested.
*** If RIG is not available,
use antirabies serum, equine (ARS). Do not use more than the recommended
dosage.
**** If HDCV is not available,
use duck embryo vaccine (DEV). Local reactions to vaccines are common and do
not contraindicate continuing treatment. Discontinue vaccine if fluorescent
antibody (FA) tests of the animal are negative.
***** The animal should be
killed and tested as soon as possible. Holding for observation is not
recommended.
B. Types of Vaccines: All vaccines for human use
contain only inactivated rabies virus.
1. Nerve tissue vaccine-This is made from infected
sheep, goat, or mouse brains and used in many parts of the world including
Asia, Africa, and South America. It causes sensitization to nerve tissue and
results in postvaccinal encephalitis (an allergic disease) with substantial
frequency (0.05%). It has not been used in the USA for several decades.
Estimates of its efficacy in persons bitten by rabid animals vary from 5% to
50%.
2. Duck embryo
vaccine-This was developed to minimize the problem of postvaccinal
encephalitis. The rabies virus is grown in embryonated duck eggs, but the head
is removed before the vaccine is prepared so as to remove nervous tissue and
avoid allergic encephalitis. It produces local reactions regularly and systemic
reactions (fever, malaise, myalgia) in one-third of recipients. Neuroparalytic
(< 0.001%) and anaphylactic (< 1%) reactions are infrequent, but the
antigenicity of the vaccine is low. Consequently, many (16-25) doses have to be
given to obtain a satisfactory postexposure antibody response. This was the
vaccine used in the USA in the recent past.
3. Human diploid cell vaccine
(HDCV)-To obtain a rabies virus
suspension free from nervous system and foreign proteins, rabies virus was
adapted to growth in the WI-38 human normal fibroblast cell line. The rabies
virus harvest is concentrated by ultrafillration and inactivated with beta
propiolactone or tri-N-butyl phosphate. This material is sufficiently antigenic
that only 4-6 doses of virus (Table 2) need to be given to obtain a substantial
antibody response in most recipients. Local reactions (erythema, itching, swelling
at the injection site) occur in 25% of recipients, and mild systemic reactions
(headache, nausea, myalgia, dizziness) occur in about one-fifth of recipients.
No serious anaphylactic, neuroparalytic, or encephalitic reactions have been
reported. This vaccine has been used in the USA since 1979 and is the
immunizing agent of choice.
4. Live attenuated viruses adapted to growth in chick
embryos (eg, Flury strain) are used for animals but not for humans. Occasionally, such vaccines can cause death from
rabies in injected cats or dogs. Rabies viruses grown in various animal cell
cultures have also been used as vaccines for domestic animals.
C. Types of Available Rabies Antibody:
1. Rabies immune globulin, human (RIG)-This is a gamma
globulin prepared by cold ethanol fractionation from the plasma of
hyperimmunized humans. The neutralizing antibody content is standardized to
contain 150 lU/mL. The dose is 20 lU/kg. half given around the bite wound, half
intramuscularly.
Preexposurg: Preexposure rabies prophylaxis for persons
with special risks of exposure to rabies, such as animal-care and control personnel
and selected laboratory workers, consists of immunization with either human
diploid cell rabies vaccine (HDCV) or duck embryo vaccine (DEV), according to
the following schedule.
Rabies Vaccine |
Number of 1-mL Doses |
Route of Administration |
Intervals Between Doses |
If No Antibody Response to Primary Series, Give * |
HDCV |
3 |
Intramuscular |
One week between 1st and 2nd;
2-3 weeks between 2nd and 3rd t |
One booster dose** |
DEV |
3 or 4 |
Subcutaneous |
One month between 1st and
2nd; 6—7 months between 2nd and 3rd** or One week between 1 st, 2nd, and
3rd; 3 months between 3rd and 4th** |
Two booster doses, ** 1 week apart |
Postexposure: Postexposure rabies prophylaxis
for persons exposed to rabies consists of the immediate, thorough cleansing of
all wounds with soap and water, administration of rabies immune globulin (RIG)
or, if RIG is not available, antirabies
serum, equine (ARS), and the initiation of either HDCV or DEV, according to the
following schedule^
HDCV |
5**** |
Intramuscular |
Doses to be given on days 0, 3,
7, 14, and 28** |
An additional booster dose** |
DEV |
23 |
Subcutaneous |
Twenty-one daily doses followed
by a booster on d 31 and another on day41** or Two daily doses in the first 7
days, followed by 7 daily doses. Then one booster on day 24 and another on
day 34** |
Three doses of HDCV at weekly
intervals** |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* If no antibody response is documented
after the recommended additional booster dose(s), consult the state health
department or CDC.
**Serum for rabies antibody
testing should be collected 2-3 weeks after the last dose.
***The postexposure regimen is
greatly modified for someone with previously demonstrated rabies antibody.
****The World Health
Organization recommends a sixth dose 90 days after the first dose.
2. Antirabies serum» equine (ARS)-This
Is concentrated serum from horses hyperimmunized with rabies virus. The
neutralizing antibody content is standardized to contain 1000 IU per vial
(approximately 5 mL). The dose is 40 lU/kg.
D. Choice of Rabies Immunizing Products:
This is an
application of the risk/benefit ratio, as far as known for each product. HDCV
has the greatest efficacy among known vaccines in stimulating antibody
production, and few adverse effects are associated with it. There are fewer
reactions to RIG (especially rare serum sickness, anaphylaxis) than to ARS, and
RIG has a much longer half-life, since it is protein homologous for the human
recipient.
ROTAVIRUSES (Infantile
Gastroenteritis)
The rotaviruses
are closely related to reoviruses. They are a major cause of diarrheal illness
in human infants and young animals, including calves, mice, piglets, and many
others. Among rotaviruses are the agents of human infantile diarrhea, Nebraska
calf diarrhea, and epizootic diarrhea of infant mice and SA11 virus of monkeys.
Properties of the Viruses
A. Structure: The name rotavirus (Latin rota "wheel") is based on the electron microscopic appearance
of the outer capsid margin as the rim of a wheel surrounding radiating spokes
from the inner hublike core. The particles have a double-shelled capsid and
are about 60-75 nm in diameter. Single-shelled viral particles that lack the
outer capsid exhibit rough outer edges and are 50-60 nm in diameter. The inner
core of the particles is 33-40 nm in diameter. The virus particle contains 11
segments of double-stranded RNA (total MW 10 x 106). Virions contain
an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase that can be activated by chelating agents and a
poly A polymerase. The double-shelled particle is the infectious form of the
virus. Infectivity of the virions is enhanced by treatment with proteolytic
enzymes, eg, trypsin, and this is used in virus isolation in cell culture.
B. Animal Susceptibility and Pathogenesis:
Cross-species
infections can occur in experimental inoculations , but it is not clear if
they occur in nature. In experimental studies, human rotavirus can induce
diarrheal illness in newborn colostrum-deprived animals (eg, piglets, calves).
Homologous infections may have a wider age range. Swine rotavirus infects both
newborn and weanling piglets. Newborn often exhibit subclinical infection due
perhaps to the presence of maternal antibody, while overt disease is more common
in weanling animals.
Rotaviruses infect cells in the villi of the small intestine. They multiply
in the cytoplasm of these enterocytes and damage their transport mechanisms.
Damaged cells may slough into the lumen of the intestine and release large
quantities of virus, which appear in the stool. The diarrhea caused by
rotaviruses may be due to impaired sodium and glucose absorption as the damaged
cells on villi are replaced by nonabsorbing immature crypt cells
C. Virus
Replication: Human rotaviruses have not been regularly cultured in vitro,
although one human rotavirus strain and several hybrids containing both human
and animal rotavirus genes are now cultivable. Rotaviruses from calves, pigs.
and monkeys have been grown in cell culture and adapted to laboratory
cultivation. This required treatment with proteolytic enzymes (trypsin,
pancreatin). Such cultivated viruses now serve as antigens for serologic testing.
In vitro,
rotavirus growth is maximal at 18-20 hours. Viral antigens are detected within
4-S hours in the cytoplasm of infected cells stained by the immunofluorescence
technique, where they appear initially as distinct perinuclear granules. Later,
antigen is present throughout the cytoplasm. Different types of cell culture
manifest great differences in susceptibility to rotavirus infection.
D. Antigenic Properties: The rotaviruses possess common
antigens located on the inner shell. These can be detected by
immunofluorescence, immune electron microscopy, and many other methods.
Typespecific antigens are located on the outer capsid layers. These
type-specific antigens differentiate among rotaviruses from different species
and are demonstrable by imrnunofluorescence and neutralization tests. At least
4 serotypes have been serologicaliy identified among human rotaviruses, but
more may exist.
Molecular
epidemiologic studies have analyzed the number of human strains based on
differences in the migration of the 11 genome segments following electrophuresisoftheRNAinpolyacrylamidegels-
At least 17 electropherotypes of human virus were observed in one 6-year
study, suggesting extensive genome heterogeneity. It remains to be detemiined
whether these differences in electropherotypes reflect changes in serotypes.
Clinical Findings and Laboratory Diagnosis
Rotaviruses
cause the major portion of diarrhoea illness in infants and children but not in
adults. Typical symptoms include diarrhoea, fever, abdominal pain, and
vomiting, leading to dehydration.
Adult contacts may be infected, as evidenced by seroconversion, but they
rarely exhibit symptoms, and virus is infrequently detected in their stool.
However, epidemics of clinical disease have occurred in institutionalized
adult populations and in adults in nonimmune isolated communities.
In infants and
children, severe loss of electrolytes and fluids may be fatal unless treated.
Patients with milder cases have symptoms for 3-5 days, then recover
completely. Asymptomatic infections, with seroconversion, occur.
Laboratory
diagnosis rests on demonstration of virus in stool collected early in the
illness and on a rise in antibody liter. Virus in stool is demonstrated by
immune electron microscopy, immunodiffusion, and other methods. Many serologic
tests can be used to detect an antibody titer rise, particularly CF and ELISA.
Epidemiology and Immunity. Epidemiologic studies on the
prevalence of rotavirus infections have shown these ubiquitous agents to be a
major cause of gastroenteritis in children. Typically, 50-60% of the cases of
acute gastroenteritis of hospitalised children throughout the world are caused
by rotaviruses. Rotavirus infections usually predominate during the winter
season, with an incubation period of 2-4 days. Symptomatic infections are most
common in children between ages 6 months and 12 years, and transmission appears
to be by the fecal-oral route. Nosocomial infections are frequent.
Rotaviruses are
ubiquitous. By age 6, 60-90% of children have serum antibodies to one or more
types. Both humans and animals can become infected even in the presence of
antibodies. Local immune factors, such as secretory IgA or interferon, may be
important in protection against rotavirus infection. Alternatively, reinfection
in the presence of circulating antibody could reflect the presence of multiple
serotypes of virus. Asymptomatic infections are common in infants before age 6
months, the time during which protective maternal antibody acquired passively
by newborns should be present. Breast-fed babies excrete fewer virus particles
per gram of feces than bottle-fed babies, although both groups can become
infected. Rotavirus antibody has been detected in colostrum for up to 9 months
postpartum.
Treatment. Treatment of gastroenteritis is supportive, to correct
the loss of water and electrolytes, which may lead to dehydration, acidosis,
shock, and death. Management consists of replacement of fluids and restoration
of electrolyte balance either intravenously or orally, as feasible.
