Dear Editor Acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRIs) are the main causes of morbidity and mortality in younger children accounting for 33-50% of mortalities in children less than 5 years of age, mostly in underdeveloped countries. Viruses are the most frequent causes of ALRIs and responsible for a considerable percentage of childhood deaths. The most important viruses are respiratory sy...

Although viruses and viral capsids induce rapid immune responses, little is known about viral pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are exhibited on their surface. Here, we demonstrate that the repeating protein subunit pattern common to most virus capsids is a molecular pattern that induces a Toll-like-receptor-2 (TLR2)-dependent antiviral immune response. This early antiviral im...

A substantial proportion of hitherto unexplained respiratory tract illnesses is associated with human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection. This virus also was found in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). To determine the dynamics and associated lesions of hMPV infection, six cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were inoculated with hMPV and examined by pathological and vir...

Childhood asthma is strongly associated with the development of atopy and T helper type 2 (Th2)-driven allergic airway inflammation (Sly et al., 2008; Holt and Sly, 2012). However, the mechanisms involved in the induction of a Th2-biased immunologic response are poorly understood. Moreover, the cause-and-effect relationship between inflammation, airway remodeling and airway hyperresponsiveness ...

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of viral lower respiratory tract illness in infants and children globally, but no vaccine is currently available to protect these vulnerable populations. Liveattenuated vaccine approaches have been in development for decades, but achieving the appropriate balance between immunogenicity and safety has proven difficult. Immunoprophylaxis wit...

Amino a d d sequence of the human respiratory syncytial (RS) virus nudeocapsid (NC) protein, deduced from the DNA sequence of a recombinant plasmid, is presented. The cDNA plasmid (pRSBll) has 1412 bp of RS viral NC sequence and lacks six nucleotides of the 5'end of mRNA. There is a single long open reading frame encoding 467 amino acids. This 51540 dal protein is rich in basic amino acids and ...

Valentová V. , K. Kovafiãík, I . P‰ikal : Detection of Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Cell Cultures by Nested RT-PCR and Use of the Method for Virus Identification in Clinical Samples. Acta Vet. Brno 2003, 72: 115-122. One-step RT-PCR and nested PCR were used to detect bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) in infected cell cultures. Specific 984 bp and 383 bp products, selected from ...

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