The dengue virus (DENV) genome encodes 10 different genes including the NS3 gene, which has a protease and helicase domain used in virus replication. This domain is a potential target for antiviral agents against dengue. Due to a high mutation rate, DENV is classified into four major serotypes (DENV1-DENV4). This study was designed to perform conservancy analysis of all four serotypes by drawin...

Recently, Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 6C and 6D have been identified. It is thought that they emerged by the replacement of wciN(β) in the capsular loci of serotypes 6A and 6B, respectively. However, their evolution has not been unveiled yet. To investigate the evolution of four serotypes of S. pneumoniae serogroup 6, four genes of the capsular polysaccharide synthesis (cps) locus, wchA,...

BACKGROUND Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of acute otitis media (AOM) in young children. More than 90 immunologically distinct pneumococcal serotypes have been identified, but limited information is available regarding their relative importance in AOM. METHODS We analyzed nine existing datasets comprising pneumococcal isolates from middle ear fluid samples collected from 1994 throu...

Background. To prepare for national introduction of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine of restricted valency, we studied nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Gambian infants. Methods. We studied 236 infants in 21 villages. We collected nasopharyngeal swab samples at birth, twice per month for 6 months, and every second month until 1 year of age. We studied time to acquisition an...

Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype epidemiology is essential since serotype replacement is a concern when introducing new polysaccharide-conjugate vaccines. A novel PCR-based automated microarray assay was developed to assist in the tracking of the serotypes. Autolysin, pneumolysin and eight genes located in the capsular operon were amplified using multiplex PCR. This step was followed by a tagg...

children under 2 years of age suffer from some of the highest rates of invasive pneumococcal disease (ipd) in the world. (turkey) rates of ipd had a decline after statewide introduction of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (pcv7) in 2008. introduction of pcv7, pcv10 and pcv13 vaccines resulted in elimination of ipd caused by vaccine serotypes, but was followed by increasing rates of i...

Klebsiella pneumoniae is considered an urgent health concern due to the emergence of multi-drug-resistant strains for which vaccination offers a potential remedy. Vaccines based on surface polysaccharides are highly promising but need to address the high diversity of surface-exposed polysaccharides, synthesized as O-antigens (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) and K-antigens (capsule polysaccharide, CPS)...

Accurate serotyping is essential to monitor the changes in the seroepidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae. We devised a simple and schematic sequence-based system of seven multiplex PCRs, in a sequence order based upon Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs) serotype distribution during 2002 to 2003, to reliably deduce specific pneumococcal serotypes. A total of 421 isolates from ABCs were ...