The multiplicity of rotavirus serotypes and
other factors make the development of vaccines uncertain. In view of the
probable fecal-oral route of transmission, waste-water treatment and
sanitation are significant control measures.
CORONAVIRUSES
The
coronaviruses include human strains from the respiratory tract, avian
infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), an enteritis
virus of swine, and others. The human coronaviruses cause common colds.
Coronaviruses of lower animals establish persistent infections in their natural
hosts. Because the murine infection can result in a high incidence of subacute
to chronic demyelinating disease, it is being studied as a model for multiple
sclerosis in humans.
Properties of the Viruses. Coronaviruses are enveloped, 80-
to 130-nm particles that contain an unsegmented genome of single-stranded RNA
(MW 7 x 106). The helical nucleocapsid is 7-9 nm in diameter; it
matures in the cytoplasm by budding into cytoplasmic vesicles. There are
20-nm-long club-shaped or petal-shaped projections that are widely spaced on
the outer surface of the envelope, resembling a solar corona. The 3 chief virus
proteins include a 60K phosphorylated nucleocapsid protein, a 90K glycoprotein
making up the petal-shaped structures, and a 23K glycoprotein embedded in the
envelope lipid bilayer. Viral antigens are found only in the cytoplasm of
infected cells.
Growth of Virus. The human coronaviruses are
difficult to grow in cell cultures. Some strains require human embryonic
tracheal and nasal organ cultures; others will grow in human embryonic
intestine or kidney cell cultures. The optimal temperature for growth is 33-35
°C.
Antigenic Properties. The human prototype strain is
229E. Some human isolates are closely related; others are not. Cross-reactions
occur between some human and some animal strains, but avian IBV appears to be
unrelated to human agents. All or most strains have CF antigens; some have
hemagglutinins.
Clinical Features andLaboratory Diagnosis. The human
coronaviruses produce "colds, "usually afebrile, in adults. If virus
is isolated, diagnosis can be confirmed by demonstrating a significant rise in
CF or Nt antibody titer in paired serum specimens.
In the absence
of virus isolation, serologic diagnosis can be made on the basis of
significantly increased antibody liters. The CF test is a more sensitive index
.of human coronavirus infections than is virus isolation with cell and organ
culture methods available at present. Serologic diagnosis of infections with
strain 229E is now possible by means of passive hemagglutination test. Red
cells coated with coronavirus antigen are agglutinated by antibody-containing
sera. The test is type-specific, as sensitive as the Nt test, rapid, and
convenient.
Epidemiology. As indicated in the foregoing, the coronaviruses
are a major cause of respiratory illness in adults during some winter months
when the incidence of colds is high but the isolation of rhinoviruses or other
respiratory viruses is low. These viruses are a common cause of virus-induced
exacerbations in patients with chronic bronchitis.
The apparent infrequency of coronavirus infections in children may be a
result of the type of test used: initial infections with strain 229E are
accompanied by only a transient CF antibody response, whereas in reinfections
in adults, the CF response is enhanced and the Nt antibody response is
diminished. Therefore, the Nt test should be the procedure of choice for
infants and children and the CF test more sensitive for adults.
Coronaviruses
of lower animals can establish long-term infections in their natural hosts
(pigs, chickens, mice). They may also set up inapparent persistent infections
in humans.
Arenaviruses
Pleomorphic particles
contain a segmented single negative strand RNA genome (MW 3-5 x 106),
are surrounded by an envelope, and measure 50-300 nm. They contain granules
believed to be ribosomes. Several hemorrhagic fever viruses that are
antigenically related fall into this group. Most have a rodent host in their
natural cycle.
Lassa fever
The first recognised cases of this disease occurred in 1969 among Americans
stationed in the Nigerian village of Lassa. The causative virus is extremely
virulent, with a mortality rate of 36-67% in 4 epidemics in West Africa
involving about 100 cases. Transmission can occur by human-to-human contact,
presenting a hazard to hospital personnel. Nine of 20 medical workers have died
from infections. Lassa fever can involve almost all the organ systems, although
symptoms may vary in the individual patient. The disease is characterized by
very high fever, mouth ulcers, severe muscle aches, skin rash with hemorrhages,
pneumonia, and heart and kidney damage. Benign, febrile cases do occur. The
virus can be isolated from the patient's blood in Vero monkey cell cultures.
Lassa virus is an arenavirus. Four arenaviruses cause human disease—Lassa,
lymphocytic choriomeningitis, Junin, and Machupo. They can be distinguished by
immunofluorescent antibody tests.
Lassa virus seems to be transmitted by human contact and also to have a
nonhuman cycle. During an epidemic in Sierra Leone in 1972, Lassa virus was
isolated from a house rat (Mastomys
natalensis). When the virus spreads within a hospital, human contact is
the mode of transmission.
The only available therapy for Lassa fever has employed hyperimmune serum
from recovered patients. Interferon is being considered now. Rodent control
may limit the natural cycle of the virus.
Lymphocytic
choriomeningitis
Lymphocytic
choriomeningitis (LCM) is an acute disease with aseptic meningitis or a mild
systemic influenzalike illness. Occasionally there is a severe
encephalomyelitis or a fatal systemic disease. The incubation period is usually
18-21 days but may be as short as 1-3 days. The mild systemic form is rarely
recognized clinically. There may be fever, malaise, generalized muscle aches
and pains, weakness, sore throat, and cough. The fever lasts for 3-14 days.
LCM is an
RNA-containing arenavirus 50-150 nm in diameter.
Diagnosis. Specific diagnosis can be made by the isolation of
virus from spinal fluid or blood during the acute phase and by tests
demonstrating a rise in antibody titer between acute and convalescent serum
specimens. Complement-fixing antibodies rise to diagnostic levels in 3-4 weeks,
then fall gradually and reach normal levels after several months. Neutralizing
antibodies appear later and reach diagnostic levels 7-8 weeks after onset; they
may persist for 4-5 years.
Laboratory Findings. In the prodromal period (or mild
systemic form), leukopenia with relative lymphocytosis is frequently present.
In the meningitic form, there is pleocytosis in the spinal fluid (100-3000 cells/mcL), with a predominance of lymphocytes.
The glucose is normal and the protein content slightly elevated.
Epidemiology and Control. The disease is endemic in mice
and other animals (dogs, monkeys, guinea pigs) and is occasionally transmitted
to humans. One large epidemic in the USA was caused by infected pet hamsters.
There is no evidence of person-to-person spread.
Infected grey
house mice, probably the most common source of human infection, excrete the
virus in urine and feces. The virus may be harboured by mice throughout their
lives, and females transmit it to their offspring, which In turn become healthy
carriers. Mice inoculated as adults develop a rapidly fatal generalised
infection. In contrast, congenitally or neonatally infected mice do not become
acutely ill, but 10-12 months later many develop a fatal debilitating disease
involving the central nervous system. The animals exhibit chronic
glomerulonephritis and hypergamma-globulinemia; the glomerular lesions are due
to deposition of antigen-antibody complexes, and the infection in mice is
considered an immune complex disease (see Slow Virus Diseases, below). The mode
of transmission from mice to humans is uncertain. Mice and their droppings
should be controlled.
Additional material
about laboratory
diagnosis
Rabies
The virus of
rabies belongs to the genus Lassavirus,
family Rhabdoviridae. Rabies is
characterized by involvement of the central nervous system, so the diagnosis
is based on detection in the brain tissue of Babes-Negri bodies (around the
hippocampus), viral antigen, or virus. Examination of the animal that has
bitten the patient involves recovery of the virus or viral antigen in the
tissue of the salivary gland by the IF or biological tests.
To isolate the
virus at the earliest stages of the disease, the cere-brospinal fluid, sputum,
urine and sublingual saliva are studied. The material is collected with a
cotton swab which is rinsed in several millilitres of sterile isotonic saline
and squeezed dry.
If the material
is to be examined within the first
24 hrs, the specimens are kept at 4 °C. When the material has to be
transported, it is frozen and sent in containers with dry ice. In cases of
prolonged storage (at —60 °C), a 20 per cent suspension of
the material is prepared.
Rapid diagnosis. The most widely spread method of examination is detection of
Babes-Negri bodies in preparations of the brain tissue under a light
microscope. For this purpose, the hippocampus tissue and the cortex of the
cerebrum and cerebellum are examined. A cover slip is slightly pressed onto
the surface of the section, the impression is stained by the Romanowsky-Giemsa
technique or by the method proposed by Turevich or Muromtsev, dried, and
examined microscopically (the preparation should be handled as an infective
material). Babes-Negri bodies are seen in the cytoplasm of large neurons and
appear as spherical or oblong pink-violet formations 2-10 mcm in diameter, with
a visible internal structure.
The virus is
detected in brain preparations by electron microscopy. The viral antigen in the brain tissue, impressions of the
submaxillary salivary glands, and oral mucosa is demonstrated by
immunofluorescence with the use of hyperimmune sera of animals.
Isolation of the virus. To isolate the virus, infect
white mice (preferably 1-2-day-old ones) with a suspension of the tissue from
the brain and other organs obtained from people who have died of the infection
and also with the cerebrospinal fluid and saliva of living patients.
If the result is positive, mice develop muscular tremor, motor
discoordination, excitation, or paralysis. As a rule, the animals die within
five days.
To confirm the
diagnosis, the brain of sick animals is examined, using the immunofiuorescence test,
for the presence of Babes-Negri bodies or for the antigen of the rabies virus.
The virus is identified by the neutralization reaction in mice.
Serological examination. To recover antibodies in
patients' blood serum, such tests as neutralization on mice, HAI, CF, IF, and ELISA are utilized. The above
methods are also used for determining the level of immunity in humans and
animals after vaccination.
Laboratory diagnosis
of rotaviral gastroenteritis
It is known at present that rotaviruses (the reovirus family) are
responsible for 50 per cent of all cases of gastroenteritis in childhood. The
aetiological role of these viruses in gastroenteritis in animals has also been
elucidated.
The material to
be examined is the patient's faeces.
Rotaviruses are
typically recovered from faeces during the first 6-8 days of the disease. Their
concentrations peak is on the 3rd-5th day
of the first clinical manifestations of the disease when their number reaches
1010–1011 viral particles in 1 g of faeces.
Faeces are collected in sterile vials which are filled to one-third of
their volume, closed with sterile stoppers, and transported in containers with melting ice. Samples are
either treated immediately after their arrival at the laboratory or kept
frozen.
Rapid diagnosis. The concentration of viral
particles in faeces specimens collected during the first days of the disease
amounts to 106-108 and over per 1 g, which makes possible
their detection by electron microscopy. To perform electron microscopic and
virological examination, prepare 10-20 per cent suspension of faeces in Hanks'
solution. Centrifuge the suspension for 30 min at 3000 X g to remove gross
particles, transfer the supernatant fraction to a sterile vial,
add penicillin (1000 U/ml) and
streptomycin (500 mg/ml), and let the mixture stand at 4 °C for 10-12 hrs.
Following centrifugation of the faecal extract, a drop of the supernatant is
contrasted with 2 per cent phosphotungstic acid (pH 6.5); the preparation is
made and examined microscopically (50 000 X).
Immunoelectron microscopic
examination has gained the widest application for this purpose owing to the
fact that it makes possible both to detect the virus in faeces and to identify
it.
Figure. Rotaviruses in a faecal sample from a patient with gastroenteritis
(immunoelectron microscopy)
To carry out this examination, 0.1 ml of immune serum diluted 1 to 5 is
mixed with 0.4 ml of 10 per cent faecal suspension which has already been
centrifuged. The mixture is allowed to stand for 1 h at room temperature and
for 12 hrs at 4 °C; then, it is centrifuged for 90 min at 15 000 X g. The
pellet is resuspended in several drops of distilled water, contrasted with 2
per cent phosphotungstic acid (pH 6.5), and examined under the electron
microscope for the aggregates of virions with typical morphology.
Immune
precipitation involving staining of precipitates with fluorescent antibodies is
also employed for the rapid diagnosis. Prepare a 2 per cent faecal suspension,
then centrifuge it and filter through a millipore filter with the pores
measuring 1.2 mcm in diameter. Mix the suspension (0.2 ml) with 0.2 ml of
diluted immune serum, let the mixture stand at 37 °C for 1 h, and then
centrifuge it at 12 000 X g for 1 h. Resuspend the sediment in 0.2
ml of phosphate buffer and add 0.2 ml of fluorescent immimoglobulin. Following
a 10-min incubation, centrifuge the mixture at 2000 X g for 10 min, resuspend
it in phosphate buffer, place on a glass slide, cover with a cover slip, and
examine under the oil-immersion microscope with a fluorescent attachment.
RIA and ELISA
tests are the most sensitive for demonstrating the rotaviral antigen. To run
ELISA, place 0.5-ml portions of 2 per cent faecal suspension into wells on
polysterene panels treated with immune globulin, add 0.25 ml of 2 per cent calf
embryonic serum with 0.1 per cent of Twin-20 into each well, incubate for 1 h at 37 °C, then wash (three times) the
wells by phosphate buffer witli Twin-20, and introduce 10 ml of conjugated
rotaviral antiserum. Following 1-hour incubation at 37 °C, wash the wells once
again and add the substrate. The results of the reaction are read by the
intensity of substrate staining.
Reversed indirect haemagglutination and haemadsorption on a solid medium
are finding an increasingly wider application in the rapid diagnosis of
rotaviral infections.
Isolation of
the virus from faeces is complicated by the fact that there are no cell
cultures or animals sensitive to the rotavirus.
Serological
examination is aimed at detecting specific antibodies in the paired blood sera
taken within the first 3-4 days of the disease and then 12-14 days after the
disease outset. The presence of antibodies is established by immunoelectron
microscopic examination, using as an
antigen a faecal preparation with a high level of rotaviral particles or a
preparation of animal rotaviruses in passaged tissue cultures.
The
complement-fixation test, in which
the antigen used consists of previously selected suspensions of faeces from
patients with gastroenteritis or rotaviruses of animals, has also found wide
application. Other tests employed for this purpose include HAI with animal
rotaviruses serving as an antigen, IF with a cell culture infected with animal
rotaviruses (typically with the virus of diarrhoea of Nebraska calves), RIA,
and ELISA.
Adenovirus Family
Adenoviruses consist of 2 genera, one that infects
birds and another that infects mammals. Human adenoviruses are divided into 5
groups (A-E) based on their physical, chemical, and biologic properties. There
are at least 37 antigenic types of human adenoviruses that may produce
subclinical infection, respiratory tract or eye diseases, and occasionally
other disorders. A few types serve as models for cancer induction in animals.
Properties of the Virus. Structure: Infective
virions, 70-90 nm in diameter, are icosahedrons with capsids composed of 252
capsomeres. Three structural proteins, produced in large excess, constitute
"soluble antigens" A, B, and C (Table). There is no envelope. The DNA
is linear and double-stranded (MW 20-30 x 106). The guanine-cytosine
(G + C) content of the DNA is lowest (48-49%) in group A (types 12, 18, and
31), which are the most strongly oncogenic types. The DNA can be isolated in an
infectious form capable of transforming cells in culture.
Table.
Comparative data on adenovirus type 2
morphologic and antigenic subunits and protein components
Dodecon: Hemagglutinin made up of 12 pentons
with their fibers.
Animal Susceptibility and Transformation of Cells. Most
laboratory animals are not readily infected with adenoviruses. Newborn
hamsters sustain a fatal infection with type 5 and develop malignant tumours
when inoculated with any of 8 or more types, including types 12, 18, and 31. Adenovirus
cannot be recovered from these tumours, but in the tumour a new antigen can be
detected by complement fixation or immunofluorescence. This tumour, or T,
antigen also develops in hamster cells that are infected or transformed by
oncogenic adenovirus types. Transformed cells produce tumours when inoculated
into adult hamsters but do not contain infectious virus. Only a small part
(< 10%) of the adenovirus genome is present in many transformed cells. This
explains the inability to recover infectious virus from such cells.
Adenovirus
messenger RNA (mRNA) can be detected
in transformed or tumour cells. Different types of adenovirus result in
different mRNA in transformed cells.
In human
tumours, adenovirus DNA or mRNA has never been found.
Antigenic Properties. All adenoviruses contain a
common complement-fixing antigen mat persists in suspensions of virus treated
with heat or formalin to inactivate infectivity. At least 47 antigenic types
have been isolated from humans and many additional ones from various animals.
They are typed by cross-neutralization tests or hemagglutination-inhibition.
The major
antigens, their size, and their structural position in the virion are shown in
Table 1. Group-reactive complement-fixing antigens are hexons that form a
majority of capsomeres and are 8 nm in diameter. Pentons have a similar size,
occur at the 12 vertices of the capsid, and have a fiber protruding from them.
The penton base carries a toxinlike activity that results in detachment of
cells from the surface on which they are growing. Pentons and fibers are
associated with hemagglutinating activity.
Group B
adenoviruses (types 3,7,11, 14, 16,21, 34, 35) clump rhesus but not rat
erythrocytes: group D (types 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19. 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29,
30, 32, 33, 36, 37) clump rat but not rhesus erythrocytes; groups C (types 1,
2, 5, 6) and D (type 4) only partly clump rat cells. Types 20, 25, and 28 are
atypical in that they have the physical and chemical properties of group D but
agglutinate only rhesus cells. Group A (oncogenic types 12, 18, and 31)
adenoviruses usually fail to hemagglutinate. Inhibition of hemagglutination by
type-specific sera can be used for typing isolates. Some cross-reactions,
however, do occur.
Virus Growth in Cell Culture. Adenoviruses are cytopathic
for human cell cultures, particularly primary kidney and continuous epithelial
cells. Growth of virus in tissue culture is associated with a stimulation of
acid production (increased glycolysis) in the early stages of infection. The
cytopathic effect usually consists of marked rounding and aggregation of
affected cells into grapelike clusters. The infected cells do not lyse even
though they round up and leave the glass surface on which they have been grown.
In HeLa cells
infected with adenovirus types 3,4, and 7, rounded intranuclear inclusions
containing DNA are seen. The virus particles develop in the nucleus and
frequently exhibit crystalline arrangement. Many cells infected with type 5
virus also contain crystals, but these crystals are composed of a protein that
has not been clearly identified.
During adenovirus replication in cultures of human cells, at least 12
virus-specific polypeptides are synthesized. These peptides are cataloged and
their relationship to the virus structure is shown in Table 1.
Adenovirus DNA replication occurs in the nucleus and requires host cell
DNA polymerase. Adenovirus mRNA is also made in the nucleus in a complex
sequence that requires first the synthesis of larger molecules which are broken
up and some sections of which are respliced by special enzymes. The spliced
mRNA is translated into virus proteins.
Adenovirus-specific proteins are synthesized in the cytoplasm of infected
cells and then move rapidly into the nucleus, where viral maturation occurs. In
the adenovirus growth cycle in human epithelial cells, new virus particles can
be detected about 16-20 hours after inoculation and continue to be formed at a
uniform rate for the next 24 hours. About 7000 virus particles are produced per
infected cell, and most of them remain intracellular. Particles having a
density of 1.34 are infectious (one particle in 5 is infectious), whereas those
having densities of less than 1.30 are noninfectious, since they lack the DNA
core. Crude infected cell lysates show huge quantities of capsomeres, sometimes
partially assembled into viral components.
When infecting
cells derived from species other than humans, the human adenoviruses undergo an
abortive replication cycle. Adenovirus tumour antigen, mRNA, and DNA are all
synthesized, but no capsid proteins or infectious progeny are produced.
Adenovirus-SV40 "Hybrids": Certain
adenoviruses grown in monkey kidney cell cultures have become
"contaminated" with the monkey virus SV40. While some of it was free
in the mixture, other SV40 genomes became covalently linked to the adenovirus,
so that stable "hybrids" were formed. Two types of hybrids have been
identified. One is a defective adenovirus-SV40 genome encased in an adenovirus
capsid. The other consists of nondefective (i.e., self-replicating) adenovirus
type 2 that carries 5-40% of the SV40 genome. These hybrids have been used in
genetic analysis but have no manifest medical relevance.
Adenoassociated Virus (AAV): In some adenovirus preparations, small 20-nm particles were
found. These proved to be small viruses that could not replicate unless
adenovirus (or sometimes herpesvirus) was present as a helper. AAV contains
single-stranded DNA (MW 1.6 x 106) and is serologically unrelated to
adenovirus. Four antigenic types of AAV are known, 3 of which infect humans but
do not seem to produce disease. AAV can infect cells in the absence of an
adenovirus helper and induce a latent infection. AAV enters the cell nucleus
and is uncoated there, but no mRNA synthesis occurs. Upon addition of an adenovirus,
AAV is "rescued" and replication occurs
Pathogenesis. Adenoviruses infect epithelial cells of mucous
membranes, the cornea, and other organ systems. They can be isolated from such
structures during acute illness and may persist for long periods. Types 1,2,5
and 6 can be isolated from surgically removed adenoids or tonsils of most
children by growing the epithelium in vitro. Gradual removal of antibody during
long culture in vitro permits the viruses to grow, as they cannot be isolated
directly from suspensions of such tissues.
Most human
adenoviruses grow in intestinal epithelium after ingestion but usually do not
produce symptoms or lesions.
Clinical Findings. Adenovirus diseases include
syndromes designated as undifferentiated acute respiratory disease,
pharyngoconjunctival fever, nonstreptococcal exudative pharyngitis, and primary
atypical pneumonia not associated with the development of cold agglutinins.
Pharyngoconjunctival
fever may be caused by several adenovirus types. It is characterized by fever,
conjunctivitis, pharyngitis, malaise, and cervical lymphadenopathy. The
conjunctivitis is readily reproduced when any adenovirus is swabbed onto the
eyes of volunteers, However, under natural conditions, only types 3 and 7
regularly cause outbreaks in which conjunctivitis is a predominant symptom.
Types 1, 2, 5, 6, 37, and many others have produced sporadic cases of
conjunctivitis.
Types 8 and 19
cause epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (shipyard eye). The disease is characterized
by an acute conjunctivitis, with enlarged, tender preauricular nodes, followed
by keratitis that leaves round, subepithelial opacities in the cornea for up to
2 years. Type 8 infections have been characterized by their lack of associated
systemic symptoms except in infants. Intussusception of infancy has been
ascribed to adenoviruses 1, 2, 3, and 5.
Types 11 and 21
may be a cause of acute hemorrhagic cystitis in children. Virus commonly occurs
in the urine of such patients- Type 37 occurs in cervical lesions and in male
urethritis and may be sexually transmitted.
A newly
discovered serotype has been associated with infantile gastroenteritis. The
virus is abundantly present in stools but has not been grown in cell culture.
Laboratory Diagnosis. Recovery of Virus. The viruses are isolated by inoculation of tissue
cultures of human cells in which characteristic cytopathic changes are
produced.
The viruses
have been recovered from throat swabs, conjunctival swabs, rectal swabs, stools
of patients with acute pharyngitis and conjunctivitis, and urine of patients
with acute hemorrhagic cystitis. Virus isolations from the eye are obtained
mainly from patients with conjunctivitis.
A new serotype
that has not been isolated in cell cultures can be detected by direct
examination of fecal extracts by electron microscopy or by enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay.
Serology. In most
cases, the neutralizing antibody titer of infected persons shows a 4-fold or
greater rise against the type recovered from the patient and a lesser response
to other types. Neutralizing antibodies are measured in human cell cultures
using the cytopathic end point in tube cultures or the colour test in panel
cups. The latter test depends upon the phenomenon that adenovirus growing in
HeLa cell cultures produces an excess of acid over that of uninfected control
cultures. This viral lowering of pH can be prevented by immune serum. The pH is
measured by incorporating phenol red into the medium and observing the colour
changes after 3 days of incubation. Serum and cell control cultures reach a pH
of 7.4; virus activity is indicated by a pH of 7.0; and neutralization is
presumed to have occurred when the pH is 0.2 unit above that of the virus
control.
Infection of
humans with any adenovirus type stimulates a rise in complement-fixing
antibodies to adenovirus antigens of all types. The CF test, using the common
antigen, is an easily applied method for detecting infection by any member of
the group.
A sensitive
radioimmunoassay can measure serum antibody to type 5 fiber antigen. In
response to vaccination with the fiber subunit, volunteers exhibited a 54-fold
increase in antifiber antibody.
Immunity. Studies in volunteers revealed that type-specific
neutralizing antibodies protect against the disease but not always against
reinfection. Infections with the viruses were frequently induced without the
production of overt illness.
Neutralizing
antibodies against one or more types may be present in over 50% of infants 6-11
months old. Normal healthy adults generally have antibodies to several types.
Neutralizing antibodies to types 1 and 2 occur in 55-70% of individuals age
6-15, but antibodies to types 3 and 4 are less prevalent. Neutralizing
antibodies probably persist for life.
Infants are
usually born without complement-fixing antibodies but develop these by age 6
months. Older individuals with neutralizing antibodies to 4 or more strains
frequently give completely negative complement fixation reactions. For
military recruits, the incidence of infection (especially due to types 3 and 4)
was not influenced by the presence of group complement-fixing antibodies.
Epidemiology. Adenoviruses can readily spread from person to
person. Type 1, 2, 5, and 6 infections occur chiefly during the first years of
life and are associated with fever and pharyngitis or asymptomatic infection.
These are the types most frequently obtained from the adenoids and tonsils.
In children and
young adults, types 3 and 7 commonly cause upper respiratory illness,
pharyngitis, and conjunctivitis. While the illness is usually mild, occasionally
there is high fever, cervical lymphadenitis, and even pneumonitis. Sometimes
enteric infection produces gastroenteritis, but more commonly it is
asymptomatic. Types 11 and 21 can produce acute hemorrhagic cystitis in
children.
In adolescents
and young adults, eg, college populations, only 2-5% of respiratory illness is
caused by adenoviruses. In sharp contrast, respiratory disease due to types 3,
4, 7, 14, and 21 is common among military recruits. Adenovirus disease causes
great morbidity when large numbers of persons are being inducted into the armed
forces; consequently, its greatest impact is during periods of mobilization.
During a 1-year study, 10% of recruits in basic training were hospitalized for
a respiratory illness caused by an adenovirus. During the winter, adenovirus
accounted for 72% of all the respiratory illness. However, adenovirus disease
is not a problem in seasoned troops.
The follicular
conjunctivitis caused by many adenovirus types resembles chlamydial
conjunctivitis and is self-limited.
Epidemic
keratoconjunctivitis caused by type 8 spread in 1941 from Australia via the
Hawaiian Islands to the Pacific Coast. There it spread rapidly through the
shipyards and other industries, thence to the East Coast, and finally to the
Midwest. A large outbreak caused by type 8 occurred in 1977 in Georgia among
patients subjected to invasive eye procedures by one ophthalmologist. The
initial case was a nurse who returned from a vacation in Korea with severe
keratoconjunctivitis. In the USA, the incidence of neutralizing antibody to
type 8 adenovirus in the general population has been about 1 %, whereas in
Japan it has been over 30%. In Japan, type 8 spreads via the respiratory route
in children. Since 1973, adenovirus type 19 has also caused epidemics of
typical epidemic keratoconjunctivitis.
Canine
hepatitis virus is an adenovirus. Therefore, humans infected with adenoviruses
develop group complement-fixing antibodies that also react with canine
hepatitis virus.
In prospective
family studies, adenovirus infections have been found to be predominantly
enteric; they may be abortive or invasive and followed by persistent
intermittent excretion of virus. Such excretion is most characteristic of
types 1,2,3, and 5, which are usually endemic. Infection rates are highest
among infants, but siblings who introduce the infection into a household are
more effective in spreading the disease than are infants; similarly, duration
of excretion is more important than the mode. In the families studied,
neutralizing antibodies provided immunity (85% protective) against homotypic
but not heterotypic infection. The contribution of adenoviruses to all
infectious illness in the families, based on virus-positive infections only,
was 5% in infants and 3% in the 2- to 4-year-old age group.
Prevention & Control. A trivalent vaccine was prepared
by growing type 3,4, and 7 viruses in monkey kidney cultures and then
inactivating the viruses with formalin. However, when it was found that the
vaccine strains were contaminated genetically with SV40 tumour virus
determinants, this vaccine was withdrawn from use. Subsequently, it was found
that most adenovirus strains do not replicate in monkey cells unless SV40 is
present as a helper virus. Thus, a vaccine had to be made from noncontaminated
live virus that could be grown in human diploid cells, The vaccine is given
orally in a coated capsule to liberate the virus into the intestine. By this
route, the live vaccine produces a subclinical infection that confers a high
degree of immunity against wild strains. It does not spread from a vaccinated
person to contacts. Such live virus vaccines against type 4 and type 7 are
licensed and recommended for immunization of military populations. When both
are administered simultaneously, vaccines respond with neutralizing antibodies
against both virus types.
Rigid asepsis
during eye examination is essential in the control of epidemic
keratoconjunctivitis.
Herpesvirus
Family
All herpesviruses have a core of
double-stranded DNA surrounded by a protein coat that exhibits icosahedral
symmetry and has 162 capsomeres. The nucleocapsid is surrounded by an envelope.
The enveloped form measures 150-200 nm; the "naked" virion, 100 nm.
The double-stranded DNA (MW 85-150 x lO6) has a wide range of
guanine + cytosine content in different herpesviruses, There is little DNA
homology among different herpesviruses, except herpes simplex types 1 and 2.
Various
classifications for herpesviruses have been proposed, but individual virus
names are generally used. Common and important herpesviruses of humans include
herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr (EB)
virus, and cytomegalovirus. They have a propensity for subclinical infection,
latency following the primary infection, and reactivation thereafter.
Herpesviruses
that infect lower animals are B virus of Old World monkeys; herpesviruses
saimiri, aotus, and ateles; marmoset herpesvirus of New World monkeys,
pseudorabies virus of pigs; virus III of rabbits; infectious bovine
rhinotracheitis virus; and many others. Herpesviruses are also known for birds,
fish, fungi, and oysters, although the only link between some of these viruses
is their appearance in the electron microscope.
Herpesviruses
have been linked with malignant diseases in humans and lower animals: herpes
simplex virus type 2 with cervical and vulvar carcinoma; EB virus with Burkilt
's lymphoma of African children and with nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Lucke virus
with renal adenocarcinomas of the frog; Marek's disease virus with a lymphoma
of chickens; Hinze virus with a lymphoma of rabbits; and a number of New World
primate herpesviruses with reticulum cell sarcomas and lymphomas in these
animals.
HERPES SIMPLEX (Human Herpesvirus 1 & 2) (Herpes
Labialis, Herpes Genitalis, & Many Other Syndromes).
Infection with
herpes simplex virus (herpesvirus hominis) may take several clinical forms. The
infection is most often inapparent. The usual clinical manifestation is a
vesicular eruption of the skin or mucous membranes. Infection is sometimes seen
as severe keratitis, meningoencephalitis, and a disseminated illness of the
newborn.
Properties of the Virus. Morphologically and chemically, herpes simplex virus has been studied in
great detail (see Fig. 1). The envelope is derived from the nuclear membrane of
the infected cell. It contains lipids, carbohydrate, and protein and is removed
by ether treatment. The double-stranded DNA genome is linear (MW 85-106 x 106).
Types 1 and 2 show 50% sequence homology. Treatment with restriction
endonucleases yields characteristically different cleavage patterns for type 1
and 2 viruses and even for different strains of each type. This
"fingerprinting" of strains allows epidemiologic tracing of a given
strain, whereas in the past, the ubiquitousness of herpes simplex virus made
such investigations impossible.
Animal Susceptibility and Growth of Virus. The virus has a
wide host range and can infect rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, hamsters, rats, and
the chorioallantois of the embryonated egg.
In rabbits,
herpesvirus produces a vesicular eruption in the skin of the inoculated area,
sometimes progressing to fatal encephalitis. Corneal inoculation results in
dendritic keratitis, which may progress to encephalitis, The virus may remain
latent in the brains of survivors, and anaphylactic shock can precipitate an
acute relapse of encephalomyelitis. Herpetic keratitis heals, but infective
herpesvirus may be recovered from the eye intermittently with or without
clinical activity. The virus remains latent in the trigeminal ganglion.
In the
chorioallantoic membrane of embryonated eggs the lesions are raised white
plaques, each induced by one infectious virus particle. The plaques produced by
herpesvirus type 2 are larger than the tiny plaques produced by type 1 virus.
The virus grows readily and produces plaques in almost any cell culture.
Infected cells develop inclusion bodies and then undergo necrosis (cytopathic
effect).
In Chinese
hamster cells, which contain 22 chromosomes, the virus causes breaks in region
7 of chromosome No. 1 and in region 3 of the X chromosome. The Y chromosome is
unaffected.
Virus Replication. The virus enters the cell either
by fusion with the cell membrane or by pinocytosis. It is then uncoated, and
the DNA becomes associated with the nucleus. Normal cellular DNA and protein
synthesis virtually stop as virus replication begins. The virus induces a
number of enzymes, at least 2 of which — thymidine kinase and DNA polymerase —
are virus-coded. Thymidine kinases produced by different herpesviruses are
serologically different from each other and different from the enzyme in
uninfected cells. Phosphonoacetic acid specifically inhibits herpesvirus
replication by inhibiting viral DNA polymerase.
Viral proteins
are made in a controlled sequence that must proceed stepwise. They are made in
the cytoplasm and most are transported to the nucleus, where they take part in
virus DNA synthesis and the assembly of nucleocapsids, Maturation occurs by budding
of nucleocapsids through the altered inner nuclear membrane. Enveloped virus
particles are then released from the cell through tubular structures that are
continuous with the outside of the cell or from vacuoles that release their
contents at the cell surface.
Defective Interfering Herpesvirions:
Serial passage of undiluted herpes simplex virus results in cyclic production
of infectious and defective virions. The DNA in defective virions is made up of
reiterated sequences of small fragments of the virus DNA. Defective virions
interfere with the replication of standard virus and stimulate overproduction
of a large polypeptide, which may have a regulatory function. The biologic role
of the defective virions is not known.
Antigenic Properties. There are 7-12 precipitating
antigens that represent structural and non-structural viral proteins. Some of
these antigens are common to both types 1 and 2 and some are specific for one
type. A number of tests, eg, fluorescent antibody, complement fixation, virus
neutralization, and radioimmunoassay, have been used to detect herpesvirus
antigens.
Differentiation of Types 1 and 2. Herpes simplex virus types 1 and
2 cross-react serologically but may be distinguished by a number of tests: (1)
The use of type-specific antiserum prepared by adsorption of the viral
antiserum with heterotypically infected cells or by inoculation of rabbits with
individual type-specific proteins. (2) The greater temperature sensitivity of
type 2 infectivity. (3) Preferential growth in different cell species. (4)
Restriction enzyme patterns of virus DNA molecules. (5) Differences in the
polypeptides produced by type 1 and type 2.
Oncogenic Properties: After inactivation of their
lytic capabilities by ultraviolet irradiation or other means, herpesvirus types
1 and 2 can cause transformation of cultured hamster cells, which may induce
tumours when inoculated into newborn hamsters. Viral genetic information can be
demonstrated in the tumour cells.
Pathogenesis & Pathology. The lesion in the skin involves
proliferation, ballooning degeneration, and intranuclear acidophilic inclusions.
In fatal cases of herpes encephalitis, there are meningitis, perivascular
infiltration, and nerve cell destruction, especially in the cortex. Neonatal
generalized herpes infection causes areas of focal necrosis with a mononuclear
reaction and formation of intranuclear inclusion bodies in all organs.
Survivors may sustain permanent damage.
The fully
formed early inclusion (Cowdry type A inclusion body) is rich in DNA and
virtually fills the nucleus, compressing the chromatin to the nuclear margin.
Later, the inclusion loses its DNA and is separated by a halo from the
chromatin at the nuclear margin.
Clinical Findings. Herpesvirus may cause many
clinical entities, and the infections may be primary or recurrent. Primary
infections occur in persons without antibodies and often result in the virus
assuming a latent state in sensory ganglia of the host. Latent infections
persist in persons with antibodies, and recurrent lesions are common (eg,
recurrent herpes labialis). The primary infection in most individuals is
clinically inapparent but is invariably accompanied by antibody production.
The recurrent
attacks, in the presence of viral neutralizing antibody, follow non-specific
stimuli such as exposure to excess sunlight, fever, menstruation, or emotional
stresses.
Herpesvirus Type 1. The clinical
entities attributable to herpesvirus type 1 include the following:
1. Acute herpetic
gingivostomatitis (aphthous stomatitis, Vincent's stomatitis). This is the most common clinical
entity caused by primary infections with type 1 herpesvirus. It occurs most
frequently in small children (1-3 years of age) and includes extensive
vesiculoulcerative lesions of the mucous membranes of the mouth, fever,
irritability, and local lymphadenopathy. The incubation period is short (about
3-5 days), and the lesions heal in 2-3 weeks.
2. Eczema herpeticum (Kaposi's
varicelliform eruption). This is a primary infection, usually with herpesvirus type 1, in a person
with chronic eczema. In this illness, there may be extensive vesiculation of
the skin over much of the body and high fever. In rare instances, the illness
may be fatal.
3. Keratoconjunctivitis. The initial infection with
herpesvirus may be in the eye, producing severe keratoconjunctivitis. Recurrent
lesions of the eye appear as dendritic keratitis or corneal ulcers or as vesicles
on the eyelids. With recurrent keratitis, there may be progressive involvement
of the corneal stroma, with permanent opacification and blindness.
4. Encephalitis. A severe form of encephalitis may
be produced by herpesvirus. In adults, the neurologic manifestations suggest a
lesion in the temporal lobe. Pleocytosis (chiefly of lymphocytes) is present in
the cerebrospinal fluid; however, definite diagnosis during the illness can
usually be made only by isolation of the virus (or by demonstrating viral
antigens by immunofluorescence) from brain tissue obtained by biopsy or at
post-mortem. The disease carries a high mortality rate, and those who survive
often have residual neurologic defects.
5. Herpes labialis (cold sores,
herpes febrilis). This
is the most common recurrent disease produced by type 1. Clusters of localized
vesicles occur, usually at the mucocutaneous junction of the lips. The vesicle
ruptures, leaving a painful ulcer that heals without scarring. The lesions may
recur, repeatedly and at various intervals of time, in the same location. The
permanent site of latent herpes simplex virus is the trigeminal ganglion.
Herpesvirus Type 2. The clinical
entities associated with herpesvirus type 2 include the following:
1. Genital herpes (herpes
progenitalis). Genital
herpes is characterized by vesiculoulcerative lesions of the penis of the male
or the cervix, vulva, vagina, and perineum of the female. The lesions are more
severe during primary infection and may be associated with fever, malaise, and
inguinal lymphadenopathy. In women with herpesvirus antibodies, only the
cervix or vagina may be involved, and the disease may therefore be
asymptomatic. Recurrence of the lesions is common. Type 2 virus remains
latent in lumbar and sacral ganglia. Changing patterns of sexual behaviour are
reflected by an increasing number of type 1 virus isolations from genital
lesions and of type 2 from facial lesions, presumably as a result of
oral-genital sexual activity.
2. Neonatal herpes. Herpesvirus type 2 may be transmitted to the newborn during
birth by contact with herpetic lesions in the birth canal. The spectrum of
illness produced in the newborn appears to vary from subclinical or local to
severe generalized disease with a fatal outcome. Severely affected infants who
survive may have permanent brain damage. To avoid infection, delivery by
cesarean section has been used in pregnant women with genital herpes lesions.
To be effective, cesarean section must be performed before rupture of the
membranes.
Severe generalized disease of the newborn can be
acquired postnatally by exposure to either type 1 or 2. Efforts should be made
to prevent exposure to active lesions among family and especially among
hospital personnel.
Transplacental infection of the fetus with types 1
and 2 herpes simplex virus may cause congenital malformations, but this
phenomenon is rare.
Miscellaneous. Localized
lesions of the skin caused by type 1 or 2 may occur in abrasions that become
contaminated with the virus (traumatic herpes), These lesions are seen on the
fingers of dentists, hospital personnel (herpetic whitlow), or persons with
genital lesions and on the bodies of wrestlers.
Primary and
recurrent herpes can occur in the nose (acute herpetic rhinitis).
Mild aseptic
meningitis has been attributed to the virus, and recurrent episodes of
meningeal irritation have been observed.
Epidemiologic
evidence has demonstrated that in most geographic areas, patients with cervical
and vulvar cancer have a high frequency of type 2 antibodies. In addition,
herpesvirus type 2 non-structural antigens have been detected by
immunofluorescence in biopsies of cervical and vulvar carcinomas.
Laboratory Diagnosis
Recovery of Virus. The virus may be isolated from
herpetic lesions (skin, cornea, or brain). It may also be found in the throat,
saliva, and stools, both during primary infection and during asymptomatic
periods. Therefore, the isolation of herpesvirus is not in itself sufficient
evidence to indicate that this virus is the causative agent of a disease under
investigation.
inoculation of
tissue cultures is used for virus isolation. The appearance of typical
cytopathic effects in cell culture suggests the presence of herpesvirus in
18-36 hours. The agent is then identified by neutralization test or
immunofluorescence staining with specific antiserum.
Scrapings or swabs from the base of early herpetic lesions contain
multinucleated giant cells.
Serology. Antibodies
may be measured quantitatively by neutralization tests in cell cultures. In the
early stage of the primary immune response, neutralizing antibody appears that
is detectable only in the presence of fresh complement. This antibody soon is
replaced by neutralizing antibody that can function without complement.
Since the only
hope for treatment of herpes simplex virus encephalitis lies in early
diagnosis, a rapid means of diagnosis is needed. The fluorescent antibody test
using brain biopsy material is the method of choice. Passive hemagglutinating
antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid
are a better indicator of the presence of infectious virus than are antibody
titters in serum.
A soluble
complement-fixing antigen of much smaller size than the virus can be prepared
from infected chorioallantoic membranes or from tissue culture. This soluble
antigen of herpesvirus can detect dermal hypersensitivity in previously
infected persons. There is a good correlation between dermal hypersensitivity
and the presence of serum antibodies.
Antibodies
appear in 4-7 days; can be measured by neutralization, complement fixation,
radioimmunoassay, or immunofluorescence; and reach a peak in 2-4 weeks. They
persist with minor fluctuations for the life of the host. The majority of
adults have antibodies in their blood at all times.
After a primary
type I infection, the IgM neutralizing antibody response is type-specific, but
after a primary type 2 infection the IgM that develops neutralizes both type 1
and type 2 virus. Subsequently, IgG antibodies react with both type 1 and type
2 antigens, albeit in varying ratios.
There is also
some cross-stimulation between herpes simplex and varicella-zoster antigens in
patients with pre-existing antibody to the other virus.
Immunity. Many newborns have passively transferred maternal
antibodies. This antibody is lost during the first 6 months of life, and the
period of greatest susceptibility to primary herpes infection occurs between
ages 6 months and 2 years. Type 1 antibodies begin to appear in the population
in early childhood; by adolescence they are present in most persons. Antibodies
to type 2 (genital herpesvirus) rise during the age of adolescence and sexual
activity.
After recovery
from a primary infection (inapparent, mild, or severe), the virus is usually
carried in a latent state, in the presence of antibodies.
Treatment. Topically applied idoxuridine (5-iodo-2'-deoxy-uridine,
IUDR), trifluorothymidine, vidarabine (ade-nine arabinoside, ara-A), acyclovir,
and other inhibitors of viral DNA synthesis are effective in herpetic
keratitis. These drugs inhibit herpesvirus replication and may suppress
clinical manifestations. However, the virus remains latent in the sensory
ganglia, and the rate of relapse is similar in drug-treated and untreated
individuals. Some drug-resistant virus strains have emerged. Most strains of
type 2 herpesvirus are suppressed less effectively than type 1.
For systemic
administration, vidarabine (15 mg/kg/d intravenously) is accepted in herpes
encephalitis diagnosed by biopsy. Best results are obtained if treatment is
begun early in the disease, before coma sets in. Vidarabine also has some
effect in disseminated herpes simplex.
Other drugs,
especially acyclovir, are undergoing clinical trial, and many new antiherpes
compounds are being developed. Acyclovir has low toxicity and has been
administered systemically to suppress the activation of a latent herpes
infection in immunosuppressed patients.
Epidemiology. The epidemiology of type 1 and type 2 herpesvirus
differs. Herpesvirus type 1 is probably more constantly present in humans than
any other virus. Primary infection occurs early in life and is often
asymptomatic or produces acute gingivostomatitis. Antibodies develop, but the
virus is not eliminated from the body; a carrier state is established that
lasts throughout life and is punctuated by transient attacks of herpes. If
primary infection is avoided in childhood, it may not occur in later life,
perhaps because the thicker adult epithelium is less susceptible or because the
opportunity for contact with the virus is diminished (less contact with saliva
of infected persons).
The highest
incidence of type I virus carriage in the oropharynx of healthy persons occurs
among children 6 months to 3 years of age. By adulthood, 70-90% of persons
have type 1 antibodies.
Type 1 virus is
transmitted more readily in families of lower socioeconomic groups; the most obvious
explanation is their more crowded living conditions and lower hygienic
standards. The virus is spread by direct contact (saliva) or through utensils
contaminated with the saliva of a virus shedder. The source of infection for
children is usually a parent with an active herpetic lesion.
Type 2 is usually acquired as
a sexually transmitted disease, and the age distribution of primary infection
is a function of sexual activity. The neonate may acquire type 2 infection from
an active lesion in the mother's birth canal.
Control. Neonates and persons with eczema should be protected from evident active
herpetic lesions. Although certain drugs are effective in treatment of
herpesvirus infections, once a latent infection is established there has been
no known treatment that would prevent recurrences until the recent successful
results with acyclovir in immunosuppressed patients.
Little Is known
about vaccines. Herpes recurs in the presence of circulating antibody, so a
vaccine would be of little use in a person who already had a primary infection.
A vaccine currently made in Europe has not been adequately tested.
VARICELLA-ZOSTER
VIRUS (Human Herpesvirus 3)
VARICELLA (Chickenpox) ZOSTER (Herpes Zoster,
Shingles, Zona)
Varicella (chickenpox)
is a mild, highly infectious disease, chiefly of children, characterized clinically
by a vesicular eruption of the skin and mucous membranes. However, in
immunocompromised children the disease may be severe. The causative agent is
indistinguishable from the virus of zoster.
Zoster
(shingles) is a sporadic, incapacitating disease of adults (rare in children)
that is characterized by an inflammatory reaction of the posterior nerve roots
and ganglia, accompanied by crops of vesicles (like those of varicella) over
the skin supplied by the affected sensory nerves.
Both diseases
are caused by the same virus. Varicella is the acute disease that follows
primary contact with the virus, whereas zoster is the response of the partially
immune host to a reactivation of varicella virus present in latent form in
sensory ganglia.
Properties of the Virus. Varicella-zoster virus is
morphologically identical with herpes simplex virus. The virus propagates in
cultures of human embryonic tissue and produces typical intranuclear inclusion
bodies. Supernatant fluids from such infected cultures contain a
complement-fixing antigen but no infective virus. Infectious virus is easily
transmitted by infected cells. The virus has not been propagated in laboratory
animals. Virus can be isolated from the vesicles of chickenpox or zoster
patients or from the cerebrospinal fluid in cases of zoster aseptic meningitis.
Inoculation of
vesicle fluid of zoster into children produces vesicles at the site of
inoculation in about 10 days. This may be followed by generalized skin lesions
of varicella. Generalized varicella may occur in such inoculated children
without local vesicle formation. Contacts of such children develop typical
varicella after a 2-week incubation period. Children who have recovered from
zoster virus-induced infection are resistant to varicella, and those who have
had varicella are no longer susceptible to primary zoster virus.
Antibody to
varicella-zoster virus can be measured by CF, gel precipitation, neutralization,
or indirect immunofluorescence to virus-induced membrane antigens.
The virus has a
colchicinelike effect on human cells. Arrest in metaphase, overcontracted
chromosomes, chromosome breaks, and formation of micronuclei are often seen.
Pathogenesis & Pathology.
Varicella: The route of infection is probably the mucosa of
the upper respiratory tract. The virus probably circulates in the blood and
localizes in the skin. Swelling of epithelial cells, ballooning degeneration,
and the accumulation of tissue fluids result in vesicle formation. In nuclei of
infected cells, particularly in the early stages, eosinophilic inclusion
bodies are found.
Zoster: In addition to skin lesions — histopathologically identical with those of
varicella — there is an inflammatory reaction of the dorsal nerve roots and
sensory ganglia. Often only a single ganglion may be involved. As a rule, the
distribution of lesions in the skin corresponds closely to the areas of
innervation from an individual dorsal root ganglion. There is cellular
infiltration, necrosis of nerve cells, and inflammation of the ganglion
sheath.
Varicella virus
seems able to enter and remain within dorsal root ganglia for long periods.
Years later, various insults (eg, pressure on a nerve) may cause a flare-up of
the virus along posterior root fibers, whereupon zoster vesicles appear. Thus,
varicella-zoster and herpes simplex viruses are similar in their ability to
induce latent infections with clinical recurrence of disease in humans.
However, zoster rarely occurs more than once.
Clinical Findings. Varicella: The incubation period is usually
14-21 days. Malaise and fever are the earliest symptoms, soon followed by the
rash, first on the trunk and then on the face, the limbs, and the buccal and
pharyngeal mucosa. Successive fresh vesicles appear in crops during the next
3-4 days, so that all stages of papules, vesicles, and crusts may be seen at
one time. The eruption is found together with the fever and is proportionate to
its severity. Complications are rare, although encephalitis does at times occur
about 5-10 days after the rash. The mortality rate is much less than 1% in
uncomplicated cases. In neonatal varicella (contracted from the mother just
before or just after birth), the mortality rate may be 20%. In varicella
encephalitis, the mortality rate is about 10%, and another 10% are left with
permanent injury to the central nervous system. Primary varicella pneumonia is
rare in children but may occur in about 20-30% of adult cases, may produce
severe hypoxia, and may be fatal.
Children with
immune deficiency disease or those receiving immunosuppressant or cytotoxic
drugs are at high risk of development of very severe and sometimes fatal
varicella or disseminated zoster.
Zoster: The incubation period is unknown. The disease starts with malaise and
fever that are soon followed by severe pain in the area of skin or mucosa
supplied by one or more groups of sensory nerves and ganglia. Within a few days
after onset, a crop of vesicles appears over the skin supplied by the affected
nerves. The eruption is usually unilateral; the trunk, head, and neck are most
commonly involved. Lymphocytic pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid may be
present.
In patients
with localized zoster and no underlying disease, vesicle interferon levels
peak early during infection (by the sixth day), whereas those in patients with
disseminated infection peak later. Peak interferon levels are followed by
clinical improvement within 48 hours. Vesicles pustulate and crust, and
dissemination is halted.
Zoster tends to
disseminate when there is an underlying disease, especially if the patient is
taking immunosuppressive drugs or has lymphoma treated by irradiation.
Laboratory Diagnosis. In stained smears of scrapings or
swabs of the base of vesicles, multinucleated giant cells are seen. In similar
smears, intracellular viral antigens can be demonstrated by immunofluorescence
staining.
Virus can be
isolated in cultures of human or other fibroblastic cells in 3-5 days. It does
not grow in epithelial cells, in contrast to herpes simplex, and does not
infect laboratory animals or eggs. An isolate in fibroblasts is identified by
immunofluorescence or neutralization tests with specific antisera.
Herpesviruses
can be differentiated from pox-viruses by (1) the morphologic appearance of
particles in vesicular fluids examined by electron microscopy, and by (2) the
presence of antigen in vesicle fluid or in an extract of crusts as determined
by gel diffusion tests with specific antisera to herpes, varicella, or vaccinia
viruses, which give visible precipitation lines in 24-48 hours.
A rise in
specific antibody titer can be detected in the patient's serum by CF, Nt (in
cell culture), indirect immunofluorescence tests, or enzyme immunoassay, Zoster
can occur in the presence of relatively high neutralizing antibody in the blood
just prior to onset. The role of cell-mediated immunity is unknown.
Immunity. Varicella and zoster viruses are identical, the 2
diseases being the result of differing host responses. Previous infection with
varicella leaves the patient with enduring immunity to varicella. However,
zoster may occur in persons who have contracted varicella earlier. This is a
reactivation of a varicella virus infection that has been latent for years.
Prophylaxis & Treatment. Gamma globulin of high specific
antibody titer prepared from pooled plasma of patients convalescing from herpes
zoster (zoster immune globulin) can be used to prevent the development of the
illness in immunocompromised children who have been exposed to varicella.
Standard immune serum globulin is without value because of the low titer of
varicella antibodies.
Zoster immune
globulin is available from the American Red Cross Blood Services (through 13 regional
blood centres) for prophylaxis of varicella in exposed high-risk
immunodeficient or immunosuppressed children. It has no therapeutic value once
varicella has started.
Idoxuridine and
cytarabine inhibit replication of the viruses in vitro but are not an effective
treatment for patients.
Adenine
arabinoside (vidarabine, ara-A) has been beneficial in adults with severe
varicella pneumonia, immunocompromised children with varicella, and adults with
disseminated zoster. Human leukocyte interferon in large doses appears to be
similarly beneficial.
Epidemiology. Zoster occurs sporadically, chiefly in adults and
without seasonal prevalence. In contrast, varicella is a common epidemic
disease of childhood (peak incidence is in children age 2-6 years, although
adult cases do occur). It is much more common in winter and spring than in
summer. Almost 200,000 cases are reported annually in the USA.
Varicella
readily spreads, presumably by droplets as well as by contact with skin.
Contact infection is rare in zoster, perhaps because the virus is absent in the
upper respiratory tract.
Zoster, whether
in children or adults, can be the source of varicella in children and can
initiate large outbreaks.
Control. None is available for the general population. Varicella may spread rapidly
among patients, especially among children with immunologic dysfunctions or
leukemia or in those receiving corticosteroids or cytotoxic drugs. Varicella in
such children poses the threat of pneumonia, encephalitis, or death. Efforts
should be made to prevent their exposure to varicella. Zoster immune globulin
may be used to modify the disease in such children who have been exposed to
varicella.
A live
attenuated varicella vaccine has been developed in Japan and tested in
hospitalized immune-suppressed children who were exposed to varicella. It
appeared to prevent spread of chickenpox. The vaccine is being used
experimentally for similar high-risk children in the USA.
A number of
problems are envisioned for the use of such a vaccine for the general
population as opposed to high-risk patients. The vaccine would need to confer
immunity comparable to that of natural infections. A short-lasting immunity
might result in an increased number of susceptible adults, in whom the disease
is more severe. Furthermore, any such vaccine would need to be evaluated for
later morbidity due to zoster as compared to that following natural childhood
infections with varicella virus.
CYTOMECALOVIRUS (Human Herpesvirus 5) (Cytomegalic
Inclusion Disease)
Cytomegalic inclusion
disease is a generalized infection of infants caused by intrauterine or early
postnatal infection with the cytomegaloviruses. The disease causes severe
congenital anomalies in about 10,000 infants in the USA per year.
Cytomegalovirus can be found in the cervix of up to 10% of healthy women.
Cytomegalic inclusion disease is characterized by large intranuclear
inclusions that occur in the salivary glands, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys,
endocrine glands, and. occasionally, the brain. Most fatalities occur in
children under 2 years of age. Inapparent infection is common during childhood
and adolescence. Severe cytomegalovirus infections are frequently found in
adults receiving immunosuppressive therapy.
Properties of the Virus. Morphologically, cytomegalovirus
is indistinguishable from herpes simplex or varicella-zoster virus.
In infected
human fibroblasts, virus particles are assembled in the nucleus. The envelope
of the virus is derived from the inner nuclear membrane. The growth cycle of
the virus is slower, and infectious virus is more cell-associated than herpes
simplex virus.
Animal Susceptibility. All attempts to infect animals with human
cytomegalovirus have failed. A number of animal cytomegaloviruses exist, all of
them species-specific in rats, hamsters, moles, rabbits, and monkeys. The virus
isolated from monkeys propagates in cultures of monkey as well as human cells.
Human
cytomegalovirus replicates in vitro only in human fibroblasts. although the
virus is often isolated from epithelial cells of the host. The virus can
transform human and hamster cells in culture, but whether it is oncogenic in
vivo is unknown.
Pathogenesis & Pathology. In infants, Cytomegalic inclusion
disease is con-genitally acquired, probably as a result of primary infection of
the mother during pregnancy. The virus can be isolated from the urine of the
mother at the time of birth of the infected baby, and typical cytomegalic
cells, 25-40 mcm in size, occur in the chorionic villi of the infected
placenta.
Foci of
cytomegalic cells are found in fatal cases in the epithelial tissues of the
liver, lungs, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, parotid gland, pancreas, thymus,
thyroid, adrenals, and other regions. The cells can be found also in the urine or
adenoid tissue of healthy children. The route of infection in older infants,
children, and adults is not known.
The isolation
of the virus from urine and from tissue cultures of adenoids of healthy
children suggests subclinical infections at a young age. The virus may persist
in various organs for long periods in a latent state or as a chronic infection.
Virus is not recovered from the mouths of adults. Disseminated inclusions in
adults occur in association with other severe diseases.
Clinical Findings. Congenital infection may result
in death of the fetus in utero or may produce the clinical syndrome of
cytomegalic inclusion disease, with signs of prematurity, jaundice with
hepatosplenomegaly, thrombocytopenic purpura, pneumonitis, and central nervous system
damage (microcephaly, periventricular calcification, chorioretinitis, optic
atrophy, and mental or motor retardation).
Infants born
with congenital cytomegalic inclusion disease may appear well and live for
many years. It has been estimated that one in every 1000 babies born in the USA
is seriously retarded as a result of this congenital infection.
Inapparent
intrauterine infection seems to occur frequently. Elevated IgM antibody to
cytomegalovirus or isolation of the virus from the urine occurs in up to 2% of
apparently normal newborns. This high rate occurs in spite of the fact that
women may already have cytomegalovirus antibody before becoming pregnant. Such
intrauterine infections have been implicated as possible causes of mental
retardation and hearing loss.
Many women who
have been infected naturally with cytomegalovirus at some time prior to
pregnancy begin to excrete the virus from the cervix during the last trimester
of pregnancy. At the time of delivery, infants pass through the infected birth
canal and become infected, although they possess high titters of maternal
antibody acquired transplacentally. These infants begin to excrete the virus
in their urine at about 8-12 weeks of age. They continue to excrete the virus
for several years but remain healthy.
Acquired
infection with cytomegalovirus is common and usually inapparent, In children,
acquired infection may result in hepatitis, interstitial pneumonitis, or
acquired hemolytic anemia. The virus is shed in the saliva and urine of infected
individuals for weeks or months.
Cytomegalovirus
can cause an infectious mononucleosis-like disease without heterophil
antibodies. "Cytomegalovirus mononucleosis" occurs either
spontaneously or after transfusions of fresh blood during surgery
("postperfusion syndrome"). The incubation period is about 30-40
days. There is cytomegaloviruria and a rise of cytomegalovirus antibody.
Cytomegalovirus has been isolated from the peripheral blood leukocytes of such
patients. Perhaps the postperfusion syndrome is caused by cytomegalovirus
harboured in the leukocytes of the blood donors.
Patients
with malignancies or immunologic defects or those undergoing immunosuppressive
therapy for organ transplantation may develop cytomegalo-virus pneumonitis or
hepatitis and occasionally generalized disease. In such patients a latent
infection may be reactivated when host susceptibility to infection is
increased by immunosuppression. In seronegative patients without evidence of
previous cytomegalovirus infection, the virus may be transmitted exogenously.
Eighty-three percent of seronegative patients who received kidneys from
seropositive transplant donors developed infection. Thus, the kidneys seemed
to be the source of virus.
Laboratory Diagnosis. Recovery of Virus: The virus can
be recovered from mouth swabs, urine, liver, adenoids, kidneys, and
peripheral blood leukocytes by inoculation of human fibroblastic cell cultures.
In cultures, 1-2 weeks are usually needed for cytotogic changes consisting of
small foci of swollen, rounded, translucent cells with large intranuclear
inclusions. Cell degeneration progresses slowly, and the virus concentration
is much higher within the cell than in the fluid. Prolonged serial propagation
is needed before the virus reaches high titters.
Rapid diagnosis
of cytomegalovirus infection in infants is possible by detection of
inclusion-bearing "owl cells" in the urine. These are desquamated
cells from infected kidney tubules.
Serology. Antibodies may be detected by neutralization, complement
fixation, or immunofluorescence tests. Such tests may be useful in detecting
congenitally infected infants with no clinical manifestations of disease.
Immunity. Complement-fixing and neutralizing antibodies occur
in most human sera. In young children possessing CF antibodies, virus may be
detected in the mouth and in the urine for many months.
Virus may occur
in the urine of children even though serum-neutralizing antibody is present.
This suggests that the virus propagates in the urinary tract rather than being
filtered from the bloodstream. Virus is not found in young children who lack
antibody.
Intrauterine
infection may produce a serious disease in the newborn. Infants infected during
fetal life may be born with antibody that continues to rise after birth in the
presence of persistent virus excretion. (This is similar to the situation in
congenital rubella infection.)
Most infants
infected with cytomegalovirus in the perinatal period are asymptomatic, and
infection continues in the presence of high antibody titters.
Treatment. There is no specific treatment. Neither immune
gamma globulin nor DNA virus-inhibitory drugs have any effect.
Epidemiology. The mechanism of virus transmission in the population
remains unknown except in congenital infections and those acquired by organ
transplantation, blood transfusion, and reactivation of latent virus. Infection
with cytomegaloviruses is widespread. Antibody is found in 80% of individuals
over 35 years of age. The prolonged shedding of virus in urine and saliva
suggests a urine-hand-oral route of infection. Cytomegalovirus can also be
transmitted by sexual contact.
Control. Specific control measures are not available. Isolation of newborns with
generalized cytomegalic inclusion disease from other neonates is advisable.
Screening of
transplant donors and recipients for cytomegalovirus antibody may prevent some
transmissions of primary cytomegalovirus. The cytomegalovirus-seronegative
transplant recipient population represents a high-risk group for cytomegalovirus
infections as well as other lethal superinfections and would be a target
population for a vaccine.
A live
cytomegalovirus "vaccine" has been developed and has had some
preliminary clinical trials, Since cytomegalovirus, like other herpesviruses,
causes latent persistent infection, there is doubt that such a
"vaccine" would be useful for the population at large. The possible
benefits and dangers of a vaccine program for prevention of cytomegalovirus
congenital infections require further study.
EB HERPESVIRUS (Human Herpesvirus 4).
(Infectious Mononucleosis, Burkitt's Lymphoma,
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma).
EB
(Epstein-Barr) virus is the causative agent of infectious mononucleosis and has
been associated with Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The virus
is an antigenically distinct herpesvirus.
Properties of the Virus. Morphology: EB virus is
indistinguishable in size and structure from other herpesviruses.
Antigenic Properties: EB virus is distinct from all
other human herpesviruses. Many different EB virus antigens can be detected by
CF, immunodiffusion, or immunofluorescence tests. A lymphocyte-detected
membrane antigen (LYDMA) is the earliest-detected virus-determined antigen.
EBNA is a complement-fixing nuclear antigen. Early antigen (EA) is formed in
the presence of DNA inhibitors and membrane antigen (MA), the neutralizing
antigen, is a cell surface antigen. The virus capsid antigen (VCA) is a late
antigen representing virions and structural antigen.
C. Virus Growth: Human blood B lymphocytes
infected in vitro with EB virus have resulted in the establishment of
continuous cell lines, suggesting that these cells have been transformed by the
virus.
This
transformation by EB virus enables B lymphocytes to multiply continuously, and
all cells contain many EB virus genomes and express EBNA. Some EB virus cell
lines express certain antigens but produce no virus particles or VCA; others
produce virus particles. EB virus is carried in lymphoid cell lines derived
from patients with African Burkitt's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, or
infectious mononucleosis. Non-virus-producing B lymphocyte cell lines can be
established in vitro from the blood of patients with infectious mononucleosis.
Such lines represent a latent state of the virus; the cells contain EB virus
genomes but express only the earliest antigen (LYDMA) and possibly EBNA.
Owl monkeys and marmosets inoculated with cell-free EB virus can develop
fatal malignant lymphomas. Lymphoblastoid cells from such monkeys cultured as
continuous cell lines give positive reactions with EB virus antisera by
immunofluorescence.
Immunity. The most widely used and most sensitive serologic
procedure for detection of EB virus infection is the indirect
immunofluorescence test with acetone-fixed smears of cultured Burkitt's
lymphoma cells. The cells containing the EB virus exhibit fluorescence after
treatment with fluorescent antibody. Detectable levels of antibody persist for
many years.
Early in acute
disease, a transient rise in IgM antibodies to VCA occurs, replaced within 2
weeks by IgG antibodies to VCA, which persist for life. Slightly later,
antibodies to MA and to EBNA arise and persist throughout life.
Epidemiology. Seroepidemiologic studies using the immunofluorescence
technique and CF reaction indicate that infection with EB virus is common in
different parts of the world and that it occurs early in life. In some areas,
including urban parts of the USA, about 50% of children 1 year old. 80-90% of
children over age 4, and 90% of adults have antibody to EB virus.
In groups at a
low socioeconomic level, EB virus infection occurs in early childhood without
any recognizable disease. These inapparent infections result in permanent
seroconversion and total immunity to infectious mononucleosis. In groups
living in comfortable social circumstances, infection is often postponed until
adolescence and young adulthood. Again, the majority of these adult infections
are asymptomatic, but In almost half of cases the infection is manifested by
heterophil-positive infectious mononucleosis.
Antibody to EB
virus is also present in nonhuman primates.
EB Virus & Human Disease. Most
EB virus infections are clinically inapparent. The virus causes infectious
mononucleosis and is strongly associated with Burkitt's lymphoma and
nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever) is a disease of children and
young adults characterized by fever and enlarged lymph nodes and spleen. The
total white blood count may range from 10,000/mcL to 80,000/mc, with a
predominance of lymphocytes. Many of these are-large "atypical" cells
with vacuo-lated cytoplasm and nucleus. These atypical lymphocytes, probably T
cells, are diagnostically important. During mononucleosis, there often are
signs of hepatitis.
During the course of infection, the majority of patients develop heterophil
antibodies, detected by sheep cell agglutination or the mononucleosis spot
test.
Although the
pathogenesis of infectious mononucleosis is still not understood, infectious EB
virus can be recovered from throat washings and saliva of patients
("kissing disease"). Infectious virus is produced by B lymphocytes in
the oropharynx and perhaps in special epithelial cells of this region. Virus
cannot be recovered from blood, but EB virus genome-containing B lymphocytes
are present in up to 0.05% of me circulating mononuclear leukocytes as
demonstrated by me establishment of cell lines. These EB virus
genome-containing cells express the earliest antigen, LYDMA, which is
specifically recognized by killer T cells.
These T cells
reach large numbers and can lyse EB virus genome-positive but not EB virus
genome-negative target cells. Part of the infectious mononucleosis syndrome may
reflect a rejection reaction against virally converted lymphocytes.
Patients with
infectious mononucleosis develop antibodies against EB virus, as measured by
immunofluorescence with virus-bearing cells. Antibodies appear early in the
acute disease, rise to peak levels within a few weeks, and remain high during
convalescence. Unlike the short-lived heterophil antibodies, those against EB
virus persist for years.
The role that
EB virus may play in Burkitt's lymphoma (a tumour of the jaw in African
children and young adults) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (common in males of Chinese
origin) is less well established. The association with EB virus is based
primarily on the finding that the prevalence of antibody is greater and the
antibody titters are higher among patients with Burkitt's lymphoma and
nasopharyngealcarcinoma than in healthy matched controls or individuals with
other types of malignancies. The significance of these associations is
uncertain at present. All cells from Burkitt's lymphoma of African origin and
from nasopharyngeal carcinoma carry multiple copies of the EB virus genome and
express the antigen EBNA.
Students Practical activities
1.
To
inoculate the pig embryo kidneys cell culture by blood of the patient with
suspicion on a tick-borne encephalitis.
There is pig embryo kidneys cell culture the sterile bottle. It is on the
side of bottle opposite to vertical
line. In sterile conditions it is necessary to pour out the medium and to fill
in the bottle 1,5 ml of the defibrinated patient’s blood. To close the bottle
and to put it on a horizontal surface by the line upwards for 1 h at 37 °C for adsorption of the viruses on the cells surface.
After that sterilely to add in the bottle 10,0 ml of medium 199.
In 72-96 hours material is
inoculating into the brain of newborn white mice for the identification of
viruses.
2.
To carry
out neutralization test with type specific sera in the pig embryo kidneys cell
culture.
The scheme of the
neutralization test for viruses identification
Ingredients |
Tubes |
|
|
1 |
2 |
Patient’s
defibrinated blood or serum
(virus-containing specimen) |
0,5 ml |
0,5 ml |
Tick-borne
encephalitis viruses antiserum |
0,5 ml |
– |
Japanese
encephalitis viruses antiserum |
– |
0,5 ml |
Incubation 1 h, temperature
18-20 °C |
||
Pig embryo
kidneys cell culture |
5,0 ml |
5,0 ml |
Incubation 4-7 days,
temperature 37 °C |
||
Results |
|
|
3.
To carry
out Complement fixation test with paired
sera for serological diagnosis
tick-borne encephalitis.
The scheme
of the Complement fixation test
Ingredient,
ml |
Number
of the test tubes |
||||||||||||||
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|||||||
Isotonic
sodium chloride solution |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
|||||||
Patient’s serum diluted 1:5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
I |
0,2 |
® |
® |
® |
® |
¯ |
– |
0,2 |
|||||||
II |
0,2 |
® |
® |
® |
® |
¯ |
– |
0,2 |
|||||||
Serum
dilution |
1:10 |
1:20 |
1:40 |
1:80 |
1:160 |
1:320 |
– |
– |
|||||||
Viral
diagnosticum (tick-borne encephalitis viruses) |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
– |
|||||||
Complement |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
|||||||
Incubation for 18-20 h,
temperature 4 °C and then 15 min at room temperature |
|||||||||||||||
Hemolytic
system (Hemolytic serum and 3 % sheep erythrocytes suspension ) |
0,4 |
0,4 |
0,4 |
0,4 |
0,4 |
0,4 |
0,4 |
0,4 |
|||||||
Incubation
for 30-60 min, temperature 37 °C |
|||||||||||||||
Results |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
Patient’s
serum |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
I |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
II |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
In the final
reading of the results the intensity of the reaction is expressed in pluses:
(++++), a markedly positive reaction characterized by complete inhibition of
haemolysis (the fluid in the tube is colourless, all red blood cells have
settled on the bottom); (“+++” , “++”), positive reaction manifested by the
intensification of the liquid colour due to haemolysis and by a diminished
number of red blood cells in the residue; (+), mildly positive reaction (the
fluid is intensely colourful and there is only a small amount of erythrocytes
collected on the bottom of the tube). If the reaction is negative (–) there is
a complete haemolysis, and the fluid in the tube is intensely pink (varnish
blood).
The titer of serum is its biggest dilution, which causes complete (“+++”
or “++++”) fixation of the complement.
4. To carry out put Complement
fixation test with specific serum
against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses.
The scheme
of Complement fixation test for laboratory diagnosis of
Crimean-Congo
hemorrhagic fever
Ingredient, ml |
Number of the test tubes |
|||||||
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Dilution
of antigen |
1:4 |
1:8 |
1:16 |
1:32 |
1:4 |
1:4 |
1:8 |
1:8 |
Investigated
antigen |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
Specific
serum |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
Non-specific
serum |
– |
– |
– |
– |
0,1 |
– |
0,1 |
– |
Isotonic
sodium chloride solution |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
0,1 |
– |
0,1 |
Complement
(2 U) |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
Incubation for 18-20 h,
temperature 4 °C and then 15 min at room temperature |
||||||||
Hemolytic
system |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
Incubation for 30-60 min, temperature 37 °C |
||||||||
Results |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the final
reading of the results the intensity of the reaction is expressed in pluses:
(++++), a markedly positive reaction characterized by complete inhibition of
haemolysis (the fluid in the tube is colourless, all red blood cells have
settled on the bottom); (“+++” , “++”), positive reaction manifested by the
intensification of the liquid colour due to haemolysis and by a diminished
number of red blood cells in the residue; (+), mildly positive reaction (the
fluid is intensely colourful and there is only a small amount of erythrocytes
collected on the bottom of the tube). If the reaction is negative (–) there is
a complete haemolysis, and the fluid in the tube is intensely pink (varnish
blood).
5. To carry out
Hemagglutination inhibition test with paired sera for diagnosis of rubella.
The scheme
of Hemagglutination inhibition test for serological diagnosis of rubella
Ingredient,
ml |
Number of
the test tubes |
|||||||
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Dextrose-gelatin-veronal
buffer with 0,4 % of bovine albumin |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
Patient’s
serum diluted 1:5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I |
0,1 |
® |
® |
® |
® |
¯ |
0,1 |
– |
II |
0,1 |
® |
® |
® |
® |
¯ |
0,1 |
– |
Dilution |
1:10 |
1:20 |
1:40 |
1:80 |
1:160 |
1:320 |
– |
– |
Viral diagnosticum (Rubella virus, 4 HAU/ml) |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
– |
0,1 |
Incubation for 30 min, temperature 18-20 °C |
||||||||
1 %
suspension of chicken erythrocytes |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
Incubation for 45 min, temperature 18-20 °C |
||||||||
Result:
Serum I |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
II |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Test results are assessed after complete erythrocyte sedimentation in
control (7 well). In the experimental well a markedly localized erythrocytes
sediment (“rouleaus”), and in the control well (8) the rapid erythrocytes
agglutination with star-like, marginally festooned sediment (“umbrella”) on the
bottom are observed. The titer of serum is its biggest dilution, which inhibits
hemagglutination. The growth of patient’s antiviral antibodies titers at least
in 4 times testifies about disease.
6. To do Complement fixation
test for serological diagnosis of
rotavirus infection.
The scheme
of the Complement fixation test
Ingredient, ml |
Number of the test tubes |
|||||||
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Isotonic
sodium chloride solution |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
Patient’s serum diluted 1:5 I |
0,1 |
® |
® |
® |
® |
¯ |
– |
0,1 |
II |
0,1 |
® |
® |
® |
® |
¯ |
– |
0,1 |
Serum dilution |
1:10 |
1:20 |
1:40 |
1:80 |
1:160 |
1:320 |
– |
– |
Viral
diagnosticum (rotavirus) |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
– |
Complement |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
0,1 |
Incubation for 18-20 h,
temperature 4 °C and then 15 min at room temperature |
||||||||
Hemolytic
system |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
0,2 |
Incubation for 30-60 min,
temperature 37 °C |
||||||||
Result :
Serum I |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
II |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the final reading of the results the intensity of the reaction is
expressed in pluses: (++++), a markedly positive reaction characterized by
complete inhibition of haemolysis (the fluid in the tube is colourless, all red
blood cells have settled on the bottom); (“+++” , “++”), positive reaction
manifested by the intensification of the liquid colour due to haemolysis and
by a diminished number of red blood cells in the residue; (+), mildly positive
reaction (the fluid is intensely colourful and there is only a small amount of
erythrocytes collected on the bottom of the tube). If the reaction is negative
(–) there is a complete haemolysis, and the fluid in the tube is intensely pink
(varnish blood). The titer of serum is its biggest dilution, which
causes complete (“+++” or “++++”) fixation of the complement.
7.
To carry out complement fixation test with patient’s
paired sera for serological diagnosis of Herpes simplex.
The scheme of
Complement fixation test
Ingredient,
ml |
Number
of the test tubes |
|||||||
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
Isotonic
sodium chloride solution |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
Patient’s
serum diluted 1:5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I |
0,5 |
® |
® |
® |
® |
¯ |
– |
0,5 |
II |
0,5 |
® |
® |
® |
® |
¯ |
– |
0,5 |
Serum
dilution |
1:10 |
1:20 |
1:40 |
1:80 |
1:160 |
1:320 |
– |
– |
Viral diagnosticum |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
0,5 |
– |
Incubation
for 45 min, temperature 37 °C |
||||||||
Hemolytic
system (Hemolytic serum and 3 % sheep erythrocytes suspension ) |
1,0 |
1,0 |
1,0 |
1,0 |
1,0 |
1,0 |
1,0 |
1,0 |
Incubation
for 30-60 min, temperature 37 °C |
||||||||
Results |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Patient’s
serum |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
II |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the final
reading of the results the intensity of the reaction is expressed in pluses:
(++++), a markedly positive reaction characterized by complete inhibition of haemolysis
(the fluid in the tube is colourless, all red blood cells have settled on the
bottom); (+++ , ++), positive reaction manifested by the intensification of the liquid
colour due to haemolysis and by a diminished number of red blood cells in the residue;
(+), mildly positive reaction (the fluid is intensely colourful and there is
only a small amount of erythrocytes collected on the bottom of the tube). If
the reaction is negative (–) there is a
complete haemolysis, and the fluid in the tube is intensely pink (varnish blood).
The titer of serum is its
biggest dilution, which causes complete (“+++” or “++++”) fixation
of the complement.
The titer of antibody in the second serum must increase in 4 times as
compared with the first one.
References:
1. Ronald M. Atlas. Microbiology in
our World, 1995.
2. Handbook on
Microbiology. Laboratory diagnosis of Infectious Disease/ Ed by Yu.S.
Krivoshein, 1989, P. 199-204, 210-214.
3.
Medical Microbiology and Immunology: Examination and
Board Rewiew /W. Levinson, E. Jawetz.– 2003.– P. 221-234, 244-249, 255-256.
4. Review of
Medical Microbiology /E. Jawetz, J. Melnick, E. A. Adelberg/ Lange Medical
Publication, Los Altos, California, 2002. – P.361-390, 433-440, 441-458,
488-